COMPLETE 


HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS 


FROM 


1673   TO   1873; 


EMBRACING- 


THE   PHYSICAL    FEATURES   OF   THE    COUNTRY;    ITS 

EARLY  EXPLORATIONS;  ABORIGINAL  INHABITANTS; 

FRENCH  AND  BRITISH  OCCUPATION  ;   CONQUEST 

BY  VIRGINIA;  TERRITORIAL  CONDITION  AND 

THE  SUBSEQUENT  CIVIL,  MILITARY  AND 

POLITICAL  EVENTS  OF  THE  STATE. 


BY 

ALEXANDER  DAVIDSON  AND  BERNARD  STUVE, 


SPRINGFIELD  : 

ILLINOIS  JOURNAL  COMPANY, 
1874. 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1873,  by 

ALEXANDER    DAVIDSON  AND  BERNARD   STUVE, 

In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


STEREOTYPED  BY  THE 
ILLINOIS  STATE  JOURNAL  COMPANY. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

I.  GEOLOGY  OF  ILLINOIS  .............................................................      1 

II.  TOPOGRAPHY,  RIVERS,   SOIL  AND  CLIMATOLOGY. 

Origin  of  the  Prairies;  Table  of  Temperature  and  Rainfall  ....................    14 


III.  ILLINOIS  ANTIQUITIES;   THE  MOUND  BUILDERS  ..........................    33 

IV.  THE  INDIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Algonquins  and  Iroquois;  Illinois  Confederacy;  Sacs  and  Foxes;  Kickapoos; 
Mascoutins;  Plankishaws;  Potto  watamies;  Art  of  Hunting;  General  Coun 
cils;  Constitution  of  the  Indian  Family;  Methods  of  Sepulture;  Belief 
in  a  Future  State;  Why  the  Red  Race  should  give  way  to  the  White....  30 

V.  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  MISSIONARIES-EXTENT   OF  THEIR  OPERATIONS 

UP  TO  1673—  The  French  on  the  St.  Lawrence;  LaSalle  Discovers  the  Ohio    53 

VI.  EXPLORATIONS  BY   JOLIET   AND   MARQUETTE—  1673-1675  ..................    59 

Vn.  EXPLORATIONS  BY  LA  SALLE. 

The  Griffin;  Fort  Creve  Coeur  .......  .............................    67 


VIII.  TONTI'S  ENCOUNTER  WITH  THE   IROQUOIS... 79 

IX.  FURTHER  EXPLORATIONS  BY  LA  SALLE. 

His  Indian  Colony  on  the  Illinois;  Discovers  the  Mouth  of  the  Mississippi  and 
takes  possession  of  all  the  Country  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  France; 
Builds  Fort  St .  Louis  on  Starved  Rock ;  His  Colony  in  Texas 91 

X.  1700-1719— ILLINOIS  A  DEPENCY  OF  CANADA  AND  PART  OF  LOUISIANA. 

The  Government  a   Theocracy;  Operations  of  Crozat 108 

173  ? 

XI.  1717-J63^-ILLINOIS  AND  LOUISIANA  UNDER  THE  COMPANY  OF  THE  WEST. 

John  Law— His  Banking  Operations;  The  Mississippi  Scheme;  Founding  of 
New  Orleans;  Mining  for  the  Precious  Metals  in  Illinois;  The  Spaniards  via 
Santa  Fe  seek  the  Conquest  of  Illinois;  They  are  met  and  overwhelmed  by 
theMissouris;  Fort  Chartres  built;  Extermination  of  the  Natchez;  Opera 
tions  of  the  Company  of  the  West  in  Illinois 115 

XII.  1732-1759-TLLINOIS  AND  LOUISIANA  UNDER  THE  ROYAL  GOVERNORS. 
War  with  the  Chickasaws;  Death  of  Gov.  D'Artaguette;  Commerce   of  Illi 
nois;  Manners  and  customs  of  the  French;  Common  Field;  Common;  Inter 
course  with  the  Indians;  Avocation  and  Costume  of  the  People;  Mode  of 
Administering  the  Law;  Operations  of  the  Ohio  Company  ;  Fort  DuQuesne ; 
M.  DeVilliers  of  Fort  Chartres  defeats  the  Virginians  at  the  Great  Meadows; 
War  between  the  French  and  English  Colonists 121 


MI71760 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 


XIII.  1759-1763-THE  CONSPIRACY  OF  PONTIAC;  ATTACK  UPON  DETROIT. 

Destruction  of  the  British  Posts  and  Settlements 137 

XIV.  SIEGE  OF  DETROIT;  PONTIAC  RALLIES  THE  WESTERN  TRIBES. 

His  Submission  and  Death 150 

XV.  ILLINOIS  AS  A  BRITISH  PROVINCE. 

Partial  exodus  of  the  French ;  Their  dislike  of  English  Law,  and  the  restoration 
of  their  own  by  the  Quebec  Bill;  Land  Grants  by  British  Commandants; 
Curious  Indian  Deeds ;  Condition  of  the  Settlements  in  1765,  by  Capt.  Pitman ; 
Brady's  and  Meillets's  Expeditions  to  the  St.  Joseph  in  1777-1778 162 

XVI.  CONQUEST  OF  ILLINOIS  BY  GEORGE  ROGERS  CLARK 173 

XVII.  CLARK  OBTAINS  POSSESSION  OF  VINCENNES. 

Treaties  with  the  Indians;  Vincennes  falls  into  the  hands  of  the  English  and 
is  recaptured  by  Clark , 184 

XVIII.  1778-1787— ILLINOIS  UNDER  VIRGINIA. 

The  French  take  the  Oath  of  Allegiance;  Illniois  County;  American  Immi 
grants;  LaBalme's  Expedition;  The  Cession  of  the  Country  and  Delays 
Incident  thereto;  No  Regular  Courts  of  Law;  Curious  Land  Speculation.  202 

XIX.  ILLINOIS  UNDER  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY. 
Ordinance  of  1787;  Organization  of  St.  Clair  County ;  Bar  of  Illinois  in  1790;  Im 
poverished  condition  of  the  French;  Indian  Hostilities,  1783  to  1795;  Randolph 
County ;  American  Immigration;  Sickness;  Territorial  Assembly  at  Cincin 
nati  ;  Notable  Women  of  OlSenTime ;  Witchcraft  in  Illinois 210 

XX.  1800-1809— ILLINOIS  AS  PART  OF  THE  INDIANA  TERRITORY. 

Its  Organization;  Extinguishment  of  Indian  Titles  to  Lands;  Gov-  Harrison's 
Facility  in  this;  Land  Speculations  and  Frauds  on  Improvement  Rights  and 
Headrights;  Meeting  of  the  Legislature  at  Vincennes  in  1805;  Statutes  of 
1807 232 

XXI.  1809-ILLINOIS  TERRITORY. 

Opposition  to  division;  Jesse  B.  Thomas;  Gov.  Edwards;  Nathaniel  Pope;  Ter 
ritorial  Federal  Judges;  The  Governor  avoids  the  meshes  of  the  Separa- 
tionists  and  Anti-Seperationists;  Condition  and  Population  of  the  Territory.  241 

XXII.  INDIAN     TROUBLES    IN    ILLINOIS     PRECEDING     THE     WAR    OF    1812. 
The  Conntry  put  in  a  State  of  Defence  by  the  organization  of  Ranging  Com 
panies  and  the  building  of  Block  Houses  and  Stockade  Forts;  Gov.  Edwards 
sends  an  envoy  to  Gomo's  Village;  Battle  of  Tippecanoe;  Indian  Council  at 
Cohokia 247 

XXIII.  THE  MASSACRE  AT  CHICAGO;  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  PLACE 260 

XXIV.  ILLINOIS  IN  THE  WAR  OF  1812. 

Gov.  Edwards's  Military  Campaign  to  Peoria  Lake;  Gen.  Hopkins  with  2,000 
Mounted  Kentucky  Riflemen  marches  over  the  prairies  of  Illinois;  His  force 
Mutinies  and  marches  back;  Capt.  Craig  burns  Peoria  and  takes  all  its  inhabi 
tants  prisoners;  Second  Expedition  to  Peoria  Lake;  Indian  Murders;  Illinois 
and  Missouri  send  two  expeditions  up  the  Missouri  in  1814:  Their  Battles  and 
Disasters 268 

XXV.  CIVIL  AFFAIRS  OF  THE  ILLINOIS  TERRITORY  FROM  1812  TO  1818. 
Meeting  of  the  Legislature;  The  Members:  Laws:  Conflicts  between  the  Legis 
lature  and  Judiciary;  Curious  Acts;    Territorial  Banks;  Commerce;  First 
Steamboats;  Pursuits  of  the  People 283 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  V. 

XXVI.  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  STATE  GOVERNMENT. 

Administration  of  Gov-  Bond;  Our  Northern  Boundary;  First  Constitutional 
Convention  and  something  of  the  instrument  framed ;  Gov.  Bond ;  Lieut.-Gov. 
Menard;  Meeting  of  the  Legislature  and  election  of  State  Officers;  First 
Supreme  Court ;  Hard  Times  and  First  State.  Bank;  Organization  of  Courts.  295 

XXVII.  ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOV.  COLES. 

A  resume  of  Slavery  in  Illinois  from  its  earliest  date;  Indentured  Slaves 
Black  Laws;  Life  and  Character  of  Gov.  Coles;  The  effort  to  make  Illinois  a 
SlaveState  in  1824... 309 


XXVIII.  MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

Legislative— Reorganization  of  the  Judiciary ;  Chief  Justice  Wilson;  Hubbard 
as  Governor  ad  interim ;  Population  of  1820 ;  Visit  of  Lay f ay ette 328 


XXIX.  ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOV,  EDWARDS. 

Campaign  of  1826;  The  Gubernatorial  Candidates;  Contest  between  Daniel  P. 
Cook  and  Joseph  Duncan  for  Congress;  Character  of  Edwards'  speeches;  His 
charges  against  the  State  Bank  Officers  and  result  of  the  inquiry  into  their 
conduct;  Repeal  of  the  Circuit  Court  System;  Gov.  Edwards  claims  for  the 
State  title  to  all  public  lands  within  her  limits 335 

XXX.  1830— A  RETROSPECT. 

Advance  of  the  settlements;  Note;  Galena,  its  early  history;  Origin  of  the 
term  "Sucker;"  Douglas1  humorous  account  of  it;  Trials  and  troubles  of 
Pioneers  in  new  counties;  European  Colonist;  Financial  condition  of  the 
State;  Trade  and  Commerce;  Early  Mail  Routes;  Newspapers  and  Literati; 
Politics  of  the  People;  Militia  System 346 

XXXI.  ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOV.  REYNOLDS. 

The  Gubernatorial  Candidates;  Their  Lives  and  Characters;  The  Campaign; 
The  Wiggins'  Loan;  Impeachment  of  Supreme  Judge  Smith;  W.L.  D.  Ewing 
Governor  for  15  days 363 

XXXH.  BLACK  HAWK  WAR. 

Winnebago  Hostilities;  Indians  unable  to  resist  the  encroachments  of  the 
Minors;  Coalition  with  the  Sioux;  Attack  on  a  steamboat;  Compelled  to  sue 
for  Peace. 

2.  Sacs  and  Foxes ;  Blackhawk;  Keokuk;  Sac  Villages;  Invasion  of  the  State; 
Militia  and  Regulars  brought  into  requisition;  March  to  the  scene  of  danger; 
Black  Hawk  compelled  to  enter  into  a  treaty  of  peace 370 

XXXIII.  1832— SECOND  CAMPAIGN  OF  THE  WAR. 

Blackhawk  induced  by  White  Cloud  to  recross  the  Mississippi;  Refuses  to  obey 
the  order  of  Gen.  Atkinson  to  return:  State  forces  reorganized;  March  to 
Rock  River  and  unite  with  the  Regulars;  Army  proceeds  up  the  river  in 
pursuit  of  the  enemy;  Battle  of  Stillman's  Run;  Call  for  fresh  troops;  The 
old  forces  disbanded 381 


XXXIV.  1832-THIRD  CAMPAIGN  OF  THE  WAR. 

Requisition  for  additional  troops;  Attack  on  Apple  Creek  Fort;  Capt.Stephens' 
Encounter  with  the  Indians;  Organization  of  the  New  Levies;  Battle  of 
Kellogg's  Grove;  Battle  of  the  Wisconsin 


XXXV— 1832-CLOSE  OF  THE  WAR. 

Pursuit  of  the  Indians  ;  Battle  of  Bad  Axe  ;  Arrival  of  Gen.  Scott ;  Treat 
ies  with  the  Indians  ;  Eastern  tour  of  the  Prisoners;  Death  of  Black  Hawk.  401 


VI.  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 

XXXVI— 1834-1838— ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOV.  DUNCAN. 

The  Campaign;  Life  and  Character  of  Duncan  ;  More  State  Banks  and  what 
became  of  them ;  Slavery  Agitation  by  Lovejoy ;  his  death 416 

XXXVII-ST  ATE  INTERNAL  IMPRO YEMEN  T  SYSTEM 433 

XXXIII— 1838-1842— ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOV.  CARLIN. 

Continuance  of  the  subject  of  Internal  Improvement;  Collapse  of  the  grand 
system ;  Hard  Times ;  Reorganization  of  the  j  udiciary  in  1841 441 

XXXIX-1842-1846- ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOY.  FORD. 

The  Campaign;  Life  and  character  of  Gov.  Ford;  Lt.  Gov.  Moor;  Means 
of  Relief  from  Financial  embarrassments;  The  State  at  the  turning  point; 
Restoration  of  her  credit 462 

XL-THE  ILLINOIS  AND  MICHIGAN  CANAL. 

Trials  and  troubles  incident  to  its  construction 474 

XLI-1840-4— MORMONS  OR  LATTER  DAY  SAINTS. 

Joe  Smith  :  Prophetic  mission :  Followers  remove  to  Missouri  ;  Expulsion 
from  the  State  :  Settlement  in  Illinois:  Obnoxious  Nauvoo  charter  and  or 
dinances  ;  Arrest  and  acquittal  of  Smith  ;  His  assassination 489 

XLII— 1844-6— MORMON  WAR. 

Manner  of  Smith's  death  :  Character  of  the  Mormons  ;  Apostles  assume  the 
government  of  the  Church  ;  Trial  and  and  acquittal  of  the  assassins  :  Saints 
driven  from  the  vicinity  of  Xiima  and  Green  Plains  ;  Leading  Mormons  re 
tire  across  the  Mississippi ;  Battle  at  Nauvoo;  Expulsion  of  the  inhabitants..  508 

XLIII-ILLINOIS IN  THE  MEXICAN  WAR... 


XLTV--CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION  OF   1847,  AND  SOMETHING  OF  THE 

ORGANIC  LAW  FRAMED  BY  IT 543 

XLV-1846-1852-ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOV.  FRENCH. 

Lives  and  character  of  the  Gubernatorial  candidates  :  Funding  of  the  State 
debt ;  Refusal  of  the  people  to  give  the  Legislature  control  of  the  2  mill  tax ; 
Township  organization  ;  Homestead  Exemption  ;  The  Bloody  Island  Dike 
and  a  speck  of  War  ;  State  policy  regarding  railroads  551 

XLVI— THE  ILLINOIS  CENTRAL  RAILROAD. 

Congressional  grant  of  land;  Holdbrook  Charter :  Bondholder's  scheme :  The 
7  per  cent,  of  its  gross  earnings;  Passage  of  its  Charter;  Benefits  the  Com 
pany,  the  State,  and  individuals;  Note;  Jealousy  of  politicians  on  account  of 
its  glory ;  Correspondenc  of  Messrs.  Breese  and  Douglas 571 

XLVII-OUR  FREE  OR  STOCK  BANKS. 

How  a  bank  might  be  started ;  The  small  note  act;  Panic  of  1854;  Revulsion 
of  1857;  Winding  up 585 

XLVIII— 1853-1857— ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOV.  MATTESON. 

Democratic  and  Whig  Conventions;  Sketches  of  the  Gubernatorial  candi 
dates;  Financial  condition  and  physical  development  of  the  State;  Legisla 
tion  1853-5;  Maine  Law  and  riot  at  Chicago;  Our  common  Schools  and  trials 
in  the  establishment  of  the  Free  School  system 599 

XLIX— DUELS  IN  ILLINOIS  AND  ATTEMPTS  AT  DUELS. 

Affairs  of  honor  and  personal  difficulties, 618 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  VII. 

L— 1852-1856— ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY. 

The  Illinois  Wilmot  Proviso;  Dissolution  of  the  Whig  party;  Repeal  of  the 
Mo.  Compromise;  Intense  political  feeling;  Douglas  denied  free  speech  in 
Chicago:  Knownothingism:  Democratic  and  Republican  Conventions  of 
1856;  Result  of  the  campaign;  Lincoln's  plea  for  harmony  at  the  Chicago 
banquet 635 

LI— 1857-1861--ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOV.  BISSEL. 

Life  and  character  of  the  Governor,  Gross  attack  upon  him  in  the  Legisla 
ture  on  account  of  his  dueling  affair,  Turbulence  of  party  strife  and  want 
of  official  courtesy,  Disgraceful  action  in  organizing  the  house,  Apportion 
ment  bills  of  1857-9,  Canal  scrip  fraud,  The  Macalister  and  Stebbins 
bonds 656 

LII--OUR  SENATORS  IN  CONGRESS. 

Their  lives  and  characters;  Senatorial  contest  between  Lincoln  and  Douglas 
in  1858 679 

LLU--1861-1865--ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOV.  YATES. 

Party  conventions  of  1850;  The  two  great  labor  systems  of  the  country  in  di 
rect  antagonism;  Life  and  character  of  Gov.  Yates ;  Lieut.  Gov-.  Hoffman  ; 
Condition  of  the  State  and  comparative  growth  since  1850 716 

LIV-ILLINOIS  IN  THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION. 

Slavery;  Sectional  antaggnism  ;  Secession;  Inauguration  of  Lincoln ;  Call  for 
volunteers;  Proclamation  of  Gov.  Yates;  Uprising  of  the  people 722 

LV-1861-1864--ILLINOIS  IN  THE  REBELLION. 

Unprecedented  success  in  furnishing  men ;  Patriotic  efforts  of  women ;  Mil 
itary  operations  within  the  State 732 

LVI-1861-2--ILLINOIS  IN  MISSOURI. 

Battles  of  Lexington,  Monroe,  Charleston,  Fredericktown,  Belmont  and  Pea 
Ridge 746 

LVII— 1861-2--ILLINOIS  ON  THE  CUMBERLAND,  TENNESSEE  AND  MISSISSIPPI. 
Battles  of  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson  ;  Capture  of  Columbus,  New  Madrid 
and  Island  No .  10 , 757 

LV1II-1862-- ILLINOIS  IN  NORTHERN  MISSISSIPPI  AND  ALABAMA. 

Battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing  ,•  Mitchell's  campaign;  Siege  of  Corinth 709 

LIX-1862-ILLIXOIS  IN  KENTUCKY,  NORTHERN  MISSISSIPPI  AND  MIDDLE 

TENNESSEE. 

Battles  of  Perryville,  Bolivar,  Britton's  Lane,  luka,  Corinth  and  Stone  River.  785 

LX-1862-3-ILLINOIS  IN  THE  VICKSBURG  CAMPAIGNS. 

Movements  on  the  Mississippi,  Battles  of  Coffeeville,  Holly  Springs,  Par 
ker's  Cross  Roads,  Chickasaw  Bayou  and  Arkansas  Post 799 

LXI--1863-ILLINO1S  IN  THE  VICKSBURG  CAMPAIGNS. 

Battles  of  Port  Gibson,  Raymond,  Jackson,  Champion  Hills  and  Black  River  : 
Grierson's  Raid  ,  Siege  and  capture  of  Vicksburg 811 

LXII-ILLINOIS  IN  THE  CHATTANOOGA  CAMPAIGN. 

Battles  of  Chicamauga,  Wauhatchie,  Lookout  Mountain  and  Mission  Ridge , 
Relief  of  Knoxville .825 


VHI  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

LXIII--1864--ILUNOIS  IN  THE  ATLANTA  AND  NASHVILLE  CAMPAIGNS. 

Battles  of  Rocky  Face  Mountain,  Resaca,  New  Hope  Church,  Peach  Tree 
Creek,  Atlanta,  Jonesboro,  Alatoona,  Spring  Hill,  Franklin  and  Nashville.. .  836 

LXIV--3864-5--ILLINOIS  IN  THE  MERIDIAN  CAMPAIGN. 

RED  RIVER  EXPEDITION,  REDUCTION  OF  MOBILE;  SHERMAN'S  MARCH 
TO  THE  SEA;  REDUCTION  OF  WILMINGTON;  MARCH  THROUGH  THE 
CAROLINAS;  CLOSE  OF  THE  WAR 851 

LXV--POLITICAL  AND  PARTY  AFFAIRS  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

Sentiments  of  the  Illinois  Democracy  in  the  winter  of  1860-1;  Patriotic  feeling 
on  the  breaking  out  of  hostilities  irrespective  of  party  as  inspired  by 
Douglas;  Revival  of  partisan  feeling;  Constitutional  Convention  of 
1862;  Its  high  pretensions ,  Conflict  with  the  Governor,  Some  features  of 
the  instrument  framed ,  it  becomes  a  party  measure ,  The  vote  upon  it ; 
Party  Conventions  of  1862;  The  last  Democratic  Legislature  ;  Frauds  in  pass 
ing  bills  ;  Reaction  among  the  people  against  the  Peace  movement;  Military 
arrests;  Suppressing  the  Chicago  Times;  Secret  Politico-Military  Societies; 
Democratic  mass  Convention  of  June  17th,  1863,  Republican  mass  Conven 
tion,  Sept.,  1863;  Peace  meetings  of  1864.  Note—Chicago  Conspiracy 866 

LX VI- ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOV.  OGLESBY. 

Republican  and  Democratic  State  Conventions  of  1864;  Lives  and  character  of 
Oglesby  and  Bross;  Prosperity  and  condition  of  the  State  during  the  Rebel 
lion;  Legislation,  political  and  special,  in  1865-7;  Board  of  Equalization 
established;  Location  of  the  Agricultural  College;  Illinois  Capitals  and 
their  removal ;  History  of  the  Penitentiary 907 

LXVII~1869-'73- ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOV.  PALMER. 

Republican  and  Democratic  State  Conventions,  Life  and  character  of  Gov. 
Palmer,  Legislation,  the  tax  grabbing  law,  Lake  Front  bill,  &c.  The  Con 
stitution  of  1870  ,  The  great  Chicago  fire ..  929 


Chapters  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10,  11,  12,  13,  14,  16,  17,  32,  33, 
34,  35,  41,  42,  54,  55,  56,  57,  58,  59,  60,  61,  62,  63,  64,-  the  Death  of 
Lovejoy  in  36,  and  "Note,  Conspiracy  of  Chicago,"  in  65,  have 
been  written  by  Mr.  DAVIDSON. 

Chapters  15,  18,  19,  20,  21,  22,  23,  24,  25,  26,  27,  28,  29,  30,  31, 
36,  37,  38,  39,  40,  43,  44,  45,  46,  47,  48,  49, 50.  51,  52,  53,  65,  66  and 
67,  have  been  written  by  Mr.  STUVE'. 


PREFACE 


Although  Illinois,  whose  grassy  plains  have  been  styled  the 
Eden  of  the  new  world,  contains  the  oldest  permanent  settlements 
in  the  Yalley  of  the  Mississippi,  and  in  her  strides  to  empire  is 
destined  to  become  the  first  State  of  the  Union,  her  history  has  been 
strangely  neglected.  Fragments  have  been  written  at  different 
times  but  only  of  detached  periods  and  embracing  but  a  small 
part  of  the  two  centuries,  which  have  elapsed  since  the  first  ex 
plorations.  To  supply  this  deficiency  and  furnish  a  history  com 
mensurate  with  her  present  advancement  in  power  and  civiliza 
tion  is  the  object  of  the  present  work;  whether  it  has  been  accom 
plished  remains  to  be  seen. 

Not  having  taken  any  part  in  the  shifting  and  instructive  drama 
enacted  by  those  who  have  directed  the  affairs  of  State,  no  rank 
ling  jealousies  have  been  engendered  to  distort  conclusions ;  no 
undue  predelections  to  warp  the  judgement.  Measures  have  been 
estimated  by  their  results  ;  men  by  their  public  acts.  While  no 
disposition  has  existed  to  assail  any  one,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  none  are  faultless,  and  to  speak  well  of  all  is  the  worst  of 
detraction,  for  it  places  the  good  and  the  bad  on  a  common  level. 

A  principal  aim  has  been  to  render  the  the  work  complete.  A 
large  amount  of  matter  has  been  inserted  never  before  published 
in  connection  with  the  history  of  the  State ;  yet  important  facts, 
though  familiar,  have  always  been  preferred  to  new  ones  of  minor 
significance.  The  main  consideration,  however,  has  been  to  ren 
der  it  truthful.  In  the  wide  field  which  has  been  gleaned,  every 
available  source  of  information  has  been  carefully  consulted,  and 


X.  PREFACE. 


it  is  believed  a  degree  of  accuracy  lias  been  secured,  which  will 
compare  favorably  with  that  of  other  similar  efforts.  Still  there 
will  always  be  room  for  improvement,  aud  any  corrections  which 
may  be  offered  by  parties  who  have  witnessed,  or  been  connected 
with  events  described,  will  be  thankfully  received  and  inserted  in 
future  editions  of  the  work,  the  object  being  to  make  it  a  complete 
repository  of  reliable  facts  for  the  general  reader,  the  politician, 
the  lawyer,  and  all  who  may  wish  to  become  acquainted  with  the 
history  of  our  noble  State. 

To  the  many  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  who  have  furnished 
information,  or  aided  us  by  valuable  suggestions,  we  return 
our  thanks,  especially  to  Messrs.  Eummel  and  Harlow,  Secretaries 
of  State,  for  the  use  of  public  documents,  and  to  the  proprietors 
of  the  State  Journal  and  'State  Register,  for  access  to  their  valua 
ble  files. 

SPRINGFIELD,  Dec.  19th,  1873. 


CHAPTER  I. 
GEOLOGY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


On  the  geological  structure  of  a  country  depend  the  pursuits  of 
its  inhabitants  and  the  genius  of  its  civilization.  Agriculture  is  the 
outgrowth  of  a  fertile  soil;  mining  results  from  mineral  resources; 
and  from  navigable  waters  spring  navies  and  commerce.  Every 
great  branch  of  industry  requires,  for  its  successful  development, 
the  cultivation  of  kindred  arts  and  sciences.  Phases  of  life  and 
modes  of  thought  are  thus  induced,  which  give  to  different  com 
munities  and  states  characters  as  various  as  the  diverse  rocks 
that  underlie  them.  In  like  manner  it  may  be  shown  that  their 
moral  and  intellectual  qualities  depend  on  material  conditions. 
Where  the  soil  and  subjacent  rocks  are  profuse  in  the  bestowal  of 
wealth,  man  is  indolent  and  effeminate ;  where  effort  is  required  to 
live,  he  becomes  enlightened  and  virtuous ;  and  where,  on  the  sands 
of  the  desert,  labor  is  unable  to  procure  the  necessaries  and  com 
forts  of  life,  he  lives  a  savage.  The  civilization  of  states  and 
nations  is,  then,  to  a  great  extent,  but  the  reflection  of  physical 
conditions,  and  hence  the  propriety  of  introducing  their  civil,  polit 
ical  and  military  history  with  a  sketch  of  the  geological  substruc 
ture  from  which  they  originate. 

GEOLOGY  traces  the  history  of  the  earth  back  through  successive 
stages  of  development  to  its  rudimental  condition  in  a  state  of 
fusion.  Speculative  astronomy  extends  it  beyond  this  to  a  gaseous 
state,  in  which  it  and  the  other  bodies  of  the  solar  system  consti 
tuted  a  nebulous  mass,  without  form  and  motion.  When,  in  the 
process  of  development,  motion  was  communicated  to  the  chaotic 
matter,  huge  fragments  were  detached  from  its  circumference, 
which  formed  the  primary  planets.  These  retaining  the  rotary 
motion  of  the  sun,  or  central  mass,  in  turn  threw  off  other  and 
smaller  fragments,  thus  forming  the  secondary  planets,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  moon  which  attends  the  earth.  All  these  bodies  are 
similar  in  form,  have  a  similar  motion  on  their  axes,  move  substan 
tially  in  a  common  plain  and  in  the  same  direction,  the  result  of 
the  projectile  force  which  detached  them  from  the  parent  mass. 
These  facts  are  strong  evidence  that  the  sun,  and  the  planetary 
system  that  revolves  around  it,  were  originally  a  common  mass, 
and  became  separated  in  a  gaseous  state,  as  the  want  of  cohesion 
among  the  particles  would  then  favor  the  dissevering  force.  From 
the  loss  of  heat  they  next  passed  into  a  fluid  or  plastic  state,  the 
point  in  the  history  of  the  earth  where  it  comes  within  the  range 
of  geological  investigation. 

While  in  this  condition  it  became  flattened  at  the  poles,  a  form 
due  to  its  diurnal  rotation  and  the  mobility  of  its  particles.  At  a 


2  /  *  \J  t\  :  •  \  ».  ^"HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


further  reduction  of  temperature  its  melted  disk  was  transformed 
into  a  crust  of  igneous  rock.  A  great  many  facts  render  it  almost 
certain  that  the  vast  nucleus  within  this  enveloping  crust  is  still 
an  incandescent  mass.  Compared  with  its  enormous  bulk,  the 
external  covering  is  of  only  filmy  thickness,  the  ratio  of  the  two 
being  as  the  pulp  and  peel  of  an  orange.  In  this  world-crucible 
are  held  in  solution  the  01  elementary  substances,  which,  variously 
combining,  produce  the  great  variety  of  forms,  energies  aud  modes 
of  being,  which  diversify  and  enliven  terrestrial  nature.  From  the 
same  source  the  precious  metals  have  been  forced  into  the  fissures 
of  the  superincumbent  rocks,  whither  the  miner  descends  and 
brings  them  to  the  surface.  Volcanoes  are  outlets  for  the  tremen 
dous  forces  generated  in  these  deep-seated  fires.  As  an  evidence 
of  their  eruptive  power,  Vesuvius  sometimes  throws  jets  of  lava, 
resembling  columns  of  fiame,  10,000  feet  in  hight.  The  amount  of 
lava  ejected  at  a  single  eruption  from  one  of  the  volcanoes  of 
Iceland,  has  been  estimated  at  40,000,000,000  tons,  a  quantity  suffi 
cient  to  cover  a  large  city  with  a  mountain  as  high  as  the  tallest 
Alps.  By  the  process  of  congelation,  which  has  never  ceased, 
the  rocky  crust  which  rests  on  this  internal  sea  of  fire,  is  now 
supposed  to  be  from  thirty  to  forty  miles  in  thickness.  The  outer 
or  upper  portion  of  it  was  the  most  universal  geological  formation, 
and  constituted  the  floors  of  the  primitive  oceans.  The  rocks  com 
posing  it  are  designated  iinstratined,  because  they  occur  in  irregular 
masses,  and  igneous  from  having  originally  been  melted  by  intense, 
heat.  The  vast  cycle  of  time  extending  through  their  formation 
and  reaching  down  to  the  introduction  of  life  on  the  globe,  consti 
tutes  the  Azoic  age.  The  earth's  surface,  consisting  of  arid  wastes 
and  boiling  waters,  and  its  atmosphere  reeking  with  poisonous 
gases,  were  wholly  incompatible  with  the  existence  of  plants  and 
animals.  By  the  continued  radiation  of  heat  the  nucleus  within 
the  hardened  crust  contracted,  and  the  latter,  to  adapt  itself  to  the 
diminished  bulk,  folded  into  huge  corrugations,  forming  the  prim 
itive  mountain  chains  and  the  first  land  that  appeared  above  the 
face  of  the  waters.  The  upheaval  of  these  vast  plications  was 
attended  with  depressions  in  other  parts  of  the  surface  constituting 
the  valleys  and  basins  of  the  original  rivers  and  oceans.  Through 
the  agency  of  water  the  uplifted  masses  were  disintegrated  and  the 
resulting  sediment  swept  into  the  extended  depressions.  Here  it 
settled  in  parallel  layers  and  constitutes  the  stratified  rocks.  In 
some  localities  these  are  entirely  wanting,  in  others  many  miles  in 
depth,  while  their  average  thickness  is  supposed  to  be  from  six  to 
eight  miles. 

The  plain,  separating  the  stratified  from  the  unstratified  rocks, 
runs  parallel  with  the  oldest  part  of  the  earth's  crust.  When 
solidification  commenced  it  was  the  surface,  and  as  induration 
advanced  toward  the  centre  the  crust  thickened  by  increments  on 
the  inside,  and,  therefore,  the  most  recently  formed  igneous  rocks 
are  the  farthest  below  the  surface.  Stratification  commenced  at 
the  same  plain  and  extended  in  an  upward  direction,  and  hence 
the  most  recent  deposits  are  nearest  the  surface,  when  not  displaced 
by  disturbing  causes. 

In  the  silent  depths  of  the  stratified  rocks  are  the  former  creations 
of  plants  and  animals,  which  lived  and  died  during  the  slow, 
dragging  centuries  of  their  formation.  These  fossil  remains  are 


GEOLOGY. 


fragments  of  history,  which  enable  the  geologist  to  extend  his 
researches  far  back  into  the  realms  of  the  past,  and  not  only  deter 
mine  their  former  modes  of  life,  but  study  the  contemporaneous 
history  of  their  rocky  beds,  and  group  them  into  systems.  The 
fossil  iferous  rocks  are  not  only  of  great  thickness  but  frequently 
their  entire  structure  is  an  aggregation  of  cemented  shells,  so 
numerous  that  millions  of  them  occur  in  a  single  cubic  foot.  Such 
lias  been  the  profusion  of  life  that  the  great  limestone  formations 
of  the  globe  consist  mostly  of  animal  remains,  cemented  by  the 
infusion  of  mineral  matter.  A  large  part  of  the  soil  spread  over 
the  earth's  surface  has  been  elaborated  in  animal  organisms.  First, 
as  nourishment,  it  enters  the  structure  of  plants  and  forms  veget 
able  tissue.  Passing  thence  as  food  into  the  animal,  it  becomes 
endowed  with  life,  and  when  death  occurs  it  returns  to  the  soil  and 
imparts  to  it  additional  elements  of  fertility.  The  different  systems 
of  stratified  rocks,  as  determined  by  their  organic  remains,  are 
usually  denominated  Ages  or  Systems. 

The  Laurentian  System  or  Age  is  the  lowest,  and  therefore 
the  oldest,  of  the  stratified  series.  From  the  effects  of  great 
heat  it  has  assumed,  to  some  extent,  the  character  of  the  igneous 
rocks  below,  but  still  retains  its  original  lines  of  stratification.  A 
principal  effect  of  the  great  heat  to  which  its  rocks  were  exposed 
is  crystalization.  Crystals  are  frequently  formed  by  art,  but  the 
most  beautiful  specimens  are  the  products  of  nature's  laboratories, 
deep-seated  in  the  crust  of  the  earth.  The  Laurentian  system 
was  formerly  supposed  to  be  destitute  of  organic  remains,  but 
recent  investigations  have  lead  to  the  discovery  of  animals  so  low 
in  the  scale  of  organization  as  to  be  regarded  as  the  first  appear 
ance  of  sentient  existence.  This  discovery,  as  it  extends  the  origin 
of  life  backward  through  30,000  feet  of  strata,  may  be  regarded 
as  one  of  the  most  important  advances  made  in  American  geology. 
It*  supposed  beginning,  in  a  considerable  degree  of  advancement 
in  the  Silurian  system,  was  regarded  by  geologists  as  too  abrupt 
to  correspond  with  the  gradual  development  of  types  in  subsequent 
strata.  The  discovery,  however,  of  these  incipient  forms  in  the 
Laurentian  beds,  renders  the  descending  scale  of  life  complete, 
and  verifies  the  conjectures  of  physicists  that  in  its  earliest  dawn 
it  should  commence  with  the  most  simple  organisms. 

The  ffiironian  Sytttem,  like  the  one  that  precedes  it,  and  on 
which  it  rests,  is  highly  crystalline.  Although  fossils  have  not 
been  found  in  it,  yet  from  its  position  the  inference  is  they  once 
existed,  and  if  they  do  not  now,  the  great  transforming  power  of 
heat  has  caused  their  obliteration.  This,  and  the  subjacent  system, 
extend  from  Labrador  southwesterly  to  the  great  lakes,  and 
thence  northwesterly  toward  the  Arctic  Ocean.  They  derive  their 
names  from  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Lake  Huron,  on  the  banks  of 
which  are  found  their  principal  outcrops.  Their  emergence  from 
the  ocean  was  the  birth  of  the  North  American  continent.  One 
face  of  the  uplift  looked  toward  the  Atlantic,  and  the  other  toward 
the  Pacific,  thus  prefiguring  the  future  shores  of  this  great  division 
of  the  globe,  of  which  they  are  the  germ.  Eruptive  forces  have 
not  operated  with  sufficient  power  to  bring  them  to  the  surface  in 
Illinois,  and  therefore  the  vast  stores  of  mineral  wealth,  which  they 
contain  in  other  places,  if  they  exist  here,  are  too  deep  below  the 
surface  to  be  made  available. 


HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


The  Silurian  Age,  compared  with  the  more  stable  formations  of 
subsequent  times,  was  one  of  commotion,  in  which  fire  and  water 
played  a  conspicuous  part.  Earthquakes  and  volcanoes  furrowed 
the  yielding  crust  with  ridges,  and  threw  up  islands  whose  craggy 
summits,  here  and  there,  stood  like  sentinels  above  the  murky 
deep  which  dashed  against  their  shores.  The  present  diversities 
of  climate  did  not  exist,  as  the  temperature  was  mostly  due  to  the 
escape  of  internal  heat,  which  was  the  same  over  every  part  of  the 
surface.  As  the  radiation  of  heat  in  future  ages  declined,  the  sun 
became  the  controlling  power,  and  zones  of  climate  appeared  as 
the  result  of  solar  domination.  Uniform  thermal  conditions  impar 
ted  a  corresponding  character  to  vegetable  and  animal  life,  and 
one  universal  fauna  and  flora  extended  from  the  equator  to  the 
poles.  These  hardy  marine  types  consisted  of  Kadiates,  Mollusks 
and  Articulates,  three  of  the  four  sub-kingdoms  of  animal  life. 
Seaweed,  which  served  as  food  for  the  animals,  was  the  only  plant 
of  which  any  traces  remain.  During  the  Silurian  age  North 
America,  like  its  inhabitants,  was  mostly  submarine,  as  proved  by 
wave-lines  011  the  emerging  lands.  There  lay  along  the  eastern 
border  of  the  continent  an  extended  ridge,  which  served  as  a  break 
water  to  the  waves  of  the  Atlantic,  The  region  of  the  Alieghanies 
was  subject  to  great  elevations  and  depressions,  and  the  latter 
largely  preponderating,  caused  the  deposit  of  some  twelve  thousand 
feet  of  strata.  Although  mostly  under  water,  there  was  added  to 
the  original  nucleus  of  the  continent  formations  now  found  in  New 
York,  Michigan,  Illinois,  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota.  Niagara  lime 
stone,  a  Silurian  formation,  is  found  over  a  large  extent  of  country 
in  northern  Illinois,  beyond  the  limits  of  the  coal-fields.  It  is  a  com 
pact  grayish  stone,  susceptible  of  a  high  polish,  and  at  Athens 
and  Joliet  is  extensively  quarried  for  building  purposes,  and 
shipped  to  different  parts  of  the  State.  The  new  Capitol  is  being 
erected  of  this  material.  The  Galena  limestone,  another  Silurian 
deposit,  is  interesting,  from  the  fact  that  it  contains  the  lead  and 
zinc  ores  of  the  State.  St.  Peters  sandstone  belongs  also  to  the 
same  system.  Besides  outcropping  in  a  number  of  other  localities, 
it  appears  in  the  bluffs  of  the  Illinois,  where  it  forms  the  island- 
like  plateau  known  as  Starved  Eock.  In  some  localities,  being 
composed  almost  entirely  of  silica  and  nearly  free  from  coloring 
matter,  it  is  the  best  material  in  the  West  for  the  manufacture  of 
glass. 

The  Devonian  Age  is  distinguished  for  the  introduction  of  Verte 
brates,  or  the  fourth  sub-kingdom  of  animal  life  and  the  beginning 
of  terrestrial  vegetation.  The  latter  appeared  hi  two  classes,  the 
highest  of  the  flowerless  and  the  lowest  of  the  flowering  plants. 
The  Lepidodendron,  a  noted  instance  of  the  former,  was  a  majestic 
upland  forest  tree,  which,  during  the  coal  period,  grew  to  a  hight 
of  SO  feet,  and  had  a  base  of  more  than  3  feet  in  diameter. 
Beautiful  spiral  flutings,  coiling  in  opposite  directions  and  crossing 
each  other  at  fixed  angles,  carved  the  trunks  and  branches  into 
rhomboid al  eminences,  each  of  which  was  scarred  with  the  mark 
of  a  falling  leaf.  At  an  altitude  of  GO  feet  it  sent  off  arms,  each 
separating  into  branchlets  covered  with  a  needle-like  foliage,  des 
titute  of  flowers.  It  grew,  not  by  internal  or  external  accretions, 
as  plants  of  the  present  day,  but  like  the  building  of  a  monument, 
by  additions  to  the  top  of  its  trunk.  Mosses,  rushes  and  other 


GEOLOGY. 


diminutive  fiowerless  plants  are  now  the  only  surviving  represen 
tative  of  this  eryptogamic  vegetation,  which  so  largely  predomina 
ted  in  the  early  botany  of  the  globe.  Floral  beauty  and  fragrance 
were  not  characteristic  of  the  old  Devonian  woods.  No  bird 
existed  to  enliven  their  silent  groves  with  song,  no  serpent  to  hiss 
in  their  fenny  brakes,  nor  beast  to  pursue,  with  hideous  yells,  its 
panting  prey. 

The  vertebrates  consisted  of  fishes,  of  which  the  Ganoids  and 
Placoids  were  the  principal  groups.  The  former  were  the  fore 
runners  of  the  reptile,  which  in  many  respects  they  closely  resem 
bled.  They  embraced  a  large  number  of  species,  many  of  which 
grew  to  a  gigantic  size;  but  with  the  exception  of  the  gar  and 
sturgeon,  they  have  110  living  representatives.  The  Placoids, 
structurally  formed  for  advancement,  still  remain  among  the 
highest  types  of  the  present  seas.  The  shark,  a  noted  instance, 
judging  from  its  fossil  remains,  must  have  attained  100  feet  in 
length.  Both  groups  lived  in  the  sea,  and  if  any  fresh  water 
animals  existed  their  remains  have  either  perished  or  not  been 
found.  So  numerous  were  the  inhabitants  of  the  ocean,  that  the 
Devonian  has  been  styled  the  age  of  fishes.  In  their  anatomical 
structure  was  foreshadowed  the  organization  of  man;  reptiles, 
birds  and  mammals  being  the  intermediate  gradations.  The  con 
tinental  sea  of  the  preceding  age  still  covered  the  larger  part  of 
^North  America,  extending  far  northwest  and  opening  south  into 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  In  its  shallow  basins  were  deposited  sand 
stones,  shales  and  limestones,  which  westerly  attained  a  thickness 
of  500  feet,  and  in  the  region  of  the  Alleghanies  1,500  feet.  The 
great  thickness  of  the  latter  deposits  indicated  oscillations,  in 
which  the  downward  movement  exceeded  the  upward.  Shallow 
waters,  therefore,  interspersed  with  reefs  and  islands,  still  occu 
pied  the  sites  of  the  Alleghanies  and  Eocky  Mountains,  which 
now  look  down  from  above  the  clouds  on  the  finished  continent. 
The  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Hudson  may  have  existed  in  miniature, 
but  the  area  of  land  was  too  small  for  rivers  and  other  bodies  of 
fresh  water  of  considerable  extent.  In  the  disturbances  closing 
the  Devonian  age  additions  were  made  to  the  surface  in  Iowa, 
AVisconsin  and  Illinois.  The  two  resulting  formations  in  this  State 
are  the  Devonian  limestone  and  the  Oriskany  sandstone.  There 
are  outcrops  of  the  former  in  the  bluffs  of  the  Mississippi,  Rock 
and  Illinois  rivers.  It  contains  a  great  variety  of  -fossils,  and  is 
used  for  building  material  and  the  manufacture  of  quicklime.  The 
latter  appears  in  Union,  Alexander  and  Jackson  counties,  and  is 
used  to  some  extent  in  the  manufacture  of  glass. 

The  Carboniferous  Age  opened  with  the  deposition  of  widely 
extended  marine  formations.  Added  to  the  strata  previously 
deposited,  the  entire  thickness  in  the  region  of  the  Alleghanies, 
now  partially  elevated,  amounted  to  7  miles.  Wide  areas  of  per 
manent  elevation  occurred  between  the  34th  and  45th  degrees  of 
latitude,  embracing  most  of  the  territory  between  the  eastern  con 
tinental  border  and  the  States  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  Farther 
westward,  and  resulting  from  the  gradual  emergence  of  the  Pacific 
coast,  was  an  interior  sea  whose  shallow  waters  still  flowed  over 
the  site  of  the  Eocky  Mountains.  The  winter  temperature  near 
the  poles  was  66  degrees.  A  stagnant  and  stilling  atmosphere 
rested  upon  the  area  now  constituting  the  United  States  and  British 


HISTOKY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


America.  Tlie  McKenzie  river,  now  filled  with  icebergs,  then 
flowed  through  verdant  banks  to  a  coral  sea,  having  the  same  tem 
perature  as  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  at  the  present  day.  The  most  prom 
inent  feature  of  the  age  was  the  formation  of  coal.  Being  carbon 
ized  vegetable  tissue,  the  material  furnished  for  this  purpose  was 
the  vast  forest  accumulations  peculiar  to  the  period.  Vegetation, 
commencing  in  the  previous  age,  had  now  attained  an  expansion 
which  greatly  exceeded  the  growth  of  prior  or  subsequent  limes. 
Invigorated  by  a  warm,  moist  and  winterless  climate,  and  an 
atmosphere  surcharged  with  carbonic  acid  gas,  vast  jungles  spread 
over  the  marshy  plains,  and  impenetrable  forests  covered  the 
upland  slopes  and  hights.  The  graceful  lepidodendron,  now  fully 
developed,  was  one  of  the  principal  coal  producing  plants ;  sub 
serving  the  same  purpose  and  associated  with  it  was  the  gigantic 
conifer,  a  member  of  the  pine  family.  The  ancient  fern,  another 
coal  plant,  grew  to  a  hight  of  80  feet.  Its  trunk,  regularly  fretted 
with  scars  and  destitute  of  branches,  terminated  in  a  crown  of 
foliage  rivaling  that  of  the  palm  in  profuseness  and  beauty.  The 
sigillarid,  however,  as  it  contributed  most  largely  to  the  produc 
tion  of  coal,  was  the  characteristic  plant  o'f  the  period.  The 
trunk,  which  rose  from  40  to  00  feet  high  from  its  alternate  flirtings 
and  ribs,  appeared,  like  a  clustered  column.  At  an  altitude  of  25 
or  30  feet  it  separated  into  branches,  covered  with  a  grass-like* 
foliage  intermingled  with  long  catkins  of  obscure  flowers  or  strings 
of  seed,  arranged  in  whorls  about  a  common  stem.  The  structure 
of  the  trunk  was  peculiar.  One,  5  feet  in  diameter,  was  surrounded 
with  a  bark  13  inches  in  thickness;  within  this  was  a  cylinder  of 
wood  12  inches  in  thickness,  and  at  the  center  a  pith  10*  inches  in 
diameter.  Such  a  tree  would  be  useless  as  timber,  but  the  bark,  of 
which  they  largely  consisted,  was  impervious  to  mineral  solutions, 
and  valuable  for  the  production  of  coal.  The  calamites,  growing 
with  the  sigillarids,  covered  with  dense  brakes  the  marshy  flats. 
Their  hollow  stems,  marked  vertically  with  thitings  and  horizon 
tally  with  joints,  grew  in  clumps  to  a  hight  of  20  feet,  Some 
species  were  branchless,  while  from  the  joints  of  other  sprang 
branches,  subdividing  into  whorls  of  branchlets. 

The  vast  accumulation  of  vegetable  matter  from  these  and  other 
carboniferous  plants,  either  imbedded  in  the  miry  soil  in  which  it 
grew,  or  swept  from  adjacent  elevations  into  shallow  lakes,  became 
covered  with, sediment,  and  thus  were  transformed  into  coal.  It 
has  been  estimated  that  8  perpendicular  feet  of  wood  were  re 
quired  to  make  1  foot  of  bituminous  coal,  and  12  to  make  1  of 
anthracite.  Some  beds  of  the  latter  are  30  feet  in  thickness,  and 
hence  300  feet  of  timber  must  have  been  consumed  in  their  pro 
duction.  The  process  of  its  formation  was  exactly  the  same  as 
practiced  in  the  manufacture  of  charcoal,  by  burning  wood  under 
a  covering  of  earth.  Vegetable  tissue  consists  mostly  of  carbon 
and  oxygen,  and  decomposition  must  take  place,  either  under 
water  or  some  other  impervious  covering,  to  prevent  the  elements 
from  forming  carbonic  acid  gas,  and  thus  escaping  to  the  atmos 
phere.  Conforming  to  these  requirements,  the  immense  vegetable 
growths  forming  the  coal-fields  subsided  with  the  surface  on  which 
they  gTew,  and  were  buried  beneath  the  succeeding  deposits. 
.Nova  Scotia  has  70  different  beds,  and  Illinois  12;  and  conse 
quently,  in  these  localities  there  were  as  many  different  fields  of 


GEOLOGY. 


verdure  overwhelmed  in  tlie  dirt-beds  of  the  sea.  Thus,  long  be 
fore  the  starry  cycles  had  measured  half  the  history  of  the  un 
folding  continent,  and  when  first  the  expanding  stream  of  life 
but  dimly  reflected  the  coining  age  of  mind,  this  vast  supply  of 
fuel  was  stored  away  in  the  rocky  frame-work  of  the  globe.  Here 
it  slumbered  till  man  made  his  appearance  and  dragged  it  from 
its  rocky  lairs.  At  his  bidding  it  renders  the  factory  animate 
with  humming  spindles,  driving  shuttles,  whirling  lathes,  and  clank 
ing  forges.  Under  his  guidance  the  iron-horse,  feeding  upon  its 
pitchy  fragments,  bounds  with  tireless  tread  over  its  far  reaching 
track,  dragging  after  him  the  products  of  distant  marts  and  climes. 
By  the  skill  of  the  one  and  the  power  of  the  other,  the  ocean 
steamer  plows  the  deep  in  opposition  to  winds  and  waves,  making 
its  watery  home  a  highway  for  the  commerce  of  the  world. 

Prior  to  the  formation  of  coal,  so  great  was  the  volume  of  car 
bonic?  acid  gas  in  the  atmosphere  that  only  slow  breathing*  and 
cold-blooded  animals  could  exist.  Consequent  upon  its  conversion 
into  coal,  all  the  preceding  species  of  plants  and  animals-  perished, 
and  new  forms  came  upon  the  stage  of  being  with  organizations 
adapted  to  the  improved  conditions.  In  the  new  economy,  as  at 
the  present  time,  stability  is  maintained  in  the  atmosphere  by  the 
reciprocal  relations  subsisting  between  it  and  the  incoming  types. 
The  animal  inspires  oxygen  and  expires  carbonic  acid  gas ;  the 
vegetable  inspires  carbonic  acid  gas  and  expires  oxygen,  thus  pre 
serving  the  equilibrium  of  this  breathing  medium.  The  coal-fields 
of  Europe  are  estimated  at  18,000  square  miles,  those  of  the  United 
States  at  150,000.  The  Alleghany  coal-field  contains  00,000  square 
miles,  with  an  aggregate  thickness  of  120  feet.  The  Illinois  a-nd 
Missouri  60,000  square  miles,  and  an  aggregate  thickness  in  some 
localities  of  70  feet.  Other  fields  occur  in  different  localities,  of 
various  thicknesses.  In  Illinois,  three-fourths  of  the  surface  are 
underlaid  by  beds  of  coal,  and  the  State  consequently  has  a  greater 
area  than  any  other  member  of  the  Union.  There  are  12  different 
beds,  the  two  most  important  of  which  are  each  from  (J  to  8  feet 
in  thickness.  The  entire  carboniferous  system,  including  the  coal- 
beds  and  the  intervening  strata,  in  southern  Illinois  is  27,000  feet 
in  thickness,  and  in  the  northern  part  only  500. 

Next  to  the  immense  deposits  of  coal,  the  Burlington,  Keokuk 
and  St.  Louis  limestones  are  the  most  important  formations. 
They  receive  their  appellations  from  the  cities  whose  names  they 
bear — where  their  lithological  characters  were  first  studied — and 
in  the  vicinities  of  which  they  crop  out  in  Illinois.  The  Burling 
ton  furnishes  inexhaustible  supplies  of  building  stone  and  quick 
lime,  but  is  mostly  interesting  on  account  of  the  immense  number 
of  interesting  fossils  which  it  contains.  Along  its  northern  out 
crop  Crinoids  are  found  in  a  profusion  unequalled  by  that  of  any 
locality  of  similar  extent  in  the  world.  Though  untold  ages  have 
elapsed  since  their  incarceration  in  the  rocks,  so  perfect  has  been 
their  preservation,  their  structure  can  be  determined  with  almost 
as  much  precision  as  if  they  had  perished  but  yesterday.  The 
Keokuk  is  extensively  used  for  architectural  purposes,  and  fur 
nished  the  material  for  the  celebrated  Mormon  Temple  at  Nauvoo, 
the  new  Post-office  at  Springfield,  and  the  Custom  Houses  at 
Galena  and  Dubuque.  It  contains  some  of  the  most  interesting 
crystals  found  in  the  State.  These  consist  of  hollow  spheres  of 


HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 


quartz  and  chalcedony  of  various  sizes,  and  lined  on  the  inside 
with  crystalets  of  different  minerals.  Tons  of  specimens  have 
been  taken  from  Hancock  county  and  distributed  over  the  United 
States  and  Europe,  to  ornament  the  cabinets  of  mineralogists. 
The  St.  Louis  is  almost  pure  carbouet  of  lime,  and  the  best  ma 
terial  in  the  State  for  the  manufacture  of  quick-lime.  It  is  largely 
quarried  at  Alton. 

The  Aye  of  Reptiles  is  distinguished  for  changes  in  the  conti 
nental  borders,  which  generally  ran  within  their  present  limits. 
The  sub-marine  outlines  of  the 'Bay  of  New  York,  and  the  course 
of  the  Hudson,  indicate  that  the  adjacent  shores  during  the  early 
part  of  this  age  were  beyond  their  present  limits.  Southward  the 
sea  line  ran  within  the  present  shore,  the  distance  increasing  from 
60  miles  in  Maryland  to  100  in  Georgia,  and  200  in  Alabama. 
The  Texan  gulf-shore,  and  that  of  the  peninsula  and  State  of 
California,  were  parallel,  and  mostly  within  their  present  positions. 
These  borders  were  fringed  with  deposits,  while  inland  the  trough 
of  the  old  continental  sea  was  becoming  more  shallow.  The  alti 
tude  of  the  Alleghanies  had  nearly  reached  their  present  hight. 
The  Eocky  Mountains,  in  the  transition  from  the  close  of  the 
present  to  the  beginning  of  the  subsequent  age,  began  slowly  to 
emerge  from  the  Avaters  under  which  they  had  hitherto  slumbered. 
The  Gulf  of  Mexico  formed  a  deep  bay  extending  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Ohio,  and,  protruding  itself  northwesterly,  covered  the  region 
of  the  liocky  Mountains.  It  may  have  connected  with  the  Arctic 
Ocean,  but  observations  have  been  too  limited  to  trace  it  with  cer 
tainty  beyond  the  head  waters  of  the  Missouri  and  Yellow  Stone. 
These  are,  therefore,  among  the  more  recently  formed  rivers,  und 
cannot  be  compared  with  the  primeval  St.  Lawrence  and  Hudson. 
The  Mississippi  was  a  stream  of  not  more  than  one-half  its  present 
length  and  volume,  falling  into  the  gulf  not  far  from  the  site  of 
Cairo.  The  Ohio  drained  substantially  the  same  region  it  does  at 
the  present  time.  In  the  earlier  part  of  the  age  the  geographical 
distribution  of  fossils  indicates  a  common  temperature,  from  Beh- 
ring  Strait  in  the  Northern  to  that  of  Magellan  in  the  Southern 
Hemisphere.  In  the  latter  part,  however,  a  difference  is  percep 
tible,  indicating  also  a  difference  of  temperature  and  the  com 
mencement  of  climatic  zones.  This  change,  caused  by  the  partial 
upheaval  of  mountain  chains  north  of  the  Equator /and  the  de 
cline  of  internal  heat,  marked  a  new  era  in  the  physical  history 
of  the  globe.  As  the  result,  currents  commenced  flowing  in  the 
ocean ;  the  constant  monotony  of  previous  ages  was  broken  by 
the  pleasant  diversities  of  changing  seasons  ;  life  was  imparted  to 
the  atmosphere,  and  the  breeze  came  forth  laden  with  the  breath 
of  spring;  the  tempest  madly  burst  into  being  and  began  its  work 
of  destruction,  and  the  trade-winds  commenced  blowing,  but  it 
was  reserved  for  a  future  age  to  make  them  the  common"  carriers 
of  the  ocean's  commerce. 

The  principal  formations  of  the  age,  none  of  which  exist  in 
llinois,  were  sandstones,  chalks  and  limestones,  in terstra titled 
with  deposits  of  salt  and  gypsum.  Their  absence  can  be  explained 
either  upon  the  supposition  that  the  surface  of  the  State  was  either 
above  the  waters  in  which  they  were  deposited,  or,  having  originally 
been  deposited,  they  were  subsequently  swept  away  by  denuding 
agencies.  The  former  was  perhaps  the  case,  as  no  aqueous  action 


GEOLOGY.  9 


could  have  operated  with  sufficient  power  to  remove  all  traces  of 
their  former  existence.  The  characteristic  plants  of  the  coal  age, 
now  declining,  were  replaced  by  cycads  and  many  new  forms  of 
conifers  and  ferns.  The  cycad  was  intermediate  in  character, 
resembling  the  fern  in  the  opening  of  its  foliage,  and  the  palm  in 
its  general  habits.  It  was  now  in  the  full  zenith  of  its  expansion, 
while  the  fern  was  dying  out  and  the  conifer  was  yet  to  be  devel 
oped.  More  than  100  augiosperms  made  their  appearance,  one-half 
of  them  closely  allied  to  the  trees  of  modern  forests  and  the  fruit 
trees  of  temperate  regions.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  age  the  palm, 
at  present  the  most  perfect  type  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  was 
also  introduced.  Xew  animal  species  made  their  appearance, 
attended  by  the  extinction  of  all  pre-existing  forms.  Reptiles 
now  reached  their  culmination,  the  earth,  sea  and  air,  each  having 
its  peculiar  kind.  Their  fossil  remains  indicate  a  large  number  of 
both  lierbiverous  and  carniverous  species,  which  in  many  instan 
ces  attained  a  length  of  CO  feet.  The  ichthyosaurus,  a  prominent 
example,  united  in  its  structure  parts  of  several  related  animals, 
having  the  head  of  a  lizard,  the  snout  of  a  porpoise,  the  teeth  of 
a  crocodile,  the  spine  of  a  fish  and  the  paddles  of  a  whale.  Its 
eyes,  enormously  large,  were  arranged  to  act  both  like  the  telescope 
and  the  microscope,  thus  enabling  it  to  see  its  prey  both  night  and 
day,  and  at  all  distances.  It  subsisted  on  fish  and  the  young  of 
its  own  species,  some  of  which  must  have  been  swallowed  several 
feet  in  length.  Associated  with  it  was  the  Pleiosaurus,  an  animal 
resembling  it  in  its  general  structure.  A  remarkable  difference, 
however,  was  the  great  length  of  neck  possessed  by  the  latter, 
which  contained  40  vertebrae,  the  largest  number  that  has  ever 
been  found  in  animals  living  or  fossil.  These  two  reptiles  for  a 
long  time  ruled'  the  seas  and  kept  the  increase  of  other  animals 
within  proper  limits.  But  the  most  gigantic  of  reptile  monsters 
was  the  Iguanodoii.  Some  individuals  were  CO  feet  long,  15  feet 
round  the  largest  part  of  the  body,  had  feet  12  feet  in  length,  and 
thighs  7  feet  in  diameter.  The  most  heteroclitic  creature  was  the 
Pterodactyl.  It  had  the  neck  of  a  bird,  the  mouth  of  a  reptile, 
the  wings  of  a  bat,  and  the  body  and  tail  of  a  mammal.  Its  curi 
ous  organization  enabled  it  to  Avalk  on  two  feet,  fly  like  a  bat,  and 
creep,  climb  or  dive  in  pursuit  of  its  food.  The  age  is  also  remark 
able  as  the  era  of  the  first  mammels,  the  first  birds,  and  the  first 
common  fishes. 

The  Mammalian  Age  witnessed  the  increase  of  the  mass  of  the 
eartli  above  the  ocean's  level  three-fold.  The  world-constructing 
architect,  the  coral  insect,  built  up  Florida  out  of  the  sea,  thus 
completing  the  southern  expanse  of  the  continent.  Its  eastern 
and  western  borders  were  substantially  finished,  and  superficially 
its  great  plateaus,  mountain  chains  and  river  systems,  approximated 
their  present  geographical  aspects.  The  Rocky  Mountains  were 
elevated  to  a  Light  of  7,000  feet,  the  Wind  River  chain  0,800,  the  Big 
Horn  Mountains  C,000,  Pike's  Peak  4,500.  The  upheaval  of  the 
Rocky  Mountain  region  greatly  enlarged  the  Missouri,  previously 
an  inconsiderable  stream,  adding  to  it  the  Yellowstone,  Platte, 
Kansas  and  other  tributaries.  The  Lower  Mississippi  was  formed 
and  discharged  its  vast  volume  of  accumulated  waters  near  the 
present  coast  line  of  the  Gulf.  The  elevation  of  mountain  masses 
to  snowy  altitudes  cooled  down  the  temperature  and  introduced 


10  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

substantially  the  present  climates.  In  Europe  the  change  was 
gradual  from  tropical  to  subtropical  and  temperate;  in  Xorth 
America  abrupt.  As  a  consequence  the  botany  of  the  latter 
opened  with  the  oak,  poplar,  dogwood,  magnolia,  fig,  palm  and 
other  plants  closely  resembling  those  of  the  present  day. 

Of  the  animals  the  Mammoth  was  remarkable.  Unlike  the 
elephant  of  the  present  day,  they  were  covered  with  a  redish  wool 
intermingled  with  hair  and  black  bristles,  the  latter  being  more 
than  a  foot  in  length.  Vast  herds  of  these  huge  creatures,  nearly 
three  times  as  large  as  the  present  elephant,  their  living  represen 
tative  wandered  over  the  northern  part  of  both  hemispheres. 
An  individual  in  a  perfect  state  of  preservation  was  found  in  1790, 
encased  in  ice,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Lena.  It  still  retained 
the  wool  on  its  hide,  and  otherwise  was  so  free  from  decay,  that 
its  flesh  was  eaten  by  dogs.  Their  remains  are  abundantly  distrib 
uted  over  the  northern  part  of  the  United  States,  imbedded  usually 
in  marshes  where  the  animals  were  perhaps  mired  while  in  search 
of  food  or  water.  A  large  fossil  specimen  was  recently  exhumed 
in  Macon  county,  Illinois,  2  miles  southeast  of  llliopolis,  in  the 
edge  of  Long  Point  Slough,  by  the  side  of  an  oozy  spring.  The 
fossils  have  been  found  in  other  localities  of  the  State,  and  the 
prairies  may  have  been  places  of  frequent  resort.  Contemporane 
ous  with  them  were  the  Dinotherium  and  Megatherium,  and  other 
creatures  of  the  most  gigantic  proportions.  The  magnitude  of  the 
Mammoth  seems  almost  fabulous,  but  that  of  the  Dinotherium 
probably  surpassed  it.  One  of  its  most  remarkable  features  was 
its  enormous  tusks,  projecting  from  the  anterior  extremity  of  the 
lower  jaw}  which  curved  down  like"  those  of  the  walrus.  Like  the 
rhinoceros,  it  lived  in  the  water,  and  was  well  adapted  to  the  lacus 
trine  condition  of  the  earth  common  at  the  time  it  flourished.  The 
Megatherium,  belonging  to  the  sloth  family,  was  also  of  colossal 
dimensions.  Its  body,  in  some  instances  18  feet  long,  rested  on 
legs  resembling  columns  of  support  rather  than  organs  of  locomo 
tion.  Its  spinal  column  contained  a  nerve  a  foot  in  diameter;  its 
femur  was  three  times  the  size  of  the  elephant's,  while  its  feet 
were  a  yard  in  length  and  more  than  a  foot  in  width.  The  tail 
near  the  body  was  two  feet  in  diameter,  and  used  with  its  hind 
legs  as  a  tripod  on  which  the  animal  sat  when  it  wielded  its  huge 
arms  and  hands. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  age  oscillations  occurred  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  continent,  greatly  modifying  the  condition  of  its  sur 
face.  During  the  upward  vibration  vast  glaciers  spread  over 
British  America  and  the  contiguous  portion  of  the  United  States. 
These  fields  of  ice,  becoming  filled  with  hard  boulders,  and  mov 
ing  southward  by  expansion,  ground  into  fragments  the  underlying 
rocks.  The  sediment  was  gathered  up  by  the  moving  mass,  and 
when  a  latitude  sufficiently  warm  to  melt  the  ice  was  reached,  it 
was  spread  over  the  surface.  Accumulations  of  this  kind  consti 
tute  the  drift  which  extends  from  Xew  England  westward  beyond 
the  Mississippi,  and  from  the  39th  parallel  northward  to  an  un 
known  limit.  In  Illinois,  with  the  exception  of  small  areas  in  the 
northwestern  and  southern  parts  of  the  State,  it  covers  the  entire 
surface  with  a  varying  stratum  of  from  10  to  200  feet  in  thickness. 
Here,  and  in  other  parts  of  the  West,  not  only  glaciers,  but  ice 
bergs,  Avere  connected  with  its  distribution.  The  waters  of  the 


GEOLOGY.  11 


lakes  then  extended  southward  perhaps  to  the  highlands,  crossing 
the  State  from  Grand  Tower  east  toward  the  Ohio.  This  barrier 
formed  the  southern  limits  of  this  sea,  and  also  of  the  drift  which 
was  distributed  over  its  bottom  by  floating  bodies  of  ice  filled  with 
sediment  previously  detached  from  the  glaciers  further  north.  The 
upward  movement  of  the  glacial  epoch  was  followed  by  a  depres 
sion  of  the  surface  below  its  present  level.  The  subsidence  in 
Connecticut  was  50  feet;  in  Massachusetts,  170;  in  Xew  Hamp 
shire,  200;  at  Montreal,  450;  and  several  hundred  in  the  region  of 
Illinois  and  the  Pacific.  Previously  the  adjacent  Atlantic  seaboard 
extended  into  the  sea  beyond  its  present  limits ;  now  it  receded, 
and  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Lake  Champlain  became  gulfs  extend 
ing  far  inland.  As  the  result  of  the  down-throw  the  temperature 
was  elevated,  causing1  the  glaciers  to  melt,  and  a  further  dissemi 
nation  of  the  drift.  Regular  outlines,  due  to  the  dinamic  forces, 
ice  and  water,  were  thus  imparted  to  the  surface,  which  a  subse 
quent  emergence  brought  to  its  present  level.  Order,  beauty,  and 
utility  sprang  into  being  and  harmony  with  man,  the  highest  type 
of  terrestrial  life,  now  in  the  dawn  of  his  existence. 

The  Aye  of  Man  commenced  with  the  present  geological  condi 
tions.  The  great  mountain  reliefs  and  diversities  of  climate  at 
tending  the  present  and  the  close  of  the  preceding  age,  largely 
augmented  the  variety  of  physical  conditions  which  modify  vege 
table  and  animal  life/  Multiplying  under  these  diverse  influences, 
the  present  flora  exceeds  100,000  species.  The  palm  alone,  culmi 
nating  in  the  present  era,  and  standing  at  the  head  of  the  vegeta 
ble  kingdom,  embraces  1,000.  Commensurate  with  the  variety  of 
plants  is  the  extent  of  their  distribution.  They  are  found  univer 
sally,  from  Arctic  snows  to  Tropical  sands,  growing  in  the  air  and 
water,  covering  the  land  with  verdure,  and  ministering  to  the 
wants  of  their  cousins,  the  different  forms  of  animal  life.  In  the 
jungle  the  wild  beast  makes  his  lair;  the  bird  builds  her  nest  in 
their  sheltering  leaves  and  branches,  and  subsists  on  their  fruits; 
and  man  converts  them  into  innumerable  forms  of  food,  ornaments 
and  material  for  the  construction  of  his  dwellings.  In  the  oak 
and  towering  cedar  their  forms  are  venerable  and  majestic;  grace 
ful  and  beautiful  in  the  waving  foliage  and  clinging  vine,  and  pro 
foundly  interesting  in  their  growth  and  structure ;  crowned  Avith 
a  floral  magnificence  greatly  transcending  their  predecessors  of 
previous  ages,  they  give  enchantment  to  the  landscape,  sweetness 
to  the  vernal  breeze,  and  refinement  and  purity  to  all  who  come 
within  their  influence.  As  in  the  case  of  plants,  a  diversity  of 
physical  conditions  has  impressed  a  multiplicity  and  variety  upon 
the  animals.  The  approximate  number  of  species  at  the  present 
time  is  350,000,  each  sub-kingdom  numbering  as  follows :  Eadi- 
ates,  10,000 ;  Mollusks,  20,000  ;  Articulates,  300,000 ;  Vertebrates, 
21,000.  Of  the  existing  Vertebrates,  Fishes  embrace  10,000 ;  Kep- 
tiles,  2,000 ;  Birds,  7,000,  and  Mammals,  2,000.  With  the  appear 
ance  of  Man  on  the  stage  of  being,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  pre 
ceding  age,  many  types  of  the  lower  animals,  in  which  magnitude 
and  brute  ferocity  were  prominent  characteristics,  became  extinct. 
Their  successors,  as  if  harmonizing  with  the  higher  life  developing 
in  their  midst,  were  generally  reduced  in  size,  less  brutal  in  their 
nature,  and  more  active,  beautiful  and  intelligent. 

Recent  discoveries  have  shown  that  the  appearance  of  man,  in- 


12  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

stead  of  being  confined  to  the  geological  age  which  bears  his  name, 
must  be  extended  back  to  an  indefinite  period.  His  remains  and 
the  relics  of  his  art  show  that  he  was  a  contemporary  of  the  mam 
moth;  that  he  witnessed  the  inundation  that  buried  the  northern 
plains  of  the  Old  and  New  Worlds  under  the  sea  of  ice  5  and  that 
even  before  that  time,  when  sub-tropical  animals  disported  them 
selves  in  the  forests  of  middle  Europe,  have  traces  of  his  existence 
been  discovered.  Though  the  absolute  time  of  his  advent  cannot 
be  determined,  he  doubtless  was  an  inhabitant  of  the  earth  several 
hundred  thousand  years  before  he  was'  sufficiently  intelligent  to 
preserve  the  records  of  his  own  history.  His  appearance  as  the 
head  of  the  animal  kingdom  marks  a  new  stage  in  the  unfoldment 
of  terrestrial  life.  His  claim  to  this  preeminence  is  based  on  the 
superiority  of  his  mental,  moral  and  spiritual  endowments.  Having 
an  understanding  capable  of  endless  progression  in  knowledge,  he 
is  able  to  study  the  laAvs  of  nature  and  make  them  subservient  to 
his  will  and  wants;  to  institute  systems  of  government  for  his 
protection,  and  to  hold  in  subjection  the  lower  animals,  however 
greatly  they  may  exceed  him  in  size  or  physical  strength.  He  is 
the  first  of  terrestrial  beings  capable  of  comprehending  the  nature 
of  moral  relations  ;  of  distinguishing  right  from  wrong,  and  of  deri 
ving  happiness  from  the  practice  of  virtue  and  suffering  in  conse 
quence  of  vice.  In  his  reverence  for  the  Deity  and  aspirations  for 
immortality  he  is  removed  still  further  from  the  animal  plain,  and 
stands  as  a  connecting  link  between  the  latter  and  spirit  exist- 
ance. 

The  present  age  still  retains,  in  a  diminished  degree  of  activity, 
the  geological  forces  of  previous  periods.  Extensive  flats  at  many 
points  along  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  the  deltas  and  other  alluvial 
formations  of  rivers,  are  slowly  extending  the  present  surface. 
The  latter,  in  many  places,  is  becoming  modified  by  the  produc- 


oscillations.  As  observed  by  Moravian  settlers,  the  western  coast 
of  Greenland,  for  a  distance  of  000  miles,  has  been  slowly  sinking 
during  the  last  four  centuries.  The  border  of  the  continent,  from 
Labrador  southward  to  New  Jersey,  is  supposed  to  be  undergoing 
changes  of  level,  but  more  accurate  observations  will  be  necessary 
to  determine  the  extent  of  the  movement. 

Like  the  uninterrupted  course  of  human  history  there  are  no 
strongly  drawn  lines  between  the  ages  and  their  corresponding 
system  of  rocks  and  organic  remains.  Culminent  phases  occur, 
giving  distiiictiveiiess  to  the  center  of  each  and  distinguishing  it 
from  others.  The  germ  of  each  Avas  long  working  forward  in  the 
past  before  it  attained  its  full  development  and  peculiar  character, 
and  extended  far  into  the  future  for  its  decline  and  final  extinction. 
There  is,  hence,  a  blending  of  periods  and  their  products,  and, 
while  centrally  well  defined,  their  beginnings  and  endings  are 
without  lines  of  demarkatioii.  The  ratios,  representing  the  com 
parative  length  of  each  age  as  determined  by  the  thickness  of  its 

TVW*1."S^      Oll/l       'Mi/i     T»:~*-f-/i    s\-F    -d-1^,r\-J-M     -£V,-~,    ^  -,.  -L  *  . /•    n  ^      i 


GEOLOGY.  13 


these  results  are  only  approximations  to  the  truth.  They  are, 
however,  sufficiently  correct  to  give  the  proportionate  duration  of 
these  great  geological  eras,  and  Avill  doubtless,  by  future  research, 
be  rendered  more  accurate.  Could  definite  intervals  of  time  be 
substituted  for  these  ratios,  the  most  ample  evidence  exists  to 
prove  that  the  results  would  be  inconceivably  great.  Even  with 
in  the  period  of  existing  causes,  the  mind  is  startled  at  the  tre 
mendous  sweep  of  ages  required  to  effect  comparatively  small 
results.  The  waters  of  Lake  Erie  originally  extended  below  the 
present  Falls  of  Niagara,  and  the  cataract,  in  subsequently  pass 
ing  from  the  same  point  to  its  present  position,  excavated  the 
intervening  channel  of  the  river.  Allowing  the  rate  of  movement 
to  be  one  inch  per  year,  which  is  perhaps  not  too  low  an  estimate, 
it  would  require  380,000  years  to  pass  over  the  six  miles  of  retro 
cession.  Judging  from  this  estimate,  what  time  would  be  required 
to  excavate  the  canon  of  the  Colorado,  which  is  300  miles  long, 
and  has  been  worn  a  large  part  of  the  distance  through  granite 
from  3000  to  6000  feet  in  depth.  Captain  Hunt,  who  for  many 
years  was  stationed  at  Key  West,  and  whose  opportunity  for 
observations  was  good,  estimates  that  the  coral  insects,  which 
have  built  up  the  limestone  formations  of  Florida,  must  have 
required  more  than  5,000,000  years  to  complete  their  labors. 


CHAPTER  II. 
THE  TOPOGRAPHY,  RIVERS,  SOIL  AXD  CLIMATOLOGY. 


The  Hirers  and  Topography  of  tlie  State  are  based  upon  and  cor 
respond  with  its  geological  formations.  The  surface,  inclination 
and  the  direction  of  the  interior  drainage  faces  the  southwest. 
Rock  river,  flowing  southwesterly  through  one  of  the  most  beau 
tiful  and  fertile  regions,  enters  the  Mississippi  just  below  the 
Upper  Rapids.  The  Desplaines,  rising  in  Wisconsin  west  of  Lake 
Michigan,  and  flowing  southward,  and  the  Kankakee,  rising  in 
Indiana,  south  of  the  lake,  and  flowing  westward,  form  the  Illinois. 
The  latter  stream,  the  largest  in  the  State,  courses  across  it  in  a 
southwesterly  direction  and  falls  into  the  Mississippi  not  far  from 
the  city  of  Alton.  The  Kaskaskia  rises  near  the  eastern  boundary 
of  the  State  and  the  4()th  parallel  of  latitude,  flows  in  a  soutliAvest 
direction,  and  forms  a  junction  with  the  Mississippi  not  far  from 
the  town  which  bears  its  name.  These  and  other  smaller  streams 
.flow  through  valleys  originally  excavated  in  solid  limestone  by 
ancient  rivers  anterior  to  the  formation  of  the  drift.  The  latter 
material  was  subsequently  deposited  in  these  primitive  water 
courses  from  10  to  more  than  200  feet  in  thickness,  and  now  forms 
the  channel  of  the  existing  streams.  For  the  formation  of  these 
ancient  river  beds  of  such  great  width  and  frequently  excavated 
several  hundred  feet  in  hard  carboniferous  rocks,  the"  diminished 
waters  now  flowing  within  their  lining  of  drift  are  wholly  inade 
quate.  Furthermore,  the  alluvial  valleys  which  the  rivers  now 
occupy  are  far  too  broad  to  correspond  with  the  present  volume 
and  swiftness  of  the  waters.  The  alluvial  bottoms  of  the  Illinois 
are  nearly  equal  to  those  of  the  Mississippi,  though  the  latter  has 
a  current  twice  as  rapid  and  a  quantity  of  water  (>  times  as  large 
as  the  former  stream.  The  smaller  streams  of  the  State  occupy 
valleys  filled  with  drift,  through  which  the  waters  have  been  unable 
to  cut  their  way  to  the  ancient  troughs  below.  Owing  to  this,  the 
stratified  rocks  in  many  localities  have  never  become  exposed,  and 
it  is  difficult  for  the  geologist  to  determine  the  character  of  the 
underlyin g  formations. 

Though  the  surface  of  the  State  is  generally  level  or  slightly 
undulating,  there  are  some  portions  of  it  considerably  eleva 
ted.  The  highest  summits  are  found  along  the  northern  border 
between  Freeport  and  Galena,  known  as  the  mounds.  The  culmi 
nant  points  of  altitude  are  200  feet  above  the  surrounding  country, 
575  above  the  Avaters  of  Lake  Michigan,  000  above  the  junction 
of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  and  1,150  above  the  ocean.  The  tops 
of  the  mounds  coincide  with  the  original  elevation  of  the  surface, 
and  their  present  condition  as  isolated  hills  is  due  to  denuding; 


TOPOGRAPHY  AND   RIVERS.  15 

forces  which  have  carried  away  the  surrounding  strata.  Mounds 
occur  in  other  places,  some  of  them  having  a  hight  of  50  feet,  and 
frequently  a  crown  of  timber  upon  their  summits,  which  gives  them 
the  appearance  of  islands  in  surrounding  seas  of  prairie  verdure. 
Besides  the  mounds  there  are  in  the  State  5  principal  axes  of  dis 
turbance  and  elevation.  The  most  northerly  of  these  enters  it  in 
Stephenson  county,  crossing  Rock  river  near  Dixon,  and  the  Illinois 
not  far  from  LaSalle.  On  the  former  river  it  brings  to  the  surface 
the  St.  Peters  sandstone;  on  the  latter,  magnesian.  limestone,  a 
Hilurian  formation.  At  LaSalle  the  coal  strata  are  uplifted  to  the 
surface  from  a  depth  of  400  feet,  which  shows  that  the  disturbance 
occurred  after  their  formation.  On  the  Mississippi,  in  Calhoun 
county,  there  occurred  an  upheaval  of  the  strata,  attended  with  a 
down  throw  of  more  than  1,000  feet.  On  the  south  side  of  the 
axis  the  Burlington  limestone  of  the  subcarboniferous  series  had 
its  strata  tilted  up  almost  perpendicular  to  the  horizon.  On  the 
north  side  the  St.  Peters  sandstone  and  magnesian  limestone  were 
elevated,* and  form  the  bluff  known  as  Sandstone  Cape.  This 
bluff,  at  the  time  of  its  elevation,  was  doubtless  a  mountain  mass 
of  1,500  feet  in  hight,  and  has  since  been  reduced  to  its  present 
altitude  by  the  denuding  effects  of  water.  The  same  axes-  of  dis 
turbance,  trending  in  a  southeastern  direction,  crosses  the  Illinois  6 
miles  above  its  mouth,  and  farther  southward  again  strikes  the 
Mississippi  and  disappears  in  its  channel.  Farther  down  the  river 
another  uplift  dislocates  the  strata  near  the  southern  line  of  St. 
Clair  county.  This  disturbance  extends  by  way  of  Columbia,  in 
Monroe  county,  to  the  Mississippi,  and  brings  to -the  surface  the 
same  limestone  and  the  St.  Peters  sandstone.  Again,  farther 
southward,  an  uplifted  mountain  ridge  extends  from  Grand  Tower, 
on  the  Mississippi,1  to  Shawneetown,  on  the  Ohio;  on  the  west  of 
the  Mississippi  it  brings  the  lower  Silurian  rocks  to  the  surface ;  in 
Jackson  county,  Illinois,  it  tilts  up  the  Devonian  limestone  at  an 
angle  of  25  degrees;  and  farther  eastward  the  subcarboniferous 
limestone  becomes  the  surface  rock.  The  last  important  point  of 
disturbance  occurs  in  Alexander  county,  constituting  the  Grand 
Chain,  a  dangerous  reef  of  rocks,  extending  across  the  Mississippi 
and  forming  a  bluff  on  the  Illinois  shore  70  feet  high.  Passing 
thence  in  a  southeastern  direction,  it  crosses  the  Ohio  a  few  miles 
above  Caledonia,  in  Pulaski  county.* 

The  Formation  of  the  Soil  is  due  to  geological  and  other  physi 
cal  agencies.  From  long  habit  we  are  accustomed  to  look  upon  it 
without  considering  its  wonderful  properties  and  great  importance 
in  the  economy  of  animal  life.  Not  attractive  itself,  yet  its  pro 
ductions  far  transcend  the  most  elaborate  works  of  art ;  and  hav 
ing  but  little  diversity  of  appearance,  the  endless  variety  which 
pervades  the  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms  springs  from  its  pro 
lific  abundance.  Its  mysterious  elements,  incorporated  in  the  struc 
ture  of  plants,  clothes  the  earth  with  verdure  and  pleasant  land 
scapes.  They  bloom  in  the  flower,  load  the  breeze  with  fragrant 
odors,  blush  in  the  clustering  fruit,  whiten  the  fields  with  harvests 
for  the  supply  of  food,  furnish  the  tissues  which,  wrought  into 
fabrics,  decorate  and  protect  the  body,  and  yield  the  curative 
agents  for  healing  the  diseases  to  which  it  is  subject.  From  the 
source  also  proceed  the  elements  which,  entering  the  domain 

*Geological  Survey  of  Illinois,  by  ATH.  Worthen. 


16  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

of  animal  life,  pulsate  in  the  blood.,  suffuse  the  cheek  with  the 
glow  of  health,  speak  iu  the  eye,  in  the  nerve  become  the  recipi 
ents  of  pleasure  and  pain,  render  the  tongue  vocal  with  music  and 
eloquence,  and  fill  the  brain,  the  seat  of  reason  and  throne  of  the 
imagination,  with  its  glowing-  imagery  and  brilliant  fancies.  But 
while  the  soil  is  the  source  of  such  munificent  gifts,  it  is  also  the 
insatiable  bourne  to  which  they  must  all  return.  The  lofty  tree, 
spreading  its  vast  canvass  of  leaves  to  the  winds,  and  breasting 
the  storms  of  a  thousand  years,  finally  dies,  and  undergoing  de 
composition,  enriches  the  earth  in  which  it  grew.  The  king  of 
beasts,  whose  loud  roar  can  be  heard  for  miles,  and  whose  im 
mense  power  enables  him  to  prey  upon  the  denizens  of  his  native 
jungles,  cannot  resist  the  fate  which  at  length  consigns  his  sinewy 
frame  to  the  mold.  Even  the  lord  of  the  lower  world,  notwith 
standing  his  exalted  position  and  grasp  of  intellect,  must  likewise 
suiter  physical  death  and  mingle  with  the  sod  that  forms  his 
grave.  „. 

The  soil  was  originally  formed  by  the  decomposition  gf  rocks. 
These,  by  long  exposure  to  the  air,  water  and  frost,  became  disin 
tegrated,  and  the  comminuted  material  acted  upon  by  vegetation, 
forms  the  fruitful  mold  of  the  surface.  When  of  local  origin,  it 
varies  in  composition  with  the  changing  material  from  which  it  is 
derived.  If  sandstone  prevails,  it  is  too  porous  to  retain  fertiliz 
ing  agents ;  if  limestone  is  in  excess,  it  is  too  hot  and  dry  ;  and  if 
slate  predominates,  the  resulting  clay  is  too  wet  and  cold.  Hence 
it  is  only  a  combination  of  these  and  other  ingredients  that  can 
properly  adapt  the  earth  to  the  growth  of  vegetation.  Happily 
for  Illinois  the  origin  of  its  surface  formations  precludes  the  pos 
sibility  of  sterile  extremes  arising  from  local  causes.  As  we  have 
stated  before,  almost  the  entire  surface  of  the  State  is  a  stratum 
of  drift,  formed  by  the ,  decomposition  of  every  variety  of  rock, 
and  commingled  in  a  homogeneous  mass  by  the  agents"  employed 
in  its  distribution.  This  immense  deposit,  varying  from  10  to  200 
feet  in  thickness,  required  for  its  production  physical  conditions 
which  do  not  IIOAV  exist.  We  must  go  far  back  "in  the  history  of 
the  planet,  when  the  Polar  world  was  a  desolation  of  icy  wastes. 
From  these  dreary  realms  of  enduring  frosts  vast  glaciers, "reaching 
southward,  dipped  into  the  waters  of  an  inland  sea,  extending 
over  a  large  part  of  the  upper  Mississippi  valley.  These  ponder 
ous  masses,  moving  southward  with  irresistible  power,  tore  im 
mense  boulders  from  their  parent  ledges  and  incorporated  them 
in  their  structure.  By  means  of  these,  in  their  further  progress, 
they  grooved  and  planed  down  the  subjacent  rocks,  gathering  up 
and  carrying  with  them  part  of  the  abraded  material  and  strew 
ing  their  track  for  hundreds  of  miles  with  the  remainder.  On 
reaching  the  shore  of  the  interior  sea  huge  icebergs  were  projected 
from  their  extremities  into  the  waters,  which,  melting  as  they 
floated  into  warmer  latitudes,  distributed  the  detrital  matter  they 
contained  over  the  bottom.  Thus,  long  before  the  plains  of  Illi 
nois  clanked  with  the  din  of  railroad  trains,  these  ice-formed  navies 
plowed  the  seas  in  which  they  were  submerged,  and  distributed 
over  them  cargoes  of  soil-producing  sediment,  No  mariner  walked 
their  crystal  decks  to  direct  their  course,  and  no  pennon  attached 
to  their  glittering  masts  trailed  in  the  winds  that  urged  them  for 
ward  5  yet  they  might  perhaps  have  sailed  under  the  flags  of  a 


SOIL.  17 

hundred  succeeding  empires,  each  as  old  as  the  present  nationali 
ties  of  the  earth,  during  the  performance  of  their  labors.  This 
splendid  soil-forming  deposit  is  destined  to  make  Illinois  the  great 
centre  of  American  wealth  and  population.  Perhaps  no  other 
country  of  the  same  extent  on  the  face  of  the  globe  can  boast  a 
soil  so  ubiquitous  in  its  distribution  and  so  universally  productive. 
Enriched  by  all  the  minerals  in  the  crust  of  the  earth,  it  necessa 
rily  contains  a  great  variety  of  constituents.  Since  plants  differ 
so  widely  in  the  elements  of  which  they  are  composed,  this  multi 
plicity  of  composition  is  the  means  of  growing  a  great  diversity 
of  crops,  and  the  amount  produced  is  correspondingly  large.  So 
great  is  the  fertility,  that  years  of  continued  cultivation  do  not 
materially  diminish  the  yield,  and  should  sterility  be  induced  by 
excessive  working,  the  subsoil  can  be  made  available.  This  ex 
tends  from  2  to  10  and  even  20  and  30  feet  in  depth,  and  when 
mixed  with  the  mold  of  the  surface,  gives  it  a  greater  producing 
capacity  than  it  had  at  first.  Other  States  have  limited  areas  as 
productive,  but  nearly  the  entire  surface  of  Illinois  is  arable  land, 
and  when  brought  under  cultivation  will  become  one  continued 
scene  of  verdure  and  agricultural  profusion.  With  not  half  of  its 
area  improved,  the  State  has  become  the  granary  of  the  continent ; 
far  excels  any  other  member  of  the  Union  in  packing  pork  ;  fat 
tens  more  than  half  of  all  the  cattle  shipped  to  the  Eastern  mar 
kets,  and  if  prices  were  as  remunerative,  could  furnish  other 
products  to  a  corresponding  extent.  Graded  to  a  proper  level, 
and  free  from  obstructions,  the  State  has  become  the  principal 
theatre  for  the  use  and  invention  of  agricultural  implements. 
Owing  to  the  cheapness  attending  the  use  of  machinery,  with  a 
given  amount  of  capital,  a  greater  extent  of  lands  can  be  culti 
vated.  The  severity  of  the  labor  expended  is  also  proportionately 
diminished,  and  those  engaged  in  husbandry  have  time  to  become 
acquainted  with  the  theoretical  as  well  as  the  practical  part  of 
their  duties.  The  profound  philosophy  involved  in  the  growtlrof 
plants  furnishes  a  field  for  investigation  and  experiment  requiring 
the  highest  order  of  talent  and  the  most  varied  and  extensive  at 
tainments.  Agriculture,  aided  by  chemistry,  vegetable  physiology 
and  kindred  branches  of  knowledge,  will  greatly  enhance  the  pro 
ductiveness  of  the  land.  Thus  with  the  advantages  of  science,  a 
superior  soil,  and  the  use  of  machinery,  agriculture  will  always 
remain  the  most  attractive,  manly  and  profitable  branch  of  indus 
try  in  which  the  people  of  Illinois  can  engage,  contributing  more 
than  any  other  pursuit  to  individual  comfort,  and  proportionally 
adding  to  the  prosperity  of  the  State.  The  cultivation  of  the  soil 
in  all  ages  has  furnished  employment  for  the  largest  and  best  por 
tion  of  mankind  5  yet  the  honor  to  which  they  are  entitled  has 
never  been  fully  acknowledged.  Though  their  occupation  is  the 
basis  of  national  prosperity,  and  upon  its  progress  more  than  any 
other  branch  of  industry  depends  the  march  of  civilization,  yet 
its  history  remains  to  a  great  extent  unwritten.  Historians  duly 
chronicle  the  feats  of  the  warrior  who  ravages  the  earth  and  beg 
gars  its  inhabitants,  but  leaves  unnoticed  the  labors  of  him  who 
causes  the  desolated  country  to  bloom  again,  and  heals  with  the 
balm  of  plenty  the  miseries  of  war.  When  true  worth  is  duly  re 
cognized,  instead  of  the  mad  ambition  which  subjugates  nations 
to  acquire  power,  the  heroism  which  subdues  the  soil  and  feeds 
2 


18  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

the  world,  Avill  be  the  theme  of  the  poet's  song  and  the  orator's 
eloquence. 

The  Origin-  of  the  Prairies  has  been  a  source  of  speculation. 
One  theory  is  that  the  soil  resulted  from  the  decomposition  of 
vegetable  matter  under  water,  and  that  the  attending  conditions 
were  incompatible  with  the  growth  of  timber.  According  to  this 
view,  prairies  are  at  present  in  process  of  formation  along  the 
shores  of  lakes  and  rivers.  During  river  freshets  the  heaviest 
particles  settle  nearest  the  channel,  and  here  by  repeated  deposits 
the  banks  first  became  elevated  above  the  floods.  These  natural 
levies  becoming  sufficiently  high,  are  overgrown  with  timber  and 
inclose  large  areas  of  bottom  lands  back  from  the  river,  by  which 
they  are  frequently  inundated.  The  waters  on  these  flats,  when 
the  flood  subsides,  are  cut  off  from  the  river  and  form  sloughs, 
frequently  of  great  extent.  Their  shallow  and  stagnant  waters 
are  first  invaded  by  mosses  and  other  aquatic  plants  which  grow 
under  the  surface  and  contain  in  their  tissues  lime,  allurnina,  and 
silica,  the  constituents  of  clay.  They  also  subsist  immense  num 
bers  of  small  mollusks  and  other  diminutive  creatures,  and  the 
constant  decomposition  of  both  vegetables  and  animals  forms  a 
stratum  of  clay  corresponding  with  that  which  underlies  the  fin 
ished  prairies.  As  the  marshy  bottoms  are  by  this  means  built 
up  to  the  surface  of  the  water,  the  mosses  are  then  intermixed 
with  coarse  grasses,  which  become  more  and  more  abundant  as  the 
depth  diminishes.  These  reedy  plants,  now  rising  above  the  sur 
face,  absorb  and  decompose  the  carbonic  acid  gas  of  the  atmos 
phere,  and  convert  it  into  woody  matter,  which  at  first  forms  a 
clayey  mold  and  afterwards  the  black  mold  of  the  prairie.  *  The 
same  agencies,  now  operating  in  the  ponds  skirting  the  banks  of 
rivers,  originally  formed  all  the  prairies  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 
We  have  already  seen  that  the  surface  of  the  land  was  submerged 
during  the  dispersion  of  the  drift,  and  in  its  slow  emergence  after 
ward,  it  was  covered  by  vast  sheets  of  shallow  water,  which  first 
formed  swamps  and  subsequently  prairies.  The  present  want  of 
liorizontality  in  some  of  them  is  due  to  the  erosive  action  of  water. 
The  drainage,  moving  in  the  direction  of  the  creeks  and  rivers,  at 
length  furrowed  the  surface  with  tortuous  meanders,  resulting 
finally  in  the  present  undulating  prairies.  The  absence  of  trees,  the 
most  remarkable  feature,  is  attributable  first  to  the  formation  of 
ulmic  acid,  which  favors  the  growth  of  herbacious  plants  and  retards 
that  of  forests ;  secondly,  trees  absorb  by  their  roots  large  quantities 
of  air,  which  they  cannot  obtain  when  the  surface  is  under  water  or 
covered  by  a  compact  sod;  and  thirdly,  they  require  solid  points 
of  attachment  which  marshy  flats  are  unable  to  furnish.  When, 
however,  the  lands  become  dry  and  the  sod  is  broken  by  the  plow 
or  otherwise  destroyed,  they  ijroduce  all  the  varieties  of  arbores 
cent  vegetation  common  to  their  latitude.  Indeed,  since  the  settle 
ment  of  Illinois,  the  woodland  area  of  many  localities  extends  far 
beyond  its  original  limits. 

The  foregoing  theory  requires  a  large,  unvarying  quantity  -of 
water,  while  another,  perhaps  equally  plausible,  is  based  on  aque 
ous  conditions  almost  the  reverse.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
different  continental  masses  of  the  globe  are  in  general  surrounded 
by  zones  of  timber,  and  have  within  them  belts  of  grasses,  and 
centrally  large  areas  of  inhospitable  deserts.  On  the  Atlantic  side 


PRAIRIES 


JL9 


of  Xorth  America  there  is  a  continuous  wooded  region,  extending 
from  Hudson  Bay  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  while  on  the  Pacific  a  simi 
lar  arborescent  growth  embraces  some  of  the  most  gigantic  speci 
mens  of  the  vegetable  kingdom.  Within  these  bands  of  timber, 
which  approach  each  other  in  their  northern  and  southern  reaches, 
are  the  great  prairies  extending  transversely  across  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  and  having  their  greatest  expansion  in  the  valley  of  the 
Missouri.  Farther  westward,  from  increasing  dryness,  the  grasses 
entirely  disappear,  and  the  great  American  Desert  usurps  their 
place.  This  alternation  of  forest,  prairie,  and  desert,  corres 
ponds  with  the  precipitation  of  moisture.  The  ocean  is  the  great 
source  of  moisture,  and  the  clouds  are  the  vehicles  employed  for 
its  distribution  over  the  land.  From  .actual  measurement  it  has 
been  ascertained  that  they  discharge  most  of  their  water  on  the 
exterior  rim  of  the  continents ;  that  farther  toward  the  interior 
the  amount  precipitated  is  less,  and  finally  it  is  almost  entirely 
supplanted  by  the  aridity  of  the  desert.  In  a  section  extending 
across  the  continent  from  ]STew  York  to  San  Francisco,  the  amount 
of  rain-fall  strikingly  coincides  with  the  alternations  of  wood-land, 
prairie,  and  desert.  The  region  extending  from  Kew  York,  which 
has  an  annual  rain-fall  of  42  inches,  to  Ann  Arbor,  having  29 
inches,  is  heavily  covered  with  timber;  thence  to  Galesburg,  111., 
having  26  inches,*  is  mostly  prairie  interspersed  with  clumps  of 
forest ;  thence  to  Fort  Laramie,  having  20  inches,  it  rapidly 
changes  to  a  continuous  prairie ;  thence  to  Fort  Younia,  having 
only  3  inches,  it  becomes  an  inhospitable  desert ;  and  thence  to 
San  Francisco,  having  22  inches,  it  changes  to  luxuriant  forests. 
Illinois  is  thus  within  the  region  of  alternate  wood  and  prairie, 
with  the  latter  largely  predominating.  This  wide  belt,  owing  to  a 
difference  of  capacity  for  retaining  moisture,  has  its  eastern  and 
western  borders  thrown  into  irregular  outlines,  resembling  deeply 
indented  bays  and  projecting  headlands.  As  the  result  of  decreas- 
( ing  moisture,  only  90  arborescent  species  are  found  in  the  wooded 
'  region  which  on  the  east  extends  a  considerable  distance  into 
Illinois,  and  all  of  these,  except  6,  disappear  farther  westward. 
The  diminished  precipitation  in  Illinois,  and  the  great  valley  east 
of  the  Mississippi,  while  it  has  an  unfavorable  effect  on  the  growth 
of  trees,  seems  rather  to  enhance  the  growth  of  crops.  In  further 
confirmation  of  this  theory,  the  same  physicial  laws  which  have 
diversified  Xorth  America  with  forest,  prairie,  and  desert,  have 
produced  similar  effects  upon  other  continents.  Hence  it  is  that 
South  America  has  its  Atacama,  Africa  its  great  Sahara,  Europe 
its  barren  steppes,  and  Asia  its  rainless  waste  of  sand  and  salt,, 
extending  through  more  than  100  degrees  of  longitude.  All  these 
desert  places,  where  local  causes  do  not  interfere,  are  girt  about 
by  grassy  plains  and  belts  of  forest. 

*  The  subjoined  table  has  been  kindly  furnished  us  by  Prof.  Livingstone,  of  Lombard  Uni 
versity.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  mean  annual  temperature  of  Gralesbtucg  is  48  degrees,  and  its 
mean  annual  precipitation  of  moisture  24  inches.  The  sonthem  and  western  portions  of  the 
State  slightly  exceed  the  above  figures: 


Jan.  I  Feb. 

Ms 

i 

r. 

Jo 

Apr.  |  May. 

June. 

July. 

Aug.  1  Sep.   |  Oct. 

Xov.  |  Dec. 

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14  240 

14  30° 

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as 

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26 

20  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Some  eminent  physicists  refer  the  treeless  character  of  the  great 
grassy  plains  to  the  mechanical  and  chemical  character  of  the  soil. 
Perhaps,  in  the  constantly  varying  physical,  conditions  of  different 
localities,  the  forces  alluded  to  in  these  theories  advanced,  may  all 
co-operate  to  produce  these  great  grassy  expanses,  which  consti 
tute  so  large  a  part  of  the  earth's  surface.  To  Illinois  they  are 
inexhaustible  sources  of  wealth,  and  as  intimately  connected  with 
her  destiny  as  the  great  coal  fields  which  underlie  them.  Both  are 
the  expression  of  natural  law,  both  destined  to  furnish  the  State 
with  the  elements  of  future  greatness  and  power,  and  both  pro 
phetic  of  labor,  intelligence  and  the  enjoyment  of  a  noble  man 
hood.* 

The  Climatology  of  the  State,  in  common  with  other  countries  of 
the  same  latitude,  has  four  seasons.  The  melting  snows  of  winter, 
generally  attended  by  rains,  convert  the  rich  soil  of  the  prairie  into 
mud,  and  render  early  spring  the  most  unpleasant  part  of  the  year. 
The  heat  of  summer,  although  more  intense  than  in  the  same  lati 
tude  on  the  Atlantic,  is  greatly  relieved  by  the  constant  breezes 
which  fan  the  prairies.  Autumn,  with  slowly  diminishing  heats, 
terminates  in  the  serene  and  beautiful  season  known  as  Indian 
summer.  Its  mild  and  uniform  temperature,  soft  and  hazy  atmos 
phere,  and  forests  beautifully  tinted  with  the  hues  of  dying  foliage, 
all  conspire  to  render  it  the  pleasant  part  of  the  year.  Next  come 
the  boreal  blasts  of  winter,  with  its  social  firesides,  and  tinkling 
bells  in  the  mystic  light  of  the  moon,  as  merry  sleighs  skim  over 
the  level  snow-clad  prairies.  The  winter  has  its  sudden  changes 
of  temperature,  causing  colds  and  other  diseases  arising  from 
extreme  vicissitudes  of  weather.  This  is  the  most  unfavorable 
feature  of  the  climate,  which  in  other  respects  is  salubrious.  The 
general  belfef  that  Illinois  is  scourged  by  bilious  diseases  is  sub 
stantially  unfounded.  It  is  well  known  that  the  pioneers  of  Ohio, 
Indiana  and  Michigan  suffered  far  worse  from  malarious  diseases 
than  those  who  first  subdued  the  soil  of  Illinois.  The  cause  of 
this  is  apparent.  The  malaria  of  marshes  and  unsubdued  soils  in 
wooded  districts,  excluded  from  the  light  of  the  sun  and  a  free 
circulation  of  air,  is  far  more  malignant  than  that  of  the  prairie 
having  the  full  benefit  of  these  counteracting  agents.t 

The  most  distinguishing  feature  of  the  climate  is  its  sub-tropical 
summers  and  the  arctic  severities  of  its  winters.  The  newly 
arrived  English  immigrant  is  at  first  inclined  to  complain  of  these 
climatic  extremes,  but  a  short  residence  in  the  country  soon  con 
vinces  him  that  many  of  the  most  kindly  fruits  and  plants  could 
not  be  cultivated  and  matured  without  them.  Owing  to  this  tropical 
element  of  the  summer,  the  peach,  grape,  sweet  potato,  cotton, 
corn  and  other  plants  readily  mature  in  Illinois,  though  its  mean 
annual  temperature  is  less  than  that  of  England,  where  their  cul 
tivation  is  impossible.  These  facts  show  that  a  high  temperature 
for  a  short  season  is  more  beneficial  to  some  of  the  most  valued 
plants  than  a  moderate  temperature  long  continued.  This  is  well 
exemplified  in  the  cultivation  of  our  great  staple,  maize,  or  Indian 
corn,  which,  wherever  the  conditions  are  favorable,  yields  a  greater 
amount  of  nutriment,  with  a  given  amount  of  labor,  than  any 

*See  Geographical  Surveys  of  the  State,  and  Foster's  Physical  Geography  of  the  Missis 
sippi  Valley. 

{Foster's  Physical  Geography. 


CLIMATOLOGY.  21 


known  cereal.  It  was  originally  a  tropical  grass,  and  when  culti 
vated  in  regions  of  a  high  and  protracted  temperature,  exhibits  a 
strong  tendency  to  revert  to  its  original  condition.  In  the  Gulf  States 
it  grows  to  a  greater  hight  than  farther  northward,  but  its  yield  of 
seed  is  correspondingly  less.  In  the  valleys  opening  seaward  along 
the  Pacific  slope,  it  attains  a  medium  size,  but  fails  to  mature  for 
the  want  of  sufficient  heat.  Hence  the  districts  of  its  maximum 
production  must  be  far  north  of  its  native  latitudes,  and  have  the 
benefit  of  short  but  intense  summer  heats.  In  Illinois  and  adja 
cent  parts  of  the  great  valley  its  greatest  yield  is  about  the  41st 
parallel,  and  though  far  less  imposing  in  its  appearance  than  on 
the  Gulf,  its  productive  capacity  is  said  to  be  four-fold  greater 
than  either  there  or  on  the  Pacific.  It  is  wonderful  that  a  plant 
should  undergo  such  a  great  transformation  in  structure  and  nat 
ural  habits,  and  that  its  greatest  producing  capacity  should  be 
near  the  northern  limits  of  its  possible  cultivation.  "These  facts 
suggest  questions  of  great  scientific  value  relative  to  the  develop 
ment  of  other  plants  by  removing  them  from  their  native  localities. 

One  of  the  causes  which  assist  in  imparting  these  extremes  to 
the  climate  may  be  thus  explained.  The  different  continental 
masses  during  the  summer  become  rapidly  heated  under  the  influ 
ence  of  the  sun,  while  the  surrounding  oceans  are  less  sensitive  to 
its  effects.  As  the  result,  the  lauds  bordering  on  the  sea  have  a 
comparatively  mild  temperature,  while  the  interior  is  subject  to 
intense  heat.  During  winter,  for  similar  reasons,  the  interior 
becomes  severely  cold,  while  the  sea-girt  shore  still  enjoys  a  much 
milder  temperature.  But  a  greater  modifying  influence  upon  the 
climate  are  the  winds  to  which  it  is  subject.  The  source  of  these 
is  at  the  equator,  where  the  air,  becoming  raritied  from  the  effects 
of  heat,  rises  and  flows  in  vast  masses  toward  the  poles.  On 
reaching  colder  latitudes  it  descends  to  the  earth,  and  as  an  under 
current  returns  to  the  equator  and  supplies  the  tropical  vacuum 
caused  by  its  previous  ascent.  If  the  earth  were  at  rest,  the  two 
under  and  two  upper  currents  would  move  at  right  angles  to 
the  equator.  But,  owing  to  its  daily  revolution  from  west  to  east, 
the  imder-currents,  as  they  pass  from  the  poles  toward  the  equator 
where  the  rotation  is  greatest,  fall  behind  the  earth,  and  that  in 
the  northern,  hemisphere  flows  from  the  northeast,  and  that  in  the 
southern  from  the  southeast.  In  like  manner  the  upper-currents, 
flowing  from  the  greater  velocity  of  the  equator  toward  the  less  at 
the  poles,  get  in  advance  of  the  earth;  and  the  one  in  the  north 
flows  from  the  southwest,  and  the  other  in  the  south  from  the 
northwest.  If  the  globe  were  a  perfectly  smooth  sphere,  the  flow 
of  the  winds  as  above  described  would  be  uniform,  but  the  former 
being  crested  with  mountain  chains,  the  latter  are  broken  into  a 
great  variety  of  local  currents.  In  a  belt  of  about  2o  degrees  on 
each  side  of  the  equator,  the  under- currents  blow  with  the  greatest 
regularity,  and  are  called  trade-winds,  from  their  importance  to  nav 
igation  and  commerce. 

In  making  an  application  of  these  great  primary  currents  to  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and  consequently  to  Illinois,  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  southwest  winds,  descending  from  their  equato 
rial  altitude,  become  the  prevailing  winds  of  the  surface  in  our 
latitude.  Besides  these,  the  northeast  trade-winds,  in  their  pro 
gress  toward  the  equator,  impinge  against  the  lofty  chain  of  the 


22  HISTOKY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

Andes,  and  are  deflected  up  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  mingle 
with  the  winds  from  the  southwest,  In  their  passage  along  the 
Andes  Mountains,  and  across  the  Carribbean  Sea  and  the  Mexican 
Gulf,  they  become  charged  with  tropical  heat  and  moisture.  On 
entering  the  great  central  valley  of  the  continent,  walled  in  on 
both  sides  by  impassable  mountain  barriers,  they  are  directed  far 
northward,  and,  mingling  with  the  southwest  winds,  dispense  their 
waters,  warmth  and  fertility,  which  are  destined  to  make  it  the 
greatest  theatre  of  human  activities  on  the  face  of  the  globe. 
These  winds,  from  local  causes,  frequently  veer  about  to  different 
points  of  the  compass ;  and  in  Illinois  and  other  prairies  States, 
where  there  are  no  forest  belts  to  break  their  force,  frequently 
sweep  over  the  country  with  the  fury  of  tornadoes.  Almost  every 
year  has  recorded  instances  of  the  loss  of  life  and  property  from 
this  cause,  and  even  in  the  great  northern  forests  are  tracks  made 
by  their  passage,  as  well  defined  as  the  course  of  the  reaper  through 
a  field  of  grain. 


CHAPTER  III. 
ILLINOIS  ANTIQUITIES— THE  MOUND  BUILDERS. 


It  is  the  opinion  of  antiquarians  that  three  distinct  races  of 
people  lived  in  North  America  prior  to  its  occupation  by  the  present 
population.  Of  these  the  builders  of  the  magnificent  cities  whose 
remains  are  found  in  a  number  of  localities  of  Central  America 
were  the  most  civilized.  Judging  from  the  ruins  of  broken  columns, 
fallen  arches  and  the  crumbling  walls  of  temples,  palaces  and  pyr 
amids,  which  in  some  places  for  miles  bestrew  the  ground,  these 
cities  must  have  been  of  great  extent  and  very  populous.  The 
mind  is  almost  startled  at  the  remoteness  of  their  antiquity,  when 
we  consider  the  vast  sweep  of  time  necessary  to  erect  such  colossal 
structures  of  solid  masonry,  and  afterwards  convert  them  into  the 
present  utter  wreck.  Comparing  their  complete  desolation  with 
the  ruins  of  Balbec,  Palmyra,  Thebes  and  Memphis,  they  must 
have  been  old  when  the  latter  were  being  built.  May  not  America 
then  be  called  the  old  world  instead  of  the  new;  and  may  it  not 
have  contained,  when  these  Central  American  cities  were  erected, 
a  civilization  equal  if  not  superior  to  that  which  contemporane 
ously  existed  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  and  made  Egypt  the  cradle 
of  eastern  arts  and  science! 

The  second  race,  as  determined  by  the  character  of  their  civili 
zation,  were  the  mound  builders,  the  remains  of  whose  works  con 
stitute  the  most  interesting  class  of  antiquities  found  within  the 
limits  of  the  United  States.  Like  the  ruins  of  Central  America, 
they  antedate  the  most  ancient  records;  tradition  can  furnish  no 
account  of  them,  and  their  character  can  only  be  partially  gleaned 
from  the  internal  evidences  which  they  themselves  afford.  They 
consist  of  the  remains  of  what  was  apparently  villages,  altars, 
temples,  idols,  cemeteries,  monuments,  camps,  fortifications,  pleas 
ure  grounds,  etc.  The  farthest  relic  of  this  kind,  discovered  in  a 
northeastern  direction,  was  near  Black  river  on  the  south  side  of 
Lake  Ontario.  Thence  they  extend  in  a  southwestern  direction 
by  way  of  the  Ohio,  the  Mississippi,  Mexican  Gulf,  Texas,  New 
Mexico  and  Youcatan,  into  South  America.  Commencing  in  Cata- 
raugus  county,  New  York,  there  was  a  chain  of  forts  extending 
more  than  50  miles  southwesterly,  not  more  than.  4  or  5  miles 
apart,  and  evidently  built  by  a  people  rude  in  the  arts'  and  few  in 
numbers.  Further  southward  they  increase  in  number  and  mag 
nitude.  In  West  Virginia,  near  the  junction  of  Grave  creek  and 
the  Ohio,  is  one  of  the  most  august  monuments  of  remote  antiquity 
found  in  the  whole  country.  According  to  measurement  it  has  an 
altitude  of  90  feet,  a  diameter  at  the  base  of  100  feet,  and  at  the 
summit  of  45  feet,  while  a  partial  examination  discloses  within  it 


24  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

the  existence  of  many  thousands  of  human  skeletons.  In  Ohio, 
where  the  mounds  have  been  carefully  examined,  are  found  some 
of  the  most  extensive  and  interesting  that  occur  in  the  United 
States.  At  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum,  among  a  number  of 
curious  works,  was  a  rectangular  fort  containing  40  acres,  encircled 
by  a  wall  of  earth  10  feet  high,  and  perforated  with  openings 
resembling  gateways.  In  the  mound  near  the  fort  were  found  the 
remains  of  a  sword,  which  appeared  to  have  been  buried  with  its 
owner.  Besting  on  the  forehead  were  found  three  large  copper 
bosses,  plated  with  silver  and  attached  to  a  leather  buckler.  Near 
the  side  of  the  body  was  a  plate  of  silver,  which  had  perhaps  been, 
the  upper  part  of  a  copper  scabbard,  portions  of  which  were  tilled 
with  iron  rust,  doubtless  the  remains  of  a  sword.  A  fort  of  similar 
construction  and  dimensions  was  found  on  Licking  river,  near 
Newark.  Eight  gateways  pierced  the  walls,  and  were  guarded  by 
mounds  directly  opposite  each  on  the  inside  of  the  work.  At  Cir- 
cleville,  on  the  Scioto,  there  were  two  forts  in  juxtaposition;  the 
one  an  exact  circle  00  rods  in  diameter,  and  the  other  a  perfect 
square,  55  rods  on  each  side.  The  circular  fortification  was  sur 
rounded  by  two  walls,  with  an  intervening  ditch  20  feet  in  depth. 
On  Paint  creek,  15  miles  west  of  Chillicothe,  besides  other  exten 
sive  works,  was  discovered  the  remains  of  a  walled  town.  It  was 
built  011  the  summit  of  a  hill  about  300  feet  in  altitude,  and  encom 
passed  by  a  wall  10  feet  in  liight,  made  of  stone  in  their  natural 
state.  The  area  thus  inclosed  contained  130  acres.  On  the  south 
side  of  it  there  were  found  the  remains  of  what  appeared  originally 
to  have  been  a  row  of  furnaces  or  smith-shops,  about  which  cinders 
were  found  several  feet  in  depth.  In  the  bed  of  the  creek,  which 
washes  the  foot  of  the  hill,  were  found  wells  which  had  been  cut 
through  solid  rock.  They  were  more  than  3  feet  in  diameter  at  the 
top,  neatly  Availed  with  jointed  stones,  and,  at  the  time  of  discovery, 
covered  over  by  circular  stones.  So  numerous  were  works  of  this 
kind  in  Ohio  it  would  require  a  large  volume  to  speak  of  them  in 
detail. 

Along  the  Mississippi  they  reach  their  maximum  size  and  contain 
some  of  the  most  interesting  relics.  The  number  of  mounds  found 
here  at  an  early  day  were  estimated  at  more  than  3,000,  the  smallest 
of  which  were  not  less  than  20  feet  in  hight,  and  100  feet  in  diam 
eter  at  the  base.  A  large  number  of  them  were  found  in  Illinois, 
but,  unfortunately,  most  of  those  who  have  examined  them  were 
little  qualified  to  furnish  correct  information  respecting  their  real 
character.  It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  the  State  has  never 
ordered  a  survey  of  these  works  by  persons  qualified  to  do  the 
subject  j ustiee.  Many  of  the  most  interesting  have  been  ruthlessly 
destroyed,  but  it  is  believed  a  sufficient  number  still  remain  to 
justify  an  examination.  It  may,  however,  be  safely  assumed,  from 
what  is  already  known  respecting  them,  that  they  were  substantially 
the  same  as  those  found  in  other  parts  of  the  United  States. 

One  of  the  most  singular  earthworks  in  this  State  was  found  in 
the  lead  region  on  the  top  of  a  ridge  near  the  east  bank  of  the 
Siusmawa  creek.  It  resembled  some  huge  animal,  the  head, 
ears,  nose,  legs  and  tail  and  general  outline  of  which  being  as  per 
fect  as  if  made  by  men  versed  in  modern  art.  The  ridge  on  Avhich 
it  was  situated  stands  011  the  prairie,  300  yards  wide,"  100  feet  in 
hight,  and  rounded  on  the  top  by  a  deep  deposit  of  clay.  Cen- 


ANTIQUITIES — MOUND   BUILDERS.  25 

trally,  along  the  line  of  its  summit  and  thrown  up  in  the  form  of 
an  embankment  three  feet  high,  extended  the  outline  of  a  quadru 
ped,  measuring  250  feet  from  the  tip  of  the  nose  to  the  end  of  the 
tail,  and  having  a  width  of  body  at  the  center  of  18  feet.  The 
head  was  35  feet  in  length,  the  ears  10,  legs  60,  and  tail  75.  The 
curvature  in  both  the  fore  and  hind  legs  was  natural  to  an  animal 
lying  on  its  side.  The  general  outline  of  the  figure  most  nearly 
resembled  the  extinct  animal  known  to  geologists  as  the  Megathe 
rium.  The  question  naturally  arises,  by  whom  and  for  what  pur 
pose  was  this  earth  figure  raised.  Some  have  conjectured  that 
numbers  of  this  now  extinct  animal  lived  and  roamed  over  the 
prairies  of  Illinois  when  the  mound  builders  first  made  their  appear 
ance  in  the  upper  part  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  that  their 
wonder  and  admiration,  excited  by  the  colossal  dimensions  of  these 
huge  creatures,  found  expression  in  the  erection  of  this  figure. 
The  bones  of  some  similar  gigantic  animals  were  exhumed  011  this 
stream  about  3  miles  from  the  same  place.* 

David  Dale  Owen,  a  celebrated  western  geologist,  in  his  report 
to  the  land  office  in  1839,  refers  to  a  number  of  figures,  similar  to 
the  one  above  described,  as  existing  in  Wisconsin.  He  thinks  they 
were  connected  with  the  totemic  system  of  the  Indians  who  formerly 
dwelt  in  this  part  of  the  country.  When,  for  example  a  distin 
guished  chief  died,  he  infers  that  his  clansmen  raised  over  his  body 
a  mound  resembling  the  animal  which  had  been  used  as  a  symbol 
to  designate  his  family. 

Mr.  Breckenridge,  who  examined  the  antiquities  of  the  western 
country  in  1817,  speaking  of  the  mounds  in  the  American  Bottom, 
says:  "The  great  number  and  the  extremely  large  size  of  some 
of  them  may  be  regarded  as  furnishing,  with  other  circumstances, 
evidence  of  their  antiquity.  I  have  sometimes  been  induced  to 
think  that  at  the  period  when  they  were  constructed  there  was  a 
population  here  as  numerous  as  that  which  once  animated  the 
borders  of  the  Xile  or  of  the  Euphrates  or  of  Mexico.  The  most 
numerous  as  well  as  considerable  of  these  remains  are  found  in 
precisely  those  parts  of  the  country  wThere  the  traces  of  a  numer 
ous  population  might  be  looked  for,  namely,  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Ohio,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi,  to  the  Illinois  river, 
and  on  the  west  from  the  St.  Francis  to  the  Missouri.  I  am  per 
fectly  satisfied  that  cities  similar  to  those  of  ancient  Mexico,  of 
several  hundred  thousand  souls,  have  existed  in  this  country.'7 

Says  Mr.  0.  Atwater,  the  author  of  an  able  work  011  the  antiqui 
ties  of  Ohio:  u  Xearly  opposite  St.  Louis  there  are  traces  of  two 
such  cities,  in  the  distance  of  5  miles.  They  were  situated  011  the 
Cahokia,  which  crosses  the  American  Bottom  opposite  St.  Louis. 
One  of  the  mounds  is  800  yards  in  circumference  at  the  base,  and 
100  feet  in  hight," 

The  following  description  of  this  mound,  which  is  the  largest  in 
the  United  States,  is  condensed  from  an  article  in  the  Belleville 
Eayle :  It  is  situated  6£  miles  northeast  of  St.  Louis,  and  is  com 
monly  known  as  the  Monk's  mound,  from  the  Monks  of  La  Trappe 
having  settled  on  and  around  it.  It  is  an  irregular  oblong,  ex 
tending  north  and  south,  and  its  shortest  sides  east  and  west. 
The  top  contains  about  3^  acres,  and  about  half  way  down  the 
sides  is  a  terrace,  extending  the  whole  width  of  the  mound,  and 

*Galena  Jeft'ersouian,  1853. 


26  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

sufficiently  broad  to  afford  sites  for  a  number  of  spacious  build 
ings.  The  present  want  of  regularity  is  due  to  the  action  of  the 
rains,  which,  during  a  long  interval  of  time,  has  so  changed  its 
surface  that  the  original  design  of  its  builders  has  been  lost.  A 
Mr.  Hill,  who  lived  on  it,  in  making  an  excavation  for  an  ice-house 
on  the  northwest  part,  found  human  bones  and  white  pottery  in 
large  quantities.  The  bones,  which  crumbled  to  dust  on  being 
exposed  to  the  air,  were  larger  than  common,  and  the  teeth  were 
double  in  front  as  well  as  behind.  A  well  dug  by  Mr.  Hill,  whose 
dwelling  was  on  the  summit,  passed  through  several  strata  of 
earth,  and,  it  is  said,  the  remains  of  weeds  and  grass  were  discov 
ered  between  the  layers,  the  color  of  which  was  still  visible  and 
bright  as  when  they  were  first  inhumed.  The  writer  thinks  this 
portion  of  the  American  Bottom  might  with  propriety  be  called 
the  city  of  mounds,  for  in  less  than  a  mile  square  there  are  00  or 
80  of  every  size  and  form,  none  of  which  are  more  than  one-third 
as  large  as  the  Monk's  mound.  They  extend  in  a  westerly  direc 
tion,  five  miles  or  more,  along  the  Cahokia. 

Notwithstanding  the  authorities  referred  to  above,  recent  obser 
vations  render  it  highly  probable  that  these  mounds  are  portions 
of  the  original  shore  of  the  Mississippi,  which,  like  islands,  were 
not  wholly  Avashed  away  by  its  waters.  Professor  Worthen,  our 
State  Geologist,  and  others,  think  that  the  material  of  which  they 
are  composed,  and  its  stratification,  correspond  exactly  in  these 
particulars  with  the  opposite  Muffs. 

The  greatest  evidence  of  art  which  they  exhibit  is  their  form. 
The  base  of  the  large  mound,  before  denudation  changed  it,  had 
the  form  of  a  parallelogram,  whose  well  defined  right-angles  could 
not  have  resulted  from  the  action  of  water.  Its  terrace,  and  the 
same  features  which  distinguished  the  mounds  on  the  west  side 
of  the  river  at  St.  Louis,  at  Marietta,  Portsmouth,  Paint  Creek 
and  Circleville,  Ohio,  and  large  numbers  of  them  in  Mexico,  are 
remarkable  coincidences,  if  they  are  not  works  of  art.  It  is  well 
known  that  the  ancients,  instead  of  throwing  up  mounds,  in 
some  instances  selected  natural  elevations  and  shaped  them  with 
terraces  for  sites  of  altars  and  temples,  and  this  seems  to  have 
been  the  character  of  the  mounds  in  the  American  Bottom.  Though 
not  originally  intended  for  graves,  they  were  subsequently  used  as 
such  by  the  Indians,  that  their  dead  might  be  above  the  floods  of 
the  Mississippi. 

But  whatever  may  have  been  the  nature  of  these,  there  is  no 
doubt  as  to  the  artificial  character  of  others  in  many  localities. 
Pioneer  evidence  states  that  at  an  early  date  copper,  and  a  great 
variety  of  other  implements,  exceeding  in  their  workmanship  the 
skill  of  the  present  Indians,  were  taken  from  the  mounds  of  South 
ern  Hlinois.  The  existence  of  tins  metal  in  these  earthworks  re 
fers  them  to  the  era  of  the  mound  builders,  as  the  Indians  are 
ignorant  of  the  process  of  working  it,  and  never  used  it  in  the 
manufacture  of  implements.  The  copper  so  frequently  discovered 
m  mounds  in  the  United  States  doubtless  came  from  the  region  of 
Lake  Superior.  Mines  have  been  examined  here  extending  over 
large  areas,  the  working  of  which  antedates  all  existing  records 
or  Indian  traditions.  Another  of  the  many  evidences  of  tribes, 
who  must  have  inhabited  this  country  at  a  remote  period,  was 
found  a  few  years  since  at  the  Illinois  Salines.  Fragments  of  pot- 


ANTIQUITIES — MOUND  BUILDERS.  27 

ten,  from  4  to  5  feet  in  diameter,  were  exhumed  some  30  feet  be 
low  the  surface,  and  had  evidently  been  used  in  the  manufacture 
of  salt  by  the  mound  builders,  or  some  other  ancient  people,  dif 
ferent  from  the  present  Indians.  The  artificial  character  of  these 
works  not  being;  a  controverted  point,  the  inquiry  arises  who  were 
their  builders  f  The  hypothesis  that  they  were  the  ancestors  of 
the  Algonquin  and  other  tribes  found  living  in  their  midst,  when 
first  visited  by  Europeans,  but  illy  accords  with  the  evidence  fur 
nished  by  an  examination  of  the  facts.  These  curious  relics  are 
fragments  of  a  history  which  point  to  a  people  different  in  physi 
cal  structure  from  the  red  men,  and  greatly  in  advance  of  them  in 
art  and  civilization.  The  latter  in  general  are  a  tall,  rather  slen 
der,  straight-limbed  people,  while  the  former  were  short  and  thick 
set,  had  low  foreheads,  high  cheek  bones,  and  Avere  remarkable  for 
their  large  eyes  and  broad  chins.  Their  limbs  were  short  and 
stout,  while  their  whole  physique  more  closely  resembled  that  of 
the  German  than  any  existing  race.  The  remains  of  their  art  also 
indicated  a  people  wholly  distinct.  From  these  tumuli  have  been 
taken  silver,  iron  and  copper  implements,  exhibiting  in  their  con 
struction  a  degree  of  skill  greatly  exceeding  Indian  ingenuity  and 
workmanship.  The  large  number  of  medals,  bracelets,  pipes,  and 
other  instruments  made  of  copper,  show  that  its  use  among  them 
was  much  more  extensive  than  that  of  the  other  metals.  They 
may  have  possessed  the  lost  art  of  hardening  it,  for  cut  stone  is 
occasionally  found  in  some  of  their  works.  The  manufacture  of 
earthenware  was  one  of  their  most  advanced  arts ;  vessels  made 
from  calcareous  breccia  have  been  taken  from  their  tombs,  equal  in 
quality  to  any  now  made  in  Italy  from  the  same  material.  A  con 
siderable  number  of  these  were  urns,  containing  bones,  which  ap 
pear  to  have  been  burnt  before  they  were  deposited  in  them. 
Mirrors,  made  of  isinglas,  were  of  frequent  occurrence  in  the 
mounds.  Many  of  them  were  large  and  elegant,  and  must  have 
answered  well  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  intended.  Could 
they  speak,  they  would  doubtless  tell  us  that  the  primitive  belles, 
whose  charms  they  reflected,  had  the  same  fondness  for  personal 
decoration  that  distinguishes  their  sisters  of  the  present  day. 

Their  habitations  must  have  been  tents,  structures  of  wood,  or 
some  other  perishable  material ;  otherwise  their  remains  would 
have  been  numerous.  The  remains,  however,  of  fire-places, 
hearths  and  chimneys,  imbedded  in  the  alluvial  banks  of  the  Ohio 
and  Muskingum  rivers,  are  frequently  brought  to  light  by  the  ac 
tion  of  their  waters.  The  Indians  of  these  localities  never  erected 
such  works ;  while  their  great  depth  below  the  surface,  and  its 
heavy  growth  of  trees,  is  evidence  that  they  were  not  made  by  Eu 
ropeans,  hence  must  be  referred  to  the  mound  builders.  Evidence 
of  this  kind  might  be  multiplied  indefinitely,  but  what  has  been 
said  is  deemed  sufficient. 

Xot  only  had  the  mound  builders  made  considerable  progress  in 
the  arts,  but  they  were  not  wholly  wanting  in  scientific  attainments. 
The  lines  of  nearly  all  their  works,  where  the  situation  would  admit 
of  it,  conform  to  the  four  cardinal  points.  Had  their  authors  110 
knowledge  of  astronomy,  they  could  never  have*  determined  the 
points  of  the  compass  with  such  exactness  as  their  works  indicate. 
This  noble  science,  which  in  modern  times  has  given  us  such  ex 
tended  views  of  the  universe,  was  among  the  first  in  the  earlier 


28  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

ages  to  arrest  the  attention  of  mankind.  The  pastoral  life  of  primi 
tive  times,  when  men  dwelt  in  tents,  or  the  open  air,  with  the 
heavenly  bodies  in  full  view,  was  very  favorable  to  the  study  of 
astronomy. 

If  the  mound  builders  were  not  the  ancestors  of  oiir  Indians, 
who  were  they  ?  The  oblivion  which  has  closed  over  them  is  so 
complete  that  only  conjectures  can  be  given  in  answer  to  the  ques 
tion.  Those  who  do  not  believe  in  the  common  parentage  of  man 
kind  contend  that  they  were  an  indigenous  race  of  the  western 
hemisphere.  Others,  with  more  plausibility,  think  they  came  from 
the  east,  and  imagine  that  they  can  see  coincidences  in  the  religion 
of  the  Hindoos  and  Southern  Tartars  and  the  supposed  theology  of 
the  mound  builders.  An  idol  was  found  in  a  tomb  near  Nashville, 
consisting  of  three  busts,  representing  a  man  in  a  state  of  nudity. 
On  the  head  of  each  were  carved  the  sacred  fillet  and  cake  with 
which,  in  ancient  Greece,  during  sacrifices,  the  heads  of  the  idol, 
the  victim,  and  priest  were  bound.  The  Greeks  are  supposed  to 
have  borrowed  these  sacred  appliances  from  the  Persians,  with 
whom  they  had  frequent  Avars  and  an  intimate  maritime  inter 
course.  Another  idol,  consisting  of  three  heads  united  at  the 
back,  was  taken  from  a  tomb  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Cumber 
land  river.  Then1  features,  which  were  expressive,  exhibited  in  a 
striking  manner  the  lineaments  of  the  Tartar  countenance.  It  has 
been  further  observed  that  wherever  there  was  a  group  of  mounds 
three  of  them  were  uniformly  larger  and  more  favorably  situated 
than  the  rest.  The  triune  character  of  these  images  and  mounds 
are  supposed  to  represent  the  three  principal  gods  of  the  Hindoos, 
Brahmin,  Yishnoo  and  Siva.  This  supposition  has  been  farther 
strengthened  by  the  discovery  in  many  mounds  of  murex  shells, 
which  were  sacred  in  the  religion  of  the  Hindoos,  used  as  material 
in  the  construction  of  their  idols,  and  as  the  musical  instruments 
of  their  Tritons.  In  digging  a  well  near  Nashville,  a  clay  vessel 
was  found  20  feet  below  the  surface.  It  was  of  a  globose  form, 
terminating  at  the  top  with  a  female  head,  the  features  of  which 
were  strongly  marked  and  Asiatic.  The  crown  of  the  head  was 
covered  with  a  cap  of  pyramidal  form  resembling  the  Asiatic  head 
dress.  The  vessel  was  found  sitting  on  a  rock  from  under  which 
issued  a  stream  of  water,  and  may  have  been  used  at  the  fountain 
in  performing  the  ablutions  enjoined  by  some  of  the  oriental  re 
ligions.  Indeed,  for  this  purpose  the  temples  and  altars  of  the 
Hindoos  are  always  erected  on  the  banks  of  some  river,  as  the 
Ganges  and  other  sacred  streams,  and  the  same  practice  was  ob 
served  by  the  authors  of  the  American  tumuli. 

From  evidence  of  this  kind  it  is  inferred  that  this  people  came 
from  Asia,  and  that  their  migrations,  like  those  from  Europe  at 
the  present  day,  were  made  at  different  times  and  from  different 
countries. 

They  were  no  doubt  idolators,  and  it  has  been  conjectured  that 
the  sun  was  an  object  of  adoration.  The  mounds  were  generally 
built  in  a  situation  affording  a  view  of  the  rising  sun.  When  in 
closed  with  walls  their  gateways  were  toward  the  east.  The  caves 
in  which  they  were  occasionally  found  buried  always  opened  in  the 
same  direction.  Whenever  a  mound  was  partially  inclosed  by  a 
semicircular  pavement,  it  Avas  on  the  east  side.  When  bodies  were 
buried  in  graves,  as  was  frequently  the  case,  they  lay  in  an  east- 


ANTIQUITIES — MOUND   BUILDERS.  29 

ern  and  western  direction;  and  finally,  medals  have  been  found 
representing  the  sun  and  his  rays  of  light. 

At  what  period  they  came  to  this  country  is  likewise  a  matter 
of  speculation.  From  the  comparatively  rude  state  of  the  arts 
among  them,  it  has  been  inferred  that  the  time  was  very  remote. 
Their  axes  were  made  of  stone ;  their  raiment,  judging  from  the 
fragments  which  have  been  discovered,  consisted  of  the  barks  of 
trees  interwoven  with  feathers ;  and  their  military  works  were  such 
as  a  people  would  erect  who  had  just  passed  from  the  hunter  to 
the  pastoral  state  of  society.  The  line  of  forts  already  referred  to, 
in  ]STew  York,  were  built  on  the  brow  of  the  hill  which  was  origi 
nally  the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Erie.  By  the  recession  of  the 
waters,  they  are  now  from  3  to  5  miles  distant  from  their  original 
limits.  The  surface,  which  became  exposed  by  the  retirement  of 
the  waters,  is  now  covered  with  a  vegetable  mold  from  6  to  10 
inches  deep,  and  it  may  reasonably  be  supposed  that  a  long  inter 
val  of  time  was  required  for  the  production  of  the  forests  by  whose 
decomposition  it  was  formed.  But  a  much  longer  interval  would 
be  required  for  the  Niagara  to  deepen  its  channel  and  thus  cause 
the  subsidence  of  the  waters  in  the  lake. 

What  finally  became  of  this  people  is  another  query  which  has 
been  extensively  discussed.  The  fact  that  their  works  extend  into 
Mexico  and  Peru  has  induced  the  belief  that  it  was  their  posterity 
that  dwelt  in  these  countries  when  they  were  first  visited  by  the 
Spaniards.  The  Mexican  and  Peruvian  works,  with  the  exception 
of  their  greater  magnitude,  are  similar.  Belies  common  to  all  of 
them  have  been  occasionally  found,  and  it  is  believed  that  the  reli 
gious  uses  which  they  subserved  were  the  same.  One  of  the  prin 
cipal  deities  of  the  South  Americans  was  the  god  of  the  shining 
mirror,  so  called  because  he  was  supposed  to  reflect,  like  a  mirror, 
his  divine  perfections.  The  same  god  was  also  a  Mexican  divinity  ; 
and  while  other  deities  were  symbolized  by  images,  this  one  was 
represented  by  a  mirror,  and  held  in  great  veneration  as  the  un 
known  god  of  the  universe.  Isiiiglas,  common  in  the  mounds  in 
the  United  States,  was  the  material  generally  employed  for  the 
construction  of  mirrors  in  Mexico  ;  but  in  South  America,  obsidan, 
a  volcanic  product,  which  answered  the  same  purpose,  was  more 
frequently  used.  If,  indeed,  the  Mexicans  and  Peruvians  were  the 
progeny  of  the  more  ancient  mound  builders,  then  Spanish  rapacity 
for  gold  was  the  cause  of  their  overthrow  and  final  extermination. 

A  thousand  other  interesting  queries  naturally  arise  respecting 
these  nations  which  now  repose  under  the  ground,  but  the  most 
searching  investigation  can  only  give  us  vague  speculations  for 
answers.  No  historian  has  preserved  the  names  of  their  mighty 
chieftains  nor  given  an  account  of  their  exploits,  and  even  tradi 
tion  is  silent  respecting  them.  If  we  knock  at  the  tombs,  no  spirit 
comes  back  with  a  response,  and  only  a  sepulchral  echo  of  forget 
fulness  and  death  reminds  us  how  vain  is  the  attempt  to  unlock 
the  mysterious  past  upon  which  oblivion  has  fixed  its  seal.  How 
forcibly  their  mouldering  bones  and  perishing  relics  remind  us  of 
the  transitory  character  of  human  existence.  Generation  after 
generation  lives,  moves  and  is  no  more ;  time  has  strewn  the  track 
of  its  ruthless  march  with  the  fragments  of  mighty  empires ;  and 
at  length  not  even  their  names  nor  works  have  an  existence  in  the 
speculations  of  those  who  take  their  places. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  INDIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


'he  third  distinct  race  which,  according  to  ethnologists,  has  in- 
>ited  North  America,  is  the  present  Indians.     When  visited  by 


Th 

habited 

early  European  pioneers  they  were  without  cultivation,  refinement 
or  literature,  and  far  behind  their  precursors,  the  mound  builders, 
in  a  knowledge  of  the  arts.  The  question  of  their  origin  has  long 
interested  archeologists,  and  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  they  have 
been  called  on  to  answer.  One  hypothesis  is  that  they  are  an 
original  race  indigeneous  to  the  Western  Hemisphere.  Those  who 
entertain  this  view  think  their  peculiarities  of  physical  structure 
preclude  the  possibility  of  a  common  parentage  with  the  rest  of 
mankind.  Prominent  among  these  distinctive  traits  is  the  hair, 
which  in  the  red  man  is  round,  in  the  white  man  oval,  and  in  the 
black  man  flat.  In  the  pile  of  the  European  the  coloring  matter 
is  distributed  by  means  of  a  central  canal,  but  in  that  of  the  Indian 
it  is  incorporated  in  the  fibrous  structure.  Brown,  who  has  made 
an  exhaustive  examination  of  these  varieties  of  hair,  concludes 
that  they  are  radically  different,  and  belong  to  three  distinct 
branches  of  the  human  family,  which,  instead  of  a  common,  have 
had  a  trinary  origin.  Since,  therefore,  these  and  other  peculiar 
ethnological  features  are  characteristic  only  of  the  aboriginal  in 
habitants  of  America,  it  is  inferred  that  they  are  indigenous  to  this 
part  of  the  globe. 

A  more  common  supposition,  however, is  that  they  are  a  deriva 
tive  race,  and  sprang  from  one  or  more  of  the  ancient  peoples 
of  Asia.  In  the  absence  of  all  authentic  history,  and  when  even 
tradition  is  wanting,  any  attempt  to  point  out  the  particular  theater 
of  their  origin  must  prove  unsatisfactory.  They  are  perhaps  an 
offshoot  of  Shemitic  parentage,  and  some  imagine,  from  their  tribal 
organization  and  some  faint  coincidences  of  language  and  religion, 
that  they  were  the  descendants  of  the  ancient  Hebrews.  Others, 
with  as  much  propriety,  contend  that  their  progenitors  were  the 
ancient  Hindoos,  and  that  the  Brahmin  idea,  which  uses  the  sun 
to  symbolize  the  Creator  of  the  Universe,  has  its  counterpart  in 
the  sunworship  of  the  Indians.  They  also  see  in  the  Hindoo  poly 
theism,  with  its  30,000  divinities,  a  'theology  corresponding  with 
the  innumerable  minor  Indian  deities,  of  which  birds,  quadrupeds, 
reptiles,  and  fishes  are  made  the  symbols.  The  Persians,  and 
other  primitive  oriental  stocks,  and  even  the  nations  of  Europe,  if 
the  testimony  of  different  antiquarians  could  be  accepted,  might 
claim  the  honor  of  first  peopling  America. 

Though  the  exact  place  of  origin  may  never  be  known,  yet  the 
striking  coincidences  of  physical  organization  between  the  oriental 

30 


INDIANS.  31 


types  of  mankind  and  the  Indians,  point  unmistakably  to  some 
part  of  Asia  as  the  place  whence  they  emigrated.  Instead  of 
1800  year^,  the  time  of  their  roving  in  the  wilds  of  America, 
as  determined  by  Spanish  interpretation  of  their  pietographic 
records,  the  interval  has  perhaps  been  thrice  that  period.  Their 
religions,  superstitions  and  ceremonies,  if  of  foreign  origin,  evi 
dently  belong  to  the  crude  theologies  prevalent  in  the  last  cen 
turies  before  the  introduction  of  Mahometanism  or  Christianity. 
Scarcely  oOOO  years  would  suffice  to  blot  out  perhaps  almost  every 
trace  of  the  language  they  brought  with  them  from  the  Asiatic 
cradle  of  the  race,  and  introduce  the  present  diversity  of  abori 
ginal  tongues.  Like  their  oriental  progenitors  they  have  lived  for 
centuries  without  progress,  while  the  Oaucassiaii  variety  of  the 
race,  under  the  transforming  power  of  art,  science,  and  improved 
systems  of  civil  polity,  have  made  the  most  rapid  advancement. 
At  the  time  of  their  departure  eastward,  a  great  current  of  emi 
gration  flowed  westward  to  Europe,  making  it  a  great  arena  of 
human  effort  and  improvement.  Thence  proceeding  farther  west 
ward  it  met  in  America,  the  midway  station  in  the  circuit  of  the 
globe,  the  opposing  current  direct  from  Asia.  The  shock  of  the  first 
contact  was  the  beginning  of  the  great  conflict  which  has  since 
been  waged  by  the  rival  sons  of  Shein  and  Japheth.  The  first 
thought  of  the  Indian,  when  hostilities  commenced  011  the  Atlantic 
border,  was  to  retire  westward.  It  was  from  beyond  the  Allegha- 
nies,  according  to  the  traditions  of  their  fathers,  they  had  come, 
and  in  the  same  undefined  region  they  located  their  paradise  or 
happy  hunting  ground.  To  employ  an  aboriginal  allegory,  "The 
Indians  had  long  discerned  a  dark  cloud  in  the  heavens,  coming 
from  the  east,  which  threatened  them  with  disaster  and  death. 
Slowly  rising  at  first,  it  seemed  shadow,  but  soon  changed  to  sub 
stance.  When  it  reached  the  summit  of  the  Alleghanies  it  as 
sumed  a  darker  hue ;  deep  murmurs,  as  of  thunder,  were  heard  ; 
it  was  impelled  westward  by  strong  wind,  and  shot  forth  forked 
tongues  of  lightning." 

The  movement  of  the  sombre  cloud  typified  the  advance  of  labor, 
science  and  civilization.  Pontiac  foresaw  the  coming  storm  when 
he  beheld  the  French  flag  and  French  supremacy  stricken  down 
on  the  plains  of  Abraham.  To  the  British  officer  sent  westward 
to  secure  the  fruits  of  victory,  he  said:  "I  stand  in  thy  path.77  To 
the  assembled  chiefs  of  the  nations  in  council,  he  unfolded  his 
schemes  of  opposition,  depicted  the  disasters  which  woidd  attend 
the  coming  rush  of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  and  climaxed  his  invective 
against  the  hated  enemy  with  the  exclamation,  "Drive  the  dogs 
who  wear  red  clothing  into  the  sea.77  Fifty  years  after  the  defeat 
of  Pontiac,  Tecumseh,  emulating  his  example,  "plotted  the  conspi 
racy  of  the  Wabash.  He  brought  to  his  aid  the  powerful  influ 
ence  of  the  Indian  priest-hood;  for  years  the  forest  haunts  of  his 
clansmen  rang  with  his  stirring  appeals,  and  the  valleys  of  the 
West  ran  with  the  blood  of  the  Avhite  invaders.  But  Tecumseh  fell 
a  martyr  to  his  cause,  and  the  second  attempt  to  turn  back  the  tide 
of  civilization  was  a  failure.  The  Appalachian  tribes,  under  the 
leadership  of  Tuscaloosa,  next  waged  a  continuous  war  of  three 
years  against  the  southern  frontiers.  The  conflict  terminated  by 
the  sublime  act  of  its  leader,  who,  after  a  reward  had  been  offered 
for  his  head,  voluntarily  surrendered  himself  for  the  good  of  his 


32  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

countrymen.  After  this  defeat,  the  southern  tribes  abandoned 
their  long1  cherished  idea  of  re-establishing*  Indian  supremacy.  A 
last  and  fruitless  effort  of  this  kind,  by  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  of  Illi 
nois,  placed  the  vast  domain  east  of  the  Mississippi  in  the  hands 
of  the  ruthless  conquerors.* 

Algonquin*  and  Iroquois. — Of  the  several  great  branches  of 
North  American  Indians,  as  determined  by  sameness  of  language 
and  mental  and  physical  type,  the  only  ones  entitled  to  considera 
tion  in  Illinois  history,  are  the  Algonquin,  and  incidentally  the 
Iroquois.  Before  the  encroachments  of  Europeans  caused  the  re 
tirement  of  the  Algonquin  tribes,  they  occupied  most  of  the  United 
States  between  the  35th  and  00th  parallels  of  latitudes,  and  the 
60th  and  105th  meridians  of  longitude.  They  were  Algonquins 
whom  C  artier  found  on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  whom  the 
English  discovered  hunting  and  fishing  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  from 
Maine  to  the  Carolinas.  They  were  tribes  of  this  lineage  whom 
Jesuit  missionaries  taught  to  repeat  prayers  and  sing  avis  on  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi  and  Illinois,  and  on  the  shores  of  the 
great  lakes  and  Hudson  Bay.  The  same  great  family  waged  war 
with  the  Puritans  of  New  England,  entered  into  a  covenant  of 
peace  with  Penn,  and  furnished  a  Pocahontas  to  intercede  for  the 
life  of  the  adventurous  founder  of  Virginia. 

The  starting  point  in  the  wanderings  of  the  Algonquin  tribes  on 
the  continent,  as  determined  by  tradition  and  the  cultivation  of  the 
maize,  their  favorite  cereal,  was  in  the  southwest.  It  is  conjectured 
as  they  passed  up  the  western  side  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  their 
numbers  were  augumented  by  accessions  from  nomadic  clans  pass- 
through  the  central  and  southern  passes  of  the  Eocky  Mountains. 
Then,  turning  eastward  across  the  Mississippi,  the  southern  mar 
gin  of  the  broad  track  pursued  toAvard  the  Atlantic  was  about  the 
35th  parallel,  the  limits  reached  in  this  direction  by  these  tribes. 
This  would  place  in  the  central  line  of  inarch,  Illinois,  and  the  ad 
jacent  regions,  where  the  first  European  explorers  found  corn 
extensively  cultivated  and  used  as  an  article  of  food.  On  reaching 
the  Atlantic  they  moved  northeasterly  along  the  seaboard  to  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  introducing  along  their  track  the  cul 
tivation  of  maize,  \vithout  which  many  of  the  early  British  colo 
nists  must  have  perished.  Next,  ascending  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
the  great  lakes,  they  spread  northward  and  westward  to  Hudson's 
Bay,  the  basin  of  Lake  Winnepeg,  and  the  valley  of  the  Upper 
Mississippi.  In  this  wide  dispersion  the  original  stock  was  broken 
into  minor  tribes  ;  each,  in  the  course  of  time,  deviating  in  speech 
from  the  parent  language,  and  forming  a  dialect  of  its  own.  The 
head  of  the  migratory  column,  circling  round  the  source  of  the 
Mississippi,  recrossed  it  in  a  southeasterly  direction  above  the  falls 
of  St.  Anthony,  and  passed  by  way  of  Green  Bay  and  Lake  Michi 
gan  into  the  present  limits  of  Illinois,  Indiana  and  Ohio.  Thus, 
after  revolving  in  an  irregular  elipse  of  some  3000  miles  in  diame 
ter,  they  fell  into  the  original  track  eastward. 

The  territory  of  the  Iroquois  lay  like  an  island  in  this  vast  area 
of  Algonquin  population.  They  had  three  conflicting  traditions 
of  their  origin:  that  they  came  from  the  west,  from  the  north,  and 
sprung  from  the  soil  on  which  they  lived.  Their  confederacy  at 
first  consisted  of  5  tribes,  the  Mohawks,  Oneidas,  Onoiidagas, 

*Sclioolcraft'8,  Part  5 ;  Spencer's  History  of  the  United  States 


INDIANS.  33 


Cayugas  and  Senecas,  to  which  a  Oth,  the  Tuscaroras  was  after 
wards  added.  Each  tribe  had  a  separate  political  organization  in 
which  the  sachems  were  the  ruling  spirits.  When  foreign  tribes 
were  to  be  consulted,  or  the  general  interests  of  the  confederacy 
required  deliberation,  the  sachems  of  the  several  tribes  met  in 
general  council.  Hasty  writers,  judging  from  their  successes  without 
carefully  studying  their  character  and  history,  have  greatly  over 
rated  their  virtues.  There  is  no  doubt  as  to  their  success  in  Avar,  but 
it  was  rather  the  result  of  circumstances  than  inherent  worth.  Not 
withstanding  their  much  lauded  eloquence,  diplomacy  and  courage, 
there  is  little  doubt  that  the  Algonquin  tribes  of  the  same  latitude 
were  in  these  respects  fully  their  equals.  As  it  regards  cranial 
indications,  the  Iroquois  had  an  excessive  development  at  the 
basillar  region,  and  the  Algonquins  a  larger  intellectual  lobe,  and 
the  conduct  of  the  two  races  corresponds  with  their  cerebral  dif 
ferences.  It  is  well  known  that  for  the  exhibition  of  brutish  ferocity 
in  battle,  and  the  fiendish  butchery  of  prisoners,  the  former  were 
without  rivals.  Missionary  evidence  states  that  it  was  they  who 
first  taught  the  Illinois  the  cruel  practice  of  burning  prisoners  at 
the  stake.  But  admitting  their  natural  superiority  they  must  have 
lost  it  by  amalgamation,  for  it  was  customary  with  them  to  repair 
their  constant  losses  in  war  by  adopting  into  their  families  the 
women  and  children  captured  from  their  Algonquin  enemies. 
This  infusion  of  blood,  if  in  a  few  generations  it  did  not  give  the 
foreign  element  the  ascendancy,  must  have  greatly  modi  lied  the 
original  stock.  Indeed  some  of  the  adopted  Algouquins  became 
afterwards  their  prominent  chiefs. 

Their  success  in  war  was  in  a  great  measure  the  result  of  local 
and  other  advantages.  Possessing  a  territory  included  in  the 
present  limits  of  New  York,  it  gave  them  ready  access  to  the 
nations  living  on  the  western  lakes ;  while  the  Mohawk  and  the 
Hudson  furnished  them  a  highway  to  the  tribes  of  the  sea-coast. 
Having  by  savage  barbarity  converted  all  the  surrounding  nations 
into  enemies,  necessity  taught  them  the  advantage  of  union,  fixity 
of  habitation  made  them  superior  in  agriculture,  while  a  passion 
for  war  gave  them  a  preeminence  in  the  arts  best  suited  to  gratify 
their  inordinate  lust  for  blood.  Deprived  of  these  advantages  it 
is  doubtful  whether  they  would  have  been  long  able  to  cope  with 
the  tribes  which  they  outraged  by  incessant  attacks. 

The  Algonquin  tribes  were  too  widely  dispersed  to  admit  of  a 
general  confederacy ;  the  interposition  of  great  lakes  and  rivers 
prevented  concert  of  action,  and  hence  each  community  had  to 
contend  single-handed  with  the  united  enemy.  Even  in  these  une 
qual  contests  they  were  sometimes  the  conquerors,  as  instanced  in 
the  triumph  of  the  Illinois  on  the  banks  of  the  Iroquois,  a  stream 
in  our  State  whose  name  still  commemorates  the  victory. 

It  is  not,  however,  in  the  petty  broils  of  tribal  warfare,  but  the 
fierce  conflicts  with  the  civilized  intruders  upon  their  soil,  that  a 
correct  opinion  is  to  be  formed  of  these  rival  races.  In  these 
bloody  struggles,  which  decided  the  fate  of  the  entire  aboriginal 
population,  it  was  that  the  Algonquins  evinced  their  great  superi 
ority.  Unlike  the  Iroquois,  who,  in  their  haughty  independence, 
disdained  to  go  beyond  their  OAVII  narrow  realms  for  assistance, 
and  who,  in  their  great  thirst  for  carnage,  even  destroyed  kindred 
nations,  the  Algonquins  formed  the  most  extensive  alliance  to 
3 


34  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


resist  the  encroachments  of  their  English  destroyers.  Such  was  the 
nature   of  King   Philip's  war,   who,  with  his  Algonquin  braves, 
spread  terror  and  desolation  throughout  New  England.     Panic- 
stricken  at  his  audacity  and  success,  the  Puritans  imagined  they 
saw  dire  portents  of  calamities  in  the  air  and  sky,  and  shadowy 
troops  of  careering  horsemen  imprinted  on  the  face  of  the  sun  and 
moon.     This   compactly   formed   confederacy  of  tribes  was  over 
thrown;  but  it  cost  the  Colonists,  with  their  superior  numbers, 
discipline  and  weapons,  a  bloody  contest  to  accomplish  it.     Such. 
too,  was  the  character  of  the  culminating  struggle  of  the  red  race, 
some  90  years  later,  for  the  dominion  of  the  western  wilderness. 
Never  before   had  the  Indians  exhibited  such  feats  of  courage, 
such  skill  in  diplomacy  and  such  strategy  in  war;  and  never  before, 
nor  afterwards,  were  their  efforts  attended  with  such  terrible  con 
sequences.     With  an  Algonquin  chief  and  Algonquin  warriors  as 
the  controlling  spirits,  a  confederacy  of  continental  proportions 
wras  the  result,  embracing  in  its  alliance  the  tribes  of  every  name 
and  lineage,  from  the  northern*  lakes  to  the  gulf  011  the  south. 
Pontiac,  having  breathed  into  them  his  implacable  hate  of  the 
English  intruders,  ordered  the  conflict  to  commence,  and  all  the 
British  colonies  trembled  before  the  desolating  fury  of  the  onset. 
Of  the  tribes  of  Algonquin  lineage   which   formerly   dwelt  in 
Illinois,  those  bearing  the  name  of  the  State  were  the  most  numer 
ous.     Judging  from  the  graves  which  were  thickly  planted  over  the 
prairies,  they  must  at  an  early  date  have  been  a  prominent  theater 
of  aboriginal  activities.     Long  before  the  intrusion  of  the  white 
man,  the  stately  warrior  marshaled  his  swarthy  clans  to  defend 
the  hunting  grounds  which  embosomed  the  homes  and  graves  of 
his   ancestors.     Here,   around  the  lodge  fire,  the  young  braves 
listened  to  the  exploits  of  their  aged  chiefs  and  marched  forth  to 
perform  the  deeds  which  were  to  crown  them  with  a  chieftain's 
honors.      On  the  grass-cushioned   lap  of  the   prairie,  when    the 
moon  with  mellow  radiance  flooded  the  valleys  and  silvered  the 
streams,  the  red  swain  went  forth  to  woo  his  intended  mate  and 
win  her  love.     Where  the  game  abounded  which  furnished  him 
with  food  and  clothing  he  built  the  wTigwram  in  which  his  faithful 
partner  dispensed  the  hospitalities  of  his  frugal  board.     Nature 
disclosed  to  his  untutored  mind  the  simple  duties  of  life.     The 
opening  flow^er  revealed  the  time  for  planting  corn,  the  falling  leaf 
when  to   provide   for  the  frosts  of  winter,  and   from  the   lower 
animals   he  learned  industry,  prudence  and  affection.     His  own 
wondrous  organization  directed  his  thoughts  to  the  Great  Spirit, 
and  in  the  spacious  temple,  lighted  by  the  sun  and  curtained  with 
clouds,  where  the  tempest  offers  its"  loud  anthem  of  praise,  he 
worshipped  the  God  of  Nature. 

The  Illinois  Confederacy  were  composed  of  five  tribes:  the  Tam- 
aroas,  Michigamies,  Kaskaskias,  Cahokias,  and  Peorias.  Albeit 
Gallatin,  who  has  prepared  the  most  elaborate  work  on  the  struct 
ure  of  the  Indian  languages,  gives  the  definition  of  Illinois  as  real 
or  superior  men,  and  derives  it  from  the  Delaware  word  Leno, 
Leni  or  Tllini,  as  it  is  variously  written  by  different  authors.  'The 
termination  of  the  word  as  it  is  now,  and  applied  to  the  State  and 
its  principal  river,  is  of  French  origin.  The  Illinois,  Mia  mis  and 
Delaware*  arc  of  the  same  stock,  and,  according  to  tradition,  emi 
grated  from  the  far  wTest7  the  first  stopping  in  their  eastern  round 


THE  ILLINOIS.  35 


of  migration  in  the  vicinity  of  Lake  Michigan,  the  second  in  the 
territory  of  Indiana,  and  the  third  that  of  Pennsylvania. 

As  early  as  1070  the  Jesuit,  Father  Marquette,  mentions  frequent 
visits  made  by  individuals  of  this  confederacy  to  the  missionary 
station  of  St.  Esprit,  near  the  western  extremity  of  Lake  Superior. 
At  that  time  they  lived  west  of  the  Mississippi  in  eight  villages, 
whither  the  Iroquois  had  driven  them  from  the  shores  of  Lake  Michi 
gan,  which  received  its  name  from  one  of  the  tribes.  Shortly  after 
wards  they  commenced  returning  eastward,  and  finally  settled 
mostly  on  the  Illinois.  Joliet  and  Marquette,  in  1743,  descending 
the  Mississippi  below  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  on  their  famous 
voyage  of  discovery,  met  with  a  band  of  them  on  the  west  bank 
of  the  river.  The  principal  chief  treated  them  with  great  hospi 
tality,  gave  them  a  calumet  as  a  pass  down  the  river,  and  bid 
them  a  friendly  farewell.  The  same  explorers,  in  their  return  voy 
age  up  the  Illinois,  discovered  and  stopped  at  the  principal  town 
of  the  confederacy,  situated  on  the  banks  of  the  river  7  miles  below 
the  present  town  of  Ottawa.  It  was  then  called  Kaskaskia,  and 
according  to  Marqnette,  contained  74  lodges,  each  of  which  domi 
ciled  several  families.  Marquette  returned  to  the  village  in  the 
spring  of  1075,  and  established  the  Mission  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception,  the  oldest  in  Illinois,  and  subsequently  transferred 
to  the  new  town  of  Kaskaskia  further  southward. 

When,  in  1G79,  La  Salle  visited  the  town  it  had  greatly  increased, 
numbering,  according  to  Heunepin,  460  lodges,  and  at  the  annual 
assembling  of  the  different  tribes  from  6,000  to  8,000  souls.  The 
lodges  extended  along  the  banks  of  the  river  a  mile  or  more,  ac 
cording  to  the  number  of  its  fluctuating,  population,  which  ex 
tensively  cultivated  the  adjacent  meadows  and  raised  crops  of 
pumpkins,  beans,  and  Indian  corn.  At  this  time  the  confederacy 
possessed  the  country  from  the  present  town  of  Ottawa  and  the 
lower  rapids  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  and,  ac 
cording  to  the  missionary  Father  Easles,  besides  the  principal 
town  occupied  some  10  or  12  other  villages.  In  the  irruption  of 
the  Iroquois,  the  following  year,  the  principal  town  was  burned 
and  the  several  tribes  pursued  down  the  river  to  the  Mississippi, 
where  the  Tamaroas  were  attacked  and  700  of  their  women  and 
children  made  prisoners.  These  were  burned  and  butchered  till 
'the  savage  victors  were  sated  with  carnage,  when  the  survivors 
were  lead  into  captivity.  With  the  withdrawal  of  the  enemy  the 
tribes  returned,  rebuilt  their  town,  and  in  1682  furnished  1,200 
of  the  3,800  warriors  embraced  in  LaSalle's  colony  at  fort  Saint 
Louis  on  the  Illinois.  After  this  they  were  forced  further  south 
ward  by  northern  nations,  and  Peoria,  Cahokia  and  Kaskaskia 
became  the  centres  of  the  tribes  indicated  by  their  names.  The 
Tamaroas  were  associated  with  the  Kaskaskias,  and  the  Miclii- 
gamies  were  located  near  Fort  Chartres  on  the  Mississippi.  While 
here  they  were  the  centre  of  Jesuit  missionary  operations,  and 
great  efforts  were  made  to  convert  them  to  Christianity,  but  with 
only  partial  success. 

In  1729  they  were  summoned  by  M.  Pcrrier,  Governor-General 
of  Louisiana,  to  assist  in  the  reduction  of  the  Natchez,  who  were 
disturbing  the  peace  of  the  province.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the. 
Chickasaw  war  they  were  again  called  to  the  assistance  of  their 
allies,  the  French,  and  under  one  of  Illinois'  most  gallant  generals, 


36  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 


the  Chevalier  D'Artagnette,  they  successively  stormed  and  carried 
two  of  the  enemy's  strongholds,  and  would  have  taken  a  third  but 
for  the  fall  of  their  heroic  leader. 

In  common  with  other  western  tribes  they  became  involved  in 
the  conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  but  from  frequent  defeats  by  surround 
ing-  tribes,  and  long  contact  with  civilization,  they  had  lost  to  a 
great  extent  the  warlike  energy,  for  which,  according  to  tradi 
tion,  they  were  anciently  distinguished.  When,  therefore,  the 
great  chief  visited  them  in  the  autumn  of  1764,  their  zeal  did  not 
meet  his  expectations,  and  he  told  them  if  they  hesitated,  he 
would  "  consume  their  tribes  as  fire  doth  the  dry  grass  on  the 
prairies."  Finally,  when  Pontiac  lost  his  life  by  the  hand  of  an 
Illinois,  the  nations  which  had  followed  him  as  a  leader  descended 
from  the  north  and  the  east  to  avenge  his  death,  and  almost  an 
nihilated  the  tribes  of  this  lineage.  Tradition  states  that  a  band 
of  fugitives,  to  escape  the  general  slaughter,  took  refuge  on  the 
high  rock  which  had  been  the  site  of  Fort  St.  Louis.  There  they 
were  besieged  by  a  superior  force  of  the  Pottawatamies,  whom  the 
great  strength  of  this  natural  fortress  enabled  them  easily  to  keep 
at  bay.  Hunger  and  thirst,  more  formidable  enemies,  however, 
soon  accomplished  what  the  foe  was  unable  to  effect.  Their  small 
quantity  of  provisions  quickly  failed,  and  their  supply  water  was 
stopped  by  the  enemy  severing  the  cords  attached  to  the  vessels 
by  which  they  elevated  it  from  the  river  below.  Thus  environed 
by  relentless  foes,  they  took  a  last  lingering  look  at  their  beautiful 
hunting  grounds,  spread  out  like  a  panorama  on  the  gently  rolling 
river,  and,  with  true  Indian  fortitude,  laid  down  and  expired  with 
out  a  sigh  or  a  tear.  From  their  tragic  fate  the  lofty  citadel  OH 
which  they  perished  received  the  unpoetical  name  of  "  Starved 
Rock,"  and  years  afterwards  their  bones  were  seen  whitening  on 
its  summit."  The  Tamaroas,  although  not  entirely  exterminated, 
lost  their  identity  as  a  tribe  in  a  battle  with  the  Shawnees,  near 
the  eastern  limits  of  Randolph  county.  At  the  commencement  of 
the  present  century  the  contracting  circle  of  hostile  tribes  had 
forced  the  remnants  of  this  once  powerful  confederacy  into  a  small 
compass  around  Kaskaskia.  When  the  country  was  first  visited 
by  Europeans  they  numbered  12,000  souls ;  now  they  were  reduced 
to  two  tribes,  the  Kaskaskias  and  Peorias,  and  could  only  muster 
150  warriors.  Their  chief  at  this  time  was  a  half-breed  of  consid 
erable  talent,  named  Du  Quoin,  Avho  wore  a  medal  presented  to 
him  by  Washington,  whom  he  visited  at  Philadelphia.  In  the 
early  part  of  the  present  century  the  two  tribes  under  his  guidance 
emigrated  to  the  Southwest,  and  in  1850  they  were  in  the  Indian 
Territory,  and  numbered  84  persons. 

The  Macs  and  Foxes,  who  have  figured  extensively  in  the  his 
tory  of  Illinois,  dwelt  in  the  northwest  part  of  the  State.  The 
word  "Sau-Kee,"  now  written  "  Sac,"  is  derived  from  the  com 
pound  word  "  A-sau-we-kee,"  of  the  Chippewa  language,  signifying 
yellow  earth,  and  "  Mus-qua-kee,"  the  original  name  of  the  Foxes, 
means  red  earth.  Though  still  retaining  separate  tribal  names, 
when  living  in  Illinois  they  had,  by  long  residence  together  and 
intermarriage,  become  substantially  one  people.  Both  tribes  origi- 
nally  lived  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Quebec 
and  Montreal.  The  Foxes  first  removed  to  the  West  and  estab 
lished  themselves  on  the  river  which  bears  their  name,  empty- 


SACS  AND   FOXES.  37 


ing  into  the  head  of  Green  Bay.  Here  they  suffered  a  signal 
defeat  from  the  combined  forces  of  the  French  and  their  Indian 
allies,  which  caused  them  afterwards  to  unite  with  the  Sacs,  to  pre 
vent  extermination. 

The  Sacs  became  involved  in  a  long  and  bloody  war  with  the 
IroquoiSj  who  drove  them  from  their  habitation  on  the  St.  Law 
rence  toward  the  West.  Retiring  before  these  formidable  enemies, 
they  next  encountered  the  Wyandots,  by  whom  they  were  driven 
farther  and  farther  along  the  shores  of  the  great  lakes  till  at  length 
they  found  a  temporary  resting  place  011  Green  Bay,  in  the  neigh- 
hood  of  their  relatives,  the  Foxes.  For  mutual  protection  against 
the  .surrounding  nations  a  union  was  here  instituted  between  the 
two  tribes,  which  has  remained  unbroken  to  the  present  time.  The 
time  of  their  migration  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  region  of 
the  upper  lakes  cannot  be  definitely  ascertained.  Green  Bay  was 
visited  in  ItiGi)  by  Father  Allouez,  a  Jesuit,  who  established  a  mis 
sionary  station  there,  and  in  the  winter  of  1672  extended  his  labors 
to  the  Foxes,  who  at  first  treated  him  with  the  greatest  contempt. 
Some  of  the  tribe  had  recently  been  011  a  trading  expedition  to 
Montreal,  where  they  had  been  foully  dealt  with  by  the  French, 
and  they  now  took  occasion  to  show  their  resentment  by  deriding 
the  utterances  of  the  missionary.  By  the  exercise  of  great  pa 
tience,  however,  he  at  length  obtained  a  hearing,  and  succeeded  so 
well  in  impressing  their  minds  with  his  religious  instruction  that 
when  he  exhibited  a  crucifix  they  threw  tobacco  on  it  as  an  offering. 
He  soon  afterwards  taught  the  whole  village  to  make  the  sign  of 
the  cross,  and  painting  it  011  their  shields,  in  one  of  their  war  ex 
peditions,  they  obtained  a  great  victory  over  their  enemies.  Thus, 
while  they  knew  but  little  of  its  significance  as  a  religious  emblem, 
in  war  they  regarded  it  as  a  talisman  of  more  than  ordinary  power. 

From  Green  Bay  they  moved  southward,  and  shortly  after  the 
French  pioneers  visited  the  country  they  took  possession  of  the 
fertile  plains  of  Northwestern  Illinois,  driving  out  the  Sauteaux, 
a  branch  of  the  Chippewas.  In  their  southern  migration,  accord 
ing  to  their  traditions,  a  severe  battle  occurred  between  them  and 
the  Mascoutins,  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Iowa,  in  which  the  lat 
ter  were  defeated,  and  only  a  few  of  them  left  to  carry  the  news 
of  their  disaster  to  friends  at  home.  Subsequently  they  formed 
alliances  with  the  Potawatanries  and  other  nations,  forced  the  dif 
ferent  tribes  of  the  Illinois  confederacy  southward,  and  after  years 
of  strife  almost  exterminated  them.  In  conjunction  with  the  Me- 
nomonee.s,  Winnebagoes,  and  other  tribes  living  in  the  region  of 
the  lakes,  they  made  an  attempt,  in  1779,  to  destroy  the  village  of 
St.  LOULS,  but  were  prevented  by  the  timely  arrival  of  George 
Ilogers  Clark  with  500  men  from  Kaskaskia.  Finally,  in  the  Black 
Hawk  war,  waged  by  them  against  the  troops  of  Illinois  and  the 
United  States,  they  attracted  the  attention  of  the  entire  nation, 
and  won  a  historical  reputation. 

Much  labor  has  been  expended  to  ascertain  whether  the  cele 
brated  Chief,  Pontiac,  was  of  Sac  or  Ottawa  lineage.  If  a  simil 
arity  in  the  traits  of  character,  which  distinguished  him  and  the 
Sac  tribe,  could  decide  the  question,  the  latter  might,  doubt 
less,  claim  the  honor  of  his  relationship.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
speak  of  the  courage  and  fighting  qualities  of  Pontiac.  That  of 
the  Sacs  and  their  relatives,  the  Foxes,  is  thus  given  by  Drake,  in 


38  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

his  "  Life  of  Black  Hawk :"  "  The  Sacs  and  Foxes  fought  their 
way  from  the  waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Green  Bay,  and  after 
reaching  that  place  not  only  sustained  themselves  against  the  hos 
tile  tribes,  but  were  among  the  most  active  and  courageous  in  the 
subjugation,  or  rather  extermination,  of  the  numerous  and  power 
ful  Illinois  confederacy.  They  had  many  wars,  offensive  and  defen 
sive,  with  the  Sioux,  the  Pawnees,  the  Osages  and  other  tribes, 
some  of  which  are  ranked  among  the  most  fierce  and  ferocious 
warriors  of  the  whole  continent,  and  it  does  not  appear  that  in 
these  conflicts,  running  through  a  long  period  of  years,  they  were 
found  wanting  in  this  the  greatest  of  all  savage  virtues.  In  the 
late  war  with  Great  Britain,  a  party  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  fought 
under  the  British  standard  as  a  matter  of  choice,  and  in  the  recent 
contest  between  a  fragment  of  these  tribes  and  the  United  States, 
although  defeated  and  literally  cut  to  pieces  by  an  overwhelming 
force,  it  is  very  questionable  whether  their  reputation  as  braves 
would  suffer  by  a  comparison  with  that  of  their  victors.  It  is  be 
lieved  that  a  careful  review  of  their  history,  from  the  period  when 
they  first  established  themselves  on  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi 
down  to  the  present  time,  will  lead  the  inquirer  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  are  a  truly  courageous  people,  shrewd, 
politic,  and  enterprising,  with  not  more  of  ferocity  and  treachery 
of  character  than  is  common  among  the  tribes  by  whom  they  were 
surrounded." 

These  tribes,  at  the  time  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  were  divided  in 
to  20  families,  12  of  which  were  Sacs  and  8  Foxes.  As  marks  of  dis 
tinction,  each  family  had  its  particular  totemic  symbol,  represented 
by  some  animal.  There  also  existed  a  peculiar  custom  among 
them  of  marking  each  male  child  at  birth  with  black  and  white 
paint,  each  mother  being  careful  to  apply  the  two  colors  altern 
ately,  so  that  each  family  and  the  entire  nation  might  be  divided  into 
two  nearly  equal  classes,  the  whites  and  the  blacks.  The  object  of 
these  distinctive  marks,  which  were  retained  during  life,  was  to 
keep  alive  a  spirit  of  emulation  in  the  tribes.  In  their  games, 
hunts,  and  public  ceremonies,  the  blacks  were  the  competitors  ot" 
the  whites,  and  in  war  each  party  was  ambitions  to  take  more 
scalps  than  the  other. 

Lieutenat  Pike,  in  his  travels  to  the  source  of  the  Mississippi, 
in  1805,  visited  these  tribes  and  found  them  residing  in  four  prin 
cipal  villages.  The  first  was  at  the  head  of  the  rapids  of  the  river 
DesMoines,  the  second  farther  up  on  the  east  shore  of  the  same 
stream,  the  third  on  the  Iowa,  and  the  fourth  on  Itoek  river  near 
its  entrance  into  the  Mississippi.  The  latter  greatly  exceeded  the 
others  in  political  importance,  and  was  among  the  largest  and 
most  populous  Indian  villages  on  the  continent.  The  country 
around  it,  diversified  with  groves  and  prairies,  was  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  regions  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and  gave  addi 
tional  interest  to  this  time-honored  residence  of  the  nation. 
According  to  Lieutenant  Pike,  the  Sacs  numbered  2,850  souls, 
of  whom  1400  were  children,  750  women,  and  700  Avarriors.  The 
total  number  of  Foxes  were  1750,  of  whom  850  were  children,  500 
women,  and  400  warriors.  In  1825,  the  Secretary  of  War  estimated 
the  entire  number  of  Sacs  and  Foxes  at  4,600,  showing  in  the  in 
tervening  period  of  20  years  a  considerable  increase  of  population. 
After  the  Black  Hawk  war,  these  tribes  retired  to  their  lands  in 


WINNEBAGOES — KICKAPOOS.  39 

Iowa,  whence  they  were  finally  transferred  to  tlie  Indian  Territory, 
and  in  1850  numbered  some  1(300  souls. 

The  early  traditions  of  the  Winnebcujoes  fixes  their  ancient  seat 
on  the  west  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  north  of  Green  Bay.  They 
believed  that  their  ancestors  were  created  by  the  Great  Spirit,  on 
the  lands  constituting  their  ancient  territory,  and  that  their  title 
to  it  was  a  gift  from  their  Creator.  The  Algonquins  named 
them  after  the  bay  on  which  they  lived,  Ween-ni-ba-gogSL  which 
subsequently  became  anglicized  in  the  form  of  Whmebagoes, 
They  were  persons  of  good  stature,  manly  bearing,  had  the  cliarc- 
teristic  black  circular  hair  of  their  race,  and  were  generally  more 
uncouth  in  their  habits  than  the  surrounding  tribes.  Their  lan 
guage  was  a  deep  gutteral,  difficult  to  learn,  and  show\s  that  they 
belonged  to  the  great  Dacotah  stock  of  the  West.  Ai'-<*i^i^ly,they 
were  divided  into  clans  distinguished  by  the  bird,  bear,  fish,  and 
other  family  totems. 

How  long  they  resided  at  Green  Bay  is  not  known.  Father  Al- 
louez  state.s  that  there  was  a  tradition  in  his  day,  that  they  had 
been  almost  destroyed  in  1640,  by  the  Illinois.  They  had  also,  in 
this  connection,  a  tradition  that  their  ancestors  built  a  fort,  which 
Irwiii  and  Hamilton,  missionaries  among  them,  think  might 
liave  been  identical  with  the  archeological  remains  o+'  an  ancient 
work  found  on  liock  river.  Coming  down  to  the  era  of  authentic 
history,  Carver,  in  1766,  found  them  on  the  Fox  river,  evidently 
wandering  from  their  ancient  place  of  habitation,  and  approach 
ing  southern  Wisconsin  and  the  northern  part  of  Illinois  and  Iowa, 
where  portions  of  the  tribe  subsequently  settled.  The  Illinois  por 
tion  occupied  a  section  of  country  on  Eock  river,  in  the  county  which 
bears  their  name,  and  the  country  to  the  east  of  it.  In  Pontiac's 
war,  they,  with  other  lake  tribes,  hovered  about  the  beleaguered 
fortress  of  Detroit,  and  made  the  surrounding  forests  dismal  with 
midnight  revelry  and  war-whoops.  English  agents,  however,  suc 
ceeded  in  molifying  their  resentment,  and  when  the  new  American 
power  arose,  in  1776,  they  were  subsequently  arrayed  on  the  side 
of  the  British  authorities  in  regard  to  questions  of  local  jurisdic 
tion  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  Green  Bay  and  Mackinaw.  In  the  war 
of  1812,  they  still  remained  the  allies  of  England,  and  assisted  in 
the  defeat  of  Col.  Croghan,  at  Mackinaw;  Col.  Dudley,  at  the 
rapids  of  the  Maumee ;  and  General  Winchester,  at  the  river 
Raisin.  In  the  Winnebago  war  of  1827,  they  defiantly  placed 
themselves  in  antagonism  to  the  authority  of  the  general  govern 
ment,  by  assaulting  a  steamboat  on  the  Mississippi,  engaged  in 
furnishing  supplies  to  the  military  post  on  the  St.  Peters. 

The  Kickapoos,  in  1763,  occupied  the  country  southwest  of  the 
southern  extremity  of  Lake  Michigan.  They  subsequently  moved 
southward,  and  at  a  more  recent  date  dwelt  in  portions  of  the  ter 
ritory  on  the  Mackinaw  and  Sangamon  rivers,  and  had  a  village 
on  Kickapoo  creek,  and  at  Elk  hart  Grove.  They  were  more  civi 
lized,  industrious,  energetic  and  cleanly  than  the  neighboring 
tribes,  and  it  may  also  be  added  more  implacable  in  their  hatred 
of  the  Americans.  They  were  among  the  first  to  commence  bat 
tle,  and  the  last  to  submit  and  enter  into  treaties.  Unappeaseable 
enmity  led  them  into  the  field  against  Generals  Harmar,  St.  Clair 
and  Wayne,  and  first  in  all  the  bloody  charges  at  Tippecanoe. 
They  were  prominent  among  the  northern  nations,  which,  for  more 


40  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

than  a  century,  waged  an  exterminating  Avar  against  the  Illinois 
confederacy.  Their  last  hostile  act  of  this  kind  was  perpetrated 
hi  1805,  against  some  poor  Kaskaskia  children,  whom  they  found 
gathering  strawberries  on  the  prairie  above  the  town  which  bears 
the  name  of  their  tribe.  Seizing  a  considerable  number  of  them, 
they  tied  to  their  villages  before  the  enraged  Kaskaskias  could 
overtake  them  and  rescue  their  offspring.  During  the  years  1810 
and  1811,  in  conjunction  with  the  Chippewas,  Potawatamies  and 
Ottawas,  they  committed  so  many  thefts  and  murders  on  the  fron 
tier  settlements,  that  Governor  Edwards  was  compelled  to  employ 
military  force  to  suppress  them.  When  removed  from  Illinois 
they  still  retained  their  old  animosities  against  the  Americans, 
and  went  to  Texas,  then  a  province  of  Mexico,  to  get  beyond  the 
jurisdiction  o<£  the  United  States.  They  claimed  relationship  with 
the  Potawatamies,  and  perhaps  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  and  Shaw- 
nees.  The  following  tradition  respecting  the  origin  of  this  tribe 
was  related  in  1812,  at  the  Indian  Superintendency  at  St.  Louis, 
by  Louis  Kodgers,  a  Shawnee : 

"  It  is  many  years  ago  since  the  number  of  the  Shawnees  was 
very  great.  They  were,  on  an  important  occasion,  encamped  to 
gether  on  the  prairie.  At  night  one-half  of  them  fell  asleep,  the 
others  remained  awake.  The  latter  abandoned  the  sleepers  before 
morning,  and  betook  themselves  to  the  course  where  the  sun  rises. 
The  others  gradually  pursued  their  route  in  the  direction  where 
the  sun  sets.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  two  nations,  the  first  of 
which  was  called  the  Shawnees,  and  the  other  the  Kickapoos. 
Prior  to  this  separation  these  nations  were  considered  one,  and 
were  blessed  with  bounties  above  any  blessings  which  are  now 
enjoyed  by  any  portion  of  mankind ;  and  they  ascribe  their  pres 
ent  depressed  condition,  and  the  withdrawal  of  the  favor  of  Provi 
dence,  to  the  anger  of  the  Great  Spirit  at  their  separation. 
Among  the  many  tokens  of  divine  favors  which  they  formerly  en 
joyed  was  the  art  of  walking  on  the  surface  of  the  ocean,  by 
which  they  crossed  from  the  East  to  America  without  vessels. 
Also  the  art  of  restoring  life  to  the  dead,  by  the  use  of  medical 
art,  continued  for  the  space  of  six  hours.  Necromancy  and  pro 
phecy  were  with  them  at  their  highest  state,  and  were  practiced 
without  feigning ;  and,  in  fine,  such  Avere  the  gifts  of  heaven  to 
them  that  nothing  fell  short  of.  their  inconceivable  power  to  per 
form.  And  after  the  Shawnees  have  wandered,  to  the  remotest 
West,  and  returned  East  to  the  original  place  of  separation,  the 
world  will  have  finished  its  career.  It  is  believed  by  the  Shawnees 
that  the  consummation  of  this  prophecy  is  not  far  distant,  because 
they  have,  in  fulfillment  of  it,  reached  the  extreme  Avestern  point, 
and  are  HOAV  retrograding  their  steps." 

A  fragment  of  the  Shawnee  nation,  in  early  times,  dwelt  in  the 
southeastern  part  of  Illinois,  in  the  vicinity  of  Shawneetown, 
which  bears  their  name.  The  nation,  bold,  roving  and  adventur 
ous,  originally  inhabited  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  between  the  Alta- 
niaha  and  James  rivers.  Becoming  embroiled  in  Avars  with  the 
•oquois,to  save  themselves  some  took  refuge  in  the  Carolinas 
1^  londa.  True  to  their  native  instincts,  in  their  IICAV  location 
they  soon  came  to  blows  Avith  the  OAvners  of  the  soil,  and  about  the 
year  1730  removed  to  the  Sciota,  in  the  present  State  of  Ohio. 
About  l<oO,  a  discontented  fraction  broke  off  from  the  rest  of  the 


MASCOUTINS — PIANKISHAWS.  41 

nation  and  went  to  East  Tennessee,  and  thence  to  their  location  on 
the  Ohio,  at  Shawneetown.  Here,  in  common  with  neighboring 
tribes,  they  regarded  Illinois  as  sacred  ground,  and  during  Pon- 
tiae's  war  assisted  in  repelling  the  attempts  of  their  English  ene 
mies  to  get  possession  of  the  country  in  the  present  limits  of  the 
State.  Here,  too,  both  themselves  and  their  brethren  on  the  Seiota, 
obtained  arms  from  the  French,  for  Avhose  supremacy  they  deluged 
the  frontiers  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  with  blood.  Such  had 
been  the  atrocity  of  their  conduct,  when  the  war  was  over  they  at 
first  supposed  they  were  excluded  from  the  general  amnesty  ex 
tended  to  other  western  tribes,  and  even  prepared  to  murder  their 
prisoners  and  resume  hostilities.  After  having,  a  short  time  before 
the  conquest  of  Clark,  destroyed  the  Tamaroas  in  battle,  they  re 
joined  their  kindred  on  the  Sciota. 

Tl\e  Mascoutins  were  a  tribe  holding  friendly  relations  with  the 
Illinois,  and  are  supposed  by  some  to  have  constituted  a  sixth  tribe 
of  their  confederacy.  The  name,  "Mascontin,"  is  synonymous  with 
prairie,  and  was  applied  to  this  tribe  from  the  circumstance  of  their 
dwelling  on  the  great  grassy  plains  east  of  the  Mississippi.  The 
first  European  who  mentions  them  is  Father  Allouez,  who  found 
them,  in  1001),  on  the  Wisconsin  river.  Marqtiette  saw  them  in 
1073,  near  the  portage  of  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  rivers.  Marest 
states  that  they  had  formed  settlements  in  1712  on  the  Wabash, 
and  in  subsequent  times  they  ranged  over  the  prairies  between  the 
Wabash  and  the  Illinois.  They  were  also  intimately  associated 
with  the  Foxes  and  Kickapoos,  whom  they  resembled  in  deceit  and 
treachery.  Charlevoix  states  that  the  Mascoutins  and  the  Kicka 
poos  united  with  the  Foxes  in  a  plot  of  the  latter  against  the 
French,  but  were  surprised  by  the  Ottawas  and  Potawatamies  and 
150  of  them  cut  to  pieces.  After  the  cession  of  the  French  posses 
sions  to  the  English,  Col.  Croghan  was  sent  to  conciliate  the  western 
tribes.  Having  descended  the  Ohio  to  the  site  of  Shawneetown, 
they,  with  the  Kickapoos,  attacked  and  made  him  and  his  men 
prisoners.  Under  the  name  of  Meadow  Indians  they  are  men 
tioned  by  Gen.  Clark,  whom,  in  1778,  they  endeavored  to  cut  off 
by  treachery.  Subsequently  they  appear  to  have  been  absorbed 
by  the  Kickapoos  and  Foxes. 

The  Piankixhaws  occupied  the  lower  Wabash  country  on  both 
sides  of  that  stream,  and  west  into  the  Illinois  territory  as  far  as 
the  dividing  ridge  between  the  sources  of  the  streams  flowing  into 
the  Wabasli  and  those  falling  into  the  Kaskaskia.  They  were  one 
member  of  the  Miami  Confederacy.  This  nation,  in  early  times, 
resided  on  Fox  river,  Wisconsin,  where  they  were  visited,  in  1070, 
by  Fathers  Allouez  and  Dablon.  The  latter  is  lavish  in  his  praise 
of  their  chief,  stating  that  he  was  honored  by  his  subjects  as  a 
king,  and  that  his  bearing  among  his  guests  had  all  the  courtly 
dignity  of  a  civilized  monarch.  They  were  also  visited  the  same 
year  by  St.  Susson,  who  was  received  with  the  honors  of  a  sham 
battle  and  entertained  with  a  grand  game  of  ball.  He  likewise 
speaks  in  glowing  terms  of  the  authority  of  the  chief,  who  was 
attended  night  and  day  by  a  guard  of  warriors.  The  nation 
shortly  afterward  removed  to  the  banks  of  the  St.  Joseph,  and 
thence  found  their  way  to  the  Wabash  and  Maumee.  They  were 
more  largely  represented  in  La  Salle's  colony,  at  Fort  St.  Louis, 
than  any  other  tribe,  and  were  active  participants  in  the  con- 


42  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

spiracy  of  Pontiac.  The  confederacy,  like  that  of  the  Illinois, 
was  reduced  to  the  last  extremity  by  repeated  attacks  from  the  Iro- 
quois.  But  they  fill  a  considerable  space  in  western  annals,  and 
gave  birth  to  Little  Turtle,  who  commanded  the  Indians  at  St. 
Clair's  defeat.  The  Piankishaws,  after  their  removal  from  Illinois, 
were  transferred  to  the  Indian  Territory,  and  in  1850  were  reduced 
to  107  persons. 

The  Potawatamies  are  represented  on  early  French  maps  as 
inhabiting  the  country  east  of  the  southern  extremity  of  Lake 
Michigan.  At  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph,  falling  into  this  part 
of  the  lake,  the  Jesuits  had  a  missionary  station,  which,  according 
to  Marest,  was  in  a  flourishing  condition  as  early  as  1712.  Here, 
an  immeasured  distance  from  civilization,  for  more  than  half  a 
century  the  devoted  missionaries  labored  for  their  spiritual  wel 
fare.  These  years  of  toil  and  self-denial  were,  however,  little  ap 
preciated,  for  in  Pontiac's  war  they  proved  themselves  to  be 
among  the  most  vindictive  of  his  adherents.  Disguising  their 
object  under  the  mask  of  friendship,  they  approached  the  small 
military  post  located  on  the  same  river,  and  having  obtained  in 
gress,  in  a  few  minutes  butchered  the  whole  of  the  garrison,  except 
three  men. 

From  this  locality  a  portion  of  the  tribe  passed  round  the  south 
ern  extremity  of  the  lake,  into  northeastern  Illinois.  Time  and  a 
change  of  residence  seems  not  to  have  modified  their  ferocious 
character.  Partly  as  the  result  of  British  intrigue,  and  partly  to 
gratify  their  thirst  for  blood,  they  perpetrated,  in  1812,  at  Chicago, 
the  most  atrocious  massacre  in  the  annals  of  the  northwest.  After 
their  removal  from  Illinois,  they  found  their  way  to  the  Indian 
Territory,  and  in  1850  numbered  1,500  souls.  "  The  following 
legend  of  the  tribe  gives  their  theology  and  origin:  "They 
believe  in  two  great  spirits,  Kitchemonedo,  the  good  or  benev 
olent  spirit,  and  Matchemonedo,  the  evil  spirit.  Some  have 
doubts  which  is  the  most  powerful,  but  the  great  part  believe 
that  the  first  is;  that  lie  made  the  world  and  called  all  things 
into  being,  and  that  the  other  ought  to  be  despised.  When 
Kitchemonedo  first  made  the  world  he  peopled  it  with  a  class  of 
beings  who  only  looked  like  men,  but  they  were  perverse,  ungrate 
ful,  wicked  dogs,  who  never  raised  their  eyes  from  the  ground  to 
thank  him  for  anything.  Seeing  this  the  Great  Spirit  plunged 
them,  with  the  world  itself,  into  a  great  lake  and  drowned  them. 
He  then  withdrew  it  from  the  water  and  made  a  single  man,  a 
very  handsome  young  man,  who  as  lie  was  lonesome,  appeared 
sad.  Kitchemonedo  took  pity  on  him  and  sent  him  a  sister  to 
cheer  him  in  his  loneliness.  After  many  years  the  young  man 
had  a  dream  which  he  told  to  his  sister.  Five  young  men,  said  he, 
will  come  to  your  lodge  door  to-night  to  visit  you.  The  Great 
Spirit  forbids  you  to  answer  or  even  look  up  and  smile  at  the  first 
lour ;  but  when  the  fifth  comes,  you  may  speak  and  laugh  and 
show  that  you  are  pleased.  She  acted  accordingly.  The  first  of 
the  five  strangers  that  called  was  Usama,  or  tobacco,  and  having 
been  repulsed  he  fell  down  and  died;  the  second,  AVapako,  or  a 
pumpkin,  shared  the  same  fate;  the  third,  Eshkossimin,  or  melon, 
and  the  fourth,  Kokees,  or  the  bean,  met  the  same  late;  but  when 
lamiii  or  Montamin,  which  is  maize,  presented  himself,  she  opened 
the  skin  tapestry  door  of  her  lodge,  laughed  very  heartily,  and 
gave  him  a  friendly  reception.  They  were  immediately  married, 


POT  AWAT  AMIES.  43 


and  from  this  union  the  Indians  sprang.  Tamin  forthwith  buried 
the  tour  unsuccessful  suitors,  and  from  their  graves  there  grew 
tobacco,  melons  of  all  sorts,  and  beans;  and  in  this  manner  the 
Great  Spirit  provided  that  the  race  which  he  had  made  should 
have  something  to  otter  him  as  a  gift  in  their  feasts  and  ceremo 
nies,  and  also  something  to  put  into  their  alteeks  or  kettles,  along 
with  their  meat.''7* 

Portions  of  the  Chippewa  and  Ottawa  tribes  were  associated 
with  the  Potawatamies  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  present 
limits  of  Illinois.  They  were  among  the  most  energetic  and  power 
ful  nations  of  the  northwest,  and  fought  Avith  great  ferocity  in 
most  of  the  wans  caused  by  the  westward  advance  of  civilization. 
In  the  conspiracy  of  Pontiac  they  were  the  immediate  followers  of 
the  great  Avar  chief,  and  impelled  by  his  imperious  will,  at  Detroit, 
Mackinaw  and  other  British  posts,  they  were  without  m^als  in  the 
work  of  carnage  and  death.  The  Kauteaux,  a  branch  of  the  Chip- 
pewas,  dwelt  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  and  had 
villages  on  the  sites  of  Rock  Island,  Quincy  and  other  adjacent 
places.  They  were  driven  west  of  the  river  by  the  Sacs  and  Foxes, 
after  which  their  principal  town  was  Davenport. 

All  these  tribes  have  now  passed  beyond  the  limits  of  the  State. 
Some  long  since  were  exterminated,  while  the  degenerate  offspring 
of  others  are  found  in  the  Indian  Territory  and  other  parts  of  the 
west.  Inflexible  as  if  hewn  from  a  rock,  they  Avere  unable  to  adapt 
themselves  to  the  requirements  of  civilized  life,  and  could  but  flee 
before  it  or  perish.  Their  fast  disappearing  graves,  and  the  relics 
occasionally  turned  up  by  the  plow,  are  now  the  only  melancholy 
vestiges  of  their  former  existence  in  Illinois. 

In  common  AATith  the  whole  Indian  race,  their  most  exalted  con 
ception  of  glory  was  success  in  war,  and  a  knowledge  of  its  arts 
the  most  valuable  attainment.  The  aged  chief  looked  back  to  his 
exploits  in  battle  as  the  crowning  acts  of  his  life,  while  the  growing 
youth  looked  forward  to  the  time  when  he  would  be  able  to  Aviu 
distinction  by  like  feats  of  prowess.  CiA'ilizatioii  offers  to  the 
votaries  of  ambition  not  only  the  sword  but  the  pen,  the  forum,  the 
paths  of  science,  the  painter's  brush  and  the  sculptor's  chisel;  the 
savage  has  only  the  triumphs  of  the  war  path.  The  Avar  par 
ties  of  the  prairie  tribes  consisted  of  volunteers.  The  leader  Avho 
attempted  to  raise  one  must  have  previously  distinguished  himself 
in  order  to  be  successful.  He  first  appealed  to  the  patriotism  and 
courage  of  the  warriors,  and  was  careful  to  intimate  that  the 
Great  Spirit  had  made  known  to  him  in  dreams  the  success  of  his 
enterprise.  Then,  painted  AATith  vermillion  to  symbolize  blood,  he 
commenced  the  Avar  dance.  This  performance  expressed  in  panto 
mime  the  varied  incidents  of  a  successful  campaign.  The  braves 
entering  upon  the  war-path,  the  posting  of  sentinels  to  avoid  sur 
prise,  the  advance  into  the  enemy's  country,  the  formation  of 
ambuscades  to  strike  the  unwary  foe,  the  strife  and  carnage  of 
battle,  the  writhing  victim  sinking  under  the  blow  of  the  Avar- 
club,  the  retreat  of  the  enemy,  the  scalping  of  the  slain,  the  feast 
ing  of  vultures  on  the  putrid  bodies,  the  triumphant  return  of  the 
war  party  to  their  A^illage  and  the  torturing  of  prisoners,  were  all 
portrayed  Avith  the  vividness  and  vehemence  of  actual  warfare. 
Warrior  after  warrior,  wishing  to  volunteer  for  the  expedition,  rap- 

*SchooJcraft. 


44  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

idly  fell  into  the  dance  with  the  leader.  Each  one,  keeping  time 
with  the  beat  of  the  drum,  sped  in  mazy  circles  around  a  common 
centre,  until  with  increased  numbers  the  whole,  in  movement  and 
uproar,  resembled  the  whirlwind.  The  several  actors  taxed  their 
muscular  energies  to  the  utmost  endurance,  stamping  the  ground 
with  great  fury,  throwing  their  bodies  into  the  different  attitudes 
of  combat,  distorting  their  faces  with  the  frenzy  of  demons,  and 
uttering  the  war-cry  with  the  frightful  shriek  of  madmen.  These 
hideous  orgies,  waking  up  all  the  lire  and  energy  of  the  Indian's 
soul,  were  a  fitting  prelude  to  the  premeditated  carnage,  If  a 
young  man  participated  in  the  dance,  it  was  tantamount  to  an  en 
listment,  and  he  could  not  afterwards  honorably  withdraw. 

The  Art  of  Hunting  not  only  supplied  the  Indian  with  food,  but, 
like  that  of  war,  was  a  means  of  gratifying  his  love  of  distinction. 
The  male  children,  as  soon  as  they  acquired  sufficient  age  and 
strength,  were  furnished  with  a  bow  and  arrows  and  taught  to 
shoot  birds  and  other  small  game.  Success  in  killing  large  quad 
rupeds  required  years  of  careful  study  and  practice,  and  the  art 
was  as  sedulously  inculcated  on  the  minds  of  the  rising  generation 
as  are  the  elements  of  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic  in  the  com 
mon  schools  of  civilized  communities.  The  mazes  of  the  forest 
and  the  dense  tall  grass  of  the  prairies  were  the  best  fields  for  the 
exercise  of  the  hunter's  skill.  !No  feet  could  be  impressed  in  the 
yielding  soil  but  they  were  objects  of  the  most  rigid  scrutiny,  and 
revealed  at  a  glance  the  animal  that  made  them,  the  direction  it 
was  pursuing,  and  the  time  that  had  elapsed  since  it  had  passed. 
Even  if  the  surface  was  too  hard  to  admit  of  indentations,  such 
were  his  wonderful  powers  of  observation,  lie  discovered  on  it 
evidences  of  a  trail  from  which,  with  scarcely  less  certainty,  he 
derived  the  same  information.  In  a  forest  country  lie  selected  for 
his  places  of  ambush  valleys,  because  they  are  most  frequently  the 
resort  of  game,  and  sallied  forth  at  the  first  peep  of  day'.  In 
ascending  the  valleys  he  was  careful  to  take  the  side  of  the  stream 
which  threw  his  shadow  from  it,  thus  leaving  his  view  unobstruc 
ted  in  the  opposite  direction.  The  most  easily  taken,  perhaps,  of 
all  the  animals  of  the  chase  was  the  deer.  It  is  endowed  with  a 
curiosity  which  prompts  it  to  stop  in  its  flight  and  look  back  at  the 
approaching  hunter  who  always  avails  himself  of  this  opportunity  to 
let  fly  his  fatal  arrow.  An  ingenious  method  of  taking  this  animal, 
practiced  by  the  Indians  on  the  small  tributaries  of  the  Mississippi, 
was  the  use  of  the  torch.  For  this  purpose  they  constructed  their 
bark  canoes  with  a  place  in  front  for  the  reception  of  a  large  flam 
beau,  whose  light  was  prevented  from  revealing  the  hunter  by  the 
interposition  of  a  screen.  As  he  descended  the  narrow  streams, 
the  deer,  seeing  only  the  light,  was  attracted  by  it  to  the  banks 
and  easily  shot. 

But  by  far  the  noblest  objects  of  the  chase  which  the  Indian  en 
countered  on  the  prairies,  was  the  buffalo.  It  is  an  animal  confined 
to  temperate  latitudes,  and  was  found  in  large  numbers  by  the  first 
explorers,  roaming  over  the  grassy  plains  of  Illinois,  Indiana, 
Southern  Michigan  and  Western  Ohio.  It  has  a  remarkably  large 
chest,  a  heavy  mane  covering  the  whole  of  its  neck  and  breast,  horns 
turned  slightly  upward  and  large  at  the  base,  eyes  red  and  fiery, 
and  the  whole  aspect  furious.  In  its  native  haunts  it  is  a  furious 
and  formidable  animal,  worthy  of  the  Indian's  prowess.  Like  the 


THEIR  GENERAL  COUNCILS.  45 

moose  and  other  animals  of  the  same  family,  nature  has  bestowed 
on  it  the  most  exquisite  power  of  scent.  The  inexperienced  hunter 
of  the  present  day,  unaware  that  the  tainted  breeze  has  revealed 
his  presence  to  them,  is  often  surprised  to  see  them  urging  their 
rapid  flight  across  the  prairies,  at  a  distance  of  two  or  three  miles 
in  advance,  without  any  apparent  cause  of  alarm.  He  is  therefore 
necessitated  to  dismount  and  approach  them  on  the  leeward,  under 
cover  of  the  horse.  When  within  a  proper  distance  he  vaults  into 
the  saddle  and  speeds  forward  in  the  direction  of  the  prey,  which 
commences  its  retreat,  getting  over  the  ground  with  great  rapidity 
for  animals  so  unwieldy.  Intuitively  it  directs  its  course  over  the 
most  broken  and  difficult  ground,  causing  both  horse  and  rider  to 
frequently  imperil  their  lives  by  falling.  When  wounded  they 
sometimes  turn  with  great  fury  upon  their  pursuer,  and  if  he  hap 
pens  to  be  dismounted,  nothing  but  the  greatest  coolness  and  dex 
terity  can  save  his  life. 

The  bow  and  arrow,  in  the  hands  of  the  tribes  which  formerly 
ranged  the  prairies,  were  said  to  be  more  formidable  weapons  in 
hunting  the  buffalo,  than  the  guns  subsequently  introduced  by  Eu 
ropeans.  The  arrows  could  be  discharged  with  greater  rapidity  and 
with  scarcely  less  precision.  Such,  too,  was  the  force  with  which 
it  was  propelled,  that  the  greater  part  of  it  was  generally  imbedded 
in  the  body  of  the  buffalo,  and  sometimes  protruded  from  the  oppo 
site  side.  "Deep  grooves  cut  in  the  side  of  the  missile  permitted  the 
rapid  effusion  of  blood,  and  animals,  when  pierced  with  it,  survived 
only  a  short  time. 

One  of  the  modes  of  killing  the  buffalo,  practiced  by  the  Illinois 
and  other  tribes  of  the  West,  was  to  drive  them  headlong  over  the 
precipitous  banks  of  the  rivers.  Buffalo  Eock,  a  large  promontory 
rising  fifty  or  sixty  feet  high,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Illinois,  six 
miles  belowr  Ottawa,  is  said  to  have  derived  its  name  from  this 
practice.  It  was  customary  to  select  an  active  young  man  and  dis 
guise  him  in  the  skin  of  the  buffalo,  prepared  for  this  purpose  by 
preserving  the  ears,  head  and  horns.  Thus  disguised,  he  took  a 
position  between  a  herd  and  a  cliff  of  the  river,  while  his  compan 
ions,  on  the  the  rear  and  each  side,  put  the  animals  in  motion, 
following  the  decoy,  who,  on  reaching  the  precipice,  disappeared 
in  a  previously  selected  crevice,  while  the  animals  in  front,  pressed 
by  the  moving  mass  behind,  were  precipitated  over  the  brink  and 
crushed  to  death  on  the  rocks  below.  The  Indians  also  often  cap 
tured  large  numbers  of  these  buffalo,  when  the  rivers  were  frozen 
over,  by  driving  them  on  the  ice.  If  the  great  weight  of  the  ani 
mals  broke  the  ice,  they  were  usually  killed  in  the  water,  but  if  too 
strong  to  break,  its  smoothness  caused  them  to  fall  powerless  on 
the  surface,  when  they  were  remorselessly  slaughtered,  long  after 
supplying  the  demands  for  food,  merely  to  gratify  a  brutal  love  for 
the  destruction  of  life. 

Their  General  Councils  were  composed  of  the  chiefs  and  old  men. 
When  in  council  they  usually  sat  in  concentric  circles  around  the 
speaker,  and  each  individual,  notwithstanding  the  fiery  passions 
that  rankled  within,  preserved  an  exterior  as  immovable  as  if  cast 
in  bronze.  Before  commencing  business,  a  person  appeared  with 
the  sacred  pipe  and  another  with  fire  to  kindle  it.  After  being 
lighted,  it  was  presented  first  to  the  heavens,  secondly  to  the  earth, 
thirdly  to  the  presiding  spirits,  and  lastly  to  the  several  councilors, 


46  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


each  of  whom  took  a  whiff.  These  formalities  were  observed  with 
as  much  scrupulous  exactness  as  state  etiquette  in  civilized  courts. 
After  the  speaker  commenced  and  became  animated  in  the  discus 
sion  of  his  subject,  his  statue-like  auditors  signified  their  assent  to 
what  he  said  by  deep  guttural  ejaculations.  These  gatherings,  in 
dignity,  gravity  and  decorum,  were  scarcely  equalled  by  the  deli 
berative  bodies  of  the  most  enlightened  centres.  It  is  said  that 
the  Indians  were  wont  to  express  the  greatest  surprise  on  witness 
ing  the  levity  exhibited  by  French  officials,  in  their  public  assem 
blies  at  Fort  Chart-res. 

The  Indian  council  had  no  authority  to  give  force  and  validity  to 
its  enactments.  If  it  decided  to  engage  in  war,  it  had  no  power 
to  enforce  its  enlistments,  and  therefore  volunteers  had  to  fight 
the  battles.  If  its  decrees  of  peace  were  observed,  it  was  not  the 
result  of  compulsion,  but  due  to  the  confidence  which  the  nation 
placed  in  its  wisdom  and  integrity.  Where  councils  were  convened 
for  negotiating  treaties,  or  terms  of  peace,  the  presentation  of  gifts 
was  often  a  part  of  the  proceedings.  It  was  customary  on  these 
occasions  for  the  orator  of  the  interceding  party  to  rise  and  pre 
sent  them  to  those  of  the  assemblage  who  were  to  be  conciliated. 
A  particular  object  was  assigned  to  each  gift,  which  the  speaker 
explained  as  he  proceeded  in  his  discourse.  Corresponding  with 
the  various  objects  to  be  accomplished  by  negotiation,  there  were 
gifts  to  propitiate  the  Great  Spirit  and  cause  him  to  look  with  favor 
upon  the  council;  to  open  the  ears  and  minds  of  the  contracting 
parties,  that  they  might  hear  what  was  said  and  understand  their 
duty;  to  inter  the  bones  of  the  dead,  and  heal  the  wounds  of  their 
living  friends ;  to  bury  the  tomahawk,  that  it  might  not  again  be 
used  in  shedding  blood,  and  to  so  brighten  the  chain  of  friendship 
that  the  disaffected  tribes  might  ever  afterwards  be  as  one  people. 

The  thoughts  uttered  in  these  councils,  and  on  other  public  occa 
sions,  were  frequently  of  a  high  order.  Deeply  imbued  with  the 
love  of  freedom  and  independence,  their  ideas  on  these  subjects 
Avere  generally  of  a  lofty,  unselfish  and  heroic  character.  Patriot 
ism,  their  most  cherished  virtue,  furnished  their  orators  Avith 
themes  for  the  most  stirring  appeals.  Barrenness  of 


..  r. justice. 

while  this  A\as  true  it  was  much  more  frequently  the  case  that  the 
tran slator  greatly  improved  tl i e  ori gin al.  It  m ay  also  be  added  that 
some  of  the  most  sparkling  gems  of  what  purports  to  be  Indian 
eloquence  are  nothing  but  thefanciful  creations  of  writers.  Pontiac's 
speeches  are  frequently  referred  to  as  among  the  best  specimens 
of  aboriginal  eloquence.  The  following  retort  was  made  by  Keokuk, 
in  answer  to  charges  preferred  against  his  people  by  the  Siouxs  at 
a  convocation  of  chiefs  in  1837,  at  the  national  capital : 

1  They  say  they  would  as  soon  make  peace  with  a  child  as  with 

us.     Ihey  know  better,  for  when  they  made  war  on  us  they  found 

s  men.     They  tell  you  that  peace  has  often  been  made  and  we 

lave  broken  it.     How  happens  it  then  that  so  many  of  their  braves 

lave  been  slain  in  our  country.   I  will  tell  you :    They  invaded  us, 

we  never  invaded  them;  none  of  our  braves  have  been  MUed  in 


CONSTITUTION   OF  THE  INDIAN   FAMILY.  47 

tlieir  land.     We  have  their  scalps  and  we  can  tell  you  where  we 
took  them." 

Black  Hawk's  speech  to  Col.  Eustice,  in  charge  of  Fortress  Mon 
roe,  when  he  and  his  fellow  prisoners  were  set  at  liberty,  is  not 
only  eloquent,  but  shows  that  within  his  chest  of  steel  there  beat  a 
heart  keenly  alive  to  the  emotions  of  gratitude  : 

"  Brother,  I  have  come  on  my  own  part,  and  in  behalf  of  my  companions,  to 
bid  you  farewell.  Our  great  father  has  at  length  been  pleased  to  permit  us  to 
return  to  our  hunting  grounds.  We  have  buried  the  tomahawk,  and  the  sound 
of  the  rifle  will  hereafter  only  bring  death  to  the  deer  and  the  buffalo.  Broth 
er,  you  have  treated  the  red  men  very  kindly.  Your  squaws  have  made  them 
presents,  and  you  have  given  them  plenty  to  eat  and  drink.  The  memory  of 
your  friendship  will  remain  till  the  Great  Spirit  says  it  is  time  for  Black  Hawk 
to  sing  his  death  song.  Brother,  your  houses  are  numerous  as  the  leaves  on 
the  trees,  and  your  young  warriors  like  the  sands  upon  the  shore  of  the  big 
lake  that  rolls  before  us.  The  red  man  has  but  few  houses,  and  few  warriors, 
but  the  red  man  has  a  heart  which  throbs  as  warmly  as  the  heart  of  his  white 
brother.  The  Great  Spirit  has  given  us  our  hunting  gronnds,  and  the  skin  of 
the  deer  which  we  kill  there,  is  his  favorite,  for  its  color  is  white,  and  this  is  the 
emblem  of  peace.  This  hunting  dress  and  these  feathers  of  the  eagle  are  white. 
Accept  them,  my  brother ;  I  have  given  one  like  this  to  the  White  Otter.  Accept 
of  it  as  a  memorial  of  Black  Hawk,  When  he  is  far  away  this  will  serve  to  remind 
you  of  him.  May  the  Great  Spirit  bless  you  and  your  children.  Farewell." 

Constitution  of  the  Indian  Family. — The  most  important  social 
feature  of  the  prairie  and  other  tribes,  and  that  which  disarmed 
their  barbarism  of  much  of  its  repulsiveness,  was  the  family  tie. 
The  marital  rite  which  precedes  the  family  relations  required  only 
the  consent  of  the  parties  and  their  parents,  without  any  concur 
rent  act  of  magistracy,  to  give  it  validity.  The  husband,  with  equal 
facility,  might  also  dissolve  this  tie  or' increase  the  number  of  his 
wives  without  limit.  Though  the  marriage  compact  was  not  very 
strong,  the  ties  of  consanguinity  were  rigidly  preserved,  and  hered 
itary  rights,  generally  traced  through  the  female  line,  were  handed 
down  from  the  remotest  ancestry.  For  this  purpose  they  had  the 
institution  of  the  Totem,  an  emblem  which  served  as  a  badge  of 
distinction  for  different  clans  or  families.  This  family  surname  was 
represented  by  some  quadruped,  bird,  or  other  object  of  the  ani 
mal  world,  as  the  Avolf,  deer,  hawk,  &c.  Different  degrees  of  rank 
and  dignity  were  indicated  by  various  totems,  those  of  the  bear, 
wolf,  and  turtle,  being  first  in  honor,  secured  the  greatest  respect 
for  those  who  had  the  right  to  wear  them.  Each  clansman  was 
proud  of  his  ensign,  and  if  a  member  of  the  fraternity  was  killed, 
he  felt  called  upon  to  avenge  his  death.  As  the  different  members 
of  a  clan  were  connected  by  ties  of  kindred,  they  were  prohibited 
from  intermarriage.  A  Bear  could  not  marry  a  Bear,  but  might 
take  a  wife  from  the  Wolf  or  Otter  clan,  whereby  all  the  branches 
of  a  tribe  or  nation  became  united  by  bonds  of  consanguinity  and 
friendship.  By  this  simple  institution,  notwithstanding  the  wan 
dering  of  tribes  and  their  vicissitudes  in  war,  family  lineage  was 
preserved  and  the  hereditary  rights  of  furnishing  chiefs,  accorded 
to  certain  clans,  was  transmitted  from  generation  to  generation. 

Though  in  many  of  the  most  endearing  relations  of  life  the  men, 
from  immemorial  custom,  exhibited  the  most  stolid  indifference, 
yet  instances  were  not  wanting  to  show  that  in  their  family  attach 
ments  they  frequently  manifested  the  greatest  affection  and  sym 
pathy.  Ko  calamity  can  cause  more  grief  than  the  loss  of  a  prom 
ising  son,  and  the  father  has  often  given  his  life  as  a  ransom  to 


48  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

save  him  from  the  stake.  A  striking  instance  of  this  kind  occur 
red  in  the  war  of  the  17th  century  between  the  Foxes  and  Chippe- 
was,  near  Montreal.  In  this  war  the  Foxes  captured  the  son  of  a 
celebrated  and  aged  chief  of  the  Chippewas,  named  Bi-ans-wah, 
while  the  father  was  absent  from  his  wigwam.  On  reaching  his 
home,  the  old  man  heard  the  heart-rending  news,  and  knowing 
what  the  fate  of  his  son  would  be,  followed  on  the  trail  of  the  enemy, 
and,  alone,  reached  the  Fox  village  while  they  were  in  the  act  of 
kindling  the  fire  to  roast  him  alive.  He  stepped  boldly  into  the 
arena  and  ottered  to  take  his  son's  place.  u  My  son,77  said  he  uhas 
seen  but  few  winters,  his  feet  have  never  trod  the  war  path ;  but 
the  hairs  of  my  head  are  white;  I  have  hung  many  scalps  over  the 
graves  of  my  relations,  which  I  have  taken  from  the  heads  of  your 
warriors.  Kindle  the  fire  about  me  and  send  my  son  to  my  lodge." 
The  offer  was  accepted  and  the  father,  without  deigning  to  utter  a 
groan,  was  burned  at  the  stake.  Such  are  the  severities  of  savage 
warfare,  amidst  which  the  family  is  maintained  with  a  heroism 
which  has  no  parallel  in  civilized  life. 

The  Methods  of  Sepulture,  among  the  Indians,  varied  in  different 
localities.  It  was  common,  among  the  northern  forest  tribes  of 
the  United  States,  to  choose  elevated  spots  above  the  reach  of 
floods,  for  places  of  burial,  ^ot  having  suitable  tools  for  making 
excavations,  they  interred  their  dead  in  shallow  graves  and  placed 
over  them  trunks  of  trees  to  secure  them  from  depredation  by  wild 
beasts.  The  bodies  were  sometimes  extended  at  full  length,  in  an 
eastern  and  western  direction,  but  more  frequently  in  a  sitting  pos 
ture.  The  Illinois  and  other  prairie  tribes  frequently  placed  their 
dead  on  scaffolds  erected  011  eminences  commanding  extensiAre 
and  picturesque  views.  The  corpse,  after  receiving  its  wrappings, 
was  deposited  in  a  rude  coffin,  fancifully  painted  with  red  colors.  In 
this  condition  they  were  placed  on  scaffolds  decorated  with  gifts  of 
living  relatives,  and  built  sufficiently  high  to  protect  them  from 
wolves  and  other  animals  of  prey  infestin  g  the  prairies.  But  judging 
from  the  remains  of  graves,  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  ancient  in 
habitants  of  Illinois  and  the  adjacent  parts  of  the  Mississippi  Valley, 
deposited  large  numbers  of  their  dead  in  a  common  tomb,  and  gen 
erally  marked  the  place  by  the  erection  of  a  mound.  The  plains 
and  alluviums  of  Southern  Illinois,  have  in  many  places  been  liter 
ally  sown  with  the  dead,  evincing  a  density  of  population  greatly 
exceeding  that  found  by  the  first  European  explorers  of  this  region. 
The  custom  of  raising  heaps  of  earth  over  the  graves,  Avas  perhaps 
practiced  as  a  mark  of  distinction  for  the  tombs  of  eminent  person 
ages,  and  for  such  as  contained  the  bodies  of  warriors  slain  in  bat 
tle,  or  were  made  common  repositaries  for  the  dead  of  whole  clans 
and  villages.  It  is  sometimes  difficult  to  distinguish  between  the 
places  of  sepulture  raised  by  the  ancient  mound  builders,  and  the 
more  modern  graves  of  the  Indians.  The  tombs  of  the  former  were 
in  general  larger  than  the  latter,  were  used  as  receptacles  for  a 
greater  number  of  bodies,  and  contained  relics  of  art  evincing  a 
higher  degree  of  civilization  than  that  attained  by  the  present  ab 
original  tribes.  The  ancient  tumuli  of  the  mound  builders  have  in 
some  instances  been  appropriated  as  burial  places  by  the  Indians, 
but  the  skeletons  of  the  latter  may  be  distinguished  from  the  osteo- 
logical  remains  of  the  former  by  their  greater  stature. 


METHODS  OF   SEPULTURE.  49 

The  existence  of  a  future  state  was  regarded  by  the  prairie  tribes 
as  an  actuality,  and  upon  this  idea  was  predicated  the  custom 
of  depositing  in  the  graves  of  departed  friends  their  favorite 
implements,  and  such  as  they  thought  would  be  useful  to  them  in 
the  land  of  spirits.  When  a  warrior  died  they  placed  with  him  his 
war-club,  gun  and  red  paint,  and  some  times  his  horse  was  slain 
upon  his  grave,  that  he  might  be  ready  to  mount  and  proceed  to 
to  his  appointed  place  of  rest  in  the  land  of  spirits.  If  a  female 
was  to  be  interred,  they  placed  with  her  a  kettle,  canoe  paddles, 
articles  of  apparel,  and  other  objects  of  feminine  use  and  interest. 
No  trait  of  character  was  more  commendable  in  the  Indian  than 
his  scrupulous  regard  for  the  graves  of  his  ancestors.  Not  even 
the  invasion  of  his  hunting  grounds  roused  more  quickly  his  pat 
riotism  and  resentment,  than  the  ruthless  desecration  of  the  graves 
of  his  fathers,  by  the  unhallowed  hands  of  strangers.  So  long  as 
any  part  of  their  perishable  bodies  were  supposed  to  remain,  they 
were  prompted  by  reverence  to  visit  the  sacred  places  where  they 
slept,  and  pour  out  libations  to  their  departed  spirits. 

Man  is,  by  nature,  a  religious  being.  The  exhibitions  of  his 
character,  in  this  respect,  are  as  universal  as  are  the  displays  of 
his  social,  intellectual  and  moral  nature  No  nations,  tribes  or  in 
dividuals  have  been  found,  whatever  may  be  their  isolated  condi 
tion  or  depth  of  degradation,  but  they  are  more  or  less  governed 
by  this  inherent  element.  While  the  religious  sentiment  is  univer 
sal,  its  manifestations  are  as  various  as  the  different  degrees  of  ad 
vancement  made  by  its  subjects  in  knowledge.  From  the  ignorant 
idolator  who  bows  down  before  a  lifeless  image  or  some  abject  form 
of  animal  life,  to  the  devotee  of  a  more  enlightened  theology,  the 
devotion  is  the  same,  but  their  theories  and  practices  are  infinitely 
diverse.  The  faculties  which  make  man  a  worshipping  being  are 
unchangeable,  and  may  not  its  manifestations  become  uniform, 
when  the  immutable  attributes  of  the  deity,  and  the  invariable 
laws  instituted  by  him  for  the  government  of  the  human  family, 
are  properly  studied  and  understood. 

The  red  man  of  the  prairies  and  forests,  like  the  rest  of  mankind, 
was  also  psychologically  religious.  Without  speaking  of  the  diver 
sities  of  belief  entertained  by  different  tribes,  only  the  general  fea 
tures  of  their  faith  can  be  given.  Prominent  among  these  was 
the  idea  that  every  natural  phenomenon  was  the  special  manifesta 
tion  of  the  Great  Spirit.  In  the  mutterings  of  the  thunder  cloud, 
in  the  angry  roar  of  the  cataract,  or  the  sound  of  the  billows  which 
beat  upon  the  shores  of  his  lake-girt  forests,  he  heard  the  voice  of 
the  Great  Spirit.  The  lightning's  flash,  the  mystic  radiance  of  the 
stars,  were  to  him  familiar  displays  of  a  spirit  essence  which  up 
held  and  governed  all  things,  even  the  minute  destinies  of  men ; 
while  the  Indian  attributed  to  the  Great  Spirit  the  good  he  enjoyed 
in  life,  he  recognized  the  existence  of  evil.  To  account  for  this, 
without  attributing  malevolence  to  the  Great  Spirit,  an  antagonis- 
tical  deity  was  created  in  his  theology,  whom  he  regarded  as  the 
potent  power  of  malignancy.  By  this  duality  of  deities  he  was 
careful  to  guard  his  good  and  merciful  God  from  all  imputations  of 
evil  by  attributing  all  the  bad  intentions  and  acts  which  afflict  the 
human  family  to  the  Great  Bad  Spirit. 

Doubtless,  in  part,  as  a  result  of  missionary  instructions,  the 
Illinois  and  other  branches  of  Algonquin  stock,  designated  their 
4 


50  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

Great  Spirit  as  the  Author  of  Life,  the  Upholder  of  the  Universe. 
They  believed  him  all-wise,  all-powerful,  and  all-good,  and  vari 
ously  assigned  him  a  dwelling  place  in  the  sun,  moon  or  indefinite 
skies.  They  not  only  distinguished  the  principle  of  good  and  evil 
by  two  antagonistic  gods,  but  supplied  them  with  an  innumerable 
number  of  minor  divinities,  whose  office  was  to  execute  their  will. 
These  consisted  of  birds,  reptiles,  fairies,  spirits,  and  a  great  va 
riety  of  other  objects,  some  being  instrumentalities  of  good  and 
others  of  evil.  Under  such  a  multiplicity  of  antagonistic  powers, 
everything  which  the  Indian  saw  or  heard  in  the  external  world 
might  be  the  cause  of  intense  hope  or  fear,  and  keep  him  in  per 
petual  doubt  as  to  whether  it  foreboded  good  or  evil.  A  prey  to 
these  mysterious  fears,  he  readily  fell  into  the  belief  of  sorcery 
and  other  supposed  magic  influences.  From  this  cause  they  were 
constantly  victimized  by  their  priests,  jugglers,  and  prophets,  a 
class  who"  lived  by  these  impositions  instead  of  hunting. 

The  belief  in  a  future  state  was  common.  According  to  their 
traditions,  which  had  been  modified  by  missionary  teachings,  the 
wicked,  at  death,  sink  into  a  dark  retributive  stream,  while  the 
good  are  rewarded  with  an  abode  in  a  delightful  hunting  ground. 
In  their  lively  imagery,  they  spoke  of  this  place  as  the  land  of  the 
blest,  or  the  country  of  souls,  through  which  meandered  gently 
flowing  rivers.  They  supposed  these  streams  replete  with  every 
kind  of  fish  suitable  for  food,  and  that  those  who  bathed  in  them 
were  exempt  from  the  ills  which  afflict  life  in  the  present  state  of 
being.  Over  the  surface,  agreeably  diversified  with  hills  and  val 
leys,  were  prairies  interspersed  with  noble  forests,  under  whose 
sheltering  branches  disported  the  various  creations  of  animal  life. 
Birds  warbled  their  sweetest  music  in  waving  groves,  and  noble 
animals  grazed  on  the  verdant  plains  so  numerous  and  prolific  that 
the  demands  of  the  hunter  were  always  met  without  exhausting 
the  supply.  INo  tempest's  destructive  blast,  no  wasting  pestilence 
nor  desolating  earthquake,  emanating  from  the  Spirit  of  Evil,  oc 
curred  to  mar  the  sweet  and  varied  pleasures  of  life.  Such  was 
the  Indian's  future  state  of  existence,  the  dwelling  place  of  the 
Great  Spirit,  who  welcomed  home  at  death  his  wandering  children. 
The  belief  in  this  terrene  elysium,  the  Indian's  most  exalted  idea 
of  paradise,  doubtless  explains  his  stoical  indifference  of  death. 
With  him 

"  Time  comes  unsiglied  for,  nn regretted  flies; 
Pleased  that  lie  lives,  happy  that  he  dies." 

As  it  regards  the  Indians  in  general,  it  is  an  adage  among  those 
whose  observations  have  been  the  most  extensive,  that  he  who 
has  seen  one  tribe  has  seen  them  all.  This  seems  to  be  true,  not 
withstanding  their  wide  geographical  distribution,  and  the  great 
extremes  of  climate  to  which  they  are  exposed.  Whether  enjoy 
ing  the  great  abundance  and  mild  climate  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  or  chilled  and  stinted  by  the  bleak  and  barren  regions  of 
the  extreme  north  and  south  of  the  hemisphere,  over  which  they 
are  scattered,  they  have  the  same  general  lineaments.  "All  pos 
sess,  though  in  varied  degrees,  the  same  long,  lank,  black  hair, 
the  dull  and  sleepy  eye,  the  full  and  compressed  lips,  and  the 
salient  but  dilated  nose."*  The  cheek  bones  are  prominent,  the 
nostril  expanded,  the  orbit  of  the  eye  squared,  and  the  whole  max- 

*Schoolcraft. 


INDIAN   CHARACTERISTICS.  51 

ilory  region  ponderous.  The  cranium  is  rounded,  and  the  diame- 
tre,  from  front  to  back,  less  in  some  instances  than  between  the 
sides.  The  posterior  portion  is  flattened  toward  the  crown,  while 
the  forehead  is  low  and  retreating.  The  hair,  which,  in  the  Avhite 
man,  is  oval,  and  in  the  black  man  eccentrically  eliptical,  is  inva 
riably  round.  2Tot  only  its  cylindrical  form,  but  its  great  length 
and  coarseness,  are  found  in  all  the  diversified  climate  in  which 
this  people  is  found.  When  contrasted  with  the  European,  they 
are  found  mentally  and  physically  inferior,  ^o  measurement  has 
been  instituted  to  determine  their  average  stature,  whereby  the 
difference  between  them  and  the  races  of  Europe,  in  this  respect, 
can  be  accurately  determined.  Shenandoah  Avas  6  feet  3  inches 
high:  Logan,  0  feet;  Eed  Jacket,  5  feet  8  inches,  and  the  distin 
guished  Fox  chief,  Keokuk,  0  feet  '2  inches.  These  celebrated 
instances  doubtless  exceeded  the  majority  of  their  countrymen  in 
hi glit,  as  all  rude  and  uncultivated  races  admire  superior  physical 
development,  and  generally  consult  prominence  of  stature  in  the 
selection  of  their  leaders.  While  their  stature  may  average  with 
that  of  the  European,  in  muscular  power  and  endurance  they  are 
surpassed.  In  feats  of  agility,  connected  with  running*  and  limit 
ing,  they  are  scarcely  equal  to  their  white  competitors ;  while  in 
alt  labors  requiring  compactness  of  muscle  and  'protracted  exer 
tion,  the  latter  are  always  the  victors.  In  the  severe  labor  of 
rowing,  and  the  carrying  of  heavy  burdens  across  the  portages  of 
the  northwest,  it  was  observed  that  the  French  boatmen  of  Illinois 
and  Canada  exhibited  the  greatest  strength  and  endurance.  The 
European  also  excels  them  in  brain  development  and  mental 
power.  The  facial  angle,  which  indicated  the  volume  of  the  intel 
lectual  lobe,  has  in  the  European  an  average  of  80  degrees,  Avhile 
that  of  the  Indian  is  only  75.  The  superiority  of  the  former  in 
this  respect,  and  in  the  size  and  activity  of  his  brain,  is  in  keeping 
with  their  respective  conditions.  The  history  of  the  one  is  a 
history  of  human  progress ;  that  of  the  other  details  the  struggles 
of  a  race  perishing  before  the  advance  of  civilization,  which  it  is 
neither  able  to  adopt  nor  successfully  oppose. 

Much  has  been  said  and  written  in  regard  to  the  unjust  en 
croachments  of  white  men  upon  the  territory  of  the  Indians,  ^o 
doubt  much  hardship  has  grown  out  of  the  manner  in  which  their 
lands  have  been  taken,  yet  the  right  of  civilized  races  to  demand 
a  part  of  their  vast  domain,  even  without  their  consent,  when  it 
could  not  be  obtained  otherwise,  can  hardly  be  questioned.  The 
earth  was  designed  by  the  Creator  for  the  common  habitation  of 
man,  and  it  is  his  destiny  and  duty  to  develop  its  resources. 
"When,  therefore,  the  occupants  of  any  region  fail  to  accomplish 
these  objects,  they  must  be  regarded  as  unfaithful  stewards,  and 
give  way  to  those  who  have  the  ability  to  make  it  yield  the  largest 
supplies  and  support  the  greatest  number  of  inhabitants.  Had 
the  Indians,  who  refused  to  become  tillers  of  the  soil,  been  suf 
fered  to  retain  possession  of  the  hemisphere  over  which  they 
roamed,  some  of  the  most  fertile  portions  of  the  globe  must  have 
remained  a  wilderness,  thus  defeating  the  object  of  the  Creator, 
and  doing  great  injustice  to  the  rest  of  mankind.  Failing  to 
make  a  proper  use  of  this  heritage,  they  have  lost  it,  but  behold 
the  gain !  At  the  touch  of  civilization  the  wilderness  has  been 
made  to  blossom  like  the  rose.  Herds  and  harvests  have  followed 


52  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

the  track  of  the  pale-faced  pioneer,  and  teeming  millions  of  a 
higher  life  have  taken  the  place  of  a  few  wandering  hunters  and 
fishermen.  After  Columbus  made  known  to  Europeans  the  exis 
tence  of  the  new  world,  priority  of  discovery  was  considered  as 
conferring  upon  the  governments  under  whose  patronage  it  was 
made,  the  right  of  extinguishing  the  Indian  title.  England,  in 
the  exercise  of  this  right,  treated  the  Indians  substantially  as  she 
did  her  own  subjects.  She  respected  their  claim  to  occupy  and 
use  the  country  for  their  own  benefit,  but  did  not  permit  them  to 
alienate  it  except  to  her  own  people,  in  accordance  with  the  prin 
ciple  of  English  law  that  all  titles  to  lands  are  vested  in  the 
crown.  The  United  States,  by  the  acquisition  of  independence, 
succeeded  to  the  right  of  the  mother  country,  and  has  forced  upon 
them  similar  restrictions,  and  accorded  the  same  privileges.  In 
every  instance  the  government  has  extinguished  their  title  by 
treaty  or  purchase.  It  must,  however,  be  admitted  that  in  many 
instances  these  treaties  grew  out  of  wars  provoked  by  frontier 
settlers,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  demanding  territory  in  the  way  of 
reprisal.  It  must  also  be  added,  that  when  lands  have  been 
obtained  by  purchase,  the  consideration  was  frequently  of  the 
most  trivial  character. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

OPERATION  OF  THE   MISSIONARIES— EXTENT  OF 
THEIR  EXPLORATIONS  UP  TO  1673. 


Although  commercial  enterprise  is  perhaps  the  principal  agent 
for  the  dissemination  of  civilization  in  the  undeveloped  regions 
of  the  globe,  its  extension  into  the  Mississippi  valley  was  due  to  a 
different  cause.  Pioneers,  actuated  by  a  religious  fervor  and 
enthusiasm  hitherto  without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  world, 
were  the  first  to  explore  its  trackless  wilds,  and  attempt  to  teach 
its  savage  inhabitants  the  refinements  of  civilized  life.  These 
self-denying  explorers  belonged  mostly  to  the  Jesuits  or  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  a  famous  religious  order  founded  by  Ignatius  Loyola,  a 
Spanish  knight  of  the  sixteenth  century.  He  gave  out  that 
the  constitution  of  his  order  was  given  him  by  immediate  in 
spiration.  Notwithstanding  his  high  pretensions,  he  at  first 
met  with  little  encouragement,  and  the  Pope,  to  whom  he  applied 
for  the  authority  of  his  sanction,  referred  him  to  a  committee  of 
cardinals.  The  latter  decided  that  his  proposed  establishment 
would  not  only  be  useless,  but  dangerous,  and  the  Pope  refused 
to  give  it  his  approval.  To  overcome  the  scruples  of  the  Pope,  in 
addition  to  the  vows  of  other  orders  he  required  the  members  of 
his  society  to  take  a  vow  of  obedience  to  the  Pope,  whereby  they 
bound  themselves  to  go  whithersoever  he  should  direct  them  in 
the  service  of  religion,  without  requiring  anything  from  him  as  a 
means  of  support.  In  other  orders  the  primary  object  of  the 
monk  is  to  separate  himself  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  in  the 
solitude  of  the  cloister  to  practice  acts  of  self-mortification  and 
purity.  He  is  expected  to  eschew  the  pleasures  and  secular  affairs 
of  life,  and  can  only  benefit  mankind  by  his  example  and  prayers. 
Loyola,  on  the  contrary,  preferred  that  the  members  of  his  society 
should  mingle  hi  the  affairs  of  men,  and  they  were  accordingly  ex 
empted  from  those  austerities  and  ceremonies  which  consumed 
much  of  the  time  of  other  orders.  Full  of  the  idea  of  implicit 
obedience  which  he  had  learned  from  the  profession  of  arms,  he 
gave  to  his  order  a  government  wholly  monarchical.  To  a  general, 
who  should  be  chosen  for  life  from  the  several  provinces,  the 
members  were  compelled  to  yield  not  only  an  outward  submission, 
but  were  required  to  make  known  to  him  even  the  thoughts  and 
feelings  of  their  inner  life.  At  the  time  this  offer  was  made,  the 
papal  power  had  received  such  a  shock  from  the  refusal  of  many 
nations  to  submit  to  its  authority,  that  the  Pope  could  not  look 
upon  it  with  indifference.  He  saw  that  it  would  place  at  his  dis 
posal  a  body  of  the  most  rigorously  disciplined  ecclesiastics, 
whose  powerful  iniluence  would  enable  him  to  repel  the  violent 

53 


54  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

assaults  with  which  the  papal  system  was  everywhere  assailed. 
He  therefore  authorized  the  establishment  of  the  order,  and  ap 
pointed  Loyola  its  first  general.  The  result  proved  the  discern 
ment  of  the  Pope,  for  the  enginery  he  thus  put  in  motion  at  no 
distant  day  extended  its  influence  to  the  uttermost  limits  of  the 
earth.  Before  the  termination  of  the  16th  century,  the  society 
furnished  the  educators  in  most  of  the  Catholic  countries  of 
Europe,  a  privilege  which  exerted  a  more  coiitroling  influence  in 
molding  national  character  than  that  which  emanates  from  all 
other  sources  combined.  Although  taking  a  vow  of  poverty,  it- 
managed  to  rapidly  increase  in  wealth.  Under  the  pretext  of 
promoting  the  success  of  their  missions,  they  obtained  the  privi 
lege  of  trading  with  the  nations  they  were  endeavoring  to  convert, 
and  thus  frequently  became  the  masters  of  extensive  commercial 
enterprises. 

Besides  the  Jesuits,  the  Eecollet  monks  bore  a  conspicuous  part 
in  the  history  of  the  French-American  possessions.  They  were  a 
branch  of  the  Franciscan  order,  founded  in  the  early  part  of  the 
13th  century  by  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  a  madman,  saint  or  hero, 
according  to  the  different  views  entertained  respecting  him.  Like 
all  other  saints,  he  became  the  subject  of  supernatural  visitations, 
consisting,  in  his  case,  largely  of  dreams  revealing  to  him  the 
nature  of  the  work  which  providence  had  called  him  to  perform. 
In  entering  upon  the  labors  of  his  mission  lie  dressed  in  the  rags 
of  a  beggar,  and  at  last  presented  himself  in  a  state  of  nudity  to 
the  Bishop  of  Assisi,  and  begged  the  mantle  of  a  peasant.  He 
next  robbed  his  father,  to  get  means  to  build  himself  a  chapel; 
crowds  gathered  to  listen  to  his  fanatical  appeals,  and  Europe 
soon  becajne  dotted  over  with  the  convents  of  his  order.  In  the 
course  of  time  the  Franciscans  lost  the  vigor  for  which  they  were 
first  distinguished,  but  the  Eecollets,  a  reformed  branch  of  the 
order,  at  the  time  of  the  French  explorations  still  retained  much 
of  its  pristine  spirit.  These  two  orders,  and  incidentally  that  of 
St.  Sulpice,  played  an  important  part  in  the  exploration  and  colo 
nization  of  the  Mississippi  valley. 

The  St.  Lawrence  and  its  chain  of  lakes  entering  the  continent 
on  the  east,  and  the  Mississippi  from  the  south,  are  the  two  great 
avenues  through  which  Europeans  first  made  their  way  to  Illinois, 
The  former  opening  with  a  broad  estuary  into  the  Atlantic, 
directly  opposite  Europe,  first  diverted  a  portion  of  its  Gallic  emi 
gration  to  the  region^  drained  by  its  tributaries.  Pioneers,  led  by 
the  indefatigable  Jesuits,  soon  reached  Illinois,  and  made  it  an 
important  centre  in  the  vast  schemes  projected  by  the  French 
court  for  the  possession  of  the  Mississippi  valley. 

The  French  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  —  As  early  as  1535,  four 
years  before  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  by  DeSoto,  Jacques 
Cartier  conducted  an  expedition  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  which  he 
ascended  as  far  as  the  island  of  Orleans.  Several  attempts  were 
shortly  afterward  made  to  plant  colonies  in  the  newly  discovered 
region,  but  they  failed  in  consequence  of  the  inclemency  of  the 
climate  and  hostilities  of  the  natives.  France,  at  that  time,  was 
too  much  engaged  in  Avars  to  further  exhaust  her  resources  in 
forming  settlements,  and  it  was  not  till  1608  that  a  permanent 
colony  was  established.  During  this  year  Champlain,  a  bold 
navigator,  with  a  number  of  colonists,  sailed  up  the  St.  Lawrence, 


EARLY  EXPLORERS.  55 


and  lauded  at  the  foot  of  the  lofty  promontory  which  rises  in  the 
angle  formed  by  the  confluence  of  the  St.  Charles.  Carpenters 
were  set  to  work,  and  within  a  few  weeks  a  pile  of  buildings  rose 
near  the  water's  edge,  the  first  representatives  of  the  spacious 
churches,  convents,  dwellings  and  ramparts  which  now  form  the 
opulent  and  enterprising  city  of  Quebec.  These  buildings  consti 
tuted  the  headquarters  of  Champlain,  and  were  surrounded  by  a 
wooden  wall  pierced  with  openings  for  a  number  of  small  cannon. 
To  secure  the  friendship  of  the  Hurons  and  neighboring  Algon 
quin  nations,  Champlain  was  induced  to  assist  them  in  a  war 
against  the  Iroquois,  inhabiting  the  country  south  of  the  St.  Law 
rence.  Victory  attended  his  superior  arms,  but  it  aroused  the 
implacable  hate  of  these  tribes,  and  for  a  period  of  90  years  they 
continued  to  wreak  their  fury  upon  the  Indian  allies  of  France, 
and  materially  contributed  to  the  final  overthrow  of  her  power. 

In  1015  Champlain  returned  to  France,  and  brought  back  with 
him  four  Eecollet  monks.  Great  was  the  astonishment  of  the 
Indians  at  first  beholding  these  mendicants,  clad  in  their  rude 
gowns  of  coarse  gray  cloth.  Their  first  care  Avas  to  select  a  site 
and  erect  a  convent,  the  completion  of  which  was  honored  by  the 
celebration  of  mass.  All  Xew  France  participated  in  the  myste 
rious  rite,  while  from  the  ships  and  ramparts  of  the  fort  cannon 
thundered  forth  an  approving  salute.  Their  great  object  was  the 
salvation  of  the  Indians,  and  unappalled  by  the  perils  that  awaited 
them,  they  met  in  council  and  assigned  to  each  his  province  in  the 
vast  field  of  labors.  As  the  result  of  unwearied  effort,  they  estab 
lished  missions  from  Nova  Scotia  to  Lake  Huron,  but  finding  the 
task  too  great  for  their  strength,  they  applied  to  the  Jesuits  for 
assistance.  The  followers  of  Loyola  eagerly  responded  to  the 
invitation,  and  Canada  for  the  first  time  saw  the  order  which,  in 
after  years,  figured  so  extensively  in  her  history.  Though  suffer 
ing  must  be  their  fate,  and  perhaps  martyrdom  their  crown,  they 
penetrated  to  the  most  remote  regions  and  visited  the  most  war 
like  tribes.  Missions  were  established  on  the  Straits  of  St.  Mary, 
the  northern  shores  of  Lake  Huron,  the  tributaries  of  Lake  Michi 
gan,  and  finally  among  their  inveterate  enemies,  the  Iroquois. 

Champlain,  after  having  acted  as  governor  for  a  period  of  27 
years,  died  on  the  Christmas  of  1G35,  a  hundred  years  after  the 
first  visit  of  Carder,  and  was  buried  in  the  city  he  had  founded. 
Sharing  with  others  of  his  time  the  illusion  of  finding  a  passage 
across  the  continent  to  the  Pacific,  he  made  voyages  of  discovery 
with  a  view  of  finding  the  long-sought  commercial  highway.  In 
one  of  his  excursions  he  discovered  the  lake  which  bears  his  name, 
and  was  among  the  first  Europeans  who  set  their  feet  on  the 
lonely  shores  of  Lake  Huron.  What  indescribable  thoughts  must 
have  thrilled  his  bosom  as  he  looked  out  on  its  broad  expanse,  or 
perhaps  awed  by  its  majestic  solitudes,  he  listened  with  strange 
delight  to  the  loud  refrain  of  its  billow-lashed  shores. 

Discovery  of  the  Ohio  by  LaSalle,  1(569. — After  the  death  of 
Champlain,  the  next  actor  in  the  field  of  exploration  was  Robert 
Cavalier,  better  known  as  LaSalle.  His  father's  family  was  among 
the  old  and  wealthy  burghers  of  Eouen,  France,  and  its  several 
members  were  frequently  entrusted  with  important  positions  by 
the  government,  Robert  was  born  in  1643,  and  early  exhibited 
the  traits  of  character  which  distinguished  him  in  his  western 


56  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

career.  Having  a  wealthy  father,  he  enjoyed  ample  facilities  for 
obtaining  an  education,  and  made  rapid  progress  in  the  exact 
sciences.  He  was  a  Catholic,  and  it  is  said  a  Jesuit  ;  but  judging 
from  his  subsequent  life,  he  was  not  a  religious  enthusiast.  The 
order  of  Loyola,  wielded  at  the  centre  by  a  single  will  so  compli 
cated  and  so  harmonious,  may  have  attracted  his  youthful  imagi 
nation.  It  was,  however,  none  the  less  likely  that  when  he  found 
himself  not  at  the  centre,  but  moving  in  a  prescribed  orbit  at 
the  circumference,  he  Avould  leave  it.  Having  an  individuality 
which  could  not  be  molded  by  a  shaping  hand,  he  was  better 
qualified  for  a  different  sphere  of  action.  He  therefore  parted 
with  the  Jesuits  on  good  terms,  with  an  unblemished  character, 
for  his  lofty  ambition  completely  divested  him  of  the  petty  ani 
mosities  to  which  groveling  minds  are  subject. 

He  had  an  older  brother  living  in  Canada — a  priest  of  the  order 
of  St.  Sulpice — and  it  was  this  circumstance  which  induced  him 
to  emigrate  to  America.  His  connection  with  the  Jesuits  deprived 
him,  under  the  laws  of  France,  from  inheriting  the  property  of 
his  father,  who  died  shortly  before  his  departure.  He,  however, 
received  a  small  allowance,  and  with  this,  in  the  spring  of  1000, 
arrived  at  Montreal.  Here  he  found  a  corporation  of  priests, 
known  as  the  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice,  who  were  disposing  of 
lands  on  easy  terms  to  settlers,  hoping  by  this  means  to  establish 
a  barrier  of  settlements  between  themselves  and  the  hostile 
Indians.  The  superior  of  the  seminary,  on  hearing  of  LaSalle's 
arrival,  gratuitously  offered  him  a  tract  of  land  situated  on  the 
St.  Lawrence,  8  miles  above  Montreal.  The  grant  was  accepted, 
and  though  the  place  was  greatly  exposed  to  the  attacks  of  savages, 
it  was  favorably  situated  for  the  fur  trade.  Commencing  at  once 
to  improve  his  new  domain,  he  traced  out  the  boundaries  of  a  pal 
isaded  village,  and  disposed  of  his  lands  to  settlers,  who  were  to 
pay  for  them  a  rent  in  small  annual  installments. 

While  thus  employed  in  developing  his  seignory,  he  commenced 
studying  the  Indian  languages,  and  in  three  years  is  said  to  have 
made  rapid  progress  in  the  Iroquois,  and  eight  other  tongues  and 
dialects.  From  his  home  on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  his 
thoughts  often  wandered  over  the  u  wild  unknown  world  toward 
sunset,"  and  like  former  explorers,  dreamed  of  a  direct  westward 
passage  to  the  commerce  of  China  and  Japan.  While  musing 
upon  the  subject,  he  was  visited  by  a  band  of  Senecas,  and  learned 
from  them  that  a  river  called  the  Ohio,  rising  in  their  country, 
flowed  into  the  sea,  but  at  such  a  distance  that  it  required  eight 
months  to  reach  its  mouth.  In  this  statement  the  Mississippi  and 
its  tributary  were  considered  as  one  stream,  and  with  the  geo 
graphical  views  then  prevalent,  it  was  supposed  to  fall  into  "the 
gulf  of  California. 

Placing  great  confidence  in  this  hypothesis,  and  determined  to 
make  an  exploration  to  verify  it,  he  repaired  to  Quebec,  to  obtain 
from  Governor  Courcelles  his  approval.  His  plausible  statements 
soon  Avon  over  to  his  plans  both  the  Governor  and  Intendant 
Talon,  and  letters  patent  were  issued  authorizing  the  enter 
prise.  Xo  pecuniary  aid  being  furnished  by  the,  government,  and 
as  LaSalle  had  expended  all  his  means  in  improving  his  estate,  he 
was  compelled  to  sell  it  to  procure  funds.  The  superior  of  the 
Seminary,  being  favorably  disposed  toward  him,  bought  the 


DIFFICULTIES  ENCOUNTERED.  57 

greater  part  of  liis  improvement,  and  realizing  2800  livres,  he 
purchased  four  canoes  and  the  necessary  supplies  for  the  expedi 
tion. 

The  Seminary,  at  the  same  time,  was  preparing  for  a  similar 
exploration.  The  priests  of  this  organization,  emulating  the 
enterprise  of  the  Jesuits,  had  established  a  mission  on  the  north- 
.ern  shore  of  Lake  Ontario.  At  this  point,  hearing  of  populous 
tribes  further  to  the  northwest,  they  resolved  to  essay  their  con 
version,  and  an  expedition,  under  two  of  their  number,  was  fitted 
out  for  this  purpose.  On  going  to  Quebec  to  procure  the  neces 
sary  outfit,  they  were  advised  by  the  Governor  to  so  modify  their 
plans  as  to  act  in  concert  with  LaSalle  in  exploring  the  great 
river  of  the  west.  As  the  result,  both  expeditions  were  merged 
into  one — an  arrangement  ill-suited  to  the  genius  of  LaSalle, 
whom  nature  had  formed  for  an  undisputed  chief,  rather  than  a 
co-laborer  in  the  enterprise.  On  the  Oth  of  July,  1009,  everything 
was  in  readiness,  and  the  combined  party,  numbering  24  persons, 
embarked  on  the  St.  Lawrence  in  7  canoes.  Two  additional 
canoes  carried  the  Indians  who  had  visited  LaSalle,  and  who  were 
now  acting  as  guides.  Threading  the  devious  and  romantic  mazes 
of  the  river  in  opposition  to  its  rapid  current,  after  three  days 
they  appeared  on  the  broad  expanse  of  Lake  Ontario.  Their 
guides  led  them  thence  directly  to  their  village,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Geuesee,  where  they  expected  to  find  guides  to  lead  them  to 
the  Ohio.  LaSalle,  only  partially  understanding  their  language, 
was  compelled  to  confer  with  them  by  means  of  a  Jesuit  priest, 
stationed  at  the  village.  The  Indians  refused  to  furnish  a  con 
ductor,  and  even  burned  before  their  eyes  a  prisoner  from  one  of 
the  western  tribes,  the  only  person  who  could  serve  them  as 
guide.  This  and  other  unfriendly  treatment  which  they  received, 
caused  them  to  suspect  that  the  Jesuit,  jealous  of  their  enterprise, 
had  intentionally  misrepresented  their  object,  for  the  purpose  of 
defeating  it.  With  the  hope  of  accomplishing  their  object,  they 
lingered  for  a  month,  and  at  length  had  the  good  fortune  to  meet 
with  an  Indian  from  an  Iroquois  colony,  situated  near  the  head 
of  the  lake,  who  assured  them  that  they  could  there  find  what 
they  wanted,  and  offered  to  conduct  them  thither.  With 
renewed  hope  they  gladly  accepted  this  proffered  assistance,  and 
left  the  Seneca  village.  Coursing  along  the  southern  shore  of  the 
lake,  they  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara,  where  they  heard  for 
the  first  time  the  distant  thunder  of  the  cataract,  and  soon  arrived 
safely  among  the  Iroquois.  Here  they  met  with  a  friendly  recep 
tion,  and  were  informed  by  a  Shawnee  prisoner  that  they  could 
reach  the  Ohio  in  six  weeks'  time,  and  that  he  would  guide  them 
thither.  Delighted  with  this  unexpected  good  fortune,  they  pre 
pared  to  commence  the  journey,  when  they  unexpectedly  heard 
of  the  arrival  of  two  Frenchmen  in  a  neighboring  village.  One 
of  them  proved  to  be  Louis  Joliet,  a  young  man  of  about  the  age 
of  LaSalle,  and  destined  to  acquire  fame  by  his  explorations  in 
the  west.  He  had  been  sent  by  Talon,  the  intendant  of  Canada, 
to  explore  the  copper  mines  of  Lake  Superior,  but  had  failed,  and 
was  now  on  his  return.  Giving  the  priests  a  map  representing 
such  parts  of  the  upper  lakes  as  he  had  visited,  he  informed  them 
that  the  Indians  of  those  regions  were  in  great  need  of  spiritual 
advisers.  On  receiving  this  information,  the  missionaries  decided 


58  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

that  the  Indians  must  no  longer  sit  in  darkness,  and  thought  that 
the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  might  be  effected  as  easily  by  a 
northern  route,  through  these  tribes,  as  by  going  farther  south 
ward.  LaSalle,  remonstrating  against  their  determination,  in 
formed  them  that  this  direction  was  impracticable,  and  in  case 
they  should  visit  that  region,  they  would  perhaps  find  it  already 
occupied  by  the  Jesuits.  lie  had,  for  some  time,  been  afflicted 
with  a  violent  fever,  and  finding  his  advice  unheeded,  he  told  the 
priests  that  his  condition  would  not  admit  of  following  them 
further.  The  plea  of  sickness  was  doubtless  a  ruse  to  effect  a 
separation;  for  the  invincible  determination,  of  LaSalle  never 
permitted  an  enterprise  which  he  had  undertaken  to  be  defeated 
by  other  considerations.  A  friendly  parting  was  arranged,  and 
after  the  celebration  of  mass,  LaSalle  and  his  men  fell  back  to 
Lake  Ontario,  while  the  Sulpitians  descended  Grand  river  to 
Lake  Erie. 

The  latter  prosecuted  their  journey  up  the  lakes,  and  on  arri 
ving  among  the  Indians  of  whom  Joliet  had  spoken,  they  found, 
as  LaSalle  had  surmised,  Marquette  and  Dablon  established 
among  them.  Learning,  too,  that  they  needed  no  assistance  from 
St.  Sulpice,  nor  from  those  who  made  him  their  patron  saint,  they 
retraced  their  steps,  and  arrived  at  Montreal  the  following  June, 
without  having  made  any  discoveries  or  converted  an  Indian. 

The  course  pursued  by  LaSalle  and  his  party,  after  leaving  the 
priests,  is  involved  in  doubt.  The  most  reliable  record  of  his 
movements  is  that  contained  in  an  anonymous  paper,  which  pur 
ports  to  have  been  taken  from  the  lips  of  LaSalle  himself,  during 
a  visit  subsequently  made  to  Paris.  According  to  this  statement, 
he  went  to  Onondaga,  where  he  obtained  guides,  and  passed 
thence  to  a  tributary  of  the  Ohio,  south  of  Lake  Erie,  followed  it 
to  the  principal  river,  and  descended  the  latter  as  far  as  the  falls 
at  Louisville.  It  has  also  been  maintained,  that  he  reached  the 
Mississippi  and  descended  it  some  distance,  when  his  men  de 
serted,  and  he  was  compelled  to  return  alone.  It  is  stated  in  the 
same  manuscript,  that  the  following  year  he  embarked  on  Lake 
Erie,  ascended  the  Detroit  to  Lake  Huron,  and  passed  through 
the  strait  of  Mackinaw  to  Lake  Michigan.  Passing  to  the  southern 
shore,  he  proceeded  by  land  to  the  Illinois,  which  he  followed  to 
its  confluence  with  the  Mississippi,  and  descended  the  latter  to 
the  36th  degree  of  latitude.  Here,  assured  that  the  river  did  not 
fall  into  the  gulf  of  California,  but  that  of  Mexico,  he  returned, 
with  the  intention  of  at  some  future  day  exploring  it  to  the  mouth. 

The  statement  that  he  visited  the  falls  of  the  Ohio,  is  doubt 
less  correct.  He  himself  affirms,  in  a  letter  to  Count  Frontenac, 
in  1077,  that  he  discovered  the  Ohio,  and  descended  it  to  the  falls. 
Moreover,  Joliet,  his  rival,  subsequently  made  two  maps  repre 
senting  the  region  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  lakes,  on  both  of 
which  he  states  that  LaSalle  discovered  and  explored  the  Ohio. 

is,  perhaps,  also  true  that  LaSalle  discovered  the  Illinois,  but 
that  he  descended  either  it  or  the  Ohio  to  the  Mississippi  before 
the  discovery  of  Joliet,  is  improbable.  If  such  had  been  the  case, 
he  certainly  would  have  left  written  evidence  to  that  effect,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  Ohio  especially,  when  the  priority  of  Joliet's  dis 
covery  had  become  a  matter  of  great  notoriety. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
EXPLORATIONS  BY  JOLIET  AXD  MARQUBTTE— 1673-75. 


LaSalle  had  explored  one,  and  perhaps  two,  routes  to  the  Miss 
issippi,  but  as  yet  the  upper  portion  of  the  great  river  had 
probably  never  been  seen  by  any  European.  The  honor  of  inau 
gurating  the  successful  attempt  to  reach  this  stream  is  due  to  M. 
Talon,  who  wished  to  close  the  long  and  useful  term  of  his  servi 
ces,  as  the  Intendant  of  Canada,  by  removing  the  mystery  which 
ensliroflded  it.  For  this  purpose  he  selected  Louis  Joliet,  a  fur 
trader,  to  conduct  the  expedition,  and  Jacques  Marquette,  a  Jesuit 
missionary,  to  assist  him. 

Talon,  however,  was  not  to  remain  in  the  country  long  enough 
to  witness  the  completion  of  the  enterprise.  A  misunderstanding 
a  rose  between  him  and  Governor  Courcelles  in  regard  to  the  juris 
diction  of  their  respective  offices,  and  both  asked  to  be  recalled. 
Their  requests  were  granted,  and  early  in  the  autumn  of  1072, 
Count  Frontenac  arrived  at  Quebec,  to  take  the  place  of  the 
retiring  governor.  He  belonged  to  the  high  nobility  of  France, 
was  well  advanced  in  life,  and  a  man  of  prompt  and  decided 
action.  Though  intolerant  to  enemies,  he  partially  atoned  for  this 
fault  by  his  great  magnanimity  and  devotion  to  friends,  while  his 
charm  of  manners  and  speech  made  him  the  favorite  and  orna 
ment  of  the  most  polished  circles.  His  career  in  Canada,  at  first, 
was  beset  with  opposition  and  enmity,  but  its  close  was  rewarded 
with  admiration  and  gratitude  for  his  broad  views  and  unshaken 
firmness,  when  others  dispaired. 

Before  sailing  for  France,  M.  Talon  recommended  to  Frotenac 
Joliet  and  Marquette,  as  suitable  persons  to  execute  his  projected 
discoveries.  The  former  was  born  at  Quebec,  in  1645,  of  humble 
parentage.  He  was  educated  by  the  Jesuits  for  the  priesthood, 
but  early  abandoned  his  clerical  vocation  to  engage  in  the  fur 
trade.  Though  renouncing  the  priesthood,  he  still  retained  a  par 
tiality  for  the  order  which  had  educated  him,  and  no  doubt  this 
was  the  principal  reason  which  induced  Talon  to  labor  for  his 
appointment.  Possessing  no  very  salient  points  of  character,  he 
yet  had  sufficient  enterprise,  boldness  and  determination  properly 
to  discharge  the  task  before  him. 

His  colleague,  Marquette,  greatly  surpassed  him  in  bold  out 
lines  of  character.  He  was  born  in  1G37,  at  Laon,  France.  Inheri 
ting  from  his  parents  a  mind  of  great  religious  susceptibility,  he 
early  united  with  the  Jesuits,  and  was  sent,  in  1C60,  to  America 
as  a  missionary,  where  he  soon  distinguished  himself  for  devotion 
to  his  profession.  To  convert  the  Indians  he  penetrated  a  thousand 
miles  in  advance  of  civilization,  and  by  his  kind  attentions  in  their 

59 


60  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

afflictions,  won  their  affections,  and  made  them  his  lasting  friends. 
Softening  their  savage  asperities  into  smoothness  and  peace  by 
the  blended  purity  and  humility  of  his  own  life,  he  Avas  the  most 
successful  of  all  the  missionaries  in  developing  their  higher  and 
better  feelings.  His  extensive  acquaintance  with  the  Indian  lan 
guages,  now  enabled  him  to  act  in  the  threefold  capacity  of  inter 
preter,  explorer  and  missionary. 

Joliet  ascended  the  lakes  and  joined  his  companion  at  the  Jesuit 
mission,  on  the  strait  of  Mackinaw,  where,  for  several  years,  he 
had  been  instructing  the  Ottawas  and  Hurons.  With  5  other 
Frenchmen  and  a  simple  outfit,  the  daring  explorers,  on  the  1 7th 
of  May,  1673,  set  out  on  their  perilous  voyage.  Coasting  along 
the  northern  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  they  entered  Green  Bay, 
and  passed  thence  up  Fox  river  and  Lake  Winnebago  to  a  village 
of  the  Masco utins  and  Miamis.  Marque tte,  who  never  suffered 
the  beauties  of  nature  to  escape  his  attention,  speaks  in  eloquent 
terms  of  the  broad  prairies  and  tall  forests  which  he  saw  from  the 
summit  of  the  hill  on  which  it  was  situated.  His  admiration  of 
the  scenery  was,  however,  greatly  exceeded  by  the  joy  which  he 
experienced  at  beholding  a  cross  planted  in  the  midst  of  the  place, 
and  decorated  with  some  of  the  most  valued  of  Indian  imple 
ments.  With  due  ceremony  they  were  introduced  to  a  council  of 
chiefs,  when  Marquette,  pointing  to  Joliet,  said :  "  My  friend  is  an 
envoy  of  France,  to  discover  new  countries,  and  I  am  an  embas- 
sador  from  God,  to  enlighten  them  with  the  truths  of  the  gospel."* 
The  speaker  then  made  them  some  presents,  and  asked  for  guides 
to  conduct  them  on  their  way.  Though  the  Indians  regarded  their 
journey  as  extremely  hazardous,  these  were  granted,  and  the 
voyagers  re-embarked  in  their  canoes.  All  the  village  followed 
them  down  to  the  river,  wondering  that  men  could  be  found  to 
undertake  an  enterprise  so  fraught  with  dangers.  Their  guides 
led  them  safely  through  the  devious  windings  of  the  river,  beset 
with  lakes  and  marshes  overgrown  with  wild  rice.  The  seed  of 
this  plant  largely  furnished  the  Indians  with  food,  and  subsisted 
immense  numbers  of  birds,  which  rose  in  clouds  as  the  travelers 
advanced.  Arriving  at  the  portage,  they  soon  carried  their  light 
canoes  and  scanty  baggage  to  the  Wisconsin,  about  three  miles 
distant.  France  and  papal  Christendom  were  now  in  the  valley 
of  the  Mississippi,  ready  to  commence  the  drama  in  which,  for  the 
next  succeeding  90  years,  they  were  the  principal  actors. 

Their  guides  now  refused  to  accompany  them  further,  and 
endeavored  to  induce  them  to  return,  by  reciting  the  dangers  they 
must  encounter  in  the  further  prosecution  of  the  journey.  They 
stated  that  huge  demons  dwelt  in  the  great  river,  whose  voices 
could  be  heard  at  a  long  distance,  and  who  engulphed  in  the 
raging  waters  all  who  came  within  their  reach.  They  also  repre 
sented  that,  should  any  of  them  escape  the  dangers  of  the  river, 
tierce  and  warring  tribes  dwelt  on  its  banks,  ready  to  complete  the 
work  of  destruction.  Marquette  thanked  them  for  the  informa 
tion,  but  could  not  think  of  trying  to  save  his  own  perishable 
body,  when  the  immortal  souls  of  the  Indians  alluded  to  might  be 
eternally  lost.  Embarking  in  their  canoes,  they  slowly  glided 
down  the  Wisconsin,  passing  shores  and  islands  covered  with 
forests,  lawns,  parks  and  pleasure  grounds,  greatly  exceeding  in 

•Moiiette's  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  124. 


JOLIET  AND  MAKQTJETTE.  61 

tlieir  natural  beauty  the  most  skillful  training  of  cultured  hands. 
The  17th  of  June  brought  them  to  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and 
with  great  joy  they  pushed  their  frail  barks  out  on  the  floods  of 
the  lordly  Mississippi.  Drifting  rapidly  with  the  current,  the 
scenery  of  the  two  banks  reminded  them  of  the  castled  shores  of 
their  own  beautiful  rivers  of  France.  For  days  of  travel  they 
passed  a  constant  succession  of  headlands,  separated  by  grace 
fully  rounded  valleys  covered  with  verdure,  and  gently  rising  as 
they  recede  from  the  margin  of  the  waters.  The  rocky  summits 
of  the  headlands,  rising  high  above  tlieir  green  bases,  had  been 
wrought  by  the  corroding  elements  into  a  great  variety  of  fantas 
tic  forms,  which  the  lively  imagination,  of  Marquette  shaped  into 
towers,  gigantic  statues,  and  the  crumbling  ruins  of  fortifications. 
On  going  to  the  heads  of  the  valleys,  they  could  see  a  country  of 
the  greatest  beauty  and  fertility,  apparently  destitute  of  inhabi 
tants,  yet  presenting  the  appearance  of  extensive  manors,  under 
the  fastidious  cultivation  of  lordly  proprietors.  By  and  by  great 
herds  of  buffalo  appeared  on  the  opposite  banks,  the  more  timid 
females  keeping  at  a  safe  distance,  while  the  old  bulls  approached, 
and  through  their  tangled  manes  looked  defiance  at  the  strange 
invaders  of  their  grassy  realms. 

Near  a  hundred  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  the 
voyagers  discovered  an  Indian  trace,  leading  from  the  western 
shore.  Joliet  and  Marquette,  leaving  their  canoes  in  charge  of 
their  men,  determined  to  follow  it  and  make  themselves  acquainted 
with  the  tribes  of  this  region.  Moving  cautiously  through  prairies 
and  forests,  rendered  beautiful  by  the  verdure  and  bloom  of  July, 
they  discovered  a  village  near  the  banks  of  the  river  and  two 
others  on  a  hill  half  a  league  distant.  Commending  themselves 
to  the  protection  of  Heaven,  they  approached  and  shouted  to  at 
tract  attention.  When  the  commotion,  excited  by  their  unexpected 
salute,  had  partially  subsided,  four  elders  advanced  with  uplifted 
calumets  to  meet  them.  A  friendly  greeting  ensued,  and  after  in 
forming  the  Frenchmen  that  they  were  Illinois,  they  conducted 
them  to  their  village.  Here  they  were  presented  to  the  chief,  who, 
standing  near  the  door  of  his  wigwam  in  a  state  of  complete 
nudity,  delivered  an  address  of  welcome :  "Frenchmen,  how  bright 
the  sim  shines  when  you  come  to  visit  us  ;  all  our  village  awaits 
you,  and  you  shall  enter  our  wigwams  in  peace."  After  entering 
and  smoking  a  friendly  pipe,  they  were  invited  to  visit  the  great 
chief  of  the  Illinois,  at  one  of  the  other  villages.  Followed  by  a 
motley  throng  of  warriors,  squaws,  and  children,  they  proceeded 
thither  and  were  received  with  great  courtesy  by  the  chief.  On 
entering  his  wigwam,  filled  with  the  dignitaries  of  the  tribe,  Mar 
quette  announced  the  nature  of  their  enterprise,  asked  for  informa 
tion  concerning  the  Mississippi  and  alluded  to  their  patron,  the 
Governor  of  Canada,  who  had  humbled  the  Iroquois  and  compelled 
them  to  sue  for  peace.  This  last  item  of  information  was  good 
news  to  these  remote  tribes,  and  drew  from  their  chief  the  compli 
ment  that  the  "presence  of  his  guests  added  flavor  to  their  tobacco, 
made  the  river  more  calm,  the  sky  more  serene  and  the  earth  more 
beautiful."*  Next,  followed  a  repast,  consisting  of  hominy,  fish, 
and  buffalo  and  dog's  meat.  The  Frenchmen  partook  sumptiously 

Discov.  of  the  Great  West. 


62  HISTORY  OF   ILLINOIS. 

of  all  the  dishes,  except  the  last,  which  they  failed  to  appreciate, 
although  one  of  the  greatest  Indian  delicacies.  The  generous 
hosts,  Avith  true  forest  courtesy,  as  they  dished  out  the  different 
articles,  first  blew  their  breath  upon  each  morsel  to  cool  it,  and 
then,  with  their  own  hands,  placed  it  in  the  mouths  of  their  guests. 
They  endeavored  to  persuade  the  explorers,  by  depicting  the  great 
dangers  they  would  incur,  to  abandon  their  object.  Finding  that 
tneir  efforts  were  unavailing,  on  the  following  day  they  hung  on 
the  neck  of  Marquette  a  sacred  calumet,  brilliantly  decorated  with 
feathers,  as  a  protection  among  the  tribes  lie  \vas  about  to  visit. 
The  last  mark  of  respect,  which  the  chiefs  could  now  offer  their 
departing  friends,  was  to  escort  them  with  COO  of  their  tribesmen 
to  the  river,  where,  after  their  stolid  manner,  they  bade  them  a 
kindly  adieu. 

Again  they  were  afloat  on  the  broad  bosom  of  the  unknown 
stream.  Passing  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  they  soon  fell  into  the 
shadow  of  a  tall  promontory,  and  Avith  great  astonishment  beheld 
the  representation  of  two  monsters  painted  on  its  lofty  limestone 
front.  According  to  Marquette,  each  of  these  frightful  figures  had 
the  face  of  a  man,  the  horns  of  a  deer,  the  beard  of  a  tiger,  and 
the  tail  of  a  fish  so  long  that  it  passed  around  the  body  oA'er  the 
head  and  between  the  legs.  It  was  an  object  of  Indian  worship, 
and  greatly  impressed  the  mind  of  the  pious  missionary  with  the 
necessity  of  substituting  for  this  monstrious  idolatry,  the  worship 
of  the  true  God.*  Before  these  figures  of  the  idols  had  faded  from 
their  minds,  a  IICAV  Avonder  arrested  their  attention.  They  ran 
into  the  current  of  the  Missouri,  SAveeping  directly  across"  their 
track,  and  threatening  to  engulf  them  in  its  muddy  waves.  Frag 
ments  of  trees  Avere  drifting  in  large  numbers,  which  must  have 
come  from  a  A'ast  imknoAA7n  wilderness,  judging  from  the  magni 
tude  of  the  stream  Avhich  bore  them  along.  Passing  on,  it  was 
ascertained  that  for  several  miles  the  Mississippi  refused  to  min 
gle  with  the  turbid  floods  of  the  intruding  stream. 

Soon  the  forest  covered  site, of  St.  Louis  appeared  on  the  right, 
but  little  did  the  A^oyagers  dream  of  the  emporium  which  now  fills 
the  river  with  its  extended  commerce.  Farther  on,  their  attention 
was  attracted  by  the  confluence  of  the  Ohio,  a  stream  which,  in 
the  purity  of  its  waters,  they  found  wholly  different  from  that  pre 
viously  passed.  Some  distance  below  the  mouth  of  this  eastern 
tributary,  the  banks  of  the  river  became  skirted  with  a  dense 
growth  of  cane,  whose  feathery-like  foliage  formed  a  pleasing 
contrast  with  that  Avhich  they  had  passed  above.  But  a  greater 
vegetable  wonder  was  the  Spanish  moss  which  hung  in  long  fes 
toons  from  the  branches  of  the  trees,  exquisitely  beautiful,  yet, 
like  funeral  drapery,  exciting  in  the  beholder  feelings  of  sadness. 
Another  change  was  the  increasing  heat,  which,  now  rapidly  dis 
sipated  the  heavy  fogs  which  previously,  to  a  late  hour,  had  hung 
over  the  river.  Clouds  of  mosquitos  also  appeared  in  the  relaxing 
atmosphere,  to  annoy  them  by  day,  and  disturb  their  much  needed 
rest  at  night. 

"Near  the  month  of  the  Piasa  Creek,  on  the  bluff,  there  is  a  smooth  rock  in  a  cavern 
ous  clelt,  under  an  overhanging  cliff,  on  whose  face,  50  feet  from  the  base,  are  painted 
some  ancient  pictures  or  hieroglyphics,  of  great  interest  to  the  curious.  They  are 
placed  in  a  horizontal  line  from  east  to  west,  representing-  men,  plants  and  animals. 
a  paintings,  though  protected  from  dampness  and  storms,  are  in  great  part  destroyed, 
marre  1  by  portions  of  the  rock  becoming-  detached  and  falling  down.  See  Prairie  State, 


1859. 


JOLIET   AND  MARQUETTE.  63 

Without  suspecting  the  presence  of  Indians,  they  suddenly  dis 
covered  a  number  on  the  eastern  banks  of  the  river.  Marquette 
held  aloft  the  symbol  of  peace,  furnished  him  by  the  Illinois,  and 
the  savages  approached  and  invited  him  and  his  party  ashore. 
Here  they  were  feasted  on  buffalo  meat  and  bear's  oil,  and  after 
the  repast  was  over,  were  informed  that  they  could  reach  the  mouth 
of  the  river  in  ten  days.  This  statement  was  doubtless  made  with 
the  best  intention,  but  with  little  truth,  for  the  distance  was  not 
far  from  1,000  miles. 

Taking  leave  of  their  hosts,  and  resuming  the  journey,  they 
penetrated  a  long  monotony  of  bluffs  and  forests,  and  again  dis 
covered  Indians  near  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas.  Rushing  from 
.their  wigwams  to  the  river,  some  of  them  sallied  forth  in  canoes 
to  cut  off  their  escape,  while  others  plunged  into  the  water  to 
attack  them.  Marquette  displayed  the  calumet,  which  was  un 
heeded  till  the  arrival  of  the  chiefs,  who  ordered  the  warriors  to 
desist,  and  conducted  them  ashore.  A  conference  ensued,  and  as 
soon  as  the  Indians  understood  the  nature  of  the  visit,  they  be 
came  reconciled.  The  day's  proceedings  closed  with  a  feast,  and 
the  travelers  spent  the  night  in  the  wig-warns  of  their  entertainers. 
Early  the  next  day,  messengers  were  sent  by  the  latter  to  the 
Arkansas  tribe  on  the  river  below,  to  apprise  them  that  French 
men  were  about  to  descend  the  stream.  As  announced,  the  explo 
rers  proceeded  a  distance  of  24  miles,  when  they  were  met  by  a 
deputation  of  three  Indians,  who  invited  them  to  visit  their  town. 
Assent  being  given,  they  were  conducted  thither  and  seated  on 
mats,  which  had  been  spread  for  their  reception  under  a  shed 
before  the  lodge  of  a  principal  chief.  Soon  they  were  surrounded 
by  a  semi-circle  of  the  villagers — the  warriors  sitting  nearest, 
next  the  elders,  while  a  promiscuous  crowd  stared  at  them  from 
the  outside.  The  men  were  stark  naked,  and  the  women  imper 
fectly  clad  in  skins,  wearing  their  hair  in  two  masses,  one  of 
which  was  behind  each  ear.  Fortunately,  there  was  a  young  man 
in  the  village  who  could  speak  Illinois.  By  his  aid,  Marquette 
explained  to  the  assemblage  the  mysteries  of  the  Christian  faith, 
and  the  object  of  the  expedition,  and  learned  in  turn  from  them 
that  the  river  below  was  infested  with  the  most  hostile  tribes. 
During  their  stay  at  this  place,  they  were  forced  to  submit  to  the 
merciless  demands  of  aboriginal  hospitality,  which  imposed  dish 
after  dish  upon  their  over-taxed  organs  of  digestion,  till  repletion 
became  intolerable. 

It  was  now  the  middle  of  July  and  the  voyagers  debated  the 
propriety  of  further  lengthening  out  their  journey.  They  had 
been  on  the  river  four  weeks,  and  concluded  they  had  descended 
sufficiently  far  to  decide  that  its  outlet  was  on  the  Atlantic  side  of 
the  continent.  Their  provisions  were  nearly  exhausted,  and  they 
also  feared  if  they  visited  the  river  below  they  might  be  killed  by 
the  savages,  and  the  benefit  of  their  discovery  would  be  lost. 

Influenced  by  these  considerations,  they  determined  to  retrace 
their  steps.  Leaving  the  Arkansas  village,  they  comrnmenced 
forcing  their  way  in  opposition  to  the  swift  current  of  the  river, 
toiling  by  day  under  a  July  sun,  and  sleeping  at  night  amidst  the 
deadly  exhalations  of  stagnant  marshes.  Several  weeks  of  hard 
labor  brought  them  to  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois,  but  unfortunately, 
Marquette,  enervated  by  the  heat  and  the  toils  of  the  voyage,  was 


64  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

suffering  with  an  attack  of  dysentery.  Here  they  were  informed 
by  the  Indians  that  the  Illinois  furnished  a  much  more  direct  route 
to  the  lakes  than  the  Wisconsin.  Acting'  upon  this  information, 
they  entered  the  river,  and  found,  besides  being  more  direct,  that 
its  gentle  current  offered  less  resistance  than  that  of  the  Mississ 
ippi.  As  they  advanced  into  the  country,  a  scene  opened  to  their 
view  which  gave  renewed  strength  to  their  wearied  bodies,  and 
awoke  in  their  languid  minds  the  greatest  admiration  and  enthu 
siasm.  Prairies  spread  out  before  them  beyond  the  reach  of 
vision,  covered  with  tall  grass,  which  undulated  in  the  wind  like 
waves  of  a  sea.  In  further  imitation  of  a  watery  expanse,  the 
surface  was  studded  with  clumps  of  timber,  resembling  islands, 
in  Avhose  graceful  outlines  could  be  traced  peninsulas,  shores  and 
headlands.  Flowers,  surpassing  in  the  delicacy  of  their  tints  the 
pampered  products  of  cultivation,  were  profusely  sprinkled  over 
the  grassy  landscape,  and  gave  their  wealth  of  fragrance  to  the 
passing  breeze.  Immense  herds  of  buffalo  and  deer  grazed  on 
these  rich  pastures,  so  prolific  that  the  continued  destruction  of 
them  for  ages  by  the  Indians,  had  failed  to  diminish  their  num 
bers.  For  the  further  support  of  human  life,  the  rivers  swarmed 
with  fish,  great  quantities  of  wild  fruit  grew  in  the  forest  and 
prairies,  and  so  numerous  were  water-fowl  and  other  birds,  that 
the  heavens  were  frequently  obscured  by  their  flight.  This  favo 
rite  land,  with  its  profusion  of  vegetable  and  animal  life,  was  the 
ideal  of  the  Indian's  Elysium.  The  explorers  spoke  of  it  as  a 
terrestial  paradise,  in  which  earth,  air  and  water,  unbidden  by 
labor,  contributed  the  most  copious  supplies  for  the  sustenance  of 
life.  In  the  early  French  explorations,  desertions  were  of  frequent 
occurrence,  and  is  it  strange  that  men,  wearied  by  the  toils  and 
restraints  of  civilized  life,  should  abandon  their  leaders  for  the 
abundance  and  wild  independence  of  these  prairies  and  wood 
lands  ! 

Passing  far  up  the  river,  they  stopped  at  a  town  of  the  Illinois, 
called  Kaskaskia,  whose  name,  afterwards  transferred  to  a  differ 
ent  locality,  has  become  famous  in  the  history  of  the  country. 
Here  they  secured  a  chief  and  his  men  to  conduct  them  to  Lake 
Michigan  and  proceeded  thither  by  the  way  of  the  rivers  Illinois, 
Desplaines  and  Chicago.  Following  the  western  shore  of  the 
lake,  they  entered  Green  Bay  the  latter  part  of  September,  having 
been  absent  about  four  months,  and  traveled  a  distance  of  2,500 
miles. 

Marquette  stopped  at  the  mission  on  the  head  of  the  bay,  to 
repair  his  shattered  health,  while  Joliet  hastened  to  Quebec,  to 
report  his  discoveries.  Hitherto  fortune  had  greatly  favored  him, 
and  it  was  only  at  the  termination  of  his  voyage  that  he  met  his 
first  disaster.  At  the  foot  of  the  rapids,  above  Montreal,  his 
canoe  was  capsized,  and  he  lost  the  manuscript  containing  an 
account  of  his  discoveries,  and  two  of  his  men.  He  says,  in  a  let 
ter  to  Governor  Frontenac :  "Iliad  escaped  every  peril  from  the 
Indians ;  I  had  passed  42  rapids,  and  was  on  the  point  of  disem 
barking,  full  of  joy  at  the  success  of  so  long  and  difficult  an 
enterprise,  when  my  canoe  capsized  after  all  the  danger  seemed 
over.  I  lost  my  two  men  and  box  of  papers  within  sight  of  the  first 
French  settlements,  which  I  had  left  almost  two  years  before. 


JOLIET  AND  MAHQTJETTE.  65 

Nothing  remains  to  me  now  but  my  life,  and  the  ardent  desire  to 
employ  it  on  any  service  you  may  please  to  direct." 

AY  hen  the  successful  issue  of  the  voyage  became  known,  a  Te 
Dcum  was  chanted  in  the  cathedral  of  Quebec,  and  all  Canada 
was  filled  with  joy.  The  news  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  France 
saw,  in  the  vista  of  coining  years,  a  vast  dependency  springing  up 
in  the  great  valley  partially  explored,  which  was  to  enrich  her 
merchant  princes  with  the  most  lucrative  commerce.  Fearing 
that  England,  whose  settlements  were  rapidly  extending  along  the 
Atlantic,  might  attempt  to  grasp  the  rich  prize  before  she  could 
occupy  it,  she  endeavored  to  prevent,  as  far  as  possible,  the  gen 
eral  publicity  of  the  discovery.  Joliet  was  rewarded  by  the  gift 
of  the  island  of  Anticosti,  in  the  gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  while 
Marquette,  who  had  rendered  the  most  valuable  services,  was  sat 
isfied  with  the  consciousness  of  having  performed- a  noble  duty. 

Marquette  suffered  long  from  his  malady,  and  it  was  not  till 
the  autumn  of  the  following  year  that  his  superior  permitted  him 
to  attempt  the  execution  of  a  long  cherished  object.  This  was 
the  establishment  of  a  mission  at  the  principal  town  of  the  Illinois, 
visited  in  his  recent  voyage  of  discovery.  With  this  purpose  in 
view,  he  set  out  on  the  25th  of  October,  1674,  accompanied  by 
two  Frenchmen  and  a  number  of  Illinois  and  Potawatamie  Ind 
ian  s.  The  rich  and  varied  tints  of  autumn  were  now  rapidly 
changing  to  a  rusty  brown,  and  entering  Lake  Michigan,  they 
found  it  cold  and  stormy.  Buffeted  by  adverse  winds  and  waves, 
it  was  more  than  a  month  before  they  reached  the  mouth  of  the 
Chicago  river.  In  the  meantime  Marquette's  disease  had  returned 
in  a  more  malignant  form,  attended  by  hemorrhage.  On  ascending 
the  Chicago  some  distance,  it  was  found  that  his  condition  was 
growing  worse,  compelling  them  to  land.  A  hut  was  erected  on 
the  bank  of  the  river,  and  here  the  invalid  and  the  two  Frenchmen 
prepared  to  spend  the  winter.  As  it  wore  away,  the  enfeebled 
missionary  was  unceasing  in  his  spiritual  devotions,  while  his 
companions  obtained  food  by  shooting  deer,  turkeys  and  other 
game  in  the  surrounding  forests.  The  Illinois  furnished  them 
with  corn,  and  frequently,  by  their  presence  and  other  kindly 
attentions,  greatly  cheered  their  lonely  exile. 

Marqjiette,  burning  with  the  desire  to  establish  his  contempla 
ted  mission  before  he  died,  consecrated  himself  anew  to  the  service 
of  the  Virgin,  and  soon  began  to  regain  his  strength.  By  the 
13th  of  March,  being  able  to  recommence  his  journey;  the  two 
men  carried  their  canoes  over  the  portage  between  the  Chicago 
and  Desplaines,  and  commenced  to  descend  the  latter  stream. 
Amidst  the  incessant  rains  of  opening  spring,  they  were  rapidly 
borne  forward  on  the  swollen  river  to  its  junction  with  the  Illinois, 
and  down  the  latter  to  the  object  of  their  destination.  Here,  it  is 
said,  he  was  viewed  as  a  messenger  from  heaven,  as  he  visited  the 
wigwams  of  the  villagers  and  discoursed  of  paradise,  the  Re 
deemer  of  the  world,  and  his  atonement  for  sinful  men.  The 
excitement  at  length  drew  together,  on  the  plain  between  the  river 
and  the  present  town  of  Utica,  some  500  chiefs,  and  a  great  un 
known  concourse  of  warriors,  women  and  children.  In  the  midst 
of  this  multitude  he  exhibited  four  large  pictures  of  the  Holy 
Virgin,  and  with  great  earnestness  harangued  them  on  the  duties 
of  Christianity,  and  the  necessity  of  making  their  conduct  conform 
5 


66  HISTOIIY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

to  its  precepts.  The  audience  were  deeply  impressed  with  his 
gospel  teachings,  and  eagerly  besought  him  to  remain  with  them, 
a  request  which  his  fast  waning  strength  rendered  it  impossible 
to  grant. 

Finding  he  must  leave,  the  Indians  generously  furnished  him 
with  an  escort  to  the  lake,  on  which  he  embarked  with  his  two 
faithful  attendants.  They  turned  their  canoes  in  the  direction  of 
the  mission  on  the  strait  of  Mackinaw,  which  the  afflicted  mis 
sionary  hoped  ro  reach  before  he  died.  As  they  coasted  along  the 
eastern  shore,  advancing  May  began  to  deck  the  forest  with  her 
vernal  beauties,  but  the  eyes  of  the  dying  priest  were  now  too 
dim  to  heed  them.  On  the  19th  of  the  month  he  could  go  no 
farther,  when,  at  his  request,  his  two  friends  landed  and  built  a 
hut,  into  which  he  was  carefully  conveyed.  Aware  that  he  was 
rapidly  approaching  his  end,  he,  with  great  composure,  gave 
directions  concerning  his  burial,  and  thanked  God  that  he  was 
permitted  to  die  in  the  wilderness  an  unshaken  believer  in  the 
faith  which  he  had  so  devotedly  preached.  At  night  he  told  his 
weary  attendants  to  rest,  and  when  he  found  death  approaching 
he  would  call  them.  At  an  early  hour  they  were  awakened  by  a 
feeble  voice,  and  hastening  to  his  side,  in  a  few  moments  he 
breathed  his  last,  grasping  a  crucifix,  and  murmuring  the  name 
of  the  Virgin  Mary.  Having  buried  his  remains  as  directed,  his 
trusted  companions  hastened  to  Mackinaw,  to  announce  the  sad 
news  of  his  demise. 

Three  years  afterward,  a  party  of  Ottawas,  hunting  in  the  vi 
cinity  of  his  grave,  determined,  in  accordance  with  a  custom  of 
the  tribe,  to  carry  his  bones  with  them  to  their  home  at  the  mis 
sion.  Having  opened  the  grave  and  carefully  cleaned  them,  a 
funeral  procession  of  30  canoes  bore  them  toward  Mackinaw,  the 
Indians  singing  the  songs  which  he  had  taught  them.  At  the 
shore,  near  the  mission,  the  sacred  relics  were  received  by  the 
priests,  and,  with  the  solemn  ceremony  of  the  church,  deposited 
under  the  floor  of  the  rude  chapel. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
EXPLORATIONS  BY  LASALLE. 


We  must  now  turn  from  Marquette,  whose  great  piety,  energy 
and  self-denial  made  him  a  model  of  the  order  to  which  he  be 
longed,  and  again  introduce  LaSalle  on  the  stage  of  action.  The 
previous  voyage  had  well  nigh  established  the  fact  that  the  Miss 
issippi  discharged  its  waters  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ;  yet  he  and 
others  now  entertained  the  opinion  that  some  of  its  great  tribu 
taries  might  afford  a  direct  passage  to  the  Pacific.  It  was  the 
great  problem  of  the  age  to  discover  this  passage,  and  LaSalle 
proposed  not  only  to  solve  it  by  exploring  the  great  river  to  its 
mouth,  but  to  erect  a  fort  on  its  outlet,  and  thus  secure  to  France 
the  possession  of  its  valley,  To  further  his  object,  he  gained  the 
influence  and  support  of  Frontenac,  and  induced  some  of  the 
Canadian  merchants  to  become  partners  in  the  adventure. 

Fort  Frontenac. — The  new  governor  had  no  sooner  been  installed 
in  office,  than,  with  eagle  eye,  he  surveyed  the  resources  of  Cana 
da,  and  prepared  to  get  them  under  his  control.  LaSalle  had 
informed  him  that  the  English  and  Iroquois  were  intriguing  with  the 
Indians  of  the  upper  lakes  to  induce  them  to  break  their  peace 
with  the  French,  and  transfer  their  trade  in  peltries  from  Mon 
treal  to  New  York.  Partly  to  counteract  this  design,  and  in  part 
to  monopolize  the  fur  trade  for  his  own  benefit,  he  determined  to 
build  a  fort  on  Lake  Ontario,  near  the  site  of  the  present  city  of 
Kingston.  Lest  he  should  excite  the  jealousy  of  the  merchants, 
he  gave  out  that  he  only  intended  to  make  a  tour  to  the  upper  part 
of  the  colony,  to  look  after  the  Indians.  Being  without  sufficient 
means  of  his  own,  he  required  the  merchants  to  furnish  each  a 
certain  number  of  men  and  canoes  for  the  expedition.  When 
spring  opened,  he  sent  LaSalle  in  advance  to  summon  the  Iroquois 
sachems  to  meet  at  the  site  of  the  proposed  fort,  while  he  followed 
at  his  leisure.  In  obedience  to  his  call,  the  chiefs  arrived,  and 
were  much  pleased  with  the  attentions  shown  them  by  the  gov 
ernor.  Flattered  by  his  blandishments^  and  awed  by  his  audacity, 
they  suffered  the  erection  of  the  fort,  which  was  called  Frontenac, 
after  its  founder.  The  governor  writes :  "  With  the  aid  of  a  ves 
sel  now  building,  we  can  command  the  lakes,  keep  peace  with  the 
Iroquois,  and  cut  off  the  fur  trade  from  the  English.  With 
another  fort  at  Niagara,  and  a  second  vessel  on  the  river  above, 
we  can  control  the  entire  chain  of  lakes."  These  far-reaching 
views  accorded  well  with  the  schemes  of  LaSalle,  who-was  shortly 
afterwards  employed  in  reducing  them  to  practice.  The  erection 
of  the  fort  was  in  violation  of  the  king's  regulations,  which  re 
quired  the  fur  traders  of  Canada  to  carry  on  their  trade  with  the 

67 


68  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

Indians  within  the  limits  of  the  settlements.  In  view,  however,  of 
its  great  importance  as  a  means  of  defence  against  the  Iroquois,  all 
legal  objections  were  waived,  and  provision  was  made  to  maintain 
it.  It  also  served  as  a  stepping-stone  for  its  subsequent  owner  to 
make  other  and  greater  westward  strides  in  the  cause  of  discovery. 

In  1074,  LaSalle  visited  France  to  petition  the  king  for  the  rank 
of  nobility,  and  to  negotiate  with  him  for  a  grant  in  seignory  of 
the  new  fort  and  adjacent  lands.  As  a  consideration  for  the  lat 
ter,  he  agreed  to  reimburse  him  for  what  it  had  already  cost  to 
maintain  in  it  an  adequate  garrison,  and  provide  for  the  spiritual 
wants  of  the  settlements  that  might  gather  about  it.  His  petition 
was  granted,  and  he  returned  to  Canada  the  proprietor  of  one  of 
the  most  valuable  estates  in  the  province,  His  relatives,  pleased 
with  his  flattering  prospects,  advanced  him  large  sums  of  money, 
which  enabled  him  to  comply  with  his  agreement.  Besides  fur 
nishing  the  stipulated  military  and  clerical  forces,  and  providing 
a  chapel  for  the  latter,  he  built  four  small  decked  vessels  to  carry 
freight  to  the  head  of  the  lake,  whither  he  next  expected  to  ad 
vance.  A  period  of  more  than  three  years  now  succeeded,  in 
which  all  Canada  wras  rent  with  civil  feuds.  Altercations  sprang 
up  between  rival  traders  j  Jesuits  and  liecollets  were  embittered 
by  dissensions,  and  the  civil  authorities  became  corrupt,  and  en 
gaged  in  intrigues,  attended  with  the  greatest  acrimony.  It  was 
impossible  for  a  person  of  LaSalle's  prominence  to  avoid  becoming 
a  mark  for  the  shafts  of  those  who  differed  with  him  in  opinion 
and  interest.  As  soon,  however,  as  lie  could  extricate  himself 
from  the  jarring  factions,  he  again  visited  France,  to  obtain  the 
recognition  and  support  of  the  government .  in  his  contemplated 
undertaking.  His  object  being  regarded  with  favor  by  the  minis 
ter,  he  was  authorized  to  proceed  with  his  discoveries,  and  occupy 
the  new  found  countries  by  the  erection  of  forts,  while,  in  lieu  of 
other  support,  he  was  granted  a  monopoly  in  buffalo  skins,  which, 
it  Avas  believed,  would  be  a  source  of  great  wealth.  His  relatives 
made  additional  advances  of  money,  and  in  July,  1078,  he  sailed 
with  30  men  and  a  large  supply  of  implements  for  the  construction 
and  outfit  of  vessels.  After  a  prosperous  voyage  he  arrived  at 
Quebec,  and  proceeded  thence  up  the  river  and  lake  to  his 
seignory. 

Among  the  employes  he  had  brought  with  him  was  an  Italian, 
named  Henri  Tonti,  who  had  lost  one  of  his  hands  by  the  explo 
sion  of  a  grenade  in  the  Sicilian  wars.  Notwithstanding  the  loss 
of  his  hand,  and  a  constitution  naturally  feeble,  his  indomitable 
will  made  him  superior  to  most  men  in  physical  endurance. 
Besides  these  qualities,  so  valuable  in  the  pioneer,  he  possessed  a 
fidelity  which  neither  adversity  nor  the  intrigues  of  enemies  could 
swerve  from  the  interests  of  his  employer.*  On  his  way  through 
Quebec,  he  also  obtained  the  services  of  M.  Lamotte,  a  person  of 
much  energy  and  integity  of  character,  but  not  so  efficient  an  as 
sistant  as  Tonti. 

Among  the  missionaries  who  became  associated  with  LaSalle  in 
his  future  explorations,  may  be  mentioned  Louis  Hennepin,  Gabriel 
Kibourde  and  Zenobe  Meinbre.  All  of  them  were  Flemings,  all 

*His  father  had  been  governor  of  Gaeta,  but  fled  to  France  to  escape  the  political 
convulsions  of  his  native  country.  He  was  an  able  financier,  and  won  distinction  as 
the  inventor  of  Tontine  Life  Insurance. 


LASALLE.  G9 


Recollets,  but  in  other  respects  different.  Hennepin,  in  early  life, 
read  with  unwearied  delight  the  adventures  of  travelers,  and  felt 
a  burning  desire  to  visit  strange  lands.  Yielding  to  his  ruling 
passion,  he  set  out  on  a  roving  mission  through  Holland,  where  he 
exposed  himself  in  trenches  and  seiges  for  the  salvation  of  the 
soldier.  Finding,  at  length,  his  old  inclination  to  travel  returning, 
he  obtained  permission  of  his  superior  to  visit  America,  where,  in 
accordance  with  his  wandering  proclivity,  he  became  connected 
with  the  adventures  of  LaSalle.  In  this  capacity  he  won  distinc 
tion  as  an  explorer,  but  afterwards  tarnished  his  reputation  with 
false  pretensions.  Ribourde  was  a  hale  and  cheerful  old  man  of 
(U  years,  and  though  possessing  fewer  salient  points  of  character 
than  Hennepin,  he  greatly  excelled  him  in  purity  of  life.  He  re 
nounced  station  and  ease  for  the  privations  of  a  missionary,  and 
at  last  was  stricken  down  by  the  parricidal  hand  of  those  he  fain 
would  have  benefited.  Membre,  like  Hennepin,  is  accused  of  vanity 
and  falsehood.  He  must,  however,  have  possessed  redeeming 
traits,  for  he  long  remained  the  faithful  companion  of  LaSalle, 
and  finally  perished  in  his  service. 

On  arriving  at  the  fort,  LaSalle  sent  15  men  with  merchandise 
to  Lake  Michigan,  to  trade  for  furs.  After  disposing  of  the  goods, 
they  were  instructed  to  proceed  with  the  bartered  commodities  to 
Illinois,  and  there  await  his  arrival.  The  next  step  he  hoped  to 
make  in  his  westward  progress  was  the  erection  of  a  fort  'at  the 
mouth  of  the  river  Niagara.  He  thought  if  he  could  control  this 
key  to  the  chain  of  lakes  above,  he  could  also  control  the  Indian 
trade  of  the  interior.  For  this  purpose,  LaMotte  and  Henepin, 
with  10  men,  on  the  18th  of  November,  embarked  in  one  of  the 
small  vessels  which  lay  at  the  fort,  and  started  for  the  mouth  of 
the  river.  Retarded  by  adverse  winds,  it  was  not  till  the  Gth  of 
December  that  they  reached  their  destination  and  effected  a  land 
ing.  Here  they  met  with  a  band  of  Senecas  from  a  neighboring 
village,  who  gazed  upon  them  with  curious  eyes,  and  listened  with 
great  wonderment  to  a  song  which  they  sung  in  honor  of  their 
safe  arrival.  When,  however,  the  erection  of  a  fort  was  com 
menced,  their  surprise  gave  way  to  jealousy,  and  it  became  neces 
sary  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  chiefs  before  the  work  could  be 
completed.  With  this  object  in  view,  LaMotte  and  Hennepin, 
loaded  with  presents,  set  out  to  visit  the  principal  town,  situated 
near  the  site  of  Rochester,  New  York.  Arriving  thither  after  a 
journey  of  5  days,  they  were  received  by  a  committee  of  32  chiefs, 
to  whom  they  made  known  their  object.  LaMotte  distributed 
gifts  among  the  chiefs  with  a  lavish  hand,  and  by  means  of  his 
interpreter,  used  all  the  tact  and  eloquence  of  which  he  was  mas 
ter  to  gain  their  consent  to  the  erection  of  the  fort.  They  readily 
received  the  gifts,  but  answered  the  interpreter  with  evasive'  gen 
eralities,  and  the  embassy  was  compelled  to  return  without  a 
definite  reply.  In  the  meantime  LaSalle  and  Tonti,  who  had  been 
detained  in  procuring  supplies  for  the  new  settlement,  arrived. 
They  had  also  encountered  unfavorable  winds,  and  LaSalle.  anx 
ious  to  hasten  forward,  entrusted  one  of  his  vessels  to  the  pilot, 
who,  disregarding  his  instructions,  suffered  her  to  become  wrecked. 
The  crew  escaped,  but  with  the  exception  of  the  cables  and 
anchors  intended  to  be  used  in  building  a  ship  above  the  cataract, 
the  cargo  was  lost,  LaSalle,  who  was  more  than  an  ordinary  inas- 


HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


ter  of  Indian  diplomacy,  next  visited  the  Senecas,  and  partially 
obtained  his  request.  In  lieu  of  the  fort,  he  was  permitted  to 
erect  a  warehouse.  This  was  completed,  and  used  as  a  shelter  for 
the  men  during-  the  ensuing  winter,  and  a  depository  for  mer 
chandise  in  his  subsequent  transactions  on  the  lakes. 

The  Griffin.— A  more  vital  consideration,  and  that  which  next 
engaged  the  attention  of  LaSalle,  was  the  building  of  a  vessel  on 
the  river.  The  point  selected  for  this  purpose  was  on  the  east  side 
of  the  river,  at  the  mouth  of  Cayuga  creek,  0  miles  above  the 
cataract.  The  men  struggled  up  the  steep  hights  above  Lewiston 
with  the  necessary  equipments,  and  on  the  IJL'd  of  January,  1079, 
commenced  the  laborious  task  of  carrying  them  to  the  point 
selected,  some  12  miles  distant.  Arriving  thither,  Tonti  immedi 
ately  commenced  the  task  of  building  the  vessel,  while  LaSalle 
returned  to  Frontenac,  to  replace  the  stores  which  had  been  lost 
in  the  lake.  Notwithstanding  the  attempt  of  the  Senecas  to  burn 
the  vessel  as  she  grew  on  the  stocks,  in  due  time  she  was  finished 
and  ready  to  launch.  The  firing  of  cannon  announced  her  com 
pletion,  and  as  the  men  chanted  a  song  in  honor  of  their  success, 
and  the  Indians  stared  at  the  novel  sight,  she  gracefully  glided 
out  on  the  waters  of  the  Niagara.  During  her  construction,  they 
were  greatly  amazed  at  the  ribs  of  the  huge  monster,  but  now 
they  looked  with  increased  surprise  at  the  grim  muzzles  of  5  can 
non  looking  through  her  port  holes,  and  a  huge  creature,  part  lion 
and  part  eagle,  carved  on  the  prow.  The  figure  was  a  griffin, 
after  which  the  vessel  was  named,  in  honor  of  the  armorial  bear 
ings  of  Frontenac.  She  was  taken  further  up  the  river,  where  the 
men  supplied  her  \vith  rigging,  and  Tonti  anxiously  awaited  the 
arrival  of  LaSalle.  This  did  not  occur  till  August,  he  having,  in 
the  meantime,  been  detained  by  financial  difficulties,  growing  out 
of  the  attempt  of  enemies  to  injure  his  credit.  He  brought  with 
him  Kibourde  and  Membre,  to  preach  the  faith  among  the  tribes 
of  the  west,  which  he  now  proposed  to  visit. 

To  defer  the  enterprise  longer,  would  be  to  defeat  it,  and  on  the 
7th  of  August,  1079,  the  voyagers  embarked.  The  extended  sails 
of  their  little  craft  catching  the  breeze,  bore  her  safely  out  on  the 
bosom  of  Lake  Erie.  Never  before  had  been  pictured  in  its 
waters  the  image  of  fluttering  canvas,  and  to  the  Griffin  belongs 
the  honor  of  first  coursing  the  highway  which  is  now  whitened 
with  the  sails  of  such  an  extended  commerce.  After  a  prosperous 
voyage  up  the  lake,  they  entered  the  Detroit,  and  passed  on  each 
bank  a  pleasant  succession  of  prairies  and  forests,  alive  with 
game.  The  men  leaped  ashore,  and  soon  the  decks  of  the  Griffin 
were  strewn  with  the  dead  bodies  of  deer,  turkeys  and  bears,  upon 
whose  flesh  the  crew  feasted  with  the  greatest  relish.  Ascending 
Lake  St.  Clair  and  the  rest  of  the  strait,  they  entered  Lake  Huron, 
wMch  appeared  like  a  vast  mirror  set  in  a  frame  fantastic  with 
rocks  and  verdure.  So  pure  and  transparent  were  the  waters, 
the  fish  on  the  pebbled  bottom  below  seemed  the  only  inhabitants 
of  earth,  while  their  little  bark  floated  like  a  cloiid  in  mid-air 
above  them.  At  first  the  voyage  was  prosperous,  and  islet  after 
islet  loomed  up  before  them,  which  the  strange  mirage  of  the 
waters  converted  into  huge  Tritons  stalking  rapidly  by,  and  disap 
pearing  in  the  distance  behind.  Soon,  however,  the  breeze  before 
which  they  moved  freshened  into  a  gale,  and  at  last  became  an 


LASALLE.  71 


angry  tempest,  causing  the  greatest  alarm.  All  fell  to  praying  ex 
cept  the  pilot,  who  was  incensed  at  the  idea  of  ignobly  perishing 
in  the  lake,  after  having  breasted  the  storms  and  won  the  honors 
of  the  ocean.  LaSalle  and  the  friars  evoked  the  aid  of  St.  An 
thony  of  Padua,  whom  they  declared  the  patron  ofthe  expedition, 
and  promised  a  chapel  if  he  would  deliver  them  from  the  devour 
ing  waves.  The  saint,  it  is  said,  answered  their  prayers ;  the 
billow-tossed  bosom  of  the  lake  became  still,  and  the  Griffin  rode 
into  the  straits  of  Mackinaw  uninjured.  A  salute  of  cannon  an 
nounced  their  arrival  at  the  Jesuit  mission,  where  they  effected  a 
landing,  and  immediately  repaired  to  the  chapel  to  offer  thanks  for 
their  recent  deliverance. 

Here,  under  the  shadow  of  the  cross,  the  votaries  of  mammon 
had  erected  a  bazaar  for  the  fur  trade,  which  they  carried  on  with 
or  without  a  license,  as  best  suited  their  interests.  All  of  them 
looked  with  jealous  eyes  upon  LaSalle,  but  openly  extended  a  wel 
come  to  him,  that  they  might  allay  suspicions  respecting  their 
secret  designs  against  his  enterprise.  With  motives  Ifttle  better, 
the  Indians  saluted  him  with  a  volley  of  musketry,  and  soon 
swarmed  in  canoes  around  the  Griffin,  which  they  called  a  floating 
fort,  and  evidently  regarded  it  with  greater  curiosity  than  good 
will.  Isrot  only  the  residents  were  secretly  hostile,  but  it  soon  ap 
peared  that  his  own  men  had  proved  treacherous.  Most  of  those 
lie  had  sent  up  the  lakes  with  merchandise  had  sold  it  and  kept 
the  proceeds,  instead  of  going  with  them,  as  directed,  to  Illinois. 
LaSalle  arrested  four  of  them  at  Mackinaw,  and  sent  Tonti  to  the 
Straits  of  St.  Mary  after  two  others,  whom  he  also  succeeded  in 
capturing. 

As  soon  as  Toiiti  returned,  LaSalle  weighed  anchor  and  sailed 
through  the  Straits  into  Lake  Michigan,  and  landed  at  an  island 
near  the  entrance  of  Green  Bay.  Here  he  was  received  with  great 
hospitality  by  a  Potawatamie  chief,  and  met  with  a  number  of  his 
traders,  who,  unlike  the  others,  had  faithfully  disposed  of  his 
goods  and  collected  a  large  quantity  of  furs.  He  at  once  resolved 
to  send  them,  with  others  he  had  collected  on  the  way  to  Niagara, 
for  the  benefit  of  his  creditors.  Such  a  transaction  was  not  author 
ized  by  his  license  of  discovery,  yet  his  will  was  law,  and  despite 
the  protest  of  his  followers,  the  furs  were  carried  aboard  the  Grif 
fin.  The  pilot,  after  disposing  of  the  cargo,  was  instructed  to 
return  with  her  to  the  southern  shore  of  the  lake.  Her  cannons 
thundered  forth  a  parting  salute,  and  soon  the  little  bark  melted 
out  of  sight  in  the  distance.  LaSalle,  with  the  remaining  men, 
now  embarked  in  canoes,  laden  with  a  forge,  tools  and  arms,  and 
started  for  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph.  Unfortunately,  they 
found  the  lake  broken  with  constant  storms,  which  frequently  im 
periled  their  own  lives  and  made  them  tremble  for,  the  fate  of  the 
Griffin.  After  a  long  voyage,  in  which  they  suffered  mu^l^lfrom 
hardship  and  hunger,  they  arrived  at  their  destination.  Here 
they  expected  to  meet  with  Tonti  and  twenty  of  the  men  who 
left  Mackinaw  simultaneously  with  the  Griffin,  expecting  to  make 
their  way  along  the  eastern  shore  of  the  lake.  After  waiting 
some  time  in  vain  for  their  arrival,  those  who  had  come  with  La 
Salle  urged  upon  him  the  necessity  of  pushing  forward  to  obtain 
corn  from  the  Illinois  before  they  departed  for  their  winter  hunt 
ing  grounds.  He  decided  it  unwise  to  grant  their  request,  and,  to 


72  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


divert  their  minds  from  the  subject,  commenced  the  erection  of  a 
fort.  After  laboring  some  twenty  days,  and  the  structure  was 
far  advanced,  Tonti  and  ten  of  his  companions  arrived.  At  the 
instance  of  LaSalle  he  immediately  went  back  with  two  men  to 
hasten  forward  the  others,  who  were  without  provisions,  and  hunt 
ing  as  a  means  of  support.  On  their  way  a  violent  storm  overset 
their  canoes  and  destroyed  their  provisions,  and  they  were  com 
pelled  to  return.  Shortly  after,  of  their  own  accord,  the  absent 
men  made  their  way  to  the  fort,  and  the  entire  party  was  again 
united.  The  only  care  which  now  oppressed  LaSalle  was  the  ab 
sence  of  the  Griffin.  Ample  time  had  elapsed  for  her  return,  but 
nowhere  on  the  wild  solitude  of  waters  was  he  cheered  with  the 
sight  of  a  sail.  Eueful  forebodings  saddened  his  breast  when  he 
thought  of  her  fate,  and  two  men  were  sent  down  the  lake,  with 
instructions  to  conduct  her  to  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph,  in  case 
they  were  able  to  find  her.  The  fort  was  finished  and  named 
Miami,  alter  a  neighboring  tribe  of  Indians. 

Without  further  delay,  on  the  3d  of  December,  1679,  the  party, 
numbering  33  persons,  commenced  ascending  the  St.  Joseph. 
Already  the  margins  of  the  stream  were  glassed  with  sheets  of  ice 
and  the  adjacent  forests  were  gray  and  bare.  Four  days  brought 
them  to  the  site  of  South  Bend,  to  look  for  the  path  leading  across 
the  portage  to  the  Kankakee.  A  Mohegan  hunter,  who  accompa 
nied  the  expedition,  and  who  was  now  expected  to  act  as  a  guide, 
was  absent  in  quest  of  game,  and  LaSalle  sallied  forth  to  find  the 
way.  In  the  blinding  snow  and  tangled  woods  he  soon  became 
lost,  and  the  day  wore  away  without  his  return.  Tonti,  becoming 
alarmed  for  his  safety,  sent  men  to  scour  the  forest  and  tire  guns 
to  direct  his  course  to  the  camp.  It  was  not,  however,  till  the 
next  afternoon  that  he  made  his  appearance.  Two  opossums  dan 
gled  in  his  girdle,  which  he  had  killed  with  a  club,  while  suspended 
by  their  tails  from  overhanging  boughs.  After  missing  his  way, 
he  was  compelled  to  make  the  circuit  of  a  large  swamp,  and  it  was 
late  at  night  before  he  got  back  to  the  river.  Here  he  fired  his 
gun  as  a  signal,  and  soon  after,  discovering  a  light,  made  up  to  it, 
supposing  it  came  from  the  camp  of  his  men.  To  his  surprise  it 
proved  to  be  the  lonely  bivouac  of  some  Indian,  who  had  tied  at 
the  report  of  his  gun.  He  called  aloud  in  several  Indian  tongues, 
but  only  the  reverberations  of  his  voice  in  the  surrounding  soli 
tude  met  his  ear.  Looking  around,  he  discovered  under  the  trunk 
of  a  huge  tree  a  couch  made  of  dried  grass,  still  warm  and  im 
pressed  with  the  form  of  its  recent  occupant.  He  took  possession 
and  slept  unmolested  till  morning,  when,  without  further  difficulty, 
he  found  his  way  to  camp.  Meanwhile,  the  Mohegan  hunter  had 
arrived,  and  soon  the  whole  party  stood  on  the  banks  of  the  Kan 
kakee,  coursing  its  way  in  zig-zags  among  tufts  of  tall  grass  and 
clumps  of  alder.  Into  its  current,  which  a  tall  man  might  easily 
bestride,  they  set  their  canoes,  and  slowly  moved  down  its  slug 
gish,  slimy  waters.  So  full  was  its  channel  that  the  voyagers 
seemed  sailing  on  the  surface  of  the  ground,  while  their  evening 
shadows,  unobstructed  by  banks,  fell  far  beyond  their  canoes,  and 
trooped  like  huge  phantoms  along  by  their  side.  By  and  by  it 
grew  to  a  considerable  stream,  from  the  drainage  of  miry  barrens 
and  reedy  marshes  skirting  its  banks.  Still  farther  on  succeeded 
prairies  and  woodlands,  recently  scorched  by  the  fires  of  Indian 


LASALLE.  73 


hunters,  and  here  and  there  deeply  scarred  with  the  trails  of  buf 
falo.  Occasionally,  on  the  distant  verge  of  the  prairies,  they 
could  see  Indians  in  pursuit  of  these  animals,  while  at  night  the 
horizon  blazed  with  camp  fires  where  they  were  cooking  and  feast 
ing  upon  their  sweetly  flavored  meats.  LaSalle's  Mohegan  hunter 
had  been  unsuccessful,  and  his  half-starved  men  would  gladly 
have  shared  with  the  Indians  their  rich  repast.  Their  wants  were 
however  unexpectedly  relieved  by  the  happy  discovery  of  a  huge 
bull  so  deeply  mired  he  was  unable  to  escape.  So  ponderous  was 
his  huge  body  that  when  killed  it  required  12  men,  with  the  aid 
of  cables,  to  extricate  him  from  the  mud.  Eefreshed  with  a  boun 
tiful  repast,  they  again  betook  themselves  to  their  canoes,  and 
soon  entered  the  Illinois,  meandering  through  plains  of  richest  ver 
dure.  They  were  then  the  pasture  grounds  of  innumerable  deer 
and  buffalo,  but  now  wondrously  transformed  into  scenes  of  agri 
cultural  thrift.  On  the  right  they  passed  the  high  plateau  of  Buf 
falo  Bock,  long  the  favorite  resort  of  the  Indians.  Farther  down, 
on  the  left,  appeared  a  lofty  promontory  beautifully  crested  with 
trees,  and  soon  destined  to  be  crowned  with  the  bulwarks  of  an 
impregnable  fortress.  Below,  on  the  north  shore,  stood  the  prin 
cipal  town  of  the  Illinois,  in  which  Heimepiii  counted  4G1  lodges, 
each  containing  from  G  to  8  families.  These  structures  were  made 
of  poles  in  the  form  of  an  oblong  rectangle.  Those  composing  the 
sides  rose  perpendicularly  from  the  ground,  and  at  the  top  were 
united  in  the  form  of  an  arch.  Others  crossing  these  at  right 
angles  completed  the  framework,  which  was  afterward  neatly  in 
closed  in  a  covering  of  rushes.  As  had  been  feared  by  the  voya 
gers,  the  Illinois  were  absent,  and  their  village  a  voiceless  solitude. 
The  presence  of  savages  is  often  a  cause  of  alarm,  but  now  the 
case  was  reversed,  for  LaSalle  desired  to  obtain  from  them  corn 
for  his  famishing  companions.  Soon  some  of  his  men  discovered 
large  quantities  of  it  stored  away  in  pits,  but  at  first  refrained  from 
taking  it,  lest  they  might  seriously  offend  its  owners.  Necessity, 
however,  generally  gets  the  better  of  prudence,  and  they  took  "a 
quantity  sufficient  to  supply  their  present  wants,  and  departed 
down  the  river. 

On  the  1st  of  January,  1680,  they  again  landed  to  hear  mass, 
and  wish  each  other  a  happy  new  year.  Father  Hennepiii  closed 
the  exercises  by  haranguing  the  men  on  the  importance  of  patience, 
faith  and  constancy.  Two  days  afterward  they  entered  the  ex 
pansion  of  the  river  now  called  Peoria  Lake,  after  the  Indians  who 
dwelt  upon  its  banks.  Columns  of  smoke,  rising  gracefully  from 
the  forest  below,  now  announced  the  presence  of  Indians,  who, 
LaSalle  had  reasons  to  suspect,  were  averse  to  his  enterprise.  Un- 
dismayed,  they  moved  down  the  lake,  which  soon  narrowed  to  the 
usual  width  of  the  river,  when,  just  beyond,  they  discovered  some 
80  Illinois  wigwams  on  the  opposite  banks.  Dropping  their  pad 
dles  and  seizing  their  weapons,  they  were  rapidly  borne  toward 
the  astounded  savages.  LaSalle,  aware  that  the  least  hesitancy 
on  his  part  would  be  construed  as  fear,  leaped  ashore  with  his  lit 
tle  band  of  Frenchmen,  each  armed  and  ready  for  action.  Such 
audacity  was  too  much,  even  for  Indian  heroism.  Women  and 
children  trembled  with  fear;  brave  warriors  fled  in  the  utmost 
terror,  but  a  few  of  the  more  bold  rallied  and  made  overtures  of 
peace.  Two  chiefs  advanced  and  displayed  a  calumet,  which  La- 


74  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Salle  recognized  by  exhibiting  one  of  his  own,  and  the  hostile  dem 
onstrations  terminated  in  friendship.  Next  succeeded  a  feast,  and 
while  some  placed  the  food  in  the  mouths  of  the  Frenchmen,  oth 
ers,  with  great  obsequiousness,  greased  their  feet  with  bears'  oil. 

As  soon  as  LaSalle  could  disengage  himself  from  their  caresses, 
he  informed  them  that  in  descending  the  river  he  had  visited  their 
town  and  taken  corn  from  their  granaries.  He  stated  that  he  had 
been  forced  to  the  commission  of  this  unlawful  act  to  save  his  men 
from  hunger,  and  was  now  ready  to  make  restitution.  In  explain 
ing  the  object  of  his  visit,  he  said  he  had  come  to  erect  a  fort  in 
their  midst,  to  protect  them  against  the  Iroquois,  and  to  build  a 
large  canoe  in  which  to  descend  the  Mississippi  to  the  sea,  and 
thence  return  with  goods  to  exchange  for  their  furs.  If,  however, 
they  did  not  regard  his  plans  with*  favor,  he  concluded  by  stating 
he  would  pass  on  to  the  Osages,  in  the  present  limits  of  Missouri, 
and  give  them  the  benefit  of  his  trade  and  influence.  The  allusion 
to  these  Indians  aroused  their  jealousy,  which  had  long  existed 
between  the  two  tribes,  and  the  Illinois  readily  assented  to  his 
wishes,  and  were  loud  in  their  professions  of  friendship. 

Notwithstanding  this  auspicious  reception,  it  soon  became  evi 
dent  to  LaSalle  that  secret  enemies  were  intriguing  to  defeat  his 
enterprise.  Some  of  his  men,  dissatisfied  and  mutinous  from  the 
first,  secretly  endeavored  to  foment  disaffection  and  ill-will  in  the 
better  disposed  of  his  followers.  They  represented  to  their  com 
rades  the  folly  of  longer  remaining  the  dupes  and  slaves  of  a 
leader  whose  wild  schemes  and  imaginary  hopes  could  never  be 
realized.  What  could  be  exx)ected,  said  they,  after  following  him 
to  the  extreme  confines  of  the  earth  and  to  remote  and  dangerous 
seas,  but  to  either  miserably  perish  or  return  the  victims  of  dis 
ease  and  poverty.  They  urged  that  the  only  way  to  escape  these 
evils  was  to  return  before  distance  and  the  waste  of  strength  and 
means  rendered  it  impossible,  It  was  even  hinted  that  it  might 
be  best  to  escape  from  their  present  calamities  by  the  death  of 
their  author:  then  they  might  retrace  their  steps  and  share  in  the 
credit  of  what  had  already  been  accomplished,  instead  of  further 
protracting  their  labors  for  another  to  monopolize  the  honors. 
Fortunately  those  who  entertained  these  views  were  too  few  in 
numbers  to  reduce  them  to  practice.  Unable  to  effect  anything 
with  their  own  countrymen,  they  next  turned  to  the  savages. 
Having  obtained  a  secret  interview,  they  informed  them  that  La 
Salle  had  entered  into  a  conspiracy  with  the  Iroquois  to  effect 
their  destruction,  and  that  he  was  now  in  the  country  to  ascertain 
their  strength  and  build  a  fort  in  furtherance  of  this  object.  They 
also  said  that,  while  he  was  ostensibly  preparing  to  visit  Fort 
Frontenac,  his  real  object  was  to  invite  the  Iroquois  to  make  an 
invasion  into  their  country  as  soon  as  he  was  prepared  to  assist 
them.  The  Indians,  ever  suspicious  and  ready  to  listen  to  charges 
of  this  kind,  became  morose  and  reserved.  LaSalle,  noticing  their 
altered  demeanor,  at  once  suspected  his  men,  and  soon  obtained 
information  establishing  the  truth  of  their  perfidy.  To  remove  the 
false  impressions,  lie  reminded  the  Indians  that  the  smallness  of 
his  force  indicated  a  mission  of  peace,  and  not  of  war ;  and  that 
neither  prudence  nor  humanity  would  ever  permit  him  to  form  an 
alliance  with  the  Iroquois,  whose  brutal  and  revengeful  conduct 
he  had  always  regarded  with  horror  and  detestation.  His  great 


LASALLE.  75 


self  possession  and  frankness,  together  with  the  evident  truthful 
ness  of  his  remarks,  completely  divested  the  savages  of  suspicion 
and  restored  him  to  their  confidence.  Balked  in  their  efforts  to 
make  enemies  of  the  Indians,  the  conspirators,  as  a  last  resort, 
sought  the  life  of  their  ernplo^yer.  Poison  was  secretly  placed  in 
his  food,  but  fortune  again  came  to  his  rescue.  By  the  timely  ad 
ministration  of  an  antidote  the  poison  was  neutralized,  and  his  life 
was  saved.  This  was  an  age  of  poisoners,  and  it  had  not  been  long 
since  a  similar  attempt  against  the  life  of  LaSalle  had  been  made 
at  Fort  Froiitenac. 

Hardly  had  LaSalle  escaped  the  machinations  of  his  own  men, 
before  he  became  involved  in  the  meshes  of  others,  with  whom  he 
sustained  not  even  the  most  remote  connection.  The  new  in 
trigues,  LaSalle,  in  a  letter  to  Count  Frontenae,  attributes  to  the 
Jesuit  Priest,  Allouez,  then  a  missionary  among  the  Miamis. 
Perhaps  LaSalle  on  account  of  his  partiality  for  the  Recollets,  or 
more  likely  fearing  that  the  latter,  through  his  influence,  might 
become  more  potent  than  his  own  order,  he  sent  a  Mascoutin  chief, 
called  Monso,  to  excite  the  jealousy  of  the  Illinois  against  him. 
They  came  equipped  with  presents,  which  drew  together  a  nightly 
conclave  of  chiefs,  to  whom  Monso  unbosomed  his  object.  Rising 
in  their  midst  he  said  he  had  been  sent  by  a  certain  Frenchman  to 
warn  them  against  the  designs  of  LaSalle.  He  then  denounced 
him  as  a  spy  of  the  Iroquois  on  his  way  to  secure  the  co-operation 
of  tribes  beyond  the  Mississippi,  with  the  hope  that  by  a  com- 
binod  attack,  to  either  destroy  the  Illinois  or  drive  them  from  the 
country.  In  conclusion  he  added,  the  best  way  to  avert  these  ca 
lamities  was  to  stay  his  farther  progress,  by  causing  the  desertion 
of  his  men.  Having  thus  roused  the  suspicions  of  the  Illinois, 
the  envoys  hurridly  departed,  lest  they  might  have  to  confront  the 
object  of  their  foul  aspersions.  The  next  morning  the  savages 
looked  suspicious  and  sullen.  A  glance  sufficed  to  convince 
LaSalle  that  new  difficulties  awaited  him,  nor  was  it  long  till  he 
ascertained  their  character.  A  chief,  to  whom  the  day  before  he 
had  given  a  liberal  supply  of  presents,  privately  informed  him  of 
what  had  transpired  at  the  council  the  preceding  night.  This 
information  was  confirmed  by  what  occurred  at  a  feast,  given 
shortly  afterward  by  a  brother  of  the  principal  chiefi,  to  which 
LaSalle  and  his  men  were  invited.  While  the  repast  Avas  in  pre 
paration  their  host  endeavored  to  persuade  them  to  abandon  their 
journey  by  magnifying  the  dangers  which  would  attend  it.  He 
informed  them  that  the  object  of  his  invitation  was  not  only  to  re 
fresh  their  bodies  but  to  remove  from  their  minds  the  infatuation 
of  farther  attempting  an  errand  which  could  never  be  accom 
plished.  If  you  endeavor  to  descend  the  Mississippi,  said  he,  you 
will  find  its  banks  beset  with  tribes  whom  neither  numbers  nor 
courage  can  overcome,  while  all  who  enter  its  waters  will  be  ex 
posed  to  the  devouring  fangs  of  serpents  and  unnatural  monsters. 
Should  they  avoid  these,  he  added,  the  river  at  last  becomes  a 
succession  of  raging  whirlpools,  which  plunge  headlong  into  a 
storm  smitten  sea,  from  which,  if  they  entered,  escape  would  be 
impossible. 

The  most  of  LaSalle's  men  knew  little  of  Indian  artifice,  and 
were  greatly  alarmed  at  the  thought  of  having  to  encounter  such 
formidable  perils.  Some  of  the  older  and  more  experienced  en- 


76  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


deavored  to  expose  these  misrepresentations,  but  as  we  shall 
presently  see,  with  only  partial  success.  LaSalle  knew  in  a  mo 
ment,  from  what  had  been  told  him,  the  object  of  the  speaker  was 
to  deceive  his  men  and  seduce  them  from  their  allegiance.  After 
expressing  his  thanks  for  the  timely  warning,  he  replied  as 
follows : 

"The  greater  the  danger  the  greater  the  honor;  and  even  if  the  danger  were 
real,  a  Frenchman  would  never  be  afraid  to  meet  it.  But  were  not  the  Illinois 
jealous?  Had  they  not  been  deluded  by  lies?  We  were  not  asleep,  my  brother, 
when  Monso  came  to  tell  you,  under  cover  of  night,  that  we  were  spies  of  the 
Ii'oquois.  The  presents  he  gave  you,  that  you  might  believe  his  falsehoods, 
are  at  this  moment  buried  in  the  earth  under  this  lodge.  If  he  told  the  truth 
why  did  he  skulk  away  in  the  dark?  Why  did  he  not  show  himself  by  day? 
Do  yon  not  see  that  when  we  first  came  among  you,  and  your  cam])  \vas  all  in 
confusion,  we  could  have  killed  you  without  needing  help  from  the  lioqnois, 
and  now  while  I  am  speaking,  could  we  not  put  your  old  men  to  death,  while 
your  young  warriors  are  all  gone  away  to  hunt.  If  we  iiu-ant  to  make  war 
on  you,  we  should  need  no  help  from  the  Iroquois,  who  have  so  often  felt  the 
force  of  our  arms.  Look  at  what  we  have  brought  you.  It  is  not  AVC  apons  to  dis- 
stroy  you,  but  merchandise  and  tools  for  your  good.  If  yon  still  harbor  evil 
thoughts  of  us,  be  frank  as  we  are  and  speak  them  boldty.  Go  after  the  5m- 
poster,  Monso,  and  bring  him  back  that  we  may  answer  him  face  to  face;  for 
he  never  saw  either  us  or  the  Iroquois  and  what  can  he  know  of  the  plots  he 
pretends  to  reveal?  " 

The  savage  orator,  too  much  astounded  at  these  disclosures  to 
attempt  a  reply,  ordered  the  feast  to  proceed. 

LaSalle,  suspicious  of  danger,  the  night  after  the  feast  stationed 
sentinels  near  the  lodges  of  the  French  to  watch  the  movements 
of  their  recent  entertainers.  The  night  passed  without  disturb 
ance,  and  at  early  dawn  he  salied  forth  to  find,  that  instead  of 
watching  the  enemy,  6  of  his  men  had  basely  deserted.  Doubt 
less,  in  part  to  escape  the  imaginary  dangers  already  alluded  to, 
but  mostly  on  account  of  previous  disaffection,  they  had  aban 
doned  their  employer  at  the  time  when  he  had  the  greatest  need 
of  their  services.  LaSalle  assembled  the  remainder,  and  spoke  in 
severe  terms  of  the  baseness  of  those  Avho  had  left  him.  "  If  any 
one  yet  remains, "  he  continued,  "  who  from  cowardice  desires  to 
return,  let  him  wait  till  spring,  and  he  can  then  go  without  the 
stigma  of  desertion. "  One  of  the  principal  difficulties  attending 
the  early  French  enterprises  of  the  West  was  to  procure  trusty 
men.  The  Avilderness  Avas  full  of  vagabond  hunters  who  had  tied 
from  the  discipline  of  civilized  life,  and  now  exhibited  an  extreme 
of  lawlessness  proportioned  to  their  previous  restraints.  Their 
freedom  from  care,  and  immunity  from  the  consequences  of  crime, 
rendered  them  a  perpetual  lure  to  entice  others  from  the  duties  of 
legitimate  employment. 

Fort  Crevecceure. — LaSalle,  wearied  with  these  difficulties,  now 
determined  to  erect  a  fort  in  which  he  and  his  men  might  pass  the 
winter  without  molestation.  A  site  was  chosen  on  the  east  side 
of  the  river,  a  short  distance  below  the  outlet  of  the  lake.  This 
was  the  extremity  of  a  ridge  approaching  within  200  yards  of  the 
shore,  and  protected  on  each  side  by  deep  ravines.  To  fortify  the 
bluff  thus  formed,  a  ditch  was  dug  behind  to  connect  the  two 
ravines.  Embankments  were  thrown  up  to  increase  the  altitude 
of  the  different  sides,  and  the  whole  was  surrounded  with  a  palisade 
25  feet  in  hight.  The  work  was  completed  by  erecting  within 
the  enclosure  buildings  for  the  accommodation  of  the  mem 


LASALLE.  77 


LaSalle  bestowed  on  it  the  name  Crevecoeur.*  an  appellation  which 
still  perpetuates  the  misfortunes  and  disappointments  of  its  foun 
der.  The  Indians  remained  friendly,  and  the  new  fortification 
subserved  more  the  purpose  of  a  sanctuary  than  a  place  for  the 
discharge  of  military  duty.  Heiinepin  preached  twice  on  the  Sab 
bath,  chanted  vespers,  and  regretted  that  the  want  of  wine  pre 
vented  the  celebration  of  mass.  Membra  daily  visited  the 
Illinois  and,  despite  their  filth  and  disgusting  manners,  labored 
earnestly,  but  with  little  success,  for  their  spiritual  welfare.  Such 
was  the  first  French  occupation  of  the  territory  now  embraced  in 
the  present  limits  of  Illinois.  The  place  of  this  ancient  fort  may 
still  be  seen  a  short  distance  below  the  outlet  of  Peoria  Lake. 
For  years  after  its  erection  the  country  around  the  lake  remained 
the  home  of  savages,  and  rich  pasture  grounds  for  herds  of  deer 
and  buffalo. 

Hitherto,  LaSalle  had  entertained  some  hope  that  the  C  riffin, 
which  had  on  board  anchors,  rigging,  and  other  necessary  articles 
for  the  construction  of  another  vessel,  might  still  be  safe.  He 
proposed  to  build  n  vessel  on  the  Illinois,  freight  her  with  buffalo 
hides,  collected  in  the  descent  of  the  Mississippi,  and  thence  sail 
to  the  AVest  Indies  or  France,  and  dispose  of  the  cargo.  The  Grif 
fin,  however,  with  her  much  needed  stores,  never  made  her  appear 
ance.  It  was  variously  believed  at  the  time  that  she  had  found 
ered  in  a  storin — that  the  Indians  had  boarded  and  burnt  her — 
and  that  the  Jesuits  had  contrived  her  destruction.  LaSalle  was 
of  opinion  that  her  own  crew,  after  removing  the  cargo  of  furs  and 
merchandise,  sunk  her  and  then  ran  away  with  their  ill-gotten 
spoils.  But  the  cause  of  the  loss  was  of  little  moment;  they  were 
gone,  and  there  was  no  alternative  left  LaSalle  but  to  return  to 
Frontenac  and  get  others  to  supply  their  place.  His  great  anxiety 
in  connection  with  this  step  was  the  fear  that  others  of  his  men 
might  take  advantage  of  his  absence  and  desert. 

AVhile  revolving  this  subject  in  his  mind,  an  incident  occurred 
which  enabled  him  to  disabuse  their  minds  of  the  false  state 
ments  tlfey  had  heard  in  regard  to  the  dangers  of  the  Mississippi. 
During  a  hunt  in  the  vicinity  of  the  fort,  he  chanced  to  meet  with 
a  young  Indian  who  had  been  absent  some  time  on  a  distant  war 
excursion.  Finding  him  almost  famished  .with  hunger,  he  invited 
him  to  the  fort,  where  he  refreshed  him  with  a  generous  meal,  and 
questioned  him  with  apparent  indifference  respecting  the  Missis 
sippi.  Owing  to  his  long  absence,  he  knew  nothing  of  what  had 
transpired  between  his  countrymen  and  the  French,  and,  with 
great  ingenuousness,  imparted  all  the  information  required.  La 
Salle  now  gave  him  presents  not  to  mention  the  interview,  and, 
with  a  number  of  his  men,  repaired  to  the  camp  of  the  Illinois  to 
expose  their  misrepresentations.  Having  found  the  chiefs  at  a 
feast  of  bear's  meat,  he  boldly  accused  them  of  falsehood,  and  at 
once  proceeded  to  verify  his  charges.  The  Master  of  Life,  he  de 
clared,  was  the  friend  of  truth,  and  had  revealed  to  him  the  actual 
character  of  the  Mississippi.  He  then  gave  such  an  accurate 
account  of  it,  that  his  astonished  but  credulous  auditors  believed 
his  knowledge  had  been  obtained  in  a  supernatural  manner,  and  at 
once  confessed  their  guilt.  It  was  their  desire,  they  said,  to  have 
him  remain  with  them,  and  they  had  resorted  to  artifice  for  this 

""•  Broken  hearted. " 


78  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

purpose,  and  not  to  do  him  any  injury.  This  confession  removed 
a  principal  cause  of  desertion,  and  banished  from  the  mind  of  La- 
Salle  a  fruitful  source  of  anxiety.  Lest  idleness  should  breed  new 
disturbances  among1  his  men  during  his  absence,  he  set  them  at 
work  on  the  new  vessel.  Some  of  his  best  carpenters  had  deserted, 
yet  energy  supplied  the  place  of  skill,  and  before  his  departure  he 
saw  the  new  craft  on  the  stocks,  rapidly  approaching  completion. 
He  also  thought  that  Hennepin  might  accomplish  greater  results  by 
exploring  the  Upper  Mississippi  than  by  preaching  sermons,  and 
he  was  therefore  requested  to  take  charge  of  an  expedition  for  this 
purpose.  The  friar,  not  wishing  to  incur  the  dangers  of  the  under 
taking,  plead  bodily  infirmity,  and  endeavored  to  have  one  of  his 
spiritual  colleagues  appointed  in  his  stead.  Ribourde  was  too  old 
to  endure  the  hardships,  and  Meinbre,  though  disgusted  with  his 
clerical  duties  among  the  Illinois,  preferred  an  unpleasant  field  of 
labor  to  one  beset  with  perils.  Hennepin,  finding  no  alternative  but 
to  accept,  with  rare  modesty  and  great  reliance  upon  providence, 
says  :  "Anybody  but  me  would  have  been  much  much  frightened 
with  the  dangers  of  such  a  journey,  and  in  fact,  if  I  had  not  placed 
all  my  trust  in  God,  I  should  not  have  been  the  dupe  of  LaSalle, 
who  exposed  my  life  rashly.."  A  profusion  of  gifts  was  placed  in 
his  canoe,  to  conciliate  the  Indians,  and  on  the  last  day  of  Febru 
ary,  1080,  a  party  assembled  on  the  banks  of  the  Illinois  to  bid 
him  him  farewell,  rather  Eibourde  invoked  the  blessing  of  heaven 
over  the  kneeling  form  of  the  clerical  traveler;  his  two  compan 
ions,  Accau  and  DtiGay,  plied  their  paddles,  and  they  were  soon 
concealed  from  view  in  the  meandering  channel  of  the  river. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
TONTPS  E^COUNTEB  WITH  THE  IEOQUOIS. 


Only  two  days  afterward,  another  parting  occurred  at  the  river. 
It  Avas  now  LaSalle's  time  to  bid  adieu  to  the  scenes  where,  during 
the  winter,  his  motives  had  been  so  often  misrepresented  and  im 
pugned.  Leaving  Tonti  in  command  of  the  fort,  garrisoned  with 
three  or  four  honest  men  and  a  dozen  knaves,  he  set  out  for  Fort 
Frontenac  with  four  men  and  his  Mohegan  hunter,  whose  faithful 
ness  was  a  perpetual  rebuke  to  French  fickleness  and  treachery. 
The  winter  had  been  severe,  and  his  progress  up  the  river  was 
greatly  retarded  by  drifting  sheets  of  ice.  Beaching  Peoria  Lake, 
the  ice  was  unbroken  from  shore  to  shore,  and  the  party  was  com 
pelled  to  land  and  make  sledges  on  which  to  drag  their  canoes  to 
a  point  in  the  river  above,  where  the  swiftness  of  the  current  kept 
the  channel  open.  Little  thought  these  lonely  wanderers  that  the 
desolate  spot  where  this  incident  transpired,  was  one  day  to  re 
sound  with  the  tramp  of  the  multitude  which  now  throngs  the 
streets  of  Peoria.  A  laborious  march  of  four  leagues,  through 
melting  snows,  placed  them  above  the  icy  barrier  of  the  lake,  and 
they  launched  their  canoes.  Thence,  to  the  great  to\vn  of  the 
Illinois,  they  found  the  river  at  different  points  blocked  with  ice, 
and  their  journey  was  made  alternately  by  land  and  water,  in  the 
drenching  rains  of  opening  spring.  They  found  the  village  with 
out  inhabitants,  and  its  lodges  crested  with  snow.  T^e  adjacent 
meadows  Avere  still  locked  in  the  fetters  of  winter,  and  the  more 
distant  forests,  bearded  with  crystals,  flashed  in  the  morning  sun 
like  a  sea  of  diamonds.  Yet  the  frozen  landscape  was  not  without 
life.  The  impress  of  moccasined  feet  could  be  traced  in  the  snow, 
and  occasionally  a  straggling  buffalo  could  be  seen,  and  one  of 
them  Avas  shot.  While  his  men  Avere  smoking  the  meat  of  the 
animal,  LaSalle  went  out  to  reconnoitre  the  country,  and  soon  fell 
in  with  3  Indians,  one  of  whom  proAred  to  be  the  principal  chief 
of  the  Illinois.  Inviting  him  and  his  associates  to  his  camp,  he 
made  them  presents,  and  refreshed  them  with  the  best  food  his 
scanty  larder  could  furnish.  He  then  informed  the  chief  that  he 
was  on  his  way  east  to  procure  arms  and  ammunition  for  the  de 
fense  of  his  tribes,  and  obtained  from  him  a  promise  that  he  would 
send  provisions  to  his  men  in  the  fort  during  his  absence.  While 
here,  he  visited  Staged  Kock,  the  remarkable  cliff  previously 
alluded  to,  a  mile  or  more  aboATe  the  village,  on  the  southern  bank 
of  the  river.  He  afterwards  sent  word  to  Tonti  to  examine  and 
fortify  it,  in  case  an  outbreak  of  the  Indians  rendered  it  necessary.* 

*Several  years  since,  it  was  seleeted  by  some  enterprisihg  Yankees  as  a  site  for  a 
town,  which  they  very  appropriately  called  Gibraltar  ;  but  now  it  remains  houseless, 
as  in  the  time  of  the  great  explorer. 


80  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

On  the  15tli  of  March  LaSalle  left  the  village,  and  continued 
his  journey  as  before,  partly  by  land  and  in  part  by  water,  till 
within  two-  miles  of  the  site  of  Joliet.  Here,  in  consequence  of 
the  ice,  they  found  the  further  ascent  of  the  river  impossible,  and, 
concealing  their  canoes,  prepared  to  make  a  inarch  directly  across 
the  country  to  Lake  Michigan.  Journeying  lakeward,  they  found 
the  country  a  dreary  waste  of  mud  and  half-melted  snow,  inter 
sected  here  and  there  by  swollen  streams,  some  of  which  they 
waded,  and  others  they  crossed  on  rafts.  On  the  23d  they  were 
gladdened  by  the  distant  surface  of  the  lake  glimmering  through 
the  openings  of  the  forest,  and  at  night  stood  on  its  bank,  thank 
ful  that  they  were  safe,  and  that  their  hardships  had  been  no 
worse.  The  next  day  they  followed  its  winding  shores  to  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph,  and  rested  at  night  in  the  fort.  Here 
LaSalle  found  the  two  men  whom  he  had  sent  to  look  for  the 
Griffin,  and  learned  from  them  that  they  had  made  the  circuit  of 
the  lake  without  learning  any  tidings  of  her  fate.  Deeming  it 
useless  to  further  continue  the  search,  he  ordered  the  men  to  re 
port  themselves  to  Tonti,  and  started  himself  across  the  trackless 
wilds  of  Southern  Michigan,  to  avoid  the  delay  attending  the 
indirect  route  by  way  of  the  lakes. 

It  was  the  worst  of  all  seasons  for  such  a  journey,  and  almost 
every  league  traversed,  brought  with  it  some  new  hardship.  Now 
they  were  lascerated  by  brambly  thickets,  now  they  plunged  up 
to  their  waists  in  the  mud  of  half- frozen  marshes,  and  now  they 
were  chilled  in  wading  swollen  streams.  Dogged  by  a  pack  of 
savages,  they  were  compelled  to  pass  the  nights  without  lire,  to 
escape  their  murderous  attacks.  At  length,  with  two  of  their 
number  sick,  they  arrived  at  the  head  of  a  stream  supposed  to  be 
the  Huron,  which,  after  making  a  canoe,  they  descended  to  the 
Detroit.  *  Thence,  marching  eastward  to  the  lake,  30  miles  distant, 
they  embarked  in  a  canoe  and  pushed  across  the  lake  for  the  falls 
of  Niagara,  whither  they  arrived  on  Easter  Monday,  1080.  Here  he 
found  the  men  left  at  the  cataract  the  previous  autumn,  who  not 
only  confirmed  the  loss  of  the  Griffin,  but  informed  him  that  a 
cargo  of  merchandise  belonging  to  him,  valued  at  2200  livres,  had 
recently  been  swallowed  up  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  Leaving 
the  weary  companions  of  his  previous  journey  at  Niagara,  he  set 
out  with  fresh  men  for  Fort  Frontenac,  and  on  the  Oth  day  of 
May  discovered  through  the  hazy  atmosphere,  the  familiar  out 
lines  of  his  seigniory.  He  had  now  traveled  within  Go  days  the 
distance  of  1000  miles,  which,  considering  the  circumstances,  was 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  journeys  ever  made  by  the  early 
French  explorers.  Possessing  an  invincible  determination  and  a 
frame  of  iron,  he  surmounted  obstacles  from  which  a  person  less 
favorably  endowed  would  have  turned  away  in  dispair.  How 
changed  has  since  become  the  wilderness  through  which  he  wan 
dered.  Its  dark  forests  have  become  a  region  of  harvests,  and  the 
traveler  of  to-day  accomplishes  in  less  than  two  days  the  journey 
which  required  of  him  more  than  two  months. 

At  the  fort  he  learned  that  his  agents  had  treated  him  with  bad 
faith;  that  his  creditors  had  seized  his  property,  and  that  several 
canoes  belonging  to  him,  loaded  with  valuables,  had  been  lost  in 
the  rapids  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  Without  useless  repining,  he 
hastened  to  Montreal,  where  his  presence  excited  the  greatest  sur- 


TONTl'S  ENCOUNTER  WITH  THE  IROQUOIS.  81 

prise,  and  where,  notwithstanding  his  great  financial  losses,  his 
personal  influence  enabled  him  to  obtain  the  necessary  supplies. 

Again  he  directed  his  course  westward,  to  succor  the  forlorn 
hope  under  Tonti,  isolated  from  the  rest  of  mankind  on  the  dis 
tant  banks  of  the  Illinois.  At  Frontenac  he  received  intelligence 
of  another  of  those  crushing  blows  which  both  nature  and  man 
seemed  to  be  aiming  at  the  success  of  his  enterprise.  Two  mes 
sengers  came  with  a  letter  from  Tonti,  stating  that  soon  after  his 
departure,  nearly  all  his  men  had  deserted,  and  that,  before 
leaving,  they  had  destroyed  the  fort,  and  thrown  away  stores  they 
were  unable  to  carry.  The  news  of  this  disaster  had  hardly  been 
received,  before  two  traders  arrived  from  the  upper  lakes,  and 
further  stated  that  the  deserters  had  destroyed  the  fort  on  the  St. 
Joseph,  seized  a  gxeat  quantity  of  furs  belonging  to  him  at  Macki 
naw,  and  then,  with  others,  descending  the  lakes,  had  plundered 
his  magazine  at  Niagara.  And  now,  they  added,  some  of  them  are 
coming  down  the  northern  shore  of  the  lake  to  murder  him,  as  a 
means  of  escaping  punishment,  while  others  are  coasting  the 
south  shore,  with  a  view  of  reaching  Albany,  and  getting  beyond 
liis  jurisdiction.  On  receipt  of  this  information,  LaSalle  chose  9 
of  his  trustiest  men,  and  sallied  forth  to  meet  them.  Coming  upon 
them  by  surprise,  he  killed  2  of  their  number  and  captured  7,  whom 
he  imprisoned  in  the  fort  to  await  the  sentence  of  a  civil  tribunal. 
It  might  be  supposed  that  LaSalle  had  reached  the  utmost  limits 
of  human  endurance,  on  seeing  the  hopes  of  his  enterprise  so 
frequently  levelled  to  the  ground.  While,  however,  weaker  men 
would  have  turned  away  in  dispair,  no  eye  could  detect  in  his 
stern  demeanor  an  altered  purpose  or  a  shaken  resolve.  His  only 
hope  now  seemed  to  be  in  Tonti,  and  could  that  faithful  officer 

E reserve  the  vessel  commenced  on  the  Illinois,  and  the  tools  which 
ad  been  conveyed  thither  with  so  much  labor,  it  might  constitute 
an  anchor  to  which  he  could  attach  the  drifting  wreck  of  his 
fortunes. 

Having  procured  supplies  and  everything  needful  for  the  outfit 
of  a  vessel,  without  further  delay  he  set  out,  on  the  10th  of  Au 
gust,  for  Illinois,  accompanied  by  his  lieutenant,  LaForest,  and  25 
men.  He  ascended  the  river  Hmnber,  crossed  Simcoe  Lake,  and 
descended  the  Severn  into  Lake  Huron,  over  which  he  passed  to 
the  Straits  of  Mackinaw.  At  the  station  he  found  it  difficult  to 
replenish  his  provisions,  and,  not  to  be  delayed  for  this  purpose, 
he  pushed  forward  with  12  men,  leaving  LaForest  and  the  remain 
der  to  follow  as  soon  as  they  could  procure  supplies.  November 
24th  he  arrived  at  the  St.  Joseph,  and,  anxious  to  push  forward 
more  rapidly,  he  left  the  greater  part  of  the  stores,  with  5  men, 
at  the  ruined  fort,  and  with  the  remainder  ascended  the  river, 
crossed  the  portage  and  commenced  the  descent  of  the  Kankakee. 
Not  meeting  with  any  traces  of  Tonti  and  his  men,  he  concluded 
they  must  still  be  at  the  fort  on  the  river  below,  and  hastened 
thither,  greatly  relieved  of  the  anxiety  he  had  felt  for  their  safety. 
Eumors  for  some  time  had  prevailed  that  the  Iroquois  were  medi 
tating  a  descent  on  the  Illinois,  and  should  it  prove  true,  it  might, 
after  all  his  labors,  involve  his  enterprise  in  ruin.  On  entering 
the  Illinois,  he  found  the  great  prairies,  which  he  had  left  the 
previous  spring  sheeted  in  ice  now  alive  with  buffalo.  Some  were 
sleeping  on  the  sward,  many  were  cropping  the  tall  grass,  while 
6 


82  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


groups,  to  slake  their  thirst,  were  moving  toward  the  river,  where 
they  looked  with  strange  bewilderment  at  the  passing  canoes. 
Wherever  a  squad  appeared,  it  was  guarded  by  bulls,  whose  for 
midable  manes  and  unsightly  forms  might  well  have  inspired  an 
approaching  foe  with  terror.  But  it  was  rather  with  domestic 
rivals  than  foreign  enemies  they  performed  the  greatest  feats  of 
prowess.  Battered  heads  and  splintered  horns  told  of  many  bat 
tles  fought  among  themselves  as  the  result  of  gallantry,  or  perhaps 
the  more  ambitious  motive  becoming  the  champions  of  their  shaggy 
herds.  The  party  wishing  a  supply  of  buffalo  meat,  landed  and 
commenced  a  warfare  on  the  tempting  game.  Some  dragged 
themselves  through  the  thick  grass  and  with  unerring  aim  brought 
down  their  favorite  animals,  while  others,  with  less  labor  and 
greater  success,  concealed  themselves  behind  the  banks  of  the 
river  and  shot  such  as  came  to  drink.  Twelve  huge  carcasses  re 
warded  the  labors  of  the  hunt,  which  the  men  cut  into  thin  flakes 
and  dried  in  the  sun  for  future  use. 

With  abundant  supplies  they  again  started  down  the  river, 
pleased  with  the  prospect  of  rejoining  the  men  under  Tonti  and 
relieving  their  wants.  Soon  loomed  up  before  them  the  rocky  cit 
adel  to  Avhich  LaSalle  had  directed  the  attention  of  Tonti,  but 
they  found  on  a  near  approach  its  lofty  summit  unfortified.  At 
the  great  town  of  the  Illinois  they  were  appalled  at  the  scene 
which  opened  to  their  view.  No  hunter  appeared  to  break  its 
death-like  silence  with  a  salutatory  whoop  of  welcome.  The  plain 
on  which  the  town  had  stood  was  nowT  strewn  with  the  charred 
fragments  of  lodges,  which  had  so  recently  swarmed  with  savage 
life  and  hilarity.  To  render  more  hideous  the  picture  of  desola 
tion,  large  numbers  of  skulls  had  been  placed  on  the  upper  ex 
tremities  of  lodge  poles,  which  had  escaped  the  devouring  flames. 
In  the  midst  of  the  horrors  was  the  rude  fort  of  the  spoilers,  ren 
dered  frightful  with  the  same  ghastly  relics.  A  near  approach 
showed  that  the  graves  had  been  robbed  of  their  bodies,  and 
swarms  of  buzzards  were  discovered  glutting  their  loathsome 
stomachs  on  their  reeking  corruption.  To  complete  the  work  of 
destruction,  the  growing  corn  of  the  village  had  been  cut  down 
and  burnt,  while  the  pits  containing  the  products  of  previous  years 
had  been  rifled  and  their  contents  scattered  with  wanton  waste. 
It  was  evident  the  suspected  blow  of  the  Iroquois  had  fallen  with 
relentless  fury.  No  other  denizens  of  the  wilderness  were  capable 
of  perpetrating  such  acts  of  barbarity  and  unhallowed  desecration. 
LaSalle  carefully  examined  the  scene  of  these  hellish  orgies,  to 
ascertain  whether  Tonti  and  his  men  had  become  the  victims  of 
savage  vengeance.  Nightfall  terminated  his  labors,  and  no  certain 
traces  of  their  presence  were  discovered.  The  nightly  camp  lire 
was  kindled,  and  the  men  now  listened  with  rueful  faces  at  the  dis 
cordant  chorus  of  wolves,  each  striving  to  get  his  share  of  the 
putrid  bodies  Avhich  had  been  resurrected  from  the  vilage  grave 
yard.  Sleep  at  length  came  to  their  relief,  but  LaSalle,  perplexed 
with  uncertainty  and  filled  with  anxiety,  spent  the  whole  night  in 
pondering  over  the  proper  course  to  pursue  in  future.  In  his 
search  the  previous  day  he  had  discovered  C  posts  near  the  river, 
on  each  of  which  was  painted  the  figure  of  a  man  with  bandaged 
eyes.  Surmising  that  the  figures  might  represent  6  French  pris 
oners  in  the  custody  of  the  Iroquois,  at  daylight  he  made  known 


TONTl'S  ENCOUNTER  WITH  THE  IROQUOIS.  83 

liis  intention  of  further  descending  the  river  to  unfold  the  mys 
tery. 

Before  his  departure  he  ordered  3  of  his  men  to  conceal  them 
selves  and  baggage  in  the  hollow  of  some  rocks  situated  on  a 
neighboring  island,  and  keep  a  sharp  lookout  for  further  deA'elop- 
ments.  They  were  instructed  to  refrain  from  the  use  of  fires, 
whereby  they  might  attract  the  attention  of  enemies ;  and  should 
others  of  the  men  arrive  they  were  to  secrete  themselves  in  the 
same  place  and  await  his  return.  He  now  set  out  with  the  4 
remaining  men,  each  properly  armed  and  furnished  with  merchan 
dise  to  conciliate  the  Indians  who  might  be  met  on  the  way.  Sev 
eral  leagues  below  the  town  they  landed  on  an  island,  near  the 
western  shore,  where  the  fugitive  Illinois  had  taken  refuge. 
Directly  opposite,  on  the  main  shore  was  the  deserted  camp  of  the 
Iroquois  enemy.  Each  chief  had  carved  on  trees  of  the  forest  the 
totem  of  his  clan,  and  signs  indicating  the  strength  of  the  forces 
he  had  led  to  the  war  and  the  number  of  the  Illinois  he  had  killed 
and  captured.  From  these  data  LaSalle  concluded  that  the  entire 
strength  of  the  invaders  could  not  have  been  less  than  580  war 
riors.  Xothiug  was  found  to  indicate  the  presence  of  Frenchmen, 
and  LaSalle  again  fell  down  the  river,  and  passed  in  one  day  6 
additional  camps  of  the  Illinois  and  as  many  more  belonging  to 
their  enemy.  Both  parties  seemed  to  have  retreated  in  compact 
bodies  toward  the  mouth  of  the  river.  Passilig  Peoria  Lake  they 
found  the  fort  destroyed,  as  stated  in  the  letter  of  Tonti,  but  the 
vessel  was  still  on  the  stocks  and  only  slightly  injured.  Further 
on  they  discovered  4  additional  camps  of  the  opposing  armies,  and 
near  the  mouth  of  the  river  met  with  the  usual  sequel  of  an  Iro 
quois  invasion.  On  the  distant  verge  of  a  meadow  they  discovered 
the  half-charred  bodies  of  women  and  children  still  bound  to  the 
stakes,  where  they  had  suffered  all  the  torments  that  hellish  hate 
could  devise.  The  men,  regardless  of  their  helpless  charges,  had 
evidently  fled  at  the  first  approach  of  danger  to  save  themselves. 
Their  wives  and  children,  unprotected,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy,  who,  in  addition  to  those  who  had  been  burnt,  thickly  cov 
ered  the  place  with  their  mangled  bodies,  many  of  which  bore 
in  arks' of  brutality  too  horrid  for  record.  Helpless  innocence,  in 
stead  of  exciting  compassion  in  the  hearts  of  these  monsters,  had 
only  nerved  them  for  the  fiendish  task  of  indiscriminate  slaughter. 

LaSalle,  seeing  no  traces  of  his  lost  men,  proceeded  to  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  where  he  saw  the  great  highway  which  for  years 
had  been  the  object  and  hopes  of  his  ambition.  Its  vast  floods 
rolled  mysteriously  onward  to  an  unknown  bourne,  for  the  dis 
covery  of  which,  with  new  resolves,  he  determined  to  devote  his 
life.  His  men  proposecf,  without  further  delay,  to  proceed  on  the 
long  contemplated  voyage,  but  LaSalle,  hedged  in  by  untoward 
complications,  was  compelled  to  await  a  more  favorable  time. 
Thinking  that  Tonti  might*  still  be  in  the  nighborhood,  he  fastened 
to  a  tree  a  painting  representing  himself  and  party  sitting  in  a 
canoe,  and  bearing  the  pipe  of  peace.  To  the  painting  he  attached 
a  letter,  addressed  to  Tonti,  the  purport  of  which  was  that  he 
should  hasten  up  the  river  and  join  him  at  the  great  town  of  the 
Illinois.  The  party  next  commenced  the  ascent  of  the  river  to 
the  same  place,  and  vigorously  plying  their  paddles  night  and  day, 
arrived  at  their  destination  in  4  days.  During  the  upward  voyage, 


84  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

the  great  comet  of  1G80  nightly  illumined  the  starry  expanse  above 
them,  projecting  its  vast  tail,  with  a  terrible  brilliancy,  a  distance 
of  60  degrees.  LaSalle  speaks  of  it  as  an  object  of  scientific  in 
quiry,  while  Increase  Mather,  a  celebrated  New  England  divine, 
with  the  superstition  common  to  his  time,  said  that  "it  was  fraught 
with  terrific  portent  to  the  nations  of  the  world." 

At  the  Indian  town  they  found  the  men  who  had  been  left  be 
hind,  unharmed,  and  anxiously  awaiting  their  return.  After  get 
ting  some  corn  from  the  ravaged  granaries  of  the  burnt  village, 
the  whole  party  embarked,  and  commenced  the  ascent  of  the  river. 
On  the  6th  of 'January,  1681,  they  arrived  at  the  junction  of  the 
Desplaines  and  Kankakee,  and  passing  up  the  latter  a  short 
distance,  they  discovered,  not  far  from,  the  shore,  a  rude  hut.  La 
Salle  landed,  and  entering  it,  found  a  block  of  wood  which  had 
recently  been  cut  with  a  saw,  thus  indicating  that  Tonti  must  have 
passed  up  the  river,  This  discovery  kindled  anew  the  hopes  of 
the  dispairing  voyagers  that  their  friends  were  still  alive,  and  with 
lighter  hearts  they  started  directly  overland  to  Fort  Miami.  On  the 
way  the  snow  fell  in  blinding  storms,  and  not  being  sufficiently 
compact  for  the  use  of  snow  shoes,  LaSalle  led  the  way  to  open  a 
track  and  urge  on  his  followers.  Such  was  the  depth  of  the  snow, 
his  tall  figure  was  frequently  buried  in  drifts  up  to  his  waist,  while 
the  remainder  of  his  person  was  showered  with  the  crystal  bur 
dens  of  boughs  overhead,  whenever  he  chanced  to  touch  them.  On 
reaching  their  goal,  LaSalle's  first  inquiry  was  for  Tonti.  No 
tidings,  however,  had  been  heard  from  him,  and  the  hope  he  had 
entertained  of  meeting  him  here,  was  changed  to  disappointment. 
LaForest  and  the  men  whom  he  had  left  behind,  with  commenda 
ble  industry  had  rebuilt  the  fort,  prepared  ground  for  raising  a 
crop  the*  ensuing  year,  and  sawn  material  for  building  a  new  ship 
on  the  lake. 

We  must  now  endeavor  to  relate  the  adventures  of  Tonti. 
Meanwhile,  we  will  leave  LaSalle  in  the  sheltering  walls  of  the 
fort,  pondering  over  the  wasted  energies  of  the  past,  and  the 
gloomy  prospects  of  the  future.  Yet  his  mind,  so  full  of  expedi 
ents,  soon  found  means  to  evolve,  from  the  fragments  of  his  ruined 
fortunes,  new  resources  for  the  furtherance  of  his  daring  schemes. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Tonti  had  been  left  in  command  of 
Fort  Crevecceur  with  15  men.  Most  of  these  disliking  LaSalle, 
and  having  no  interest  in  his  enterprise,  were  ripe  for  revolt  the 
first  opportunity  that  promised  success.  LaSalle,  stern,  incompre 
hensible  and  cold,  was  much  better  qualified  to  command  the 
respect  of  his  men  when  present,  than  secure  their  good  will  and 
fidelity  when  absent.  His  departure  eastward  was,  therefore,  the 
commencement  of  unlawful  acts  among  liis  men.  A  short  time 
afterward,  another  event  occurred  which  greatly  increased  the 
spirit  of  insubordination.  The  two  men  who  had  been  sent  tolo^k 
for  the  Griffin,  had,  in  pursuance  of  LaSalle's  orders,  armred  at 
the  fort  with  disheartening  intelligence.  They  informed  the  al 
ready  disaffected  garrison  that  the  Griffin  was  lost;  that  Fort 
Frontenac  was  in  the  hands  of  LaSalle's  creditors,  and  that  he  was 
now  wholly  without  means  to  pay  those  in  his  employ.  To  prevent 
the  desertion  of  his 'men,  it  was  usual  for  LaSalle  to  withhold  their 
wages  till  the  term  for  which  they  were  employed  should  expire. 
Now  the  belief  that  he  would  never  Day  them,  gave  rise  to  a  spirit  of 


TONTl'S  ENCOUNTER  WITH  THE  INDIANS.  85 

mutiny,  which  soon  found  an  opportunity  for  further developement. 
The  two  men  alluded  to  were  the  bearers  of  a  letter  from  LaSalle, 
directing'  Tonti  to  examine  and  fortify  the  Itoek  on  the  Illinois; 
and  no  sooner  had  he,  with  a  few  men,  departed  for  this  purpose, 
than  the  garrison  of  the  fort  refused  longer  to  submit  to  authority. 
Their  first  act  of  lawlessness  was  the  destruction  of  the  fort;  after 
which,  they  seized  the  ammunition,  provisions,  and  other  porta 
bles  of  value  and  fled.  Only  two  of  their  number  remained  true, 
one  of  whom  was  the  servant  of  LaSalle,  who  immediately  hastened 
to  apprise  Tonti  of  what  had  occurred.  He,  thereupon,  dispatched 
4  of  the  men  with  him  to  carry  the  news  to  LaSalle ;  two  of  whom, 
as  we  have  seen,  successfully  discharged  their  duty,  while  the 
others  perhaps  deserted. 

Tonti,  now  in  the  midst  of  treacherous  savages,  had  with  him 
only  5  men,  2  of  whom  were  the  friars  Ilibourde  and  Membre. 
With  these  he  immediately  returned  to  the  fort,  collected  the  forge 
and  tools  which  had  not  been  destroyed  by  the  mutineers,  and 
conveyed  them  to  the  great  town  of  the  Illinois.  By  this  volun 
tary  display  of  confidence,  he  hoped  to  remove  the  jealousy  with 
which  the  enemies  of  LaSalle  had  previously  poisoned  their  minds. 
Here,  awaiting'  the  return  of  his  leader,  he  was  unmolested  by  the 
villagers,  who,  when  the  spring  opened,  amounted,  according  to 
the  statement  of  Membre,  to  some  8,000  souls.  Neither  they  nor 
their  wild  associates  little  suspected  that  hordes  of  Iroquois  were 
then  gathering  in  the  fastnesses  of  the  Alleghanies,  to  burst  upon 
their  country  and 'reduce  it  to  an  uninhabitable  waste.  Already 
these  hell-hounds  of  the  wilderness  had  destroyed  the  Hurons, 
Eries,  and  other  nations  on  the  lakes,  and  were  now  directing  their 
attention  to  the  Illinois  for  new  victims  with  which  to  flesh  their 
rabid  fangs.  ISTot  only  homicidal  fury,  but  commercial  advantages 
now  actuated  the  Iroquois,  who  expected,  after  reducing  these 
vast  regions  of  the  west,  to  draw  thence  rich  supplies  of  furs  to 
barter  with  the  English  for  merchandise.  LaSalle  had  also  enemies 
among  the  French,  who,  to  defeat  his  enterprise,  did  not  scruple 
to  encourage  the  Iroquois  in  their  rapacious  designs.  Under  these 
circumstances  a  council  was  held  by  the  latter.  The  ceremonies 
of  inaugurating  a  campaign  were  duly  celebrated,  and  500  war 
riors,  with  a  dispatch  only  equalled  by  their  terrible  earnestness, 
commenced  traversing  the  wide  waste  of  forest  and  prairie  that  lay 
between  them  and  their  intended  prey.  In  the  line  of  their  march 
lay  the  Miamis,  who  by  their  crafty  intrigues  were  induced  to  join 
in  the  movement  against  their  neighbors  and  kindred.  There  had 
long  existed  a  rankling  jealousy  between  these  tribes,  and  the  Mi- 
amis  were  ready  to  enter  into  any  alliance  that  promised  revenge. 
It  was  the  policy  of  the  Iroquois  to  divide  and  conquer,  and  their 
new  allies  were  marked  as  the  next  object  of  their  vengeance, 
should  the  assault  on  the  Illinois  prove  successful. 

All  was  fancied  security  and  idle  repose  in  the  great  town  of  the 
Illinois,  as  the  formidable  Avar  party  stealthily  approached.  Sud 
denly,  as  a  clap  of  thunder  from  a  cloudless  sky,  the  listless  in 
habitants  were  awakened  from  their  lethargy.  A  Shawnee  Indian, 
on  his  return  home  after  a  visit  to  the  Illinois,  first  discovered  the 
invaders.  To  save  his  friends  from  the  impending  danger,  he 
hurriedly  returned  and  apprised  them  of  the  coming  enemy. 
This  intelligence  spread  with  lightning  rapidity  over  the  town,  and 


86  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS 

each  wigwam  disgorged  its  boisterous  and  astounded  inmates. 
Women  snatched  tlieir  children,  and  in  a  delirium  of  fright  wan 
dered  aimlessly  about,  rending  the  air  with  their  screams.  The 
men,  more  self-possessed,  seized  their  arms,  and  in  a  wild  panto 
mime  of  battle,  commenced  nerving  themselves  for  the  coming 
fray.  Tonti,  long  an  object  of  suspicion,  was  soon  surrounded  by 
an  angry  crowd  of  warriors,  who  accused  him  of  being  an  emissary 
of  the  enemy.  His  inability  properly  to  defend  himself,  in  house- 
quence  of  not  fully  understanding  their  language,  left  them  still 
inclined  to  believe  him  guilty,  and  they  seized  the  forge  and  other 
effects  brought  from  the  fort,  and  threw  them  into  the  river. 
Doubting  their  ability  to  defend  themselves  without  the  assistance 
of  tlieir  young  men,  who  were  absent  011  a  war  expedition,  they 
embarked  their  women  and  children  in  canoes  and  sent  them  down 
to  the  island  where  LaSalle  had  seen  their  deserted  huts.  Sixty 
warriors  remained  with  them  for  protection,  and  the  remainder, 
not  exceeding  400,  returned  late  in  the  day  to  the  village.  Along 
the  adjacent  shore  they  kindled  huge  bonfires,  which  cast  their 
glare  for  miles  around,  gilding  the  village,  river  and  distant  mar 
gins  of  the  forest  with  the  light  of  day.  The  entire  night  was 
spent  in  greasing  their  bodies,  painting  their  faces  and  perform 
ing  the  war  dance,  to  prepare  themselves  for  the  approaching  con 
flict.  At  early  dawn  the  scouts  who  had  been  sent  out  returned, 
closely  followed  by  the  Iroquois,  most  of  whom  were  armed  with 
guns,  pistols  and  swords,  obtained  from  the  English.  The  scouts 
had  seen  a  chief  arrayed  in  French  costume,  and  reported  their 
suspicions  that  LaSalle  was  in  the  camp  of  the  enemy,  and  Tonti 
again  became  an  object  of  jealousy.  A  concourse  of  wildly  gestic 
ulating  savages  immediately  gathered  about  him,  demanding  his 
life,  and*  nothing  saved  him  from  their  uplifted  weapons  but  a 
promise  that  he  and  his  men  would  go  with  them  to  meet  the  en 
emy.  With  their  suspicions  partially  lulled,  they  hurriedly  crossed 
the  river  and  appeared  on  the  plain  beyond  just  as  the  enemy 
emerged  in  swarms  from  the  woods  skirting  the  banks  of  the  Ver 
milion.  The  two  foes  were  now  face  to  face,  and  both  commenced 
discharging  their  guns  and  simultaneously  leaping  from  side  to 
side,  for  the  purpose  of  dodging  each  other's  shots.  Tonti,  seeing' 
the  Illinois  outnumbered  and  likely  to  sustain  a  defeat,  determined, 
at  the  imminent  risk  of  his  life,  to  stay  the  light  by  an  attempt  at 
mediation.  Presuming  on  the  treaty  of  peace  then  existing  be 
tween  the  French  and  Iroquois,  he  exchanged  his  gun  for  a  belt 
of  wampum  and  advanced  to  meet  the  savage  multitude,  attended 
by  three  companions,  who,  being  unnecessarily  exposed  to  danger, 
he  dismissed  them  and  proceeded  alone.  A  short  walk  brought 
him  into  the  midst  of  a  pack  of  yelping  devils,  writhing  and  dis 
torted  with  fiendish  rage,  and  impatient  to  shed  his  blood.  As  the 
result  of  his  swarthy  Italian  complexion  and  half  savage  costume, 
he  was  at  first  taken  for  an  Indian,  and  before  the  mistake  was 
discovered  a  young  warrior  approached  and  stabbed  at  his  heart. 
Fortunately  the  blade  was  turned  aside  by  coming  in  contact  with 
a  rib,  yet  a  large  tlesh  wound  was  inflicted,  which  bled  profusely. 
At  this  juncture  a  chief  discovered  his  true  character,  and  he  was 
led  to  the  rear  and  efforts  made  to  staunch  his  wound.  When 
sufficiently  recovered,  he  declared  the  Illinois  were  under  the  pro 
tection  of  the  French,  and  demanded,  in  consideration  of  the  treaty 


TONTl'S  ENCOUNTER  WITH  THE  IROQUOIS.  87 

between  the  latter  and  the  Iroquois,  that  they  should  be  suffered 
to  remain  without  further  molestation.  During  this  conference,  a 
young  warrior  snatched  Tonti's  hat,  and,  fleeing  with  it  to  the 
front,  held  it  aloft  on  the  end  of  his  gun  in  view  of  the  Illinois. 
The  latter,  judging  from  this  circumstance  that  their  envoy  had 
been  killed,  caused  the  battle  to  "breeze  up"  with  increased  inten 
sity.  Simultaneously,  intelligence  was  brought  to  the  Iroquois 
that  Frenchmen  were  assisting  their  enemies  in  the  fight,  when 
the  contest  over  Tonti  was  renewed  with  redoubled  fury.  Some 
declared  that  he  should  be  immediately  put  to  death ;  while  oth 
ers,  friendly  to  LaSalle,  with  equal  earnestness  demanded  that 
he  should  be  set  at  liberty.  During  their  clamorous  debate  his 
hair  was  several  times  lifted  by  a  huge  savage  who  stood  at  his 
back  with  a  scalping  knife,  ready  for  execution. 

Tonti  at  length  turned  the  current  of  the  angry  controversy  in 
his  favor,  by  stating  that  the  Illinois  were  1,200  strong,  and  that 
there  were  60  Frenchmen  at  the  village  ready  to  assist  them. 
This  statement  obtained  at  least  a  partial  credence,  and  his  tor- 
men  ters  now  determined  to  use  him  as  an  instrument  to  delude 
the  Illinois  with  a  pretended  truce.  The  old  warriors  therefore 
advanced  to  the  front  and  ordered  the  firing  to  cease,  while  Tonti, 
dizzy  from  the  loss  of  blood,  was  furnished  with  an  emblem  of 
peace  and  sent  staggering  across  the  plain  to  rejoin  the  Illinois. 
The  two  friars,  who  had  just  returned  from  a  distant  hut,  whither 
they  had  retired  for  prayer  and  meditation,  were  the  first  to  meet 
him  and  bless  God  for  what  they  regarded  as  a  miraculous  deliv 
erance.*  With  the  assurance  brought  by  Touti,  the  Illinois  re- 
crossed  the  river  to  their  lodges,  followed  by  the  enemy  as  far  as 
the  opposite  bank,  ^ot  long  after,  large  numbers  of  the  latter, 
under  the  pretext  of  hunting,  also  crossed  the  river  and  hung  in 
threatening  groups  about  the  town.  These  hostile  indications, 
and  the  well  known  disregard  which  the  Iroquois  had  always 
evinced  for  their  pledges,  soon  convinced  the  Illinois  that  their 
only  safety  was  in  flight.  With  this  conviction  they  set  fire  to 
their  ancestral  homes,  and  while  the  vast  volume  of  flame  and 
smoke  diverted  the  attention  of  the  enemy,  they  quietly  dropped 
down  the  river  to  rejoin  their  women  and  children.  Shortly  after, 
the  remainder  of  the  Iroquois  crossed  the  river,  and  as  soon  as  the 
conflagration  would  permit,  entrenched  themselves  on  the  site  of 
the  village.  Tonti  and  his  men,  remaining  at  the  village,  were 
ordered  by  the  suspicious  savages  to  leave  their  hut  and  take  up 
their  abode  in  the  fort. 

At  first  their  associates  seemed  much  elated  at  the  discomfiture 
of  the  Illinois,  but  two  days  after,  when  they  discovered  them  re- 
connoiteriug  on  the  low  hills  behind  their  intrenchments,  their 
courage  greatly  subsided.  With  fear,  they  recalled  the  exaggera 
tions  of  Tonti,  respecting  their  numbers,  and  immediately  concluded 
to  send  him  with  a  hostage  to  make  overtures  of  peace.  He  started 
on  his  mission,  and  he  and  the  hostage  were  received  with  delight 
by  the  Illinois,  who  readily  assented-  to  this  proposal  which  he 
brought,  and  in  turn  sent  back  with  him  a  hostage  to  the  Iroquois. 
On  his  return  to  the  fort,  his  life  was  again  placed  in  jeopardy,  and 

*Membre.  perhaps  prompted  by  vanity,  claims  that  he  accompanied  Totiti  in  this  in 
terview.  This  is  the  only  instance  in  which  he  is  charged  with  a  want  of  veracity,  and 
doubtless  in  many  respects  was  a  good  man. 


88  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


the  treaty  was  with  great  difficulty  ratified.  The  young  and  inex 
perienced  Illinois  hostage  betrayed  to  his  crafty  interviewers  the 
numerical  weakness  of  his  tribe,  and  the  savages  immediately 
rushed  upon  Tonti,  and  charged  him  with  having  deprived  them 
of  the  spoils  and  honors  of  a  victory.  "  Where, "  said  they,  "  are 
all  your  Illinois  warriors,  and  where  are  the  Frenchmen  you  said 
were  among  them  9  "  It  now  required  all  the  tact  of  which  he  was 
master  to  escape  the  present  difficulty,  which  he  had  brought  oil 
himself  by  the  artifice  employed  to  escape  the  one  previous.  After 
much  opposition,  the  treaty  was  concluded,  but  the  savages,  to 
show  their  contempt  for  it,  immediately  commenced  the  construc 
tion  of  canoes  in  which  to  descend  the  river  and  attack  the  Illinois. 

Tonti  managed  to  apprise  the  latter  of  their  designs,  and  he  and 
Membre  were  soon  after  summoned  to  attend  a  council  of  the  Iro- 
quois.  They  still  labored  under  a  wholesome  fear  of  Count  Fron- 
tenac,  and  disliking  to  attack  the  Illinois  in  the  presence  of  the 
French,  their  object  was  to  induce  the  latter  to  leave  the  country. 
At  the  assembling  of  the  council,  6  packages  of  beaver  skins  were 
introduced,  and  the  savage  orator,  presenting  them  separately  to 
Tonti,  explained  the  nature  of  each.  "  The  first  two, n  said  he, 
"were  to  declare  that  the  children  of  Count  Frontenac,  that  is, 
the  Illinois,  should  not  be  eaten ;  the  next  was  a  plaster  to  heal 
the  wounds  of  Tonti ;  the  next  was  oil  wherewith  to  annoint  him 
and  Membre,  that  they  might  not  be  fatigued  in  traveling  j  the 
next  proclaimed  that  the  sun  was  bright;  and  the  sixth,  and 
last,  required  them  to  decamp  and  go  home.  "* 

At  the  mention  of  going  home,  Tonti  demanded  of  them  when 
they  intended  to  set  the  example  by  leaving  the  Illinois  in  the 
peaceable  possession  of  their  country,  which  they  had  so  unjustly 
invaded..  The  council  grew  boisterous  and  angry  at  the  idea  that 
they  should  be  demanded  to  do  that  which  they  required  of  the 

TTI ' 1-  --.  ,1     ~  ~£  -J-~  „_!._.     _     J»    _.        j_j«  n        • 


to  devour  the  children  of  Count  Frontenac  with  cannibal  ferocity, 
he  would  not  accept  their  gifts.  This  stern  rebuke  of  perfidy  re 
sulted  in  the  expulsion  of  Tonti  and  his  companions  from  the 
council,  and  the  next  day  the  enraged  chiefs  ordered  them  to  leave 
the  country. 

Tonti  had  now,  at  the  great  risk  of  his  life,  tried  every  expedi 
ent  to  avert  from  the  unoffending  Illinois  the  slaughter  which  the 
unscrupulous  invaders  of  their  soil  were  seeking  an  opportunity 
to  effect.  There  was  little  to  be  accomplished  by  remaining  in  the 
country,  and  as  a  longer  delay  might  imperil  the  lives  of  his  men, 
he  determined  to  depart,  not  knowing  when  or  where  he  Avould  be 
able  to  rejoin  LaSalle.  With  this  object  in  view,  the  party,  con 
sisting  of  G  persons,  embarked  in  canoes,  which  soon  proved 'leaky, 
and  they  were  compelled  to  land  for  the  purpose  of  making  re 
pairs.  While  thus  employed,  Father  Eibourde,  attracted  by  the 
beauty  of  the  surrounding  landscape,  wandered  forth  among  the 

f  roves  for  meditation  and  prayer.    ISTot   returning  in  due  time, 
onti  became  alarmed,  and  started  with  a  companion  to  ascertain 

'.Discoveries  of  the  Great  West.— Parkman. 


TONTl'S  ENCOUNTER  WITH  THE  IROQUOIS  89 

the  cause  of  the  long  delay.  They  soon  discovered  tracks  of  Ind 
ians,  by  whom  it  was  supposed  he  had  been  seized,  and  guns  were 
tired  to  direct  his  return,  in  case  he  was  still  alive.  Seeing 
nothing  of  him  during  the  day,  at  night  they  built  tires  along  the 
bank  of  the  river  and  retired  to  the  opposite  side,  to  see  who 
might  approach  them.  Near  midnight,  a  number  of  Indians  were 
seen  flitting  about  the  light,  by  whom,  110  doubt,  had  been  made 
the  tracks  seen  the  previous  evening.  It  Avas  afterwards  learned 
that  they  were  a  band  of  Kickapoos,  who  had,  for  several  days, 
been  hovering  about  the  camp  of  the  Iroquois  in  quest  of  scalps. 
Kot  being  successful  in  obtaining  the  object  of  their  desires  from 
their  enemies,  they,  by  chance,  fell  in  with  the  inoffensive  old 
friar,  and  scalped  him  in  their  stead.  "  Thus,  in  the  Goth  year  of 
his  age,  the  only  heir  to  a  wealty  Burgundian  house  perished  under 
the  war  club  of  the  savages,  for  whose  salvation  he  had  renounced 
ease  and  affluence."* 

During  the  performance  of  this  tragedy,  a  far  more  revolting- 
one  was  being  enacted  at  the  great  town  of  the  Illinois.  The  Iro 
quois  were  tearing  open  the  graves  of  the  dead,  and  wreaking 
their  vengeance  upon  the  bodies  made  hideous  by  putrifactiou. 
At  this  desecration,  it  is  said,  they  even  ate  portions  of  the 
dead  bodies,  while  subjecting  them  to  every  indignity  that  brutal 
hate  could  inflict.  Still  uusated  by  their  hellish  brutalities,  and 
now  unrestrained  by  the  presence  of  the  French,  they  started  in 
pursuit  of  the  retreating  Illinois.  Day  after  day  they  and  the 
opposing  forces  moved  in  compact  array  down  the  river,  neither 
being  able  to  gain  any  advantage  over  the  other.  At  length  they 
obtained  by  falsehood  that  which  numbers  and  prowess  denied 
them.  They  gave  out  that  their  object  was  to  possess  the  country, 
not  by  destroying,  but  by  driving  out  its  present  inhabitants. 
Deceived  by  this  mendacious  statement,  the  Illinois  separated, 
some  descending  the  Mississippi,  and  others  crossing  to  the 
western  shore.  Unfortunately,  the  Tamaroas,  more  credulous  than 
the  rest,  remained  near  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois,  and  were  sud 
denly  attacked  by  an  overwhelming  force  of  the  enemy.  The  men 
fled  in  dismay,  and  the  women  and  children,  to  the  number  of 
700,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  ferocious  enemy.  Then  followed 
the  tortures,  butcheries  and  burnings  which  only  the  infuriated 
and  imbruted  Iroquois  could  perpetrate — the  shocking  evidence  of 
which  LaSalle  saw  only  two  weeks  afterward.  After  the  ravenous 
horde  had  sufficiently  glutted  their  greed  for  carnage,  they  retired 
from  the  country,  leading  with  them  a  number  of  women  and 
children,  whom  they  reserved  either  for  adoption  into  their  tribes, 
or  as  victims  to  grace  the  triumphs  sometimes  accorded  them  on 
their  return  home. 

Their  departure  was  the  signal  for  the  return  of  the  Illinois, 
who  rebuilt  their  town.  The  site  of  this  celebrated  village  was 
on  the  northern  bank  of  the  river,  where  it  flows  by  the  modern 
town  of  Utica.  Its  immediate  site  was  on  the  great  meadow 
which,  at  this  point,  originally  stretched  up  and  down  the  stream. 
The  large  quantities  of  bones  and  rude  implements  of  savage  life 
which  are  annually  turned  up  by  the  ploughshare,  are  the  only 
sad  traces  of  the  populous  tribes  that  once  made  this  locality  their 

*Discovery  of  the  Great  West — Parkman. 


90  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

principal  home.  Along  the  southern  side  of  the  river  extends  a 
range  of  hills,  which  terminate  a  mile  and  a  half  above  in  the 
natural  abutment  known  as  Starved  Rock,  011  which  the  French, 
in  1082,  built  a  fort.  Several  miles  below,  an  opening  occurs  in 
the  hills,  through  which  the  waters  of  the  Big  Vermilion  unite 
with  those  of  the  Illinois.  It  was  by  means  of  these  prominent 
landmarks  Francis  Parkinan,  Esq.,  a  few  years  since,  was  enabled 
to  identify  the  site  of  the  Indian  town,  which,  for  many  years  pre 
vious,  was  entirely  unknown. 

After  the  death  of  Eibourde,  the  men  under  Toiiti  again  resumed 
the  ascent  of  the  river,  leaving  no  evidence  of  their  passage  at  the 
junction  of  the  two  streams  which  form  the  Illinois.  Their  craft 
again  becoming  disabled,  they  abandoned  it,  and  the  party  started 
on  foot  for  Lake  Michigan.  Their  supply  of  provisions  soon  be 
came  exhausted,  and  the  travelers  were  compelled  to  subsist  in  a 
great  measure  on  roots  and  acorns.  One  of  their  companions 
wandered  off  in  search  of  game,  lost  his  way,  and  several  days 
elapsed  before  he  had  the  good  fortune  of  rejoining  them.  In  his 
absence  he  was  without  flints  and  bullets,  yet  contrived  to  shoot 
some  turkeys  by  using  slugs  cut  from  a  pewter  porringer  and  a 
firebrand  to  discharge  his  piece.  It  was  their  object  to  reach 
Green  Bay  and  find  an  asylum  for  the  winter  among  the  Potawat- 
amies.  As  the  result  of  privation  and  exposure,  Touti  fell  sick  of 
a  fever  and  greatly  retarded  the  progress  of  the  march,  bearing 
Green  Bay,  the  cold  increased  and  the  means  of  subsistence  pro 
portionately  diminishing,  the  party  would  have  perished  had  they 
not  found  a  few  ears  of  corn  and  some  frozen  squashes  in  the 
fields  of  a  deserted  village.  Near  the  close  of  November  they  had 
the  good  fortune  of  reaching  the  Pota watamies,  who  greeted"  them 
with  a  warm  reception,  and  supplied  them  with  the  necessaries  of 
life.  Their  chief  was  an  ardent  admirer  of  the  French,  whom  he 
had  befriended  the  year  previous,  and  was  accustomed  to  say : 
''There  were  but  three  great  captains  in  the  world,  himself,  Tonti 
and  LaSalle." 


CHAPTER  IX. 
FUETHER  EXPLORATIONS  BY  LASALLE. 


We  must  now  return  to  LaSalle,  whose  exploits  stand  out  in 
such  bold  relief.  In  the  previous  discoveries  he  had  observed 
that  white  enemies  were  using  the  Iroquois  to  circumvent  his 
operations ;  that  their  incursions  must  be  stopped,  or  his  defeat 
was  inevitable.  After  due  consideration,  he  concluded  the  best 
way  to  prevent  their  inroads  was  to  induce  the  western  tribes  to 
forget  their  animosities,  and  under  a  league  against  their  inexora 
ble  enemies,  colonize  them  around  a  fort  in  the  valley  of  the 
Illinois,  where,  with  the  assistance  of  French  arms  and  French 
generalship,  the  common  enemy  would  be  unable  further  to  molest 
them.  French  colonists  could  teach  them  the  arts  of  agriculture, 
Roeollet  monks  instruct  them  in  their  religious  duties,  and  the 
ships  of  France  supply  merchandise  to  traffic  with  them  for  the 
rich  harvest  of  furs  annually  gathered  from  their  vast  interior 
wilds.  Meanwhile  he  proposed  to  explore  the  Mississippi,  and 
make  it  a  highway  for  the  commerce  of  the  world.  Thus,  conclu 
ded  LaSalle,  the  plains  of  Illinois,  which  for  centuries  have  been  a 
slaughter  pen  for  warring  savages,  might  be  made  the  theatre  of 
a  civilization  as  famous  as  their  past  history  had  been  rendered 
infamous  by  deeds  of  carnage.  To  the  execution  of  this  new  ex 
pedient  for  advancing  his  plans,  he  now  turned  his  attention. 

After  the  terrible  scourge  of  King  Philip's  war,  a  number  of  the 
conquered  Indians  left  their  eastern  homes  and  took  refuge  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  fort,  where  LaSalle  had  spent  the  winter.  These 
were  mostly  Abeiiakis  and  Mohegans — the  latter  having  furnished 
the  hunter  Avho  had  so  often,  by  his  superior  skill,  provided  La- 
Salle's  hungry  followers  with  food.  He  was  also  master  of  several 
Indian  dialects,  which,  at  this  particular  juncture  of  LaSalle's 
affairs,  he  could  use  with  great  advantage.  To  these  exiles  from 
the  east  LaSalle  first  directed  his  attention,  and  found  them 
unanimously  in  favor  of  casting  their  lot  with  his,  asking  no  rec 
ompense  save  the  privilege  of  calling  him  chief.  A  new  ally,  in 
the  person  of  a  powerful  chief  from  the  valley  of  the  Ohio,  also 
appeared,  and  asked  permission  to  enter  the  new  confederation. 
LaSalle  replied  that  his  tribe  was  too  distant,  but  let  them  come 
to  me  in  the  valley  of  the  Illinois,  and  they  shall  be  safe.  The 
chief,  without  stipulating  further,  agreed  to  join  him  with  150 
warriors.  To  reconcile  the  Miamis  and  Illinois,  and  thus  secure 
their  co-operation,  was  now  the  principal  obstacle.  Although 
kindred  tribes,  they  had  long  been  estranged,  and  it  was  only  after 
.the  recent  depredations  of  the  Iroquois,  they  began  to  see  the 
advantage  of  opposing  a  united  front  to  their  outrages.  Wish- 

91 


92  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


ing  first  to  consult  the  Illinois,  many  of  whom  had  returned  after 
the  evacuation  of  the  Iroquois,  they  found  the  prairies  still  encrusted 
with  snow,  from  the  dazzling  whiteness  of  which,  LaSalle  and 
several  of  the  men  became  snow-blind,  and  were  compelled  to  en 
camp  under  the  edge  of  a  forest  till  they  could  recover.  AYhile 
suffering  from  the  loss  of  vision,  they  sent  out  a  companion  to 
gather  pine  leaves,  which  were  supposed  to  be  a  specific  for  their 
malady.  While  on  this  errand  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  fall  in 
with  a  band  of  the  Foxes,  from  whom  he  learned  that  Touti  was 
safe  among  the  Potawatamies,  and  that  Hennepin  had  passed 
through  their  country,  on  his  way  to  Canada.  This  was  welcome 
news  to  LaSalle,  who  had  long  been  anxious  in  regard  to  his 
safety.  The  afflicted  soon  after  recovered,  and  the  snow  having 
melted,  they  launched  their  canoes  into  the  swollen  tributary  of 
the  Illinois.  Following  the  river,  they  fell  in  with  a  band  of  the 
Illinois,  ranging  the  prairies  in  quest  of  game.  LaSalle  expressed 
his  regret  at  the  great  injury  they  had  sustained  from  the  Iro 
quois, and  urged  them  to  form  an  alliance  with  their  kindred,  the 
Miamis,  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  similar  disasters  in  the  fu 
ture.  He  promised  them  that  he  and  his  companions  would  take 
up  their  abode  among  them,  furnish  them  with  goods  and  arms, 
and  assist  in  defending  them  in  the  attacks  of  the  common  enemy 
of  the  Algonquin  race.  Pleased  with  LaSalle's  proposition,  they 
supplied  him  with  corn,  and  promised  to  confer  with  others  of 
their  countrymen  on  the  subject,  and  let  him  know  the  result. 

Having  completed  his  negotiations  with  the  Illinois,  he  sent  La- 
Forest  to  Mackinaw,  whither  Tonti  was  expected  to  go,  and  where 
both  of  them  were  to  remain  till  lie  could  follow  them.  It  now 
remained  for  him  to  consult  the  Miamis,  and  he  accordingly  visited 
one  of  tlieir  principal  villages  011  the  portage  between  the  St. 
Joseph  and  the  Kankakee.  Here  he  found  a  band  of  Iroquois, 
who  had  for  some  time  demeaned  themselves  with  the  greatest 
insolence  toward  the  villagers,  and  had  spoken  with  the  utmost 
contempt  of  himself  and  men.  He  sternly  rebuked  them  for  their 
arrogance  and  calumnies,  which  caused  them  to  slink  away,  and 
at  night  flee  the  country.  The  Miamis  were  astonished  beyond 
measure  when  they  saw  LaSalle,  with  only  10  Frenchmen,  put 
their  haughty  visitors  to  flight,  while  they,  with  hundreds  of  war 
riors,  could  not  even  secure  respect.  LaSalle  now  resolved  to  use 
the  prestige  he  had  gained  in  furthering  the  object  of  his  visit. 
There  were  present  in  the  village  Indian  refugees  from  recent 
wars  in  Virginia,  Xew  York  and  llhode  Island,  to  whom  LaSalle 
communicated  the  nature  of  his  errand,  and  promised  homes  and 
protection  in  the  valley  of  the  Illinois.  It  is  a  goodly  and  beau 
tiful  land,  said  he,  abounding  in  game,  and  well  supplied  with 
goods,  in  which  they  should  dwell,  if  they  would  only  assist  him 
in  restoring  amicable  relations  between  the  Miamis  and  Illinois. 
The  co-operation  of  these  friendless  exiles,  who  now  knew  how  to 
value  the  blessings  of  peace  and  a  settled  habitation,  was  readily 
enough  secured. 

The  next  day  the  Miamis  were  assembled  in  council,  and  La 
Salle  made  knoAvn  to  them 7  he  objects  he  wished  to  accomplish. 
From  long  intercourse  with  the  Indians,  he  had  become  an  expert 
in  forest  tact  and  eloquence,  and  on  this  occasion  he  had  come 
well  provided  with  presents,  to  give  additional  efficacy  to  his  pro- 


LASALLE,  93 


ceedings.  He  began  his  address,  which  consisted  of  metaphori 
cal  allusions  to  the  dead,  by  distributing  gifts  among  the  living. 
Presenting  them  with  cloth,  he  told  them  it  was  to  cover  their 
dead ;  giving  them  hatchets,  he  informed  them  that  they  were  to 
build  a  scaffold  in  their  honor;  distributing  among  them  beads  and 
bells,  he  stated  they  were  to  decorate  their  persons.  The  living, 
while  appropriating  these  presents,  were  greatly  pleased  at  the 
compliments  paid  their  departed  friends,  and  thus  placed  in  a 
suitable  state  of  mind  for  that  which  was  to  follow.  A  chief,  for 
whom  they  entertained  the  greatest  respect,  had  recently  been 
killed,  and  LaSalle  told  them  he  would  raise  him  from  the  dead, 
meaning  that  he  would  assume  his  name  and  provide  for  his 
family.  This  generous  offer  was  even  more  than  Indian  gravity 
could  bear,  and  the  whole  assemblage  became  uproarious  with  ex 
citement  aftd  applause.  Lastly,  to  convince  them  of  the  sincerity 
of  his  intentions,  he  gave  them  6  guns,  a  number  of  hatchets,  and 
threw  into  their  midst  a  huge  pile  of  clothing,  causing  the  entire 
multitude  to  explode  with  yells  of  the  most  extravagant  delight. 
After  this,  LaSalle  thus  finished  his  harangue : 

"  He  who  is  my  master,  and  the  master  of  all  this  country,  is  a  mighty  chief, 
feared  by  the  whole  world ;  but  he  loves  peace,  and  his  words  are  for  good 
alone.  He  is  called  the  king  of  France,  and  is  the  mightiest  among  the  chiefs 
beyond  the  great  water.  His  goodness  extends  even  to  your  dead,  and  his 
subjects  come  ^amoug  you  to  raise  them  to  life.  But  it  is  his  will  to  preserve 
the  lifehehasgiven.  It  is  his  will  that  you  should  obey  his  laws,  and  make  no 
war  without  the  leave  of  Fronteuac,  who  commands  in  his  name  at  Quebec, 
and  loves  all  the  nations  alike,  because  such  is  the  will  of  the  great  king.  You 
ought,  then,  to  live  in  peace  with  your  neighbors,  and  above  all  with  the  Illi 
nois.  You  had  cause  of  quarrel  with  them,  but  their  defeat  has  avenged  you. 
Though  they  are  still  strong,  they  wish  to  make  peace  with  you.  Be  content 
with  the  glory  of  having  compelled  them  to  ask  for  it.  You  have  an  interest 
in  preserving  them,  since,  if  the  Iroquois  destroy  them,  they  will  next  destroy 
you.  Let  us  all  obey  the  great  king,  and  live  in  peace  under  his  protection. 
Be  of  my  mind,  and  use  these  guns  I  have  given  you,  not  to  make  war,  but 
only  to  hunt  and  defend  yourselves  "* 

Having  thus  far  been  successful  in  uniting  the  western  tribes, 
he  was  now  ready  to  use  the  aUiance  formed  in  further  extending 
his  discoveries.  First,  it  was  necessary  to  return  to  Canada 
and  collect  his  scattered  resources,  and  satisfy  his  creditors. 
Toward  the  latter  part  of  May,  1081,  they  left  Fort  Miami,  and 
after  a  short  and  prosperous  trip  arrived  at  Mackinaw,  where  they 
had  the  happiness  of  meeting  with  Tonti.  After  the  kindly 
greetings  of  the  long  absent  friends  were  over,  each  recounted  the 
story  of  his  misfortunes.  Such  was  LaSalle's  equanimity  and 
even  cheerfulness,  that  Membre,  in  admiration  of  his  conduct, 
exclaimed :  "Any  one  else  except  him  would  have  abandoned  the 
enterprise,  but  he,  with  a  firmness  and  constancy  which  never  had 
its  equal,  was  more  resolved  than  ever  to  push  forward  his  work. " 
Having  reviewed  the  past,  and  formed  new  resolves  for  the  future, 
the  party  embarked  for  Frontenac.  The  watery  track  of  1000 
miles  intervening  between  them  and  their  destination,  was  soon 
crossed,  and  LaSalle  was  again  in  consultation  with  his  creditors. 
In  addition  to  the  cost  incurred  in  building  the  fort,  and  maintain 
ing  in  it  a  garrison,  he  was  now  further  burdened  with  the  debt 
of  subsequent  fruitless  explorations.  The  fort  and  seigniory  were 
mortgaged  for  a  large  sum,  yet  by  parting  with  some  of  his  mo- 

*  Discovery  of  the  Great  West— Parkman. 


94  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

nopolies,  and  securing  aid  from  a  wealthy  relative,  lie  managed 
to  satisfy  his  creditors  and  secure  means  for  another  outfit. 
Owing  to  unavoidable  delays  the  season  was  far  advanced  when 
his  flotilla  was  pushed  out  on  the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan. 
Their  canoes  were  headed  for  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph,  and  as 
they  slowly  crept  along  the  dreary  shores  of  the  lake,  it  is  easy  to 
imagine  the  more  dreary  thought  that  harrassed  the  mind  of 
LaSalle.  A  past  of  unrequited  toil  and  sad  disappointment,  a 
present  embittered  by  the  tongue  of  hate  and  slander,  and  the 
future  clouded  with  uncertainty,  must  have  intruded  themselves 
into  his  mind,  but  could  not  for  a  moment  divert  him  from  the 
accomplishment  of  the  great  object  which  for  years  had  been  the 
guiding  star. of  his  destiny.  The  trees  were  bare  of  the  beautiful 
autumnal  foliage  when  at  length  the  walls  of  Fort  Miami  rose 
above  the  waste  of  waters,  and  they  drew  up  their  canoes  on  the 
adjacent  shore.  The  columns  of  smoke  that  rose  high  in  the  still 
November  air,  told  LaSalle  that  his  Mohegan  and  Abenaki  allies 
were  awaiting  his  return.  Notwithstanding  these  were  the  rem 
nants  of  the  tribes  "  whose  midnight  yells  had  startled  the  bor 
der  hamlets  of  New  England ;  who  had  danced  around  Puritan 
scalps  and  whom  Puritan  imaginations  painted  as  incarnate 
fiends,"  LaSalle  chose  from  them  18  men  to  accompany  him. 
These,  added  to  the  Frenchmen,  made  41  men.  who,  on  the  21st 
of  December,  1G81,  set  out  on  this  famous  expedition.  Tonti  and 
some  of  the  men  crossed  in  advance  to  the  mouth  of  the  Chicago, 
where  they  were  soon  after  joined  by  LaSalle  and  the  remainder 
of  the  men.  The  streams  being  now  sheated  over  with  ice,  and 
the  land  covered  with  snow,  they  were  compelled  to  construct 
sledges  on  which  to  drag  their  canoes  and  baggage  to  the  wes 
tern  branch  of  the  Illinois.  Finding  it  also  bridged  over  with  ice 
they  filed  "down  it  in  a  long  procession,  passed  the  tenantless  vil 
lage  of  the  Illinois  and  found  the  river  open  a  short  distance 
below  Peoria  Lake.  The  season,  and  other  unfavorable  circum 
stances,  rendered  the  building  of  a  vessel,  as  originally  contem 
plated,  at  this  point  wholy  impossible.  They  were  compelled 
therefore  to  proceed  in  their  canoes,  and  011  the  6th  of  February 
they  reached  the  Great  Eiver  which  was  to  bear  them  onward  to 
the  sea.  Waiting  a  week  for  the  floating  ice  to  disappear,  they 
glided  down  the  current  toward  the  great  unknown,  which  all 
former  attempts  had  failed  to  penetrate.  The  first  night  they  en 
camped  near  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  and  witnessed  its  opaque 
floods  invade  the  purer  waters  of  the  Mississippi.  Re-embarking 
the  next  morning  they  passed  several  interesting  localities,  and 
after  several  days,  landed  on  the  24th  of  February,  at  Chickasaw 
bluffs  for  the  purpose  of  going  out  in  quest  of  game  to  supply 
their  failing  provisions.  Here,  one  of  the  hunters  named  Prud- 
homme,  lost  himself  in  the  dense  forest,  and  it  was  only  after  a 
search  of  more  than  a  week  he  was  found  in  a  starving  condition 
and  brought  to  camp.  Meanwhile  LaSalle  caused  a  fort  to  be 
erected  which  he  named  Prudhomme  to  evince  his  condolence  for 
the  suffering  of  the  hunter,  who  with  a  small  party  he  left  in 
charge  of  it.  Again  embarking  on  the  tortuous  river,  they  were 
soon  apprised  by  the  opening  buds  of  semi-tropical  vegetation,  that 
they  were  rapidly  entering  the  realms  of  spring. 


LASALLE.  95 

On  the  13th  of  March,  their  attention  was  arrested  by  the 
booming'  of  an  Indian  drum,  and  shouts  proceeding  from  a  war 
dance  on  the  western  side  of  the  river.  Being  unable,  in  conse 
quence  of  a  fog,  to  see  the  authors  of  the  demonstrations,  they 
retired  to  the  opposite  shore  and  threw  up  breastworks  as  a 
means  of  protection.  When  the  mist  rolled  away  the  astonished 
savages  for  the  first  time  saw  the  strangers,  who  made  signals  for 
them  to  come  over  the  river,  Several  of  them,  accepting  the  in 
vitation,  were  met  midway  the  stream  by  a  Frenchman,  who,  in 
turn  was  invited  in  a  friendly  manner  to  visit  their  village.  The 
whole  party,  thus  assured,  crossed  the  river,  and  LaSalle  at  their 
head  inarched  to  the  open  area  of  the  town.  Here  in  the  midst 
of  a  vast  concourse  of  admiring  villagers,  he  erected  a  cross, 
bearing  the  arms  of  France,  Membre  sang  a  hymn  in  canonicals, 
and  LaSalle,  having  obtained  from  the  chiefs  an  acknowledge 
ment  of  loyalty,  took  possession  of  the  country  in  the  name  of 
the  king.  This  lively  and  generous  people,  so  different  from  the 
cold  and  taciturn  Indians  of  the  north,  were  a  tribe  or  the  Ar 
kansas,  and  dwelt  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  bearing  their  name. 
The  travelers,  on  taking  leave  of  them,  were  furnished  with  two 
guides,  and  next  passed  the  sites  of  Yicksburg  and  Grand  Gulf, 
where,  181  years  afterward,  were  fought  bloody  struggles  for  the 
dominion  of  the  river  they  were  endeavoring  to  explore.  Kear 
200  miles  below  the  Arkansas,  their  guides  pointed  out  the  direc 
tion  of  the  village  of  the  Taensas.  Tonti  and  Membre  were  di 
rected  to  visit  it,  and  were  greatly  surprised  at  the  evidences  of 
civilization  which  it  exhibited.  Its  large  square  dwellings,  built 
of  sun-dried  mortar  and  arched  over  with  dome-shaped  roofs, 
were  situated  in  regular  order  around  a  square.  The  residence  of 
the  chief,  made  in  the  same  manner,  was  a  single  hall  40  feet 
square  and  lighted  by  a  single  door,  in  which  he  sat  in  state, 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  visitors.  He  was  surrounded  by  a 
court  of  60  old  men  clad  in  robes  of  mulbery  bark,  while  near  his 
person  sat  his  three  wives,  who  howled  whenever  he  spoke,  to  do 
him  honor.  After  making  him  a  number  of  presents,  which  he 
graciously  received,  the  visitors  proceeded  to  examine  the  temple, 
similar  in  size  to  the  building  occupied  by  the  king.  Within 
were  the  bones  of  departed  chiefs,  and  an  altar  kept  perpetually 
burning  by  the  two  old  men  devoted  to  this  sacred  office.  On  the 
top  of  the  temple  were  carved  three  eagles,  looking  toward  the 
east ;  while  around  it  was  a  wall  studded  with  stakes,  on  the  tops 
of  which  hung  the  skulls  of  enemies  who  had  been  sacrificed  to  the 
Sun.  The  chief,  in  response  to  a  friendly  call,  visited  the  camp 
of  LaSalle.  A  master  of  ceremonies  was  sent  to  announce  his 
coming,  after  which  he  made  his  appearance,  robed  in  white,  and 
attended  by  three  persons,  two  of  them  bearing  white  fans  and 
the  third  a  disk  of  burnished  copper.  The  latter  was  doubtless 
intended  to  represent  the  Sun,  which  was  not  only  an 
object  of  worship,  but  the  source  whence  the  chief  claimed 
his  ancestors  were  derived.  His  demeanor  was  grave  and 
dignified  in  the  presence  of  LaSalle,  who  treated  him  with 
becoming  courtesy  and  friendship.  After  receiving  a 
number  of  presents,  the  principal  object  of  the  visit, 
he  returned  to  his  village,  and  the  travelers  started  down  the 
river. 


96  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

Shortly  afterward,  they  fell  in  with  another  tribe,  and  LaSalle 
wishing  to  approach  them  in  a  friendly  manner,  encamped  on  the 
opposite  shore.  He  then  permitted  Tonti,  with  a  few  companions, 
to  make  them  a  visit,  who,  finding  them  favorably  disposed,  La- 
S'alle  and  Membre  also  joined  the  party.  They  next  visited  one  of 
the  Indian  villages  and  were  made  the  recipients  of  a  hospitality 
limited  only  by  the  means  of  their  generous  entertainers.  They 
were  the  STachez,  and  LaSalle,  learning  that  the  principal  town 
was  not  far  distant,  repaired  thither  to  have  an  interview  with  the 
head  chief  of  the  tribe.  As  among  the  Taensas,  he  saw  here  a  royal 
residence,  a  temple  of  the  siin,  with  its  perpetually  burning  h're,  and 
other  evidences  of  more  than  ordinary  Indian  progress.  Before 
leaving,  LaSalle  erected  a  cross  in  the  midst  of  the  town,  to  which 
was  attached  the  arms  of  France,  an  act  which  the  inhabitants  re 
garded  with  great  satisfaction,  but  had  they  known  its  meaning 
their  displeasure  would  have  been  equally  intense. 

!Next,  they  discovered  the  mouth  of  Red  River,  and  after  pass 
ing  a  number  of  other  villages,  found  themselves  at  the  junction 
of  the  three  channels  of  the  river  which  branch  off  into  the  Gulf. 
A  different  party  entered  each  passage,  and  as  they  moved  south 
ward  the  water  rapidly  changed  to  brine,and  the  land  breeze  became 
salty  with  the  breath  of  the  sea.  On  the  6th  of  April  "  The  broad 
bosom  of  the  great  Gulf  opened  on  their  sight,  tossing  its  restless 
billows,  limitless,  voiceless  and  lonely  as  when  born  of  chaos,  with 
out  a  sign  of  life."* 

The  great  mystery  of  the  new  world  was  now  unveiled.  LaSalle 
had  at  last  triumphed  over  every  opposing  obstacle,  and  secured  a 
fame  which  will  live  as  long  as  the  tloods  of  the  great  river  roll  to 
the  sea  and  impart  fertility  to  the  valley  through  which  they  flow. 

After  ^coasting  for  a  short  time  the  marshy  shores  of  the  Gulf 
and  its  inlets,  the  party  ascended  the  river  till  its  banks  became 
sufficiently  dry  to  afford  a  landing.  Here  LaSalle  erected  a  col 
umn  on  which  he  inscribed  the  words :  u  Louis  le  Grand  Roy  de 
France  et  de  Xavarre,  Regne  ;  Le  Neuvieme  Avril,  1682." 

In  honor  of  his  King,  he  called  the  country  through  which  he 
had  passed,  Louisiana,  and  commenced  the  ceremony  of  taking 
formal  possession  by  military  display  and  the  imposing  pageantry 
of  the  Catholic  church.  Standing  by  the  side  of  the  column,  he 
proclaimed  in  a  loud  voice  : 

"In  the  name  of  the  most  high,  mighty,  invincible,  and  victorious  Prince 
Louis  the  Great,  by  the  grace  of  God  King  of  France  and  Navarre,  fourteenth 
of  that  name,  I,  this  9th  day  of  April,  1682,  in  virtue  of  the  commission  of  his 
Majesty,  which  I  hold  in  my  hand,  and  which  may  be  seen  by  all  whom  it  may 
concern,  have  taken,  and  now  do  take,  in  the  name  of  his  majesty  and  of  his 
successors  to  the  crown,  possession  of  this  country  of  Louisiana,  the  seas,  har 
bors,  ports,  bays,  adjacent  straits,  and  all  the  nations,  peoples,  provinces,  cities, 
towns,  villages, mines,  minerals,  fisheries,  streams  and  rivers,  comprised  in  the 
limits  of  the  said  Louisiana." 

A  song,  with  volleys  of  musketry,  closed  the  ceremonies  by 
which  the  realms  of  France  received  the  stupendous  accession  of 
the  great  region  drained  by  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries,  t 

The  voyagers  having  now  accomplished  the  great  object  of  the 
expedition,  started  on  their  homeward  journey.  The  tribes  which 
had  treated  them  with  so  much  civility  and  generosity  in  the  down- 

*Diseoveries  of  the  Great  West. 
tMonette's  Val.  of  the  Miss 


LASALLE.  97 


ward  voyage,  were  now  from  some  cause  alienated,  and  indisposed 
to  let  him  have  food.  On  arriving  among  the  Naeliez,  they  found 
them  hostile,  and  while  they  abundantly  supplied  them  with  corn, 
they  at  the  same  time  surrounded  them  with  a  large  force  to  cut 
them  off.  Fearing,  however,  to  make  an  attack,  the  travelers  de 
parted,  and,  without  further  molestation,  reached  Fort  Prud- 
homme,  where  LaSalle  was  seized  with  a  dangerous  illness. 
Unable  to  go  himself,  he  sent  Tonti  and  a  few  companions  to  an 
nounce  the  news  of  his  discoveries  at  Mackinaw,  whence  it  was  to 
be  dispatched  to  Canada.  Although  carefully  attended  by  Mem- 
bre,  he  lay  sick  in  the  fort  till  the  latter  part  of  July,  when  he,  in 
a  great  measure,  recovered,  and  reached  Mackinaw  on  the  1st  of 
September.  Thence  Meinbre  was  sent  to  France  with  dispatches 
making  known  the  grandeur  of  LaSalle's  discoveries ;  the  vast 
region  visited ;  the  immensity  of  its  mountain  ranges,  and  its  great 
plains,  veined  by  mighty  streams. 

It  was  LaSalle's  intention  also  to  visit  France,  but  hearing  that 
the  Iroquois  were  about  to  renew  their  attacks  on  the  western 
tribes,  he  decided  that  his  presence  was  necessary  to  the  safety  of 
his  projected  policy.  He  accordingly  returned  to  the  Illinois  river, 
whither  Touti  had  already  preceded  him,  and  at  once  commenced 
preparations  to  meet  the  enemies.  As  a  means  of  defence  it  was 
determined  to  fortify  Starved  Bock,  whose  military  advantages 
had  previously  attracted  the  attention  of  LaSalle.  From  the 
waters  which  wash  its  base  it  rises  to  an  altitude  of  125  feet.  Three 
of  the  sides  itis  impossible  to  scale,  Avhilethe  one  next  to  the  land 
may  be  climbed  with  difficulty,  From  its  summit,  almost  as  inac 
cessible  as  an  eagle's  nest,  the  valley  of  the  Illinois  spreads  out 
in  a  landscape  of  exquisite  beauty.  The  river,  nearby,  struggles 
between  a  number  of  wooded  islands,  while  further  beloAV,  it  qui 
etly  meanders  through  vast  meadows,  till  it  disappears  like  a 
thread  of  light  in  the  dim  distance.  Here,  on  the  summit  of  this 
rocky  citadel,  in  the  month  of  November  he  began  to  entrench  him 
self.  Storehouses  were  constructed  from  the  trees  that  grew  on 
the  top,  and  when  the  supply  was  exhausted,  at  immense  labor, 
timbers  were  dragged  up  the  steep  ascent  to  construct  a  palisaded 
inclosure.  With  the  completion  of  this  stronghold,  which  was 
called  in  honor  of  the  French  King  the  Fort  of  St.  Louis,  the  In 
dians  began  to  gather  around  it,  regarding  LaSalle  as  the  great 
champion  who  was  to  protect  them  against  the  Iroquois.  The 
country,  which  lay  under  the  protection  of  the  fort,  recently  strewn 
with  the  ghastly  relicts  of  an  Iroquois  victory,  now  became  ani 
mated  with  a  wild  concourse  of  savage  life.  The  great  town  of 
the  Illinois,  the  Jerusalem  of  these  tribes,  Phce nix-like,  had  sprung 
from  its  ashes,  and  again  echoed  with  the  tramp  of  some  6,000  in 
habitants.  In  addition  to  the  Illinois,  there  were  scattered  along 
the  valley  of  the  river,  among  the  neighboring  hills  and  over  the 
adjacent  plains,  the  fragments  of  10  or  12  other  tribes,  numbering 
some  14000  souls.  Miamis,  from  the  source  of  the  Kankakee ; 
Shawnees,  from  the  Scioto,  Abeuakis  and  Mohegans,  from  the 
Atlantic  seaboard,  and  other  tribes  whose  rough  names  are  too 
unpleasant  for  record,  had  buried  their  animosities,  and  now 
lounged  here  and  there  in  lazy  groups,  while  their  wives  performed 
the  drudgery  of  their  camps,  and  their  children  gamboled  and 
whooped  with  the  reckless  abandon  of  mad-caps.  LaSalle's  nego- 


98  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 


tiations  with  the  western  Algoiiquins — aided  by  tlie  universal  lior 
ror  inspired  by  the  brutal  attacks  of  the  Iroquois — had  met  with 
unexampled  success.  In  writing  to  the  French  Minister  of  Ma 
rine,  he  wrote  that  his  colony  had  sprung  up  as  if  by  magic,  in  a 
single  night,  and  contained  4,000  warriors  and  some  20,000  souls. 
By  the  privileges  which  had  been  conferred  on  him  as  a  discoverer 
he  ruled  his  wild  domain  as  a  seigniory,  and  granted  portions  of 
land  to  his  followers.  Little  profit,  however,  Avas  realized  in  this 
manner,  for  the  greater  part  of  his  men  were  so  reckless  that 
their  traducers  were  Avont  to  say  of  them  that  each  married  a  new 
squaw  every  day  of  the  week. 

To  maintain  his  colony,  he  now  found  it  necessary  to  furnish  its 
members  with  protection  against  the  common  enemy,  and  mer 
chandise  to  barter  for  the  immense  quantities  of  furs  annually 
gathered  in  the  interior  of  the  continent.  Previously,  the  avenue 
of  trade  lay  through  Canada,  but  it  was  LaSalle's  intention  to 
establish  an  entrepot  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  whereby  his 
colony  would  have  the  advantage  of  direct  intercourse  with  the 
West  Indies  and  Europe.  While  he  was  thus  maturing  plans  for 
the  benefit  of  his  colony,  his  cotemporaries,  either  through  envy  or 
too  short-sighted  to  comprehend  his  objects,  were  striving  to  defeat 
them.  Unfortunately,  Gov.  Frontenac  had  been  recalled,  and  l)e 
La  Barre,  an  avaricious  old  naval  officer,  had  been  sent  out  to 
take  his  place.  His  conduct  soon  proved  that  he  was  wholly  unlit 
for  the  office  he  was  called  to  fill.  Like  his  predecessor,  he  was 
guilty  of  violating  the  royal  ordinances  regulating  the  fur  trade, 
but  the  former  partially  atoned  for  this  wrong  by  an  energetic  ad 
ministration  of  public  affairs,  while  the  latter  added  inability  to 
his  faults,  whereby  the  best  interests  of  the  country  became  paral- 
lized.  He  was  the  special  champion  of  the  enemies  of  LaSalle, 
who,  engrossed  with  the  affairs  of  his  colony,  was  ignorant  of  the 
great  jealousy  with  which  his  affairs  were  regarded.  Xot  know 
ing  the  disposition  of  La  Barre,  he  wrote  to  him  from  Fort  St. 
Louis  in  the  spring  of  1683,  expressing  the  hope  that  he  would 
have  the  same  counsel  and  support  from  him  that  he  had  received 
from  his  predecessor.  After  cautioning  the  Governor  that  his  en 
emies  would  endeavor  to  misrepresent  his  objects  he  proceeds  to 
give  an  account  of  his  explorations : 

With  only  22  Frenchmen,  he  states,  he  had  formed  amicable 
relations  with  the  various  tribes  along  the  Mississippi,  and  that 
his  royal  patent  enabled  him  to  establish  forts  in  the  newly  dis 
covered  country,  and  to  make  grants  around  them  as  at  Fort  Fron 
tenac.  He  adds : 

"The  losses  in  my  enterprises  have  exceeded  40,000  crowns,  I  am  now  <ro- 
ing-400  leagues  southwest  of  this  place  to  induce  the  Chickasaws  to  fo]]o\v  the 
Sliawnees  and  other  tribes,  and  settle  like  them  at  Fort  St.  Louis.  It  remained 
only  to  settle  French  colonists  here,  and  this  I  have  already  done.  I  hope  you 
will  not  detain  them  as  violators  of  the  laws  governing  the  fur  trade  when  they 
comedown  to  Montreal  to  make  necessary  purchases.  I  am  aware  that  I  have 
no  right  to  trade  with  the  tribes  who  descend  to  Montreal,  and  I  shall  not  per 
mit  such  trade  to  my  men ;  nor  have  I  ever  issued  licenses  to  that  effect,  as  my 
enemies  say  that  I  have  done." 

Notwithstanding  this  reasonable  request,  the  men  he  sent  on 
important  business  were  retained,  and  he  a  second  time  wrote  to 
the  governor : 


LASALLE.  99 


"The  Iroquois  are  again  invading  the  country.  Last  year  the  Miami's  were 
so  alarmed  by  them  that  they  abandoned  their  town  and  fled,  but  on  my  return 
they  came  back,  and  have  been  induced  to  settle  with  the  Illinois  at  my  Fort 
of  St.  Louis.  The  Iroquois  have  lately  murdered  some  families  of  their  nation 
and  they  arc  all  in  terror  again.  I  am  afraid  they  will  take  flight  and  so  pre 
vent  the  Missouris  and  neighboring  tribes  from  coming  to  settle  at  St.  Louis, 
as  they  are  about  to  do.  Some  of  the  Hurons  and  French  tell  the  Miamis  that 
I  am  keeping  them  here  for  the  Iroquois  to  destroy.  I  pray  that  you  will  let 
me  hear  from  you,  that  I  may  give  these  people  some  assurances  of  protection 
before  they  are  destroyed  in  my  sight.  Do  not  suffer  my  men  who  have  come 
down  to  the  settlements  to  be  longer  prevented  from  returning.  There  is 
great  need  here  of  reinforcements.  The  Iroquois,  as  I  have  said,  have  lately 
entered  the  country,  and  a  great  terror  prevails.  I  have  postponed  going  to 
Mackinaw,  because,  if  the  Iroquois  strike  any  blow  in  my  absence,  the 
Miamis  will  think  that  I  am  in  league  with  them;  whereas,  if  laud  the  French 
stay  among  them,  they  will  regard  us  as  protectors.  But,  Monsieur,  it  is  in 
vain  that  we  risk  our  lives  here,  and  that  I  exhaust  my  means  in  order  to  ful 
fill  the  intentions  of  his  majesty,  if  all  my  measures  are  crossed  in  the  settle 
ments  below,  and  if  those  who  go  down  to  bring  munitions,  without  which  we 
cannot  defend  ourselves,  are  detained,  under  pretexts  trumped  up  for  the  occa 
sion.  If  I  am  prevented  from  bringing  up  men  and  supplies,  as  I  am  allowed  to 
do  by  the  permit  of  Count  Frontenac,  then  my  patent  from  the  king  is  useless. 
It  would  be  very  hard  for  us,  after  having  done  what  was  required,  even  be 
fore  the  time  prescribed,  and  after  suffering  severe  losses,  to  have  our  efforts 
frustrated  by  obstacles  got  up  designedly.  1  trust  that,  as  it  lies  with  you  alone 
to  prevent  or  to  permit  the  return  of  the  men  whom  I  have  sent  down,  you 
will  not  so  act  as  to  thwart  my  plans,  as  part  of  the  goods  which  I  have  sent 
by  them  belong  not  not  to  me,  but  the  Sieur  de  Touti,  and  are  apart  of  his 
pay.  Others  are  to  buy  munitions  indispensable  for  our  defense.  Do  not  let 
my  creditors  seize  them.  It  is  for  their  advantage  that  my  fort,  full  as  it  is  of 
goods,  should  be  held  against  the  enemy.  I  have  only  20  men,  with  scarcely 
100  pounds  of  powder,  and  I  cannot  long  hold  the  country  without  more.  The 
Illinois  are  very  capricious  and  uncertain.  .  .  If  I  had  men  enough  to 
send  out  to  reconnoitre  the  enemy,  I  would  have  done  so  before  this ;  but  I 
have  not  enough.  I  trust  you  will  put  it  in  my  power  to  obtain  more,  that  this 
important  colony  may  be  saved."  * 

While  LaSalle  was  thus  corresponding  with  the  governor,  the 
latter  was  writing  letters  to  the  French  Colonial  Minister,  saying 
that  he  doubted  the  reality  of  LaSalle's  discoveries;  that  with 
scarce  a  score  of  vagabonds  he  was  about  to  set  himself  up  as 
king,  and  was  likely  to  involve  Canada  and  the  western  tribes  in 
a  war  with  the  Iroquois.  The  extent  to  which  the  enemies  of  La 
Salle  suffered  their  jealousies  to  lead  them  astray  maybe  gathered 
from  the  posture  of  affairs  at  the  time.  The  governor  of  New 
York,  with  the  hope  of  diverting  the  fur  trade  from  Montreal  to 
Albany,  was  inciting  the  Iroquois  to  make  another  attack  on  the 
western  tribes.  Although  this  proceeding  was  fraught  with  the 
greatest  danger  to  Canada,  yet  La  Barre  and  his  political  menials 
were  willing  it  might  succeed,  and  the  entire  country  be  endan 
gered,  provided  it  resulted  in  the  ruin  of  LaSalle.  When,  there- 
lore,  these  pests  of  the  forest,  under  the  influence  of  British 
intrigue,  were  again  making  preparations  to  invade  the  country  of 
the  Illinois  and  Miamis,  instead  of  an  earnest  effort  to  check  their 
designs,  they  even  encouraged  them  to  kill  LaSalle  and  cut  off  his 
supplies  to  aid  them  in  their  diabolical  work.  The  continued  cal 
umnies  uttered  against  LaSalle  at  length  reached  the  ear  of  the 
king,  who  wrote  to  his  Canadian  governor,  stating  that  he  was 
convinced  that  LaSalle's  discoveries  were  useless,  and  that  such 
enterprises  ought  to  be  prevented  in  the  future,  as  they  tended  to 
diminish  the  revenues  derived  from  the  fur  trade. 

*This  letter  is  d^ted  Portage  de  Chicagou,  4  Juni,  1863.— Discov.  of  the  Great  West. 


100  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Doubtless,  emboldened  by  the  king's  letter,  the  governor  now 
determi.ii eel  to  seize  Fort  Frontenae,  under  the  pretext  that  La 
Salle  had  not  fulfilled  the  conditions  of  his  contract  by  maintain 
ing  a  sufficient  garrison.  Despite  the  remonstrance  of  LaSalle's 
creditors,  he  sent  two  of  his  political  associates  to  take  command 
of  the  fort.  As  soon  as  this  was  accomplished,  they  commenced 
living  on  LaSalle's  provisions,  and  were  afterward  charged  with 
selling  those  which  had  been  furnished  by  the  king  for  their  own 
private  benefit.  The  governor  also  sent  an  officer  of  the  king's 
dragoons  to  Fort  St.  Louis,  and  maele  him  the  bearer  of  a  letter  to 
LaSalle,  demanding  his  presence  at  Quebec.  Meanwhile  rumors 
were  still  rife  at  the  Fort  that  the  Iroquois  were  getting  ready  for 
an  invasion,  and  the  tribes  comprising  the  colony  flew  to  LaSalle 
and  besought  him  to  furnish  the  promised  succor.  Cut  off  from 
supplies,  anel  robbed  of  the  men  whom  he  had  sent  to  secure 
them,  he  was  greatly  mortified  to  find  himself  wholly  unable  to 
make  gooel  his  pledge.  Fortunately  the  rumors  were  premature, 
but  as  his  relations  with  the  governor  were  otherwise  intolerable, 
he  determined  to  visit  France  to  obtain  relief.  With  this  object 
in  view,  he  left  Tonti  in  command  of  the  fort,  and  on  his  way  to 
Quebec  met  with  the  governor's  officer,  who  made  known  to  him 
the  nature  of  his  mission.  LaSalle,  submitting  gracefully  to  an 
indignity  he  could  not  well  avoid,  wrote  to  Tonti  to  receive  the 
officer  with  due  courtesy,  whereupon,  without  further  business, 
they  parted.  In  due  time  the  dragoon  arrived  at  the  fort,  and 
he  and  Tonti  spent  the  winter  harmoniously,  the  one  com 
manding  in  the  name  of  the  governor,  and  the  other  in  that  of  La 
Salle.  The  threatened  invasion  of  the  Iroquois,  though  postponed, 
was  not  abandoned.  During  the  latter  part  of  the  spring  they 
made  an  incursion  into  the  country  and  attacked  the  fort,  but  the 
rocky  citadel  proved  too  strong  for  the  assault,  and  after  a  siege 
of  6  days  they  were  compelled  to  retire. 

LaSalle,  on  arriving  at  Quebec,  sailed  for  France,  taking  a  last 
leave  of  the  great  arena  in  which,  for  the  last  16  years,  he  had 
been  the  principal  actor ;  had  suffered  the  most  harrassing  anxie 
ties,  and  had  won  the  proudest  triumphs.  From  forest  solitudes 
and  squalid  wigwams,  a  prosperous  voyage  introduced  him  to  the 
busy  throngs  and  sculptured  magnificence  of  the  French  capital. 
Its  venal  court,  bewildered  by  the  pompous  display  of  wealth  and 
the  trappings  of  power,  regarded  with  little  interest  the  sober  ha 
biliments  of  honest  worth.  But  the  son  of  the  burgher  of  Rouen, 
unmoved  by  regal  vanities,  and  with  a  natural  dignity  far  tran 
scending  the  tinsel  of  titled  rank,  announced  his  eliscoveries  to 
the  giddy  court.  He  asked  for  means  to  return  to  the  new  found 
lands,  and  to  founel  a  colony  on  the  Mississippi,  to  protect  them 
from  the  intrusion  of  foreigners.  Two  points  on  the  Mississippi 
properly  selected  and  fortified,  he  argued,  would  guard  the  whole 
interior  of  the  continent,  with  its  vast  areas  of  fertile  lands  and 
boundless  resources.  Count  Frontenac  gave  him  the  advantage 
e>f  his  influence,  the  minister  of  marine  entered  with  vigor  into 
the  scheme,  and  recommended  it  to  the  king,  who  also  became 
fascinated  with  the  glittering  project.  As  an  act  of  justice,  anel 
to  show  his  appreciation  of  LaSalle,  he  ordered  LaBarre  to  restore 
to  him  the  possession  of  Forts  Frontenac  and  St.  Louis,  anel  make 
reparation  for  the  damage  he  had  sustaiiieel  by  their  seizure.  La- 


LASALLE.  101 


Salle  asked  for  two  ships,  but  the  king,  in  his  zeal,  gave  him  four 
— the  Francais,  the  Belle,  the  Amiable,  and  the  Jolly.  Two  hun 
dred  and  eighty  men  embarked  in  the  expedition,  consisting  of 
ecclesiastics,  soldiers,  sailors,  mechanics,  several  families,  and 
even  a  number  of  girls,  lured  by  the  prospects  of  marriage 
in  the  new  land  of  promise.  Such  were  the  colonists  who  were 
to  plant  the  standard  of  France  and  civilization  in  the  wilderness 
of  Louisiana.  As  in  most  of  the  early  attempts  at  colonization, 
the  men  were  illy  qualified  to  grapple  with  the  stern  work  it  was 
proposed  to  accomplish.  But,  worst  of  all,  was  the  naval  com 
mander,  Beaujeu,  who  was  envious,  self-willed,  deficient  in  judg 
ment,  and  tbolishly  proud. 

On  the  first  of  August,  1084,  they  sailed  from  Rochelle  on  their 
adventurous  voyage.  Frequent  calms  retarded  their  progress, 
and  when  at  length  they  arrived  at  Hispaniola,  the  Francais, 
filled  with  munitions  and  other  necessaries  for  the  colon}',  was 
captured  by  a  Spanish  privateer.  This  disaster,  for  which  Beau 
jeu  was  evidently  to  blame,  was  the  first  of  the  disasters  which 
afterward  attended  the  expedition.  After  obtaining  supplies,  and 
searching  for  information  in  regard  to  the  direction  in  which  he 
must  sail  to  find  the  outlet  of  the  Mississippi,  the  voyage  was  re 
newed.  On  entering  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  sailing  in  a  north 
westerly  direction,  a  sailor  at  the  mast-head  of  the  Amiable,  on 
the  28th  of  December,  discovered  land.  In  coasting  along  the 
shore  toward  the  west,  searching  for  the  mouth  of  the  river,  they 
incautiously  passed  it.  Proceeding  further,  LaSalle  discovered 
the  mistake,  but  Beaujeu,  refusing  to  return,  they  at  length  landed 
at  Matagorda  Bay.  Entering  this  arm  of  the  gulf,  they  discov 
ered  a  considerable  river  falling  into  it,  which  LaSalle  concluded 
might  be  the  Lafourche,  the  most  western  outlet  of  the  Mississippi. 
If  his  conjectures  were  true,  he  preferred  to  ascend  it  to  the  main 
stream,  instead  of  returning  011  the  gulf  against  contrary  winds, 
and  the  still  greater  impediment  of  Beaujeu's  obstinacy.  He  had 
differed  with  LaSalle  from  the  commencement  of  the  voyage,  and 
in  every  instance  proved  to  be  in  the  wrong,  and  now,  to  get  rid 
of  him,  he  preferred  to  debark  his  followers  on  the  lone  shore  of 
the  bay. 

For  this  purpose,  the  Amiable  weighed  anchor  and  entered  the 
narrow  passage  leading  into  the  bay,  but  was  unfortunately  ca 
reened  over  by  the  sand  banks  obstructing  the  channel.  LaSalle, 
with  a  sad  heart,  beheld  the  disaster,  yet  with  cool  and  patient 
energy  set  himself  about  the  work  of  removing  the  cargo.  A 
quantity  of  powder  and  flour  was  saved,  but  presently  a  storm 
arose,  and  the  stranded  vessel,  rent  assunder  by  the  waves,  scat 
tered  the  remaining  treasures  upon  the  ravenous  waters.  After 
the  landing  was  effected,  the  Indians  became  troublesome,  and  a 
fort  was  built,  with  great  labor,  two  miles  above  the  mouth  of 
the  La  Vacca,  a  small  stream  tailing  into  the  Bay.  LaSalle,  as  in 
previous  instances,  named  the  fortification  St.  Louis,  in  honor  of 
his  king.  Here  he  planted  the  arms  of  France,  opened  a  field  for 
planting  a  crop,  and  thus  founded  the  first  French  settlement 
made  in  Texas.  The  country,  thus  formally  occupied,  gave  to 
France  a  claim  which  she  never  abandoned  till  Louisiana  became 
a  part  of  the  United  States,  nearly  120  years  afterward. 


102*  ''HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

The  scene  around  the  fort  was  not  uninteresting,  and  to  some 
extent  relieved  the  dejection  arising  from  the  recent  misfortunes. 
The  bay,  bordered  by  marshes,  stretched  away  in  a  southeastern 
direction,  while  the  other  points  of  the  compass  spread  out  in  an 
expanse  of  prairie  sprinkled  with  the  bright  flowers  for  which 
Texas  is  remarkable,  and  which  still  rank  high  among  the  floral 
beauties  of  southern  gardens.  At  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  the 
grassy  area  was  dotted  over  with  grazing  buffalo,  while  the  adja 
cent  waters  swarmed  with  fish  and  water  fowl.  Necessity  soon 
taught  the  colonists  the  best  methods  of  securing  them,  and  the 
sports  of  the  angler,  the  hunter  and  the  fowler  not  only  gave  zest 
to  their  wilderness  life,  but  furnished  them  with  an  abundance  of 
food.  It  was  customary  for  the  women  to  mingle  in  the  hunting 
parties  and  assist  in  cutting  up  the  meat,  and  thus  a  hunter  and 
fair  huntress  became  enamored  of  each  other,  and  were  married. 
Their  nuptials  were  solemnized  with  the  usual  expressions  of  mer 
riment,  for  the  genuine  Frenchman,  whatever  maybe  his  situation, 
always  thinks  it  better  to  be  merry,  than  to  brood  over  the  mis 
fortunes  he  is  unable  to  remedy. 

LaSalle,  having  provided  for  the  security  of  his  people,  next 
went  150  leagues  along  the  coast,  east  and  west,  to  search  for  the 
hidden  river,  but  without  success.  He  also  determined  to  make  a 
tour  of  observation  toward  the  mines  and  settlements  of  Northern 
Mexico.  After  consuming  four  mouths  in  this  expedition,  and 
gathering  such  information  from  the  Indians  as  convinced  him. 
that  his  previous  conjectures  respecting  the  situation  of  the  Miss 
issippi  river  were  correct,  the  party  retraced  their  steps,  and  arrived 
at  the  fort  March  6th,  1686.  travel-worn,  weary,  and  their  clothes  in 
tatters.  Soon  after,  it  was  ascertained  that  the  Belle,  the  only 
remaining;  vessel,  had  been  sunk,  and  her  cargo,  consisting  of  the 
personal  effects  of  LaSalle  and  a  great  quantity  of  amunition  and 
tools,  were  scattered  in  the  waters  of  the  gulf.  The  loss  was  a 
fatal  blow  to  all  attempts  in  the  future  to  move  the  colony  to  the 
Mississippi,  and  left  little  hope  of  the  unhappy  exiles  ever  again 
beholding  the  vine-clad  homes  of  their  sunny  France. 

LaSalle,  forced  by  the  necessities  of  his  situation,  now  deter 
mined  to  make  his  way,  eastward,  to  the  Mississippi,  and  thence 
to  Canada  or  France,  to  obtain  relief.  ]STo  sooner  had  ho  formed 
this  resolve,  the  offspring  of  dire  extremity,  than  preparations 
were  completed  for  the  journey.  April  22d,  20  men  issued  from 
the  fort  and  made  their  way  across  the  prairie,  followed  by  the 
anxious  eyes  of  those  Avho  Avere  left  behind.  Day  after  day  they 
held  a  northeasterly  direction,  passing  through  a  country  of  wild 
and  pleasing  landscapes,  made  up  of  prairies,  woods  and  groves, 
green  as  an  emerald  with  the  beauty  of  May.  After  having  made 
a  distance  of  some  400  miles,  their  ammunition  and  provisions 
foiled  them,  and  they  were  compelled  to  return  to  the  fort  without 
having  accomplished  the  object  of  their  journey.  Twenty  men 
had  gone  out,  but  only  8  returned,  some  having  deserted,  and 
others  perished  in  the  attempt  to  reach  the  fort.  The  latter  num 
ber  would  doubtless  have  been  greatly  increased,  but  for  the 
assistance  of  horses  purchased  from  the  Cenis  Indians,  the  most 
easterly  tribe  visited.  The  temporary  elation  produced  by  the 
return  of  the  absent  party,  soon  gave  way  to  dejection,  and  La 
Salle  had  a  heavy  task  to  prevent  the  latter  from  becoming  dis- 


LASALLE.  103 


pair.  He  was  naturally  stern  and  unsympathizing,  yet  lie  could 
soften  into  compassion  at  the  great  extremes  of  danger  and 
distress  of  those  about  him. 

The  audacity  of  hope  with  which  he  still  clung  to  the  accom 
plishment  of  liis  object,  determined  him  to  make  a  second  and 
more  persevering  effort  for  this  purpose.  It  was  decided  that  the 
adventurers  should  consist  of  LaSalle,  his  brother,  and  two 
nephews,  Cavalier  and  Moranget ;  DuHaut,  a  person  of  reputable 
birth;  Leotot,  a  surgeon;  Joutel,  who  afterwards  became  the 
historian  of  the  expedition,  and  some  20  others.  Among  those 
left  behind  were  the  women  and  children,  and  Zenobe  Membre, 
who  had  so  long  followed  the  fortunes  of  LaSalle.  Everything 
being  in  readiness,  the  travelers  for  the  last  time  entered  the  rude 
chapel  of  the  fort,  mass  was  solemnly  celebrated,  and,  with  the 
cloud  of  incense  which  rose  from  the  altar,  ascended  the  prayers 
of  the  colonists  for  the  success  of  the  journey.  Next  came  the 
parting,  of  sighs,  of  tears,  and  of  embraces — all  seeming  intui 
tively  to  know  that  they  should  see  each  other  no  more.  January 
12th,  1687,  the  chosen  band  filed  out  of  the  fort,  placed  their  bag 
gage  on  horses,  and  started  off  in  the  direction  of  the  previous 
journey.  Pushing  forward  across  prairies  and  woodlands,  among 
tribes  some  friendly  and  some  hostile,  they  passed  the  Brazos,  and 
encamped  on  the  15th  of  March  near  the  western  waters  of  the 
Trinity.  They  were  now  in  the  vicinity  of  some  corn  which  La 
Salle  had  concealed  in  his  previous  journey,  and  he  sent  DuHaut, 
Leotot  and  some  others,  to  get  it.  The  grain  was  found  spoiled, 
but  in  returning  they  shot  some  large  game,  and  sent  for  horses  to 
convey  it  to  camp.  Moranget  and  two  others  were  sent  on  this 
errand,  and  found,  when  they  arrived,  the  meat  cut  up,  and  that, 
according  to  a  woodland  custom,  the  hunters  had  appropriated 
some  of  the  best  pieces  to  themselves.  Moranget,  whose  violent 
temper  had  previously  got  him  into  difficulties,  berated  them  in  a 
violent  manner  for  claiming  this  privilege,  and  ended  by  taking  all 
the  meat  himself.  This  outburst  of  passion  kindled  to  an  aveng 
ing  flame  a  grudge  which  had  for  some  time  existed  between  Du 
Haut  and  LaSalle,  and  the  former  conspired  with  Leotot  to  take 
the  life  of  his  nephew.  Night  came  on,  the  evening  meal  was 
dispatched,  and  when  the  intended  victim  had  fallen  asleep,  the 
assassins  approached  and  shot  him.  The  commission  of  one  crime 
generally  requires  another,  to  save  the  perpetrator  from  merited 
punishment,  and  LaSalle  was  marked  out  as  the  next  object  of 
vengeance. 

Two  days  passed  by  and  the  latter,  hearing  nothing  of  his 
nephew,  began  to  entertain  rueful  forebodings  in  regard  to  his 
safety.  At  length,  unable  longer  to  endure  his  suspense,  he  left 
Joutel  in  command  of  the  camp  and  started  in  search  of  his  rela 
tive.  Accompanied  only  by  a  friar  and  two  Indians,  he  ap 
proached  the  camp  of  the  assassins,  and  when  near  by  fired  a 
pistol  to  summon  them  to  his  presence.  The  conspirators,  rightly 
judging  who  had  caused  the  report,  stealthily  approached  and 
shot  their  intended  victim,  Leotot  exclaiming  as  he  fell,  "  You  are 
down  now,  Grand  Bashaw,  you  are  down  now."  *  They  then  des 
poiled  the  body  of  its  clothing,  and  left  it  to  be  devoured  by  the 

Monette's  Val.  of  the  Miss. 


104  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

wild  beasts  of  the  forest.  Thus,  at  the  age  of  43,  m  his  vigorous  man 
hood's  prime,  perished  oue  whose  exploits  have  so  greatly  enriched 
the  history  of  the  new  world.  His  successes  required  for  their  ac 
complishment  an  undaunted  will  and  invincible  courage,  whicli  few 
could  bring  to  the  aid  of  an  enterprise.  His  failures  were  partly 
caused  by  the  vastness  of  his  schemes,  and  in  part  because  his 
imperious  nature  would  not  permit  him  to  conciliate  the  good  will 
of  those  he  employed  and  was  compelled  to  trust.  While  he 
grasped  one  link  in  the  chain  of  his  extended  enterprises,  another, 
through  treachery,  slipped  from  his  hand. 

"It  is  easjr  to  reckon  up  his  defects,  but  it  is  not  easy  to  hide  from  sight  the 
Roman  virtues  that  redeemed  them.  Beset  by  a  throng  of  enemies,  he  stands, 
like  the  King  of  Israel,  head  and  shoulders  above  them  all.  He  was  a  tower 
of  adamant,  against  whose  impregnable  front  hardship  and  danger,  the  rage  of 
man  and  the  elements,  the  southern  sun,  the  northern  blast,  fatigue,  famine 
and  disease,  delay,  disappointment  and  deferred  hope,  emptied  their  quivers 
in  vain.  That  very  pride  which,  Coriolanus-like,  declared  itself  most  sternly 
in  the  thickest  press  of  foes,  has  in  it  something  to  challenge  admiration.  Never 
under  the  impenetrable  mail  of  paladin  or  crusader  beat  a  heart  of  more  in 
trepid  mettle  than  within  the  stoic  panoply  that  armed  the  breast  of  LaSalle. 
To  estimate  aright  the  marvels  of  his  patient  fortitude,  one  must  follow  on  his 
track  through  the  vast  scene  of  his  interminable  journeyings,  those  thousands 
of  weary  miles  of  forest,  marsh  and  river,  where,  again  and  again,  in  the  bitter 
ness  of  baffled  striving,  the  untiring  pilgrim  pushed  onward  toward  the  goal  he 
was  never  to  attain.  America  owes  him  an  enduring  memory  ;  for  in  this  mas 
culine  figure,  cast  in  iron,  she  sees  the  heroic  pioneer  who  guided  her  to  the 
possession  of  her  richest  heritage."  * 

Those  who  were  not  in  sympathy  with  the  assassins  concealed 
their  resentment,  and  on  the  2d  day  after  the  murder  the  party 
was  again  in  motion.  On  the  main  stream  of  the  Trinity  they 
were  again  compelled  to  halt  for  the  purpose  of  buying  provisions 
of  the  Indians.  Here  the  two  murderers,  who  had  arrogated  to 
themselves  the  command  of  the  expedition,  declared  their  inten 
tion  of  returning  to  the  fort,  and  there  building  a  ship  in  which  to 
escape  to  the  West  Indies.  This  impossible  scheme,  together  with 
their  refusal  to  let  their  accomplices  in  the  murder  share  in  the 
spoils  obtained  by  it,  soon  led  to  dissensions.  The  breach  rapidly 
widened,  and  at  last  the  aggrieved  parties  shot  the  murderers,  an 
act  which  was  but  the  recoil  of  the  crimes  they  were  the  first  to  in 
troduce.  Thug  ended  the  bloody  tragedy,  enacted  with  such  atroc 
ity  by  these  pioneers  of  Christianity  and  civilization,  that  even  the 
debased  savage  of  the  wildernesss  looked  on  with  the  utmost 
amazement  and  horror. 

Joutel,  with  the  brother  and  nephew  of  LaSalle  and  4  others, 
whose  innocence  would  permit  them  to  return  to  civilization,  com 
menced  anew  their  travels,  leaving  the  guilty  behind.  Proceeding 
in  a  northeastern  direction,  they  encountered  by  day  a  monotony 
of  tangled  forests,  grassy  plains,  and  miry  fens  ;  by  night,  chilly 
rains  alternating  with  starlit  skies,  in  whose  pale  and  mystic 
radiance  they  soundly  slept  and  dreamed  of  absent  friends'  and 
distant  homes.  At  length,  after  a  journey  of  two  months,  in 
which  they  had  been  led  by  guides  furnished  by  various  tribes, 
they  stood  on  the  banks  of  the  Arkansas,  opposite  an  Indian  vil 
lage.  Gazing  across  the  stream,  their  eyes  fell  on  a  hut,  nestled 
among  the  trees  of  the  forest,  while  a  cross  near  by  showed  it  to 
be  the  abode  of  Christians.  Actuated  by  a  common  impulse,  they 

*Discov.  of  the  Great  West.— Parkman. 


LASALLE.  105 


fell  on  their  knees,  and  with  emotions  of  gratitude  thanked  God 
for  having-  directed  them  to  this  outpost  of  civilization.  Two  men 
issued  from  the  cabin  and  fired  a  salute,  which  being  answered  by 
a  volley  from  the  travelers,  a  canoe  put  out  from  the  shore  and 
ferried  them  over  the  stream. 

The  long  lost  wanderers  were  cordially  greeted  in  their  mother 
tongue  by  the  occupants  of  the  dwelling,  who  proved  to  be  6  of 
Tonti's  men,  whom  he  had  left  here  in  his  assent  of  the  Missis 
sippi.*  This  noble  officer,  who  had  been  restored  to  the  command 
of  the  fort  on  the  Illinois  by  order  of  the  King,  had  heard  of  La 
Salle's  disaster,  and  immediately  equipped  an  expedition  with  his 
own  means  to  relieve  him.  With  25  Frenchmen,  and  5  Indians,  he 
left  the  fort  on  the  13th  of  February,  1686,  and  soon  descended 
the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  to  tlfe  Gulf.  ]Not  finding  any  traces 
of 'him  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  he  sent  his  canoes  to  scour  the 
shores  for  a  distance  of  30  leagues  on  either  side.  ISot  seeing  or 
hearing  anything  of  LaSalle,  who  at  the  same  time  was  wandering 
among  the  wilds  of  Texas,  in  a  search  equally  fruitless,  he  retraced 
his  course  to  the  fort  on  the  Illinois,  leaving,  as  already  mentioned, 
some  of  his  men  near  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas.  The  travelers, 
from  motives  of  policy,  carefully  concealed  the  death  of  LaSalle 
from  their  hosts,  and  when  sufficiently  recruited  recommenced 
their  journey.  Proceeding  down  the  Arkan  sas,  they  soon  found  them 
selves  on  the  great  river  which  had  so  long  been  the  object  of 
their  search.  The  13th  of  September  found  them  at  the  conflu 
ence  of  the  Illinois,  and  11  days  more  brought  them  to  the  fort- 
crowned  rock,  which,  like  a  sentinel,  stood  watch  over  its  peaceful 
waters.  They  landed  and  were  soon  met  by  parties  from  the  fort, 
who,  after  the  usual  salutations,  inquired '  for  LaSalle.  Substitut 
ing  adroitness  for  a  frank  avowal  of  the  truth,  they  replied  that 
they  had  left  him  in  Texas,  and  at  the  time  of  their  departure  he 
was  in  good  health. 

It  is  said  the  object  of  the  evasion  was  to  enable  the  old  priest, 
Cavalier,  as  the  representative  of  LaSalle,  to  derive  some  advan 
tage  for  himself  and  companions  in  the  settlement  of  his  brother's 
estate.  Tonti  was  absent,  fighting  the  Iroquois,  but  his  lieutenant 
received  them  with  a  salvo  of  musketry,  and  provided  for  them 
comfortable  quarters  in  the  fort.  Toiiti,  not  long  after,  returned 
from  his  martial  expedition,  and  listened  with  profound  interest 
and  sympathy  to  the  story  of  the  disasters  and  sufferings  of  the 
travelers,  as  related  by  the  elder  Cavalier.  He  did  not  scruple  to 
tell  Tonti  the  same  story  by  which  he  had  deceived  others  in  re 
gard  to  the  death  of  his  brother.  Moreover,  after  living  for 
months  on  the  hospitality  of  his  generous  host,  he  added  fraud 
and  meanness  to  deception.  This  flagrant  outrage  he  perpetrated 
by  forging  an  order  on  Tonti,  in  the  name  of  LaSalle,  for  4,000 
livres,  in  furs  and  other  goods,  which  his  unsuspecting  victim 
generously  delivered  to  him  at  the  time  of  his  departure. 

On  leaving  the  fort,  the  travelers  proceeded  to  Mackinaw,  where 
they  exchanged  their  ill-gotten  furs  for  clothing  and  means  to  de 
fray  their  expenses  home.  Without  further  delay,  they  made 
their  way  to  Quebec,  and  thence  to  France,  whither  they  arrived 
in  October,  1688,  having  spent  more  than  four  years  in  their  dis- 

*This  was  the  commencement  of  Arkansas  Post,  captured  by  Gen.  McClernand  dur 
ing  the  Rebellion. 


106  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


taut  wanderings.  They  were  men  of  only  average  ability  and 
energy,  yet,  moved  by  the  most  pressing  necessity,  they  performed 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  voyages  on  record.  They  now,  for  the 
first  time,  divulged  the  secret  of  LaSalle's  death,  and  the  king 
issued  orders  for  the  arrest  of  all  who  were  privy  to  his  murder. 
It  does  not  appear  certain  that  any  of  them  were  ever  subjected 
to  a  criminal  prosecution j  but  rumor  has  it  that  part  of  them  per 
ished  by  their  own  hands,  and  part  by  the  Indians,  whom  their 
misdeeds  roused  to  vengeance. 

In  the  mean  time  the  news  of  LaSalle's  death  also  reached  Tonti's 
men  011  the  Arkansas,  and  Avas  thence  carried  to  him  in  the  fort 
on  the  Illinois.  It  is  more  easy  to  imagine  than  describe  the  feel 
ings  of  this  most  devoted  of  all  LaSalle's  followers  when  he  learned 
the  tragical  manner  of  his  deafli.  But  without  useless  waste  of 
time  in  grief  for  him  whom  he  had  so  long  and  so  faithfully  served 
and  who  was  now  beyond  reach  of  help,  he  determined  to  make  an 
effort  to  rescue  his  perishing  colonists.  For  this  purpose  he  left 
the  fort  in  December,  1088,  with  5  Frenchmen  and  3  Indians,  and, 
after  a  toilsome  journey,  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  Eed  lliver,  where 
he  learned  that  some  of  the  accomplices  of  LaSalle's  murderers 
were  in  a  village  some  80  leagues  distant.  On  making  known  his 
intention  to  visit  the  town  all  his  men  refused  to  accompany  him, 
except  two,  a  Frenchman  and  an  Indian.  oSTot  being  able  to  enforce 
obedience,  he  resolutely  set  out  with  them,  but  unfortunately  a  few 
days  afterwards,  lost  the  greater  part  of  his  ammunition.  Still 
undeterred,  he  pushed  on  to  the  town,  but  no  trace  of  the  criminals 
could  be  found.  When,  however,  he  questioned  the  villagers 
respecting  them,  he  concluded  from  their  suspicious  demeanor, 
that  they  had  previously  been  there,  and  that  the  Indians,  incensed 
at  their  misdeeds,  had  probably  put  them  to  death.  Having  accom 
plished  nothing  thus  far,  and  now  almost  without  ammunition,  with 
bitter  disappointment  he  was  compelled  to  return.  In  retracing 
their  steps  they  met  with  more  than  the  usual  amount  of  hardships 
attending  a  march  through  an  unexplored  wilderness.  On  arriv 
ing  at  the  Indian  village  011  the  Arkansas,  Tonti,  as  the  result  of 
exhaustion  and  exposure,  became  sick  of  a  fever,  but  recovered  in 
time  to  reach  the  fort  on  the  Illinois  by  the  first  of  September. 

This  unsuccessful  effort  was  the  last  attempt  made  to  rescue  the 
unfortunate  colony  from  the  savage  immensity  that  shut  them  out 
from  home  and  civilization.  Their  final  destruction  by  the  Indians 
was  learned  from  the  Spaniards  of  Mexico.  Spain  claimed  the' 
country  bordering  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  from  the  capture  of 
LaSalle's  vessel  in  the  West  Indian  Seas,  his  designs  became 
known.  After  several  attempts  to  find  the  location  of  his  colony 
and  destroy  it,  a  Mexican  expedition,  guided  by  one  of  the  French 
deserters,  pushed  across  the  wilderness  to  the  fort.  Seeing  no 
evidences  of  life  without,  the  Spaniards  spurred  their  horses 
through  the  open  gateway  of  the  fort,  and  found  only  the  ruins  of 
what  had  once  constituted  the  stores  and  furniture  of  the  garrison. 
From  French  deserters  domesticated  among  the  Indians,  it  was 
learned  that  about  3  months  before,  a  baud  of  savages  ambushed 
themselves  under  the  banks  of  the  river,  while  others  drew  the 
garrison  out  of  the  fort  for  the  purpose  of  traffic.  At  a  given  sig 
nal,  the  concealed  foe  rushed  from  his  covert,  and  immolated  indis 
criminately  the  men,  women  and  children.  'Thus  ends  one  of  the 


LASALLE.  107 


most  extensive  explorations  known  to  history.  As  a  great  geo 
graphical  discovery,  it  is  only  second  to  that  which  made  known 
to  Europe  the  existence  of  the  Western  Hemisphere.  The  great 
valley  thus  thrown  open  has  since  been  filled  with  a  constellation 
of  prosperous,  happy  states.  The  city  which  death  deprived  him 
of  founding,  and  which  his  sagacity  foresaw  would  become  one  of 
the  great  marts  of  the  earth,  is  now  the  emporium  of  the  South. 
America  owes  him  a  debt  of  gratitude  which  she  will  ever  be  una 
ble  to  pay,  and  in  like  manner,  as  a  type  of  incarnate  energy,  his 
deeds  she  will  never  forget. 

HENXEPIN.— It  will  be  remembered  that  LtiSalle  having  concluded  that  Hennepin 
could  do  more  good  by  exploring1  the  Illinois  and  Upper  Mississippi,  than  in  preaching 
sermons,and  that  he  With  two  companions  were  sent  on  that  mission.  Having-  descended 
the  I  Ilinoisahd  commenced  the  ascent  of  the  Mississippi,  they  were  surprised,  and  taken 
bv  a  band  of  Sioux,  who  conducted  them  up  the  river  to  the  falls  of  St.  Anthony,  and 
t  hence  to  their  villages  in  the  vicinity  of  Mille  Lac,  Wisconsin  Here  Hennepin  spent  the 
Spring  and  Summer  in  hunting,  acting  as  a  physician,  and  studying  the  Sioux  language. 
Autumn  at  lengiit  came,  and  with  the  consent  of  the  chief  they  were  permitted  to 
depart.  Proceeding  by  way  of  the  Rum,  Mississippi,  Wisconsin,  and  Fox  rivers  to  Green 
bay,  they  spent  the  Winter  with  the  Jesuit  Missionaries.  With  the  opening  of  Spring 
they  moved  down  the  lakes  and  St  Lawrence,  to  Quebec, where  Hennepin  was  recei .  ed 
»>v  the  governor,  who  listened  with  profound  interest  to  the  recital  of  his  travels. 
From  America  he  went  to  France,  where  an  account  of  his  travels  were  published  in 
different  languages,  and  read  with  great  interest  Not  meeting  with  the  encourage 
ment  in  France  he  expected,  he  went  to  England  and  was  taken  into  the  service  of 
King  William.  Tnis  monarch  wishing  to  set  up  a  claim  to  Louisiana,  induced  him  to 
modify  the  narrative  of  his  discovery  so  as  to  favor  his  claim.  Yielding  to  his  request 
lie  wrote  a  IIOAV  account,  in  which  he  falsely  stated  that  before  his  voyage  up  the  river 
he  first  descended  it  to  the  sea.  Thus  while  he  endeavored  to  rob  LaSaile  of  his  princi 
pal  lain-  els.  he  tarnished  his  own  fame  and  was  afterwards  stigmatized  by  his  country 
men  as  the  prince  of  liars. 


CHAPTER  X. 

1700-1719— ILLINOIS  A  DEPENDENCY  OF  CANADA  AND 
PAKT  OF  LOUISIANA— THE  GOVERNMENT  A  THEOC- 
EACY— OPERATIONS  OF  CROZAT. 


A  Dependency  of  Canada. — Twelve  years  elapsed  after  LaSalle's 
fruitless  attempt  to  found  a  colony  on  the  Mississippi,  before  the 
government  of  France  made  a  second  effort.  At  length,  fearing 
that  England  might  obtain  precedence  in  the  great  valley,  the 
king  set  on  foot  an  enterprise  for  this  purpose.  M.  d'Iberville, 
who  had  exhibited  such  mature  judgment  and  prompt  action  in 
the  wars  of  the  French- American  possessions,  \vas  chosen  to  com 
mand  it.  Having  encountered  the  icebergs  and  snows  of  Hud 
son's  Bay  and  the  burning  sands  of  Florida,  he  was  now  ready, 
at  the  command  of  his  king,  to  encounter  the  malarious  marshes 
of  the  Mississippi.  The  two  preceding  years  he  had  established 
colonies  on  Ship  Island  and  the  head  of  Lake  Borgne,  and  about  the 
middle  of  February,  1700,  sailed  up  the  Mississippi,  to  found  a 
third  one  on  its  banks.  A  site  was  selected  for  a  fort  and  set 
tlement,  about  38  miles  below  New  Orleans,  and  while  lie  was 
engaged  in  its  erection,  Tonti  descended  from  the  fort  on  the  Illi 
nois,  with  a  party  of  Canadians,  to  assist  him.  Tonti's  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  Indian  languages  and  the  tribes  living  on 
the  river,  made  him  a  valuable  acquisition  to  the  new  colony. 
Availing  himself  of  his  assistance,  D'Iberville  resolved  to  further 
ascend  the  river,  explore  the  country  on  its  banks,  and  form  alli 
ances  with  its  inhabitants.  In  company  with  Tonti,  his  brother 
Bienville,  and  other  parties,  he  passed  up  the  river  to  the  Nachez 
tribe,  which  he  found  more  powerful  and  civilized  than  others  he 
had  visited.  The  great  beauty  of  the  surrounding  country  in 
duced  him  to  select  it  as  the  seat  of  the  future  provincial  govern 
ment,  and  the  bluff  on  which  the  city  of  Natchez  is  now  built,  he 
chose  as  the  site  of  its  capital.  He  named  the  prospective  city 
Rosalie,  in  honor  of  the  wife  of  his  patron,  the  French  minister 
of  marine,  and  15  years  afterward  a  fort  was  erected  on  the  site 
by  his  successor.  D'Iberville  now  returned  to  his  ships  below 
and  embarked  for  France,  while  BienA-ille  explored  the  country 
about  the  mouth  of  Red  river,  and  some  of  the  party  from  Illinois 
were  sent  to  ramble  for  G  months  in  the  remote  west,  in  the  vain 
search  for  gold. 

With  this  expedition  down  the  Mississippi,  Tonti,  the  most 
trusted  officer  of  LaSalle,  disappears  from  the  roll  of  authentic 
history.  The  following  are  some  of  the  acts  which  distinguished 
his  adventurous  life  during  this  period :  His  mediation  in  the  at- 

.  108 


A  DEPENDENCY  OF  CANADA.  109 

tack  of  the  Iroquois  against  the  Illinois  in  1680,  whereby  he 
greatly  mitigated,  but  did  not  wholly  prevent,  the  butchery  of  the 
latter ;  his  government  of  the  Illinois  and  the  associated  tribes  at 
Fort  St.  Louis,  during  the  absence  of  LaSalle,  his  effort  to  relieve 
LaSalle  and  his  suffering  colonists  in  Texas;  the  founding  of  Ark 
ansas  Post,  made  famous  177  years  afterward  by  the  reduction  of 
the  rebel  fort  located  there, by  McClernand  and  his  brave  Illinois 
and  other  western  troops ;  and  finally,  the  assistance  he  rendered 
DeXonville,  the  govern  or  of  Canada,  with  170  Frenchmen  and  300 
Indians  from  the  west,  in  his  attack  on  the  Senecas.  Says  De- 
Nonville :  "  God  alone  could  have  saved  Canada  in  1688.  But 
for  the  assistance  obtained  from  the  posts  of  the  west,  Illinois 
must  have  been  abandoned,  the  fort  at  Mackinaw  lost,  and  a  gen 
eral  uprising  of  the  nations  would  have  completed  the  destruction 
of  Xew  France."*  Rumor  states  that,  after  the  performance  of 
these  acts,  he  resided  several  years  in  Illinois,  and  then  returned 
to  France. 

As  the  St.  Lawrence  had  been  made  an  avenue  for  the  approach 
of  settlers  to  Illinois,  so,  after  the  exploration  of  the  Mississippi, 
it  also  became  a  highway  for  the  in-flowing  of  population.  Through 
these  channels,  communicating  with  the  external  world,  came  the 
pioneers  who,  between  the  years  1680'-9(),  founded  the  villages 
and  settlements  of  Fort  St.  Louis,  Kaskaskia,Cahokia,  and  others 
of  more  recent  date.  These  settlements,  in  common  with  most  of 
those  established  in  the  interior  of  the  continent,  were,  to  a  great 
extent,  the  work  of  the  Jesuit  and  Eecollet  missionaries.  These 
hardy  and  enterprising  embassadors  of  the  cross,  with  a  zeal 
which  defied  the  opposition  of  the  elements,  heat,  hunger  and 
cold,  fatigue,  famine  and  pestilence,  entered  the  prairies  of  Illi 
nois  1000  miles  in  advance  of  its  secular  population.  We  justly 
admire  the  fortitude  of  Smith,  the  founder  of  Virginia,  the  courage 
of  May-flower  pilgrims,  the  fathers  of  New  England;  but  all 
these  had  royal  patrons ;  then  what  shall  we  say  of  the  devoted 
missionaries,  who  laid  the  foundations  of  States  in  the  remote 
wilderness,  when  their  monastic  vows  denied  them  even  the  feeble 
aid  of  ecclesiastical  support  ?  Neither  commercial  gain  nor  secu 
lar  fame,  but  religious  fervor,  could  have  nerved  them  to  meet 
the  toils  and  dangers  incident  to  their  wilderness  life. 

The  first  mission  in  Illinois,  as  we  have  already  seen,  was  com 
menced  by  Marquette  in  April,  1675.  It  is  said  as  he  entered  the 
rude  dwellings  of  the  inhabitants  and  preached  of  Christ  and  the 
Virgin,  heaven  and  hell,  demons  and  angels,  and  the  life  to  come, 
he  was  received  as  a  celestial  visitor.  The  Indians  besought  him 
to  remain  among  them  and  continue  his  instructions,  but  his  life 
was  fast  ebbing  away,  and  it  behooved  him  to  depart.  He  called 
the  religious  society  which  he»  had  established  the  " Mission  of 
the  Immaculate  Conception,"  and  the  town  "  K^askaskia,"  after 
one  of  the  Illinois  tribes  bearing  the  same  name. 

The  first  military  occupation  of  the  country  was  at  Fort  Creve- 
cceur,  erected  in  February,  1680 ;  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  a 
settlement  was  commenced  there  or  at  Peoria,  011  the  lake  above, 
at  that  early  date.t  The  first  settlement  of  which  there  is  any 
authentic  account,  was  commenced  with  the  building  of  Fort  St. 

*Bancroft. 

t  Annals  of  the  West. 


110  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

Louis,  on  the  Illinois  river,  in  1682.  It  remained  in  existence  at 
least  till  1700,  when  Tonti  seems  to  have  abandoned  it  and  gone 
south,  but  how  long  after  that  date  is  not  definitely  known.  The 
oldest  permanent  settlement,  not  only  in  Illinois  but  the  valley 
of  the  Mississippi,  is  Kaskaskia,  situated  0  miles  above  the  mouth 
of  the  river  of  the  same  name.*  There  is  no  evidence  to  sub 
stantiate  the  statement  that  LaSalle  left  colonists  here  and  at 
Cahokia  on  his  return  from  the  successful  exploration  of  the  Miss 
issippi  in  1082. 

The  mission  here  was  originally  established  at  the  great  town 
of  the  Illinois,  but  with  the  removal  of  the  tribes  farther  south 
ward,  it  was  transferred  to  Kaskaskia.  Father  Gravier,  who  had 
previously  been  stationed  at  Mackinaw,  effected  the  removal  some 
time  prior  to  1090,  the  exact  date  being  unknown.  He  was  the 
first  of  the  missionaries  to  ascertain  the  principles  of  the  Illinois 
language  and  reduce  them  to  rules.  When  recalled  from  Kas 
kaskia  to  Mackinaw,  he  was  succeeded  by  Fathers  Binneteau  and 
Pinet,  the  latter  of  whom  established  the  mission  and  village  of 
Cahokia.  So  successful  Avas  Pinet  in  attracting  the  attention  of 
the  aborigines,  his  chapel  was  insufficient  to  hold  the  large  num 
ber  that  attendedhis  ministrations.  The  Indians  under  his  charge 
were  the  Tamaroas  and  Cahokias,  the  latter  tribe  furnishing  the 
village  its  name.  Binneteau,  to  attend  to  his  ministerial  labors, 
followed  the  Kaskaskias  ill  one  of  their  hunts  on  the  upland 
plains  of  the  Mississippi,  and  died.  ^Now  stifled  in  the  tall  grass, 
no\v  panting  with  thirst  on  the  arid  prairie,  parched  by  day  with 
heat,  and  by  night  exposed  on  the  ground  to  chilling  dties,  he  was 
seized  with  a  mortal  fever,  and  "  left  his  bones  on  the  wilderness 
range  of  the  buffalo." t  Shortly  after  his  death,  Pinet  also  died, 
and  Father  Marest,  who  had  before  explained  the  mysteries  of 
the  cross  to  the  ice-bound  denizens  of  Hudson's  Bay,  came  to 
Kaskaskia  and  took  charge  of  the  missions  of  Illinois.  In  his 
correspondence,  he  says:  "Our  life  is  spent  in  roaming  through 
thick  woods,  in  clambering  over  hills,  in  paddling  canoes  across 
lakes  and  rivers,  to  catch  a  poor  savage  whom  we  can  neither 
tame  by  teachings  nor  caresses."  On  "Good  Friday,  1711,  he 
started  for  the  Peorias,  who  desired  a  new  mission,  and  thus 
speaks  of  his  journey: 

"  T  departed,  having  nothing  about  me  but  my  crucifix  and  breviary,  being 
accompanied  by  only  two  savages,  who  might  abandon  me  from  levity,  or 
might  fly  through  fear  of  enemies.  The  terror  of  these  vast  uninhabitable 
regions,  in  which  for  12  days  not  a  single  soul  was  seeu,  almost  took 
away  my  courage.  This  was  a  journey  wherein  there  was  no  village,  no 
bridge,  no  ferry-boat,  no  house,  no  beaten  path;  and  over  boundless  prairies, 
intersected  by  rivulets  and  rivers,  through  forests  and  thickets  filled  with 
briars  and  thorns,  through  marshes,  in  which  we  sometimes  plunged  to  the 
girdle.  At  night  repose  was  sought  on  ^he  grass  or  leaves,  exposed  to  the 
•winds  and  rains,  happy  if  by  the  side  of  some  rivulet  Avhose  waters  mijjht 
quench  our  thirst,  Meals  were  prepared  from  such  game  as  might  be  killed 
on  the  way,  or  by  roasting  ears  of  corn." 

Early  in  the  18th  century  he  was  joined  by  Merinet,  who  had 
previously  founded  a  mission  on  the  Ohio. 

"The  gentle  virtues  and  fervid  eloquence  of  Mermet  made  him  the  soul  of 
the  Mission  of  Kaskaskia.  At  early  dawn  his  pupils  came  to  church,  dressed 
neatly  and  modestly  each  in  a  deer-skin  or  a  robe  sewn  together  from  several 
skins.  After  receiving  lessons  they  chanted  canticles;  mass  was  then  said  in 

'Bancroft. 
^Bancroft. 


A  DEPENDENCY  OF  CANADA.  Ill 

presence  of  all  the  Christians,  the  French  and  the  converts — the  -women  on 
one  side  and  the  men  on  the  other.  From  prayers  and  instructions  the  mis 
sionaries  proceeded  to  visit  the  sick  and  administer  medicine,  and  their  skill  as 
physic-inns  did  more  than  all  the  rest  to  win  confidence.  In  the  afternoon  the 
catechism  was  taught  in  the  presence  of  the  young  and  the  old,  when  everyone 
without  distinction  of  rank  or  age,  answered  the  questions  of  the  missionary.  At 
even  ing  all  would  assemble  at  the  chapel  for  instruction,  for  prayer,  and  to 
chant  the  hymns  of  the  church.  On  Sundays  and  festivals,  even  after  vespers, 
a  homily  was  pronounced;  at  the  close  of  the  day  parties  would  meet  in  houses 
to  recite  the  chaplets  in  alternate  choirs,  and  sing  psalms  till  late  at  night. 
These  psalms  were  often  homilies,  with  words  set  to  familiar  tunes.  Saturday 
and  Sunday  were  the  da}rs  appointed  for  confession  and  communion,  and  every 
convert  confessed  once  In  a  fortnight.  The  success  of  this  mission  was  such 
that  marriages  of  the  French  immigrants  were  sometimes  solemnized  with  the 
daughters  of  the  Illinois,  according  to  the  rites  of  the  Catholic  church.  The 
occupation  of  the  country  was  a  cantonment  among  the  native  proprietors  of 
the  forests  and  prairies.* 

Father  Charlevoix,  wlio  visited  Illinois  in  1721,  thus  speaks  of 
the  Cahokia  and  Kaskaskia  Missions  : 

"We  lay  last  night  in  the  village  of  the  Cahokias  and  Tamaroas,  two  Illinois 
tribes  which  have  been  united,  and  compose  no  very  numerous  canton.  This 
village  is  situated  on  a  very  small  river  which  runs  from  the  east,  and  has  no 
water  except  in  the  Spring.  On  this  account  we  had  to  walk  half  a  league  be 
fore  we  could  get  to  our  cabins.  I  was  astonished  that  such  a  poor  situation 
had  been  selected,  when  there  are  so  many  good  ones.  But  1  was  told  that  the 
Mississippi  washed  the  foot  of  the  .village  when  it  was  built;  that  in  3  years  it 
had  shifted  its  course  half  a  league  farther  to  the  west,  and  that  they  were  now 
thinking  of  changing  their  habitation,  which  is  no  great  affair  among  these  In 
dians.  I  passed  the  night  with  the  missionaries,  w7ho  are  two  ecclesiastics  from 
the  Seminary  of  Quebec,  formerly  my  disciples,  but  they  must  now  be  my  mas 
ters.  One  of  them  was  absent,  but  1  found  the  other  such  as  lie  had  been  rep 
resented  to  me,  rigid  with  himself,  full  of  charity  to  others,  and  displaying  in 
his  own  person  ail  amiable  pattern  of  virtues.  Yesterday  I  arrived  at  Kaskas 
kia  about  9  o'clock.  The  Jesuits  here  have  a  very  flourishing  mission,  which 
has  lately  been  divided  into  two,  it  being  more  convenient  to  have  two  cantons 
of  Indians  instead  of  one.  The  most  numerous  one  is  on  the  banks  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  of  which  two  Jesuits  have  the  spiritual  direction.  Haifa  league  be 
low  stands  Fort  Chartres,  about  the  distance  of  a  musket  shot  from  the  river. 
M.  de  Boisbrant  commands  here  for  the  company  to  which  the  place  belongs. 
The  French  are  now  beginning  to  settle  the  country  between  the  fort  and  the 
first  mission.  Four  leagues  farther,  and  about  a  league  from  the  river,  is  a 
large  village,  inhabited  by  the  French,  who  are  almost  "all  Canadians,  and  have 
a  Jesuit  for  their  curate.  The  second  village  of  the  Illinois  lies  farther  up  the 
country,  at  the  distance  of  two  leagues  from  the  last,  and  is  under  the  charge 
of  a  fourth  Jesuit. 

"  The  Indians  at  this  place  live  much  at  their  ease.  A  Fleming,  who  was  a 
domestic  of  the  Jesuits,  has  taught  them  how  to  sow  wheat,  which  succeeds 
well.  They  have  swine  and  black  cattle.  The  Illinois  manure  their  ground 
after  their  fashion,  and  are  very  laborious.  They  likewise  bring  up  poultry 
which  they  sell  to  the^  French.  Their  women  are  very  neat  handed  and  indus 
trious.  They  spin  tl*e  wool  of  the  buffalo  into  threads  as  fine  as  can  be  made 
from  that  of  the  English  sheep.  Nay,  sometimes  it  might  be  taken  for  silk.  Of 
this  tjiey  manufacture  fabrics  which  are  dyed  black,  yellow  and  red,  after 
which  they  are  made  into  robes,  which  they  sew  together  with  the  sinews  of 
the  roebuck.  They  expose  these  to  the  sun  for  the  space  of  three  days,  and 
when  dry,  beat  them,  and  without  difficulty  draw  out  white  threads  of  great 
fineness." 

Besides  the  villages  mentioned  above,  others  sprang  np  in  sub 
sequent  times,  as  Prairie  du  Roche,  situated  at  the  base  of  a 
rocky  bluff  of  the  Mississippi,  4  miles  below  Port  Chartres,  and 
Prairie  du  Pont,  a  mile  south  of  Cahokia.  Other  missions  were 
also  established,  and  Romish  clergy  continued  to  visit  the  country, 
and  in  the  absence  of  civil  government,  acted  not  only  as  spiritual 

'Bancroft. 


112  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

guides,  but  as  temporal  rulers  of  the  people.  In  those  days  of 
Jesuit  enthusiasm,  both  the  priests  and  their  flocks,  in  addition  to 
their  strong  religious  feelings,  possessed  in  many  instances  an  integ 
rity  which  the  most  trying  temptations  were  powerless  to  corrupt. 
It  is  true  much  of  this  enthusiasm  was  fanaticism,  which  interpre 
ted  the  results  of  natural  law  as  special  interpositions  of  provi 
dence;  which  regarded  self-imposed  physical  pain  an  act  of  virtue, 
and  construed  their  trivial  dreams  as  prophetic  of  future  good  or 
evil.  These  superstitions  were  common  to  the  age,  and  rather 
added  than  detracted  from  their  moral  teachings.  Under  their 
formative  influence,  the  first  French  settlements  of  Illinois  were 
deeply  imbued  with  a  spirit  of  justice,  honesty,  charity,  and  other 
virtues,  which  enabled  them  to  exist  nearly  a  century  without  a 
court  of  law  ;  without  wars  with  their  Indian  neighbors,  and  up  to 
the  time  of  Boisbriant,  without  a  local  government.  The  confi 
dence  inspired  by  the  priests,  as  the  ministers  of  a  supposed  infal 
lible  church,  gave  them  ample  authority  to  settle,  without  the 
tardy  proceedings  of  courts  and  their  attendant  costs,  all  differ 
ences  Avhich  occasionally  disturbed  the  peace  of  the  colonists. 
Justice,  under  these  circumstances,  was  dispensed  as  in  Israel  of 
old,  by  the  power  of  the  mind  to  discriminate  between  right  and 
wrong,  rather  than  by  laws  whose  intricacies  and  technicalities 
frequently  suffer  the  guilty  to  go  unpunished.  Such  was  the  res 
pect  for  right,  and  the  parental  regard  which  animated  the  priestly 
judges  of  this  isolated  theocracy  of  the  Avilderness,  it  might  safely 
challenge  comparison  with  its  Hebrew  prototype  for  the  religious 
zeal  and  virtuous  conduct  manifested  by  its  subjects. 

A  Part  of  Louisiana. — Hitherto  the  settlements  of  Illinois  and 
those  sujbsequently  founded  on  the  Lower  Mississippi  by  D7Iber- 
ville  and  his  brother,  Bienville,  had  been  separate  dependencies  of 
Canada.  Now  they  were  to  be  united  as  one  province,  under  the 
name  of  Louisiana,  having  its  capital  at  Mobile,  and  in  1711 
Dirou  d'Artagnette  became  the  Governor  General.*  It  was  be 
lieved  that  Louisiana  presented  a  rich  field  for  speculation  and 
enterprise,  and  it  was  determined  to  place  its  resources  in  the 
hands  of  an  individual  who  had  the  means  and  energy  to  develop 
them.  It  was  thought,  too,  that  the  colonists  should  become  self- 
supporting,  by  procuring  from  the  soil  products  not  only  for  their 
own  consumption,  but  to  exchange  with  France  for  such  articles 
as  they  could  not  produce.  In  conformity  with  these  views,  in 
1712,  the  commerce  of  the  province  was  grante<J  to  Anthony  Cro 
zat,  an  officer  of  the  royal  household,  and  a  merchant  of  great 
wealth.  The  king,  in  his  letters  patent,  after  referring  to  the 
orders  he  had  given  to  LaSalle  to  explore  the  Mississippi,  as  a, 
means  of  developing  the  commerce  of  his  American  possessions, 
enumerates  the  monopolies  conferred  on  Crozat : 

"From  the  information  we  have  received  concerning  the  situation  and  dis 
position  of  Louisiana,  we  are  of  opinion  that  there  may  be  established  therein  a 
considerable  commerce,  of  great  advantage  to  France.  We  can  thus  obtain 
from  the  colonists  the  commodities  which  hitherto  we  have  brought  from  other 
countries,  and  give  in  exchange  for  them  the  manufactured  and  other  products 
of  our  own  kingdom  We  have  resolved,  therefore,  to  grant  the  commerce  of 
Louisiana  to  the  Sieur  Anthony  Crozat,  our  counselor  and  secretary  of  the 
household  and  revenue,  to  whom  we  entrust  the  execution  of  this  project,  We 

•Monette's  Val.  of  the  Miss,  and  Dillon's  Indiana. 


A  PART  OF  LOUISIANA,  113 


permit  him  to  search,  open,  and  dig  all  mines,  veins,  minerals,  precious  stones, 
and  pearls,  throughout  the  whole  extent  of  the  country,  and  to  transport  the 
proceeds  thereof  into  any  port  of  France,  during  15  years.  And  we  grant,  in 
perpetuity  to  him,  his  heirs,  and  all  claiming  under  him,  all  the  profits,  except 
one-fifth,  of  the  gold  and  silver  which  he  or  they  shall  cause  to  be  exported  to 
France  We  also  will  that  the  said  Crozat,  and  those  claiming  under  him, 
si  mil  forfeit  the  monopolies  herein  granted  should  they  fail  to  prosecute  them 
for  a  period  of  three  years,  and  that  in  such  case  they  shall  be  fully  restored  to 
our  dominion."  * 

The  vast  region  thus  farmed  out,  extended  from  Canada  on  the 
north,  to  the  Gulf  on  the  South;  and  from  the  Alleghanies  on  the 
east  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Bay  of  Matagorda  on  the 
west.  "  Not  a  fountain  bubbled  "  along  the  summit  of  these  great 
mountain  barriers  that  made  its  way  into  the  Mississippi,  that  was 
not  included  in  French  territory.  Crozat  entered  the  vast  field  of 
his  labors  with  energy,  and  soon  associated  with  him  La  Motte 
Cadilac,  the  royal  governor  of  Louisiana.  He  expected  to  realize 
great  profits  from  the  fur  trade,  but  the  prospect  of  boundless 
wealth  from  the  discovery  of  rich  mines  of  gold  and  silver  was  the 
talisman  that  most  enraptured  his  vision  and  induced  him  to  make 
the  most  lavish  expenditures  of  his  money.  To  carry  out  his  plans, 
expeditions  were  made  to  the  most  distant  tribes,  and  posts  were 
established  on  Red  Elver,  the  Yazoo,  high  up  the  Washita  at  the 
present  town  of  Monroe,  on  the  Cumberland  river  near  Nashville, 
and  on  the  Coosa,  400  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Alabama, 
where  fort  Jackson  was  built  100  years  afterward.  The  search  for 
the  precious  metals  has  always  been  a  mania  affecting  the 
pioneers  of  newly  discovered  countries,  and  whether  discoveries 
are  made  or  not,  it  generally  retards  their  permanent  growth  and 
prosperity.  To  such  an  extent  were  Crozat  and  his  partners  in 
fluenced  by  this  shining  bubble  that  they  frequently  magnified  the 
most  trivial  prospects  into  what  they  regarded  as' realities  of  the 
greatest  value.  An  instance  in  which  they  suffered  by  their  cre 
dulity,  and  which  greatly  resembles  the  impositions  and  decep 
tions  of  the  present  day,  occurred  at  Kaskaskia.  Two  pieces  of 
silver  ore,  left  at  this  place  by  a  traveler  from  Mexico,  were  exhib 
ited  to  Cadila/c  as  the  produce  of  mines  in  Illinois,  and  so  elated 
was  he  by  this  assurance  of  success  that  he  hurried  up  the  river, 
only  to  find  it,  like  all  preA'ious  prospects,  vanish  into  empty  air. 
But  while  silver  and  gold  could  not  be  found,  large  quantities  of 
lead  and  iron  ore  \vere  discovered  in  Missouri ;  but  the  great  abun 
dance  of  these  metals  in  the  civilized  portions  of  the  globe  made 
their  presence  in  the  wilds  of  Louisiana  of  little  consequence. 

Crozat  made  an  attempt  to  open  trade  with  the  Spaniards  of 
Vera  Cruz,  but  on  sending  a  vessel  with  a  rich  cargo  thither,  it 
was  not  permitted  either  to  land  there  or  at  any  other  harbor  of 
the  gulf.  The  occupation  of  Louisiana  by  the  French  was  re 
garded  as  an  encroachment  upon  Spanish  territory,  and  Crozat, 
after  three  years  of  fruitless  negotiations  with  the  viceroy  of  Mex 
ico,  was  compelled  to  abandon  the  scheme  of  commercial  relations 
with  the  ports  of  the  gulf.  Another  project  was  to  establish 
trade  by  land  with  the  interior  Spanish  provinces,  but  in  this  case 
lie  also  failed,  for,  after  a  protracted  effort  of  five  years,  his  goods 
were  seized  and  confiscated  and  his  agents  imprisoned.  Nor  had 

•See  Dillon's  Indiana 
8   , 


114  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

the  fur  trade  with  the  Indians,  another  source  of  anticipated 
wealth,  met  ivith  success.  English  emissaries  from  the  Carolinas 
had  been  active  in  their  efforts  to  excite  Indian  hostilities  against 
the  French,  and  wherever  practicable,  had  controlled  the  fur  trade, 
by  furnishing  goods  in  exchange  at  reduced  prices.  Agriculture, 
the  only  resource  of  lasting  prosperity  to  the  country,  had  been 
neglected,  and  Orozat,  failing  to  realize  any  profits  from  his  efforts 
in  other  directions,  was  unable  to  meet  his  liabilities.  lie  had 
expended  425,000  livres  and  realized  only  300,000,  and  failing  to 
pay  his  men,  dissatisfaction  ensued.  Despairing  also  of  being 
more  successful  in  the  future,  in  1717,  he  petitioned  the  king  to 
have  his  charter  revoked,  which  was  done,  and  the  government 
reverted  solely  to  the  officers  of  the  crown.  During  his  connection 
with  the  province,  the  growth  of  the  settlements  was  slow,  and 
little  was  acoinplished  for  their  permanent  benefit.  The  greatest 
prosperity  they  enjoyed  grew  out  of  the  enterprise  of  humble  indi 
viduals,  who  had  succeeded  in  establishing  a  small  trade  between 
them  selves,  the  natives  and  some  neighboring  European  settlements. 
But  even  these  small  sources  of  prosperity  were  at  length  cut  off  by 
the  fatal  monopolies  of  the  Parisian  merchant.  The  white  popu 
lation  of  the  country  had  slowly  increased,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
departure,  that  on  the  Lower  Mississippi  was  estimated  at  380,  and 
that  of  Illinois,  which  then  included  the  settlements  of  the  Wabash, 
320  souls. 

Crozat's  partner  had  died  the  year  previous,  and  was  succeeded 
in  his  official  capacity  by  Bienville,  the  former  governor.  Prior  to 
his  installation  some  French  hunters  and  stragglers  had  located 
in  the  beautiful  country  of  the  Nachez,  and  difficulties  arising  be 
tween  them  and  the  Indians,  two  of  the  former  had  been  murdered. 
Bienville  repaired  to  the  tribe  in  question,  and  after  punishing  the 
guilty  parties,  erected  and  garrisoned  a  fort,  to  prevent  the  recur 
rence  of  similar  disturbances  in  the  future.  It  was  built  on  the 
site  selected  16  years  before  by  his  brother,  and  was  called  liosa- 
lie,  the  name  of  the  capital  he  proposed  to  build  at  the  same  place. 
This  was  the  origin  of  the  present  city  of  Katchez,  the  oldest  per 
manent  settlement  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  south  of  Illinois.* 
With  the  retirement  of  Crozat,  Bienville  was  succeeded  by  L'Epi- 
nai,  who  brought  with  him  50  emigrants  and  3  companies  of  infan 
try,  to  reinforce  the  garrisons  of  the  different  posts. 

*It  seems  that  Arkansas  Post  has  never  been  abandoned  since  Tonti's  men  erected 
their  cabin  there,  after  his  iruitless  search  for  LaSalle's  colony,  in  the  spring-  of  1686. 


CHAPTER  XL 

1717-1732— ILLINOIS   AND  LOUISIANA   UKDEB,   THE 
COMPANY  OF  THE  WEST. 


Louis  XIV.  had  recently  died,  leaving  a  debt  contracted  by 
wars  and  extravagance  amounting  to  3,000,000,000  livres.  He 
was  succeeded  by'  his  grandson,  Louis  XV,  who,  being  then  only 
a  child  live  years  old,  the  Duke  of  Orleans  was  appointed  regent. 
In  the  midst  of  the  financial  confusion  growing  out  of  the  efforts 
of  the  regent  to  pay  the  interest  on  the  overwhelming  public 
debt,'  John  Law  presented  himself  at  the  French  court  with  a 
scheme  for  affording  relief.  He  was  the  son  of  an  Edinburgh 
banker,  and  shortly  after  the  death  of  his  father,  wasted  his  pat 
rimony  by  gambling  and  extravagant  living.  For  3  years  he 
wandered  over  Europe,  supporting  himself  by  gambling  and 
studying  the  principles  of  finance.  After  perfecting  his  theory 
lie  returned  to  Edinburgh,  and  published  the  project  of  a  land 
bank,  which  the  wits  of  the  day  ridiculed  by  calling  it  a  sand 
bank,  which  would  wreck  the  ship  of  state.  Several  years  after 
ward  he  presented  his  plan  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  who  told  him 
he  was  too  poor  a  potentate  and  his  dominion  was  too  small,  for  so 
grand  a  project.  He  thought,  however,  that  the  French  people 
would  be  delighted  with  a  plan  so  new  and  plausible,  and  advised 
him  to  go  to  France. 

According  to  his  theory  of  banking,  the  currency  of  a  country 
is  the  representative  of  its  moving  wealth,  and  need  not,  of  itself, 
have  an  intrinsic  value,  as  in  the  case  of  gold  and  silver,  but  may 
consist  of  paper  or  any  substance  that  can  be  conveniently 
handled.  He  insisted  that  the  financial  embarrassment  under 
which  France  labored,  was  not  the  fault  of  her  rulers,  but  an  in 
sufficiency  of  currency,  and  gave  England  and  Holland  as  exam 
ples.  The  regent,  captivated  by  his  views,  published  an  edict  in 
1710,  authorizing  Law  and  his  brother  to  establish  a  bank  with  a 
capital  of  6,000,000  livres,  the  notes  of  which  should  be  received 
for  taxes,  and  made  redeemable  in  the  coin  current  at  the  time 
they  were  issued.  Three-fourths  of  the  capital  consisted  of  gov 
ernment  securities,  and  the  remainder  in  specie,  Law  declaring 
that  a  banker  deserved  death  who  made  issues  without  means  of 
redemption.  The  government  had  already,  by  arbitrarily  redu 
cing  the  value  of  its  coin,  diminished  the  debt  1,000,000,000  livres; 
but  Law's  paper  being  based  on  the  value  of  coin  at  the  time 
he  made  his  issues,  was  without  fluctuations,  and  on  this  account 
soon  commanded  a  premium  of  15  per  cent.  The  regent  was  as 
tonished  that  paper  money  could  thus  aid  specie  and  be  at  a  pre 
mium,  while  state  bonds  were  at  78  per  cent,  discount. 

115 


116  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

The  banker's  influence  being  now  irresistible,  he  proposed  his 
famous  Mississippi  scheme,  which  made  him  a  prominent  actor  in 
the  history  of  Louisiana  and  Illinois.  The  vast  resources  of  Lou 
isiana  still  filled  the  imaginations  of  French  statesmen  with 
visions  of  boundless  wealth.  The  want  of  success  which  had 
hitherto  attended  the  efforts  of  D'Iberville  and  Crozat,  was  still 
insufficient  to  produce  in  the  public  mind  more  sober  views.  The 
story  of  its  vast  mineral  deposits  was  soon  revived ;  ingots  of 
gold,  the  products  of  its  supposed  mines,  were  exhibited  in  Paris. 
and  the  sanguine  French  court  saw  in  the  future  of  the  province 
an  empire,  with  its  fruitful  fields,  growing  cities,  busy  wharves, 
and  exhaustless  mines  of  gold  and  silver,  pouring  its  precious 
freights  into  the  avenues  of  French  commerce.  No  sooner,  there 
fore,  had  Crozat  surrendered  his  charter,  than  others  appeared, 
eager  to  enter  this  vast  field  of  adventurous  enterprise.  Accord 
ingly,  in  1717,  an  organization  was  effected  under  the  auspices  of 
Law,  known  at  first  as  the  Western  Company.  Among  the  privi 
leges  conferred  on  it  may  be  mentioned  the  right  exclusively  to 
control  the  commerce  of  the  province  for  a  period  of  25  years ;  to 
make  treaties  with  the  Indians,  and  wage  war  against  them  in 
case  of  insult;  to  open  and  work  all  mines  free  of  duty $  to  cast 
cannon ;  build  ships  of  war,  levy  troops  and  nominate  the  gov 
ernors  and  those  who  were  to  command  them,  after  being  duly  com 
missioned  by  the  king.  To  further  encourage  the  company,  he 
promised  to  give  them  the  protection  of  his  name  against  foreign 
powers,  presented  them  the  vessels,  forts,  munitions  and  merchan 
dise  surrendered  by  Crozat,  and,  during  the  continuance  of  the 
charter,  exempted  the  inhabitants  of  the  province  from  tax,  and 
the  company  from  duty.* 

The  stocks  of  the  company  consisted  of  200,000  shares  of  500 
livres  each,  to  be  paid  in  certificates  of  state  indebtedness.  Thus 
nearly  1000,000,000  of  the  most  depreciated  of  the  public  stocks 
were  immediately  absorbed,  and  the  government  became  indebted 
to  a  company  of  its  own  creation,  instead  of  individuals,  for  this 
amount.  By  means  of  Law's  bank,  the  interest  on  this  portion 
of  the  public  debt  was  promptly  paid,  and,  as  the  result,  it  imme 
diately  rose  from  a  great  depreciation  to  a  high  premium.  Any 
person,  therefore,  who  had  invested  100  livres  in  state  bonds, 
which  he  could  have  done  at  one-third  of  the  value  written  on 
their  face,  could  now  realize  their  enhanced  worth.  Large  for 
tunes  were  thus  speedily  acquired,  though  the  union  of  the  bank 
with  the  risks  of  a  commerdfel  company  were  ominous  of  its  future 
destiny. 

But  humanity  abounds  in  hope,  and  men,  acting  in  large  com 
binations,  gather  courage  from  the  increase  of  their  numbers. 
How  far  their  anticipations  were  realized  in  the  case  under  con 
sideration,  will  appear  in  the  sequel.  All  France  was  now  infatu 
ated  with  the  glory  of  Louisiana,  and  imagined  the  opulence 
which  it  was  to  acquire  in  coming  ages,  already  in  their  grasp. 
Law's  tbank  wrought  such  wonders,  that  new  privileges  were 
conferred  on  it  daily.  It  was  permitted  to  monopolize  the  tobacco 
trade,  was  allowed  the  sole  right  to  import  negroes  into  the  French 
colonies,  and  the  exclusive  right  of  refining  gold  and  silver.  Fi 
nally,  in  1717,  it  was  erected  into  the  Royal  Bank  of  France,  and 

*Martin's  Louisiana. 


LAW'S  FINANCIAL   SCHEME.  117 

shortly  afterward  the  Western  Company  merged  into  the  Company 
of  the  Indies,  and  new  shares  of  its  stocks  were  created  and  sold 
at  immense  profits.  In  addition  to  the  exclusive  privileges  which 
it  already  held,  it  was  now  granted  the  trade  of  the  Indian  seas, 
the  profits  of  the  royal  mint,  and  the  proceeds  of  farming  the 
royal  revenue  of  France.  The  government,  which  was  absolute, 
conspired  to  give  the  highest  range  to  its  credit,  and  Law,  says  a 
cotemporary,  might  have  regulated  at  his  pleasure  the  interest  of 
money,  the  value  of  stocks,  and  the  price  of  labor  and  produce.  A 
speculating  frenzy  at  once  pervaded  the  whole  nation.  The  maxim 
which  Law  had  promulgated,  that  the  "  banker  deserved  death  who 
made  issues  of  paper  without  means  of  redemption,"  was  over 
looked  or  forgotten.  While  the  affairs  of  the  bank  were  under 
his  control,  its  issues  did  not  exceed  00,000,000  livres,  but  on  be 
coming  the  Bank  of  France,  they  at  once  rose  to  100,000,000. 
Whether  this  was  the  act  of  Law  or  the  regent,  we  are  not  in 
formed.  That  he  lent  his  aid  to  inundate  the  whole  country  with 
paper  money,  is  conceded,  and  perhaps  dazzled  by  his  former  suc 
cess,  lie  was  less  guarded,  and  unconscious  that  an  evil  day  was 
fast  approaching.  The  chancellor,  who  opposed  these  extensive 
issues,  was  dismissed  at  the  instance  of  Law,  and  a  tool  of  the 
regent  was  appointed  in  his  place.  The  French  parliament  fore 
saw  the  danger  approaching,  and  remonstrated  in  vain  with  the 
regent.  The  latter  annulled  their  decrees,  and  on  their  proposing 
that  Law,  whom  they  regarded  as  the  cause  of  the  whole  evil, 
should  be  brought  to  trial,  and,  if  found  guilty,  be  hung  at  the 
gates  of  the  Palace  of  Justice,  some  of  the  most  prominent  officers 
of  the  parliament  were  committed  to  prison.  Law,  alarmed  for 
his  safety,  fled  to  the  royal  palace,  threw  himself  on  the  protection 
of  the  regent,  and  for  a  time  escaped  the  popular  indignation. 

He  still  devoted  himself  to  the  Mississippi  scheme,  the  shares 
of  which  rose  rapidly.  In  spite  of  parliament,  50,000  new  shares 
were  added,  and  its  franchises  extended.  The  stock  was  paid  in 
state  securities,  with  only  100  livres  for  500  of  stock.  For  these 
new  shares  300,000  applications  were  made,  and  Law's  house  was 
beset  from  morning  till  night  with  eager  applicants,  and  before 
the  list  of  fortunate  stockholders  could  be  completed,  the  public 
impatience  rose  to  a  pitch  of  frenzy.  Dukes,  marquises  and 
counts,  with  their  wives  and  daughters,  waited  for  hours  in  the 
streets  before  his  door,  to  know  the  result ;  and  to  prevent  being 
jostled  by  the  blebeian  crowd,  took  "apartments  in  the  adjacent 
houses,  the  rents  of  which  rose  from  100  to  1^00,  and,  in  some 
instances,  to  1600  livres  per  annum.  Induced  by  golden  dreams, 
the  demand  for  shares  was  so  great  it  was  thought  best  to  in 
crease  them  300,000  more,  at  500  livres  each  ;  and  such  was  the 
eagerness  of  the  people  to  subscribe,  that,  had  the  government 
ordered  three  times  that  number,  they  would  all  have  been  taken. 

The  first  attempts  of  the  company  at  .colonization  in  Louisiana, 
were  attended  with  careless  prodigality.  To  entice  emigrants 
thither,  the  rich  prairies  and  the  most  inviting  fields  were  granted 
to  companies  which  sought  principalities  in  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi.  An  extensive  prairie  in  Arkansas,  bounded  on  all 
sides  by  the  sky,  was  granted  to  Law,  where  he  designed  to  plant 
a  colony,  and  he  actually  expended  a  half  million  of  livres  for  that 
purpose.  From  the  representations  of  the  company,  !NewT  Orleans 


118  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

"became  famous  in  Paris  as  a  beautiful  city  before  the  work  of 
cutting  down  the  canebrakes,  which  covered  its  site,  had  been 
commenced.  Kaskaskia,  then  mostly  a  cantonment  of  savages, 
was  spoken  of  as  an  emporium  of  the  most  extensive  traffic,  and 
as  rivaling  some  of  the  cities  of  Europe  in  refinement,  fashion  and 
religious  culture.  In  fine,  to  doubt  the  wealth  of  Louisiana  was 
to  provoke  anger.  Law  was  now  in  the  zenith  of  his  glory,  and 
the  people  in  the  zenith  of  their  infatuation.  The  high  and  the 
low,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  were  at  once  filled  with  visions  of  un 
told  weath,  and  every  age,  set,  rank  and  condition  were  buying 
and  selling  stocks. 

The  effect  of  this  speculation  011  the  public  mind  and  manners 
was  overwhelming.  The  laxity  of  public  morals,  bad  enough  be 
fore,  now  became  worse,  and  the  pernicious  love  of  gambling  dif 
fused  itself  through  society  and  bore  down  all  public  and  nearly 
all  private  virtue  before  it.  While  confidence  lasted,  an  impulse 
was  given  to  trade  never  before  known.  Strangers  flocked  to  the 
capital  from  every  part  of  the  globe,  and  its  population  increased 
305,000  souls.  Beds  were  made  in  kitchens,  garrets  and  even  sta 
bles,  for  the  accommodation  of  lodgers.  Provisions  shared  the 
general  advance,  and  Avages  rose  in  the  same  proportion.  An  illu 
sory  policy  everywhere  prevailed,  and  so  dazzled  the  eye  that  none 
could  see  in  the  horrizon  the  dark  cloud  that  announced  the  ap 
proaching  storm.  Law,  at  the  time,  was  by  far,  the  most  influen 
tial  man  in  the  realm,  while  his  wife  and  daughters  were  courted 
by  the  highest  nobility  and  their  alliance  sought  by  ducal  and 
princely  houses. 

Suspicions,  however,  soon  arose;  specie  was  demanded  and  Law 
became  alarmed.  The  precious  inetals  had  all  left  the  kingdom, 
and  coin  for  more  than  500  livres  was  declared  an  illegal  tender. 

[NOTE.— A  cobbler,  whe  had  a  stall  near  Law's  office,  gained  near  200  livres  per  daj-  by 
letting  it,  and  finding-  stationery  for  brokers  and  other  clients.  A  humpbacked  man, 
who  stood  in  the  street,  as  the  story  goes,  gained  considerable  sums  by  loaning  his  back 
as  a  writing  desk  to  the  eager  speculators.  Law,  finding  his  residence  too  small,  ex 
changed  it  for  the  Place  Vendome,  whither  the  crowd  followed  him.  and  the  spacious 
square  had  the  appearance  of  a  public  market.  Booths  were  erected  for  the  transac 
tion  of  business  and  the  sale  of  refreshments.  The  boulevards  and  public  gardens 
were  forsaken,  and  the  Place  Vendome  became  the  most  fashionable  lounge  for  parties 
of  pleasure.  The  Hotel  d'Suson  was  taken,  and  its  fine  garden,  ornamented  with  foun 
tains  and  statuary,  was  covered  over  with  tents  and  pavilions  for  the  accommodation 
of  stockjobbers,  and  each  tent  being  let  at  500  livres  per  month,  m;ide  a  monthly  rev 
enue  of  250,000  livres.  Peers,  judges  and  bishops  thronged  the  Hotel  de  Suson,  and 
officers  of  the  army  and  navy,  ladies  of  title  and  fashion,  were  seen  waiting  in  the 
ante-chamber  of  Law,  to  beg  a  portion  of  his  stock.  He  was  unable  to  wait  on  one- 
tenth  part  of  the  applicants,  and  every  species  of  ingenuity  was  employed  to  gain  an 
audience.  Peers,  whose  dignity  would  have  been  outraged  if  the  regent  had  made 
them  wait  half  an  hour  for  an  interview,  were  content  to  wait  6  hours  for  the  purpose 
of  seeing1  the  wily  adventurer.  Enormous  fees  were  paid  to  his  servants  to  announce 
their  name,  and  ladies  of  rank  employed  the  blandishments  of  their  smiles.  One  lady 
in  particular,  who  had  striven  in  vain  many  days  to  see  Law,  ordered  her  coachman  to 
keep  a  strict  watch,  and  when  he  saw  him  coming,  to  drive  against  a  post  and  upset  her 
carriage.  This  was  successfully  accomplished,  and  Law,  who  witnessed  the  apparent 
accident,  ran  to  her  assistance.  She  was  led  to  his  house,  and  as  soon  as  she  thought  it 
advisable,  recovered  from  her  fright,  apologized  for  the  intrusion,  and  confessed  the 
stratagem.  Law  was  a  gallant,  and  could  no  longer  refuse,  and  entered  her  name  on 
his  book  as  the  purchaser  of  some  stock.  Another  lady  of  rank,  knowing  that  Law 
dined  at  a  certain  time,  proceeded  ttiither  in  her  carriage  and  gave  the  alarm  of  fire, 
and  while  everybody  was  scampering  away,  she  made  haste  to  meet  him  ;  but  he,  sus 
pecting  the  trick,  ran  off  in  the  opposite  direction.  A  celebrated  physician  in  Paris 
had  bought  stock  at  an  unfavorable  time,  and  was  anxious  to  sell  out!  While  it  was 
rapidly  falling,  and  while  his  mind  was  filled  with  the  subject,  hevwas  called  on  to 
attend  a  lady  who  thought  herself  unwell.  Being  shown  up  stairs,  he  felt  the  lady's 
pulse,  and,  more  intent  upon  his  s'ocks  than  the  patient,  exclaimed:  "It  falls;  good 
God  !  it  falls  continually."  The  lady  started,  and  ringing  the  bell  for  assistance,  said  : 
"  O,  doctor,  I  am  dying,  I  am  dying;  it  falls  !  "  What  falls?"  inquired  the  doctor,  in 
amazement,  '"My  pulse,  my  pulse,"  said  the  lady;  "I  am  aying !"  "'Calm  your 
fears,  my  clear  madam,"  said  the  doctor,  •'  I  was  speaking  of  the  stocks  I  have  been 
so  great  a  loser,  and  my  mind  is  so  disturbed  that  I  hardly  know  what  I  am  say 
ing."] 


LAW'S  FINANCIAL   SCHEME.  119 

A  council  of  state  was  held,  and  it  was  ascertained  that  2,600,000,- 
000,000  in  paper  were  in  circulation,  and  the  bank  stopped  pay 
ment.  The  people  assaulted  Law's  carriage  with  stones,  and  but 
for  the  dexterity  of  his  coachman,  he  would  have  been  torn  to 
pieces.  On  the  following  day  his  wife  and  daughter  were  attacked 
as  they  were  returning  in  their  carriage  from  the  races.  The  re 
gent  being  informed  of  these  occurrences  sent  him  a  guard  for  his 
protection.  Finding  his  house,  even  with  a  guard,  insecure,  he 
repaired  to  the  palace  and  took  apartments  with  the  regent.  Soon 
afterward,  leaving  the  kingdom,  his  estate  and  library  were  confis 
cated,  and  he  died  at  Vienna  in  extreme  poverty.* 

The  lessons  to  be  learned  from  these  wild  financial  speculations, 
is,  that  the  expansion  of  currency  always  gives  an  impetus  to  indus 
try,  but  when  it  is  based  on  credits,  without  means  of  redemption, 
it  must  meet  with  an  overthrow  attended  with  a  prostration  of 
business  greatly  overbalancing  all  temporary  advantages. 

We  must  now  recount  the  operations  of  the  company  in  Louis 
iana.  On  the  25th  of  August,  1718,  its  ships,  after  a  pleasant 
voyage  entered  the  port  of  Mobile,  chanting  the  Te  Deum  for  their 
sate  arrival.  On  board  the  ships  was  the  king's  lieutenant,  M. 
Boisbriant,  bearing  a  commission  authorizing  Bienville  to  act  as 
governor-general  of  the  province,  and  800  immigrants.  The  gov 
ernor  again  commenced  the  duties  of  his  office,  still  entertaining 
his  previous  convictions  that  the  capital  of  the  province  should  be 
removed  from  the  sterile  sands  of  the  Gulf  coast  to  the  banks  of 
the  Mississippi.  He  reasoned  that  if  established  on  the  fertile 
alluvium  or  uplands  of  the  great  river,  it  would  become  the  centre 
of  a  community  devoted  to  agriculture,  the  only  branch  of  industry 
that  could  give  permanent  growth  and  prosperity  to  the  province. 
He  therefore  selected  the  site  now  occupied  by  Kew  Orleans  for  a 
capital,  and  gave  it  the  name  it  now  bears,  in  honor  of  the  Begent 
of  France.  Eight  convicts  were  sent  from  the  prisons  of  France  to 
clear  away  the  coppice  which  thickly  studded  the  site.  Two 
years  afterward  the  royal  engineer  surveyed  the  outlets  of  the 
river  and  declared  that  it  might  be  made  a  commercial  port,  and 
in  1783  it  became  the  provincial  and  commercial  capital  of  Louis 
iana.  Although  M.  Hubert,  who  had  charge  of  the  company's 
affairs,  reluctantly  complied  with  the  advice  of  Bieuville  in  remov 
ing  the  depots  to  the  new  capital,  time  has  proven  the  superior 
judgment  of  the  former.  From  a  depot  for  the  commercial  trans 
actions  of  a  single  company,  it  has  become  the  emporium  of  the 
noblest  valley  on  the  face  of  the  globe. 

The  delusion  that  dreamed  of  silver  and  gold  in  Louisiana,  and 
which  had  so  largely  contributed  to  the  ruin  of  Crozat,  still  haunt 
ed  the  minds  of  his  successors.  Unwilling  to  profit  by  his  expe 
rience,  they  concluded  that  his  success  was  rather  the  result  of  his 
unskillful  assayers  than  the  absence  of  the  precious  metals,  and 
accordingly  Phillip  Renault  was  made  director-general  of  the 
mines.  He  left  France  in  1719,  with  200  mechanics  and  laborers, 
and  provided  with  all  things  necessary  to  prosecute  the  business 
of  his  ofiice.  On  his  way  hither  he  bought  500  negro  slaves  at 
San  Domingo,  for  working  the  mines,  and  on  reaching  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi,  sailed  to  Illinois,  where  it  was  supposed  gold 
and  silver  existed  in  large  quantities.  He  established  himself  a 

•Condensed  from  Bancroft,  Brown's  Illinois,  and  M' Kay's  Extraordinary  Delusions. 


120  HISTOKY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

few  miles  above  Kaskaskia,  in  what  is  uow  the  southwest  corner 
of  Monroe  county,  and  called  the  village  which  lie  founded  Saint 
Phillips.  Great  expectations  prevailed  in  France  at  his  prospect 
ive  success,  but  they  all  ended  in  disappointment.  From  this 
point  he  sent  out  exploring-  parties  into  various  parts  of  Illinois, 
which  then  constituted  Upper  Louisiana.  Search  was  made  for 
minerals  along  Drewry's  creek,  in  Jackson  county ;  about  the  St- 
Mary's,  in  Randolph  county;  in  Monroe  county,  along  Silver 
creek  ;  in  St.  Glair  county,  and  other  parts  of  Illinois.  Silver 
creek  took  its  name  from  the  explorations  made  on  its  banks,  and 
tradition,  very  improbably,  states  that  considerable  quantities  of 
silver  were  discoverd  here  and  sent  to  France.  The  operations  of 
Renault  were  at  length  brought  to  a  close  from  a  cause  least  ex 
pected.  By  the  edict  of  the  king  the  Western  Company  became 
the  Company  of  the  Indies,  and  the  territory  was  retroceded  to  the 
crown.  The  efforts  of  the  company  had  totally  failed,  and  Renault 
was  left  to  prosecute  the  business  of  mininng  without  means. 

In  the  meantime  a  fierce  war  had  been  raging  between  France  and 
Spain,  and  their  respective  colonists  in  North  America  presented  a 
continuous  display  of  warlike  preparations.  Bienville,  with  his  reg 
ulars  and  provincial  troops,  400  Indians,  and  a  few  armed  vessels, 
made  a  descent  on  Pensacola  and  laid  it  under  siege  before  its 
garrison  could  be  reinforced.  After  an  assault  of  5  hours,  and  a 
determined  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  besieged,  the  Spanish 
commandant  surrendered.  The  approach  of  -a  powerful  Spanish 
armament  shortly  afterward,  compelled  Bienville  to  relinquish  the 
fort  and  return  to  Mobile,  where  he,  in  turn,  was  besieged  in  the 
fort  of  Dauphin  Island.  The  squadron  endeavored,  by  a  furious 
bombardment,  to  reduce  the  fort,  but  its  commander,  finding  his 
efforts  unavailing,  after  13  days  retired.  The  war  continuing  to 
harrass  the  coast  of  the  gulf,  Bienville  the  following  year,  with  the 
whole  available  force  of  the  province,  again  moved  against  the 
town  of  Pensacola.  After  a  close  investment  by  sea  and  land  the 
town  and  fort  Avere  carried  by  storm,  and,  besides  the  munitions  of 
the  latter,  1,800  prisoners  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  victors.  Sev 
eral  Spanish  A^essels  with  rich  cargoes,  ignorant  of  the  occupation 
of  the  town  by  the  French,  ran  into  port  and  Avere  also  captured. 
The  occupation  of  the  town,  as  before,  Avas  of  short  duration,  for 
Bienville,  anticipating  the  arrival  of  a  Spanish  force,  blew  up  the 
fort,  burned  the  town  and  returned  to  Mobile. 

But  the  operations  of  the  war  were  not  confined  to  the  lower 
part  of  the  proA'ince.  Traders  and  hunters  had  discovered  a  route 
across  the  western  plains,  and  detachments  of  Spanish  cavalry 
pushed  across  the  great  American  desert,  and  AY  ere  threatening 
Illinois.  The  Missouri  Indians  Avere  at  the  time  in  alliance  with 
the  French,  and  the  Spaniards  planned  an  expedition  for  the  ex 
termination  of  this  tribe,  that  they  might  afterward  destroy  the 
settlements  of  Illinois  and  replace  them  with  colonists  from  Mex 
ico.  The  expedition  for  this  purpose  Avas  fitted  out  at  Santa  Fe, 
and  directed  to  proceed  by  way  of  the  Osages,  to  secure  their  co 
operation  in  an  attack  on  the  Missouris.  Consisting  of  soldiers, 
priests,  families  and  domestic  animals,  it  moved  like  an  immense 
caraA'an  across  the  desert,  prepared  both  to  overthrow  the  French 
colonies  and  to  establish  others  in  their  stead.  By  mistake,  their 
guides  led  them  directly  to  the  Missouris  instead1  of  the  Osages, 


MASSAORIi;   OF   FORT   ROSALIE.  121 

and  as  each  spoke  the  same  language  they  believed  themselves  in 
the  presence  of  the  latter  tribe.  The  wily  savages,  on  learning 
their  business,  encouraged  the  misunderstanding,  and  requested 
two  days  to  assemble  their  warriors  and  prepare  for  the  attack. 
More  than  180  muskets  were  put  into  their  hands,  and  before  the 
Spaniards  found  out  their  mistake  the  Missouris  fell  upon  them 
and  put  them  indiscriminately  to  death.  The  priest  alone  was 
spared  to  tell  the  fate  of  his  unfortunate  countrymen.  In  antici 
pation  of  similar  difficulties,  Boisbriant  was  sent  to  Illinois  in 
17:20  by  the  Western  Company,  to  erect  a  fort  on  the  Mississippi, 
for  the  protection  of  the  surrounding  regions.  Thus  originated 
Fort  Chartres,  which  played  such  an  important  part  in  the  subse 
quent  history  of  Illinois.  The  fortification  was  built  on  the  east 
side  of  the  river,  22  miles  northwest  of  Kaskaskia,  and  was  at  the 
time  the  most  impregnable  fortress  in  North  America.  Here  the 
Western  company  finally  built  their  warehouses,  and  when,  in 
1721  Louisiana  was  divided  into  districts,  it  became  the  head 
quarters  of  Boisbriant,  the  first  local  governor  of  Illinois.  The 
7  districts  were  New  Orleans,  Biloxi,  Mobile,  Alabama,  Natchez, 
Natehitochis,  and  Illinois. 

Soon  after  the  erection  of  the  fort,  Cahokia,  Prairie  du  Rocher, 
and  some  other  villages,  received  large  accessions  to  their  popula 
tions.  All  the  settlements  between  the  rivers  Mississippi  and 
Kaskaskia  became  greatly  extended  and  increased  in  number,  and 
in  1721  the  Jesuits  established  a  monastery  and  college  at  Kas 
kaskia.  Four  years  afterward  it  became  an  incorporated  town,  and 
Louis  XV  granted  the  inhabitants  a  commons,  or  pasture  grounds, 
for  their  stock.  Immigrants  rapidly  settled  on  the  fertile  lands  of 
the  American  Bottom,  and  Port  Chartres  not  only  became  the 
headquarters  of  the  commandant  of  Upper  Louisiana,  but  the  cen 
tre  of  wealth  and  fashion  in  the  West.* 

In  the  Autumn  of  172G,  Bienville  was  succeeded  by  M.  Perrier. 
The  retiring  governor  had  with  much  propriety,  been  called  the 
Father  of  Louisiana,  having,  with  the  exception  of  two  short  inter 
missions,  been  its  executive  officer  for  26  years.  Not  long  after 
the  arrival  of  the  new  governor,  his  attention  was  directed  to  the 
Chicasaw  Indians.  His  predecesor  had  observed,  in  previous  years, 
the  insincerity  of  their  friendship  for  the  French,  and  had  urged  the 
directory  of  the  company  to  institute  some  more  effective  protection 
for  the  adjacent  settlement.  M.  Perrier  now  reiterated  its  import 
ance,  but  his  apprehensions  were  deemed  groundless,  and  nothing 
was  done.  The  Indians  were  now  becoming  jealous  at  the  rapid 
encroachments  of  the  whites,  who  sometimes  punished  them  harshly 
for  the  most  trivial  offense.  Under  these  circumstances  the  Chic- 
asaws,  Natchez,  and  other  tribes  conceived  the  design  of  destroy 
ing  the  French,  and  sent  agents  to  the  Illinois  to  induce  them  to 
cut  off  the  settlements  in  their  midst.  The  attack  was  \o  commence 
at  different  places  at  the  same  time,  but  from  some  unknown  cause 
the  Natchez  were  the  first  to  carry  the  design  into  execution, 
although  the  Chicasaws  were  the  first  to  propose  the  conspiracy. 
It  is  said  that  the  number  of  days  to  elapse  from  the  new  moon  to 
the  time  of  the  massacre,  was  indicated  by  a  certain  number  of 
reeds,  bundles  of  which  were  sent  to  the  different  tribes.  One  reed 
Avas  to  be  drawn  daily  from  each  bundle,  and  the  attack  was  to 

Monette's  Val.  oi  the  Miss. 


122  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

commence  when  the  last  one  was  drawn.  By  design,  or  accident, 
the  bundle  sent  to  the  Natchez  was  made  smaller  than  the  rest, 
and  hence  they  struck  the  first  blow.  Indian  tradition  asserted 
that  the  plot  was  kept  a  profound  secret  till  the  fatal  day  arrived. 
This,  according  to  Natchez  computation,  was  on  the  28th  of  No 
vember,  1729,  at  the  dawn  of  which  the  Great  Chief,  or  Sun,  with  a 
number  of  chosen  Avarriors  having  concealed  weapons,  repaired  to 
Fort  Eosalie.  At  a  preconcerted  signal,  the  warriors  drew  their 
weapons,  and  at  a  single  onset  the  little  garrison  slept  the  sleep 
of  death.  Other  parties  were  distributed  through  the  contiguous 
settlements,  and  when  the  ascending  smoke  of  the  burning  fort 


cious  warehouse  of  the  company,  and  with  the  greatest  apparent 
unconcern,  smoked  his  pipe  as  his  warriors  piled  up  the  heads  of 
the  garrison  in  the  form  of  a  pyramid  near  by,  whose  apex  was 
the  head  of  the  commandant.  When  the  warriors  informed  him 
that  the  last  Frenchman  ceased  to  live,  he  ordered  the  pillage  to 
commence.  The  negro  slaves  were  ordered  to  bring  in  the  spoils 
for  distribution,  but  the  military  stores  were  reserved  for  future 
use.  As  long  as  the  ardent  spirit  lasted,  day  and  night  alike  pre 
sented  a  continued  scene  of  savage  triumphs  and  drunken  revelry. 
The  settlements  on  the  Yazoo  and  other  places,  met  with  a  similar 
fate,  but  those  within  the  present  limits  of  Illinois,  owing  to  the 
loyalty  and  friendship  of  the  prairie  tribes,  remained  unharmed. 
As  soon  as  the  massacre  became  known,  M.  Perrier  dispatched 
vessels  to  France  for  troops  and  military  supplies,  and  couriers 
were  sent  to  Port  Chartres  and  other  posts,  urging  upon  the  sev 
eral  commandants  the  necessity  of  preparation  to  co-operate  with 
him  against  the  common  enemy.  Agents  were  also  sent  to  the 
Choctaws  and  other  Indians  in  alliance  with  the  French,  for  fur 
ther  assistance.  The  governor  immediately  got  ready  to  march  to 
the  scene  of  disaster  with  the  troops  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
province;  but  the  negroes,  numbering  some  2,000,  betrayed 
symptoms  of  revolt,  and  he  was  detained  to  watch  the  intended 
insurrection.  In  the  meantime,  the  Ohoctaws,  who  had  committed 
no  overt  act  of  hostility,  had  been  visited  by  one  of  the  company's 
agents,  and  induced  to  furnish  (500  warriors.  At  Pearl  river  he 
received  an  accession  of  000  more,  and  with  this  formidable  body 
of  warriors  he  moved  forward  and  encamped  near  the  enemy,  to 
await  the  arrival  of  other  forces.  It  Avas,  however,  soon  ascer 
tained  that  the  Natchez,  unsuspicious  of  danger,  were  spending 
their  time  in  idle  carousals,  and  the  Choctaws  rushed  on  them 
unexpectedly,  and  after  a  brief  conflict,  returned  with  60  scalps. 
Not  long  afterward  French  troops  arrived,  completed  the  victory, 
and  liberated  the  women  and  children.  The  larger  part  of  the 
tribe,  led  by  their  Great  Sun,  fled  across  the  Mississippi  and  for 
tified  themselves  on  Black  river.  Thither  they  were  followed  by 
troops  from  France  and  the  prinpcial  settlements  of  the  province, 
and  in  two  successful  battles  were  completely  cut  to  pieces.  Tlio 
Great  "Sun  and  400  warriors  were  captured  and  taken  to  New  Or 
leans,  and  thence  to  San  Domingo,  and  sold  as  slaves.  Thus  per 
ished  this  powerful  tribe,  and  with  them  their  mysterious  worship 
of  the  sun  and  bloody  rites  of  sepulture.  No  tribe  was,  perhaps, 


CHARTER   SURRENDERED.  123 

more  distinguished  for  refinement,  intelligence,  courage  and  con 
tempt  of  death,  in  fighting  for  their  rights  and  country. 

The  great  expenditures  in  prosecuting  the  Natchez  war,  the  conse 
quent  loss  of  trade  with  other  tribes,  and  the  financial  embarrass 
ments  incident  to  Law's  failure,  induced  the  company  to  ask  for  a 
surrender  of  their  charter.  The  king  readily  granted  their  petition, 
and  on  the  l()th  of  April,  1732,  issued  a  proclamation  declaring 
Louisiana  free  to  all  his  subjects,  with  equal  privileges  as  to  com 
merce  and  other  interests.  The  14  years  the  company  h ad  possession 
of  the  country,  notwithstanding  the  many  adverse  circumstances, 
was  a  period  of  comparative  prosperity.  When  it  assumed  con 
trol,  the  number  of  slaves  was  20 ;  now  it  was  2,000.  Then  the 
entire  Avhite  population  was  700;  now  5,000,  among  which 
were  many  persons  of  worth,  intelligence  and  enterprise.  The 
extravagant  hopes  entertained  respecting  the  precious  metals,  had 
not  been  realized,  but  the  search  for  them  had  attracted  popula 
tion,  which  had  now  made  such  progress  in  agriculture  as  to  be 
self-sustaining.  Illinois,  at  this  time,  contained  many  flourishing 
settlements,  more  exclusively  devoted  to  agriculture  than  those  in 
other  parts  of  the  province.  All  industrial  enterprises,  however, 
were,  to  a  great  extent,  paralyzed  by  the  arbitrary  exactions  of 
the  company.  The  agriculturists,  the  miners  and  the  fur  traders 
of  Illinois  were  held  in  a  sort  of  vassalage,  which  enabled  those  in 
power  to  dictate  the  price  at  which  they  should  sell  their  products, 
and  the  amount  they  should  pay  them  for  imported  merchandise. 
The  interest  of  the  company  was  always  at  variance  with  that  of 
the  producer,  and  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  devise  a  state  of 
affairs  so  injurious  to  both  parties,  and  so  detrimental  to  the  pros 
perity  of  Illinois  and  other  parts  of  Louisiana. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

1732-59— ILLINOIS  AND  LOUISIANA  UNDEE  THE  KOYAL 

GOVEENOES. 


When  the  Company  of  the  Indies  gave  up  their  charter,  the  gov 
ernment  of  France  resumed  the  administration  of  public  affairs. 
M.  Perrier  remained  governor-general,  and  M.  d'Artaguette  became 
local  governor  of  Illinois.  The  common  law  of  Paris  had  previously 
been  adopted  as  the  code  of  Louisiana,  but  had  never  been  formally 
extended  over  Illinois.  The  ecclesiastical  affairs  were  under  the 
superintendence  of  the  vicar-general  of  New  Orleans,  as  a  part  of 
the  diocese  of  the  bishop  of  Quebec.  One  of  the  principal  objects 
of  the  governor  was,  to  establish  his  authority  over  the  different 
Indian  tribes  inhabiting  the  country  under  his  command.  The 
Chicasaws.  instigated  by  English  colonists,  had  made  intercourse 
between  Illinois  and  New  Orleans  so  hazardous  that  commerce 
was  virtually  suspended,  and  the  settlers  kept  in  a  constant  state 
of  alarm.  Such  was  the  animosity  and  activity  of  this  tribe,  it  also 
sent  secret  envoys  to  the  Illinois,  for  the  purpose  of  debauching  the 
time  honored  affection  which  had  existed  between  them  and  their 
French  neighbors,  and  inducing  them  to  destroy  the  latter.  These 
ta-wny  sons  of  the  prairies,  however,  refused  to  desert  their  friends, 
and  sent  an  envoy  to  New  Orleans  to  offer  their  services  to  the 
governor.  Said  this  deputy  to  that  functionary :  "  This  is  the  pipe 
of  peace  or  war ;  you  have  but  to  speak  and  our  braves  will  strike 
the  nations  that  are  your  foes. r>*  It  was  now  necessary  to  reduce 
the  ChicasaAVS,  to  establish  communication  between  the  northern 
and  southern  portions  of  the  province,  and  to  save  the  eastern  por 
tion  from  the  intrigues  of  emissaries,  sent  out  among  the  Indians  by 
the  English  colonies  on  the  Atlantic.  An  officer  was,  therefore, 
dispatched  to  Fort  Chartres,  in  1730,  directing  .D'Artaguette  to  get 
in  readiness  the  French  forces  under  his  command,  and  such  Indians 
of  Illinois  as  he  could  induce  to  unite  with  him  in  the  Avar.  It  was 
arranged  that  D'Artaguette  should  descend  the  Mississippi  to  some 
suitable  point  of  debarkation,  and  then  cross  to  the  country  on  the 
head  Avaters  of  the  Talahatchee,  Avhere  the  enemy's  stronghold  Avas 
situated. 

In  the  meantime  Biemdlle,  who  had  again  been  commissioned 
by  the  king  as  governor- general,  with  the  forces  of  southern  Louis 
iana,  A\ras  to  ascend  the  Tombigbee  to  the  continence  of  its  tAvo 
principal  tributaries,  and  marching  thence  by  land,  effect  a  junc 
tion  Avith  the  forces  from  the  north.  Early  in  the  spring,  Bienville 
moved  Avith  his  forces  from  New  Orleans  to  Mobile,  and  thence  to 

^Bancroft. 


INDIAN  HOSTILITIES.  125 

the  point  designated,  where  a  fort  had  previously  been  erected  to 
serve  as  a  depot  of  supplies.  Here,  by  offering  rewards  for  scalps 
and  making  presents  of  merchandise,  he  drew  together  the  large 
force  of  1200  Choctaws.  After  disembarking  the  artillery  and 
placing  it  in  the  fort,  the  solitude  of  the  primitive  forests  and 
blooming  prairies  was  broken  by  the  tread  of  the  forces  moving  in 
the  direction  of  the  enemy.*  On  the  25th  of  May,  they  arrived 
within  3  miles  of  the  Chicasaw  village,  but  several  days  behind  the 
time  fixed  for  meeting  the  northern  forces  ;  a  delay,  which,  as  the 
sequel  will  show,  proved  fatal.  The  village  was  27  miles  from  the 
fort,  and  within  a  few  miles  of  Pontotoc,  Mississippi,  which  still 
perpetuates  the  name  of  the  Indian  stronghold,  and  became  famous 
as  a  point  in  Grierson's  great  raid  in  the  war  of  the  rebellion. 
Before  daylight,  the  next  morning,  the  impatient  and  ungovern 
able  Choctaws  moved  against  the  log  citadel  of  the  enemy,  expect 
ing  to  take  its  occupants  by  surprise.  On  the  contrary,  they  found 
the  garrison  on  the  alert,  and  the  fort  a  skillfully  constructed 
fortification,  erected  under  the  supervisor!  of  English  traders. 
Twice  during  the  day,  Bienville  attempted  to  carry  the  works  by 
vigorous  attacks,  but  was  repulsed  with  a  loss  of  C5  wounded, 
and  32  killed  5  the  latter  embracing  4  officers  of  rank.  The  follow 
ing  day,  some  skirmishing  occurred  between  the  Choctaws  and  the 
enemy,  without  any  decisive  results,  when  Bienville,  mortified  at 
his  defeat,  and  believing  his  own  forces  too  inconsiderable  for  the 
reduction  of  such  formidable  works  without  the  co-operation  of  the 
northern  forces,  of  which  he  had  heard  nothing,  concluded  to  aban 
don  the  enterprise.  lie  accordingly  dismissed  his  red  auxiliaries, 
made  a  retrograde  inarch  to  the  fort  on  the  Tombigbee,  in  gloriously 
threw  his  cannon  into  the  river,  and  returned  to  New  Orleans, 
covered  with  defeat  and  shame. 

Prior  to  the  inflicting  of  this  disgrace  upon  the  French  arms, 
the  gallant  D'Artaguette,  accompanied  by  DeVincennes  and  Father 
Lenat,  had  led  his  army  of  50  Frenchmen  and  more  than  1000 
red  warriors,  from  the  prairies  of  the  north  to  the  Yalabusha. 
Here,  at  the  appointed  place  of  rendezvous,  he  waited  for  10  days 
the  arrival  of  the  commander-in-chief,  ready  to  co-operate  with  him 
in  maintaining  the  jurisdiction  and  honor  of  France.  The  failure 
of  the  latter,  however,  to  arrive  in  time,  prevented  the  junction  of 
the  two  armies,  and  thus  defeated  the  campaign.  On  the  20th  of 
May,  his  rash  Indian  confederates,  who  had  the  .courage  to  strike 
a  blow,  but  lacked  the  calculation  and  patience  to  wait  the  proper 
time,  compelled  him  to  commence  offensive  operations.  Having 
skillfully  arranged  his  forces,  with  great  daring  and  impetuosity  he 
drove  the  Chicasaws  from  two  fortifications,  and  in  the  assault  on 
the  third  was  disabled  in  the  moment  of  victory.  Dismayed  at  the 
loss  of  their  leader,  the  Indians  fled  precipitately,  closely  pursued  a 
distance  of  125  miles  by  the  enemy  in  the  flush  of  unexpected  victory, 
while  D'Artaguette  and  some  of  his  brave  comrades  lay  weltering  in 
their  gore,  attendedby  Lenat,  who,  mindful  only  of  the  assistance  he 
might  render  the  suffering,  refused  to  fly.  Vincennes,  too,  whose 
name  is  perpetuated  by  the  city  of  the  Wabash,  chose  also  to  remain 
and  share  the  captivity  of  his  leader.  The  wounds  of  the  prisoners 
were  staunched,  and  at  first  they  were  treated  with  great  kindness 
by  their  captors,  who  expected"to  get  a  large  reward  from  Bien- 

*Bancroft. 


126  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

ville  for  their  safe  return.  When,  ho  wever,  they  heard  of  his  discom 
fiture  and  withdrawal,  the}'  dispaired  of  receiving  a  ransom  for  the 
prisoners  and  proposed  to  make  them  victims  of  a  savage  triumph. 
For  this  purpose  they  were  borne  to  a  neighboring  field,  bound  to 
stakes,  and  tortured  before  slow  and  intermitting  fires  till  death 
mercifully  released  them  from  their  sufferings.  Thus  perished 
the  faithful  Lenat,  the  young  and  intrepid  D'Artaguette,  and  the 
heroic  Vincennes,  whose  names  will  endure  as  long  as  the  Illinois 
and  Wabash  shall  flow  by  the  dwellings  of  civilized  men. 

The  Chiekasaws,  elated  by  victory,  sent  a  deputation  to  an 
nounce  their  success  and  the  torments  inflicted  on  their  captives 
to  the  English  colonists,  with  whom  they  Avere  now  in  sympathy. 
Bienville,  on  the  other  hand,  chagrined  at  the  result  of  the 
campaign,  determined  to  retrieve  his  honor  and  the  glory 
of  France  by  a  second  invasion.  The  approbation  of  the  Minister 
having  been  obtained,  toward  the  close  of  the  year  1739  he  com 
menced  putting  in  operation  his  plans  for  the  reduction  of  the 
fierce  antagonists  who  had  before  so  successfully  defied  him.  The 
signal  for  preparation  was  given  to  the  commandants  of  the  dif 
derent  posts,  which  resulted  in  efforts  far  transcending  in  military 
display  anything  before  seen  in  the  provinces.  A  fort  was  erected 
at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Francis,  which  served  as  a  place  of 
rendezvous,  and  afterward  of  departure  for  the  grand  army 
eastward,  to  the  country  of  the  enemy.  The  force  from  Illinois, 
consisting  of  200  French  and  300  Indians,  was  commanded  by  La 
Buissoniere,  who  had  succeeded  the  lamented  I)'  Artaguette  as 
commandant  at  Ft.  Chartres.  These,  with  the  forces  from  other 
posts,  amounted  to  1200  Europeans  and  500  Indians  and  negroes. 
The  whole,  under  the  command  of  Bienville,  was  soon  moved  to 
the  mouth  of  Wolf  river,  where  it  was  delayed  in  the  erection  of 
a  second*  fort,  in  which  to  deposit  their  military  stores,  and  care 
for  the  sick.  Before  the  fort,  which  bore  the  name  of  Assump 
tion,  was  completed,  malarious  fevers  so  fatal  to  European  consti 
tutions,  had  seriously  disabled  the  army.  Hardly  had  the  early 
frosts  of  winter  abated  the  disease,  when  famine,  a  more  formida 
ble  enemy,  threatened  them  with  annihilation.  Supplies  could 
only  be  obtained  at  Ft.  Chartres  and  New  Orleans,  and  hence  the 
consummation  of  the  campaign  was  necessarily  postponed  till  the 
following  spring.  Spring  came,  but  such  had  been  the  debilita 
ting  effects  of  the  winter  and  the  want  of  wholesome  food,  that 
only  200  men  were  IIOAV  fit  for  duty.  Undeterred,  hoAvever,  by  the 
want  of  numbers,  M.  Celeron,  a  lieutenant  of  La  Buissoniere,  bold 
ly  set  out  to  meet  the  Chicasaws,  who,  supposing  the  whole  French 
army  was  behind  him,  sued  for  peace.  Celeron,  taking  advantage 
of  the  mistake,  obtained  from  them  a  declaration  that  they  would 
renounce  the  English  and  resume  peaceable  relations  with  the 
French.  To  confirm  their  statements,  a  deputation  of  chiefs  ac 
companied  them  to  Ft.  Assumption  and  entered  into  a  treaty  of 
peace  with  Bienville,  which  was  ratified  with  the  customary  In 
dian  ceremonies  and  festivities.  The  army  now  returned  to  the 
fort  on  the  St.  Francis,  where  Bienville  disbanded  it,  and  "  again 
in  gloriously  floated  down  the  river  to  New  Orleans.'7*  This  was 
the  end  of  the  second  campaign  against  the  Chicasaws,  wherein 
Bienville  not  only  failed  to  retrieve  his  tarnished  military  fame, 

tMonette's  Val.of  the  Miss. 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS.  127 

but  incurred  the  displeasure  of  his  sovereign.  Two  armies  had 
been  sacrificed  in  an  attempt  to  mete  out  to  the  Chicasaws  the 
fate  that  had  befallen  the  Natchez ;  but  like  their  ancestors,  who 
200  years  before  had  encountered  the  steel-clad  chivalry  of  Deso- 
to,  they  still  remained  intact.  With  the  close  of  these  disastrous 
expeditions  terminated  the  gubernatorial  career  of  Bienville, 
which,  with  slight  interruptions,  had  extended  through  a  period 
of  40  years.  Age  had  cooled  down  the  ardor  and  energy  of  his 
manhood's  prime,  and  the  honors  won  in  previous  years  were  now 
obscured  in  a  cloud  of  disapprobation  and  censure. 

Retiring  from  office,  he  was  succeeded  by  the  Marquis  de  Van- 
dreuil,  who  subsequently  became  Governor  of  Canada.  After  the 
establishment  of  amicable  relations  with  the  Chicasaws,  the  na 
tive  tribes  throughout  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  submitted  to 
the  dominion  of  France  and  became  her  allies.  A  commercial  in 
tercourse  with  them  succeeded,  and  agriculture,  now  freed  from 
company  monopolies,  rapidly  sprang  into  new  life.  Sugar  cane 
was  brought  from  San  Domingo,  and  the  first  attempt  at  its  culti 
vation  proving  successful,  it  has  since  become  the  great  staple  of 
the  present  state  of  Louisiana.  Cotton  was  introduced  and  suc 
cessfully  cultivated  as  far  north  as  Illinois.  A  gin  was  subse 
quently  invented  by  M.  Dubreuil,  and  though  imperfect  compared 
with  Whitney's  of  the  present  day,  it  greatly  facilitated  the  oper 
ation  of  separating  the  fibre  from  the  seed  and  thus  gave  a  new 
impetus  to  the  cultivation  of  the  plant.  The  fig  tree,  the  orange, 
and  the  lemon,  began  to  bloom  about  the  houses  of  the  colonists 
on  the  Lower  Mississippi  and  supply  them  with  delicious  fruit, 
while  the  SAveet  potato,  extending  over  a  broader  range  of  latitude, 
contributed  largely  to  the  sustenance  of  both,  the  northern  and 
southern  parts  of  the  province.  Every  arrival  from  France  aug 
mented  the  population  of  the  rapidly  extending  settlements. 
Many  Canadians,  retiring  from  the  rigor  of  their  winters,  sought 
homes  in  the  comparatively  mild  climate  of  Illinois  and  the  region 
of  the  Wabash.  Under  the  stimulus  of  individual  enterprise  the 
commerce  between  the  northern  and  southern  parts  of  the  pro 
vince,  and  between  New  Orleans  and  foreign  countries,  was  great 
ly  extended.  Eegular  cargoes  of  pork,  flour,  bacon,  tallow,  hides 
and  leather  were  annually  transported  in  barges  from  Illinois  to 
New  Orleans  and  Mobile,  and  thence  shipped  to  France  and  the 
West  Indies.  In  exchange  were  brought  back  rice,  indigo,  sugar 
and  European  fabrics.  The  twro  extremes  of  Louisiana  were  mu 
tually  dependent,  and  by  means  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  hun 
dred  tributaries,  naturally  supplied  each  other's  wants.  The 
decade  commencing  with  1740  and  closing  with  1750  was  one  of 
unusual  prosperity. 

Manners  and  Customs  of  the  French. — Unlike  the  English  and 
other  Europeans,  who  usually  lived  in  sparse  settlements,  the 
French  fixed  their  abode  in  compact  villages.  These  were  gen 
erally  built  on  the  banks  of  some  pure  stream  of  water,  contigu 
ous  to  timber  and  prairie,  the  one  furnishing  them  fuel  and  the 
other  with  ground  for  tillage.  The  construction  of  the  dwellings 
was  of  a  primitive  character.  The  frame  work  consisted  of  posts 
planted  in  the  earth  three  or  four  feet  deep  and  strongly  bound 
together  by  horizontal  cross-ties.  The  interstices  thus  formed 
were  filled  with  mortar,  intermixed  with  straw  or  Spanish  moss,  to 


128  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

give  it  tenacity.  The  surface  of  the  walls,  both  internal  and  ex 
ternal,  were  washed  A^•itll  white  lime,  which  imparted  to  the  build 
ing's  an  air  of  cleanliness  and  domestic  comfort.  Most  of  the 
dwellings  were  surrounded  by  piazzas,  on  which  the  inmates  found 
a  pleasant  retreat  to  while  away  in  social  converse  the  sultry  sum 
mer  evenings.  Destitute  of  machinery  for  cutting  their  trees  into 
boards,  they  split  them  into  slabs,  which  were  used  for  flooring, 
doors  and  other  purposes,  while  as  a  substitute  for  shingles  they 
thatched  their  buildings  with  straw.  Although  having  the  great 
est  amplitude  for  wide  streets,  they  generally  made  them  so  nar 
row  that  the  merry  villagers  living  on  opposite  sides  could  carry 
on  their  sprightly  conversations  each  from  his  own  balcony.  Even 
in  detached  settlements  the  social  turn  of  the  people  induced 
them  to  group  their  dwellings  as  closely  together  as  possible. 
Each  settlement  had  its  patriarchal  homestead,  which  generally 
stood  in  a  spacious  enclosure,  and  was  occupied  by  the  oldest 
member  of  the  family.  Around  this  sprung  up  a  cluster  of  cotta 
ges,  the  residence  of  each  child  and  grand  child  as  it  married  and 
became  the  head  of  a  family.  Not  unfrequently  the  aged  patri 
arch  became  the  centre  of  a  dozen  growing  families  of  his  own 
lineage  and  embracing  3  or  4  generations. 

Common  Field. — A  duty  imposed  upon  the  commandant  of  each 
village  was  to  reserve  a  tract  of  land  for  a  common  iield,  in  which 
all  the  inhabitants  were  interested.  To  each  villager  was  assigned 
a  portion  of  the  field,  the  size  of  which  was  proportioned  accord 
ing  to  the  extent  of  his  family.  Lands  thus  apportioned  were 
subject  to  the  regulations  of  the  villages,  and  when  the  party  in 
possession  became  negligent  so  as  to  endanger  the  common  inter 
est  he  forfeited  his  claim.  The  time  of  plowing,  so  wing  and  har 
vesting,  and  other  agricultural  operations,  was  subject  to  the 
enactment  of  the  village  senate.  Even  the  form  and  arrangement 
of  enclosures  surrounding  the  dwellings  and  other  buildings  were 
the  subject  of  special  enactments,  and  were  arranged  with  a 
view  to  protection  against  the  Indians,  should  an  exigency  occur 
making  it  necessary. 

Commons. — Besides  the  common  field,  which  was  designed  for 
tillage,  there  was  a  common  which  was  free  to  all  the  villagers  for 
the  pasture  of  their  stock  and  the  supply  of  fuel.  As  accessions 
were  made  to  the  families  of  the  community,  either  by  marriage 
or  the  arrival  of  strangers,  portions  of  land  were  taken  from  the 
common  and  added  to  the  common  field  for  their  benefit. 

Intercourse  with  the  Indians. — Owing  to  their  amiable  disposi 
tions  and  the  tact  of  ingratiating  themselves  with  the  tribes  that 
surrounded  them,  the  French  almost  entirely  escaped  the  broils 
which  weakened  and  destroyed  other  colonies  less  favored  with 
this  trait  of  character.  Whether  exploring  remote  rivers  or  tra 
versing  hunting  grounds  in  pursuit  of  game  ;  in  the  social  circle  or 
as  participants  in  the  religious  exercises  of  the  church,  the  red 
men  became  their  associates  and  were  treated  with  the  kindness 
and  consideration  of  brothers.  Like  the  Quakers  guided  by  the 
example  of  Penn,  they  kept  up  a  mutual  interchange  of  friendly 
offices  with  their  red  neighbors,  and  such  was  the  community  of 
interests,  the  feeling  of  dependence  and  social  equality,  that  inter 
marriages  frequently  occurred,  thus  more  closely  uniting  them  in 


INTERCOURSE  WITH  INDIANS.  129 

the  bonds  of  peace.  Penn  and  Ms  folloAvers  for  many  years  lived 
in  unbroken  peace  with  their  brethren  of  the  forest,  but  that  es 
tablished  by  these  pioneers  of  Illinois  was  never  interrupted  and 
for  more  than  a  hundred  years  the  country  enjoyed  the  benign  in 
fluence  of  peace;  and  when  at  length  it  terminated,  it  was  not  the 
conciliatory  Frenchman,  but  the  blunt  and  sturdy  Anglo-Saxon 
who  supplanted  him  that  was  made  the  victim  of  savage  ven 
geance.  * 

The  calm  and  quiet  tenor  of  their  lives,  remote  from  the  bustle 
and  harrassing  cares  of  civilization,  imparted  a  serenity  to  their 
lives  rarely  witnessed  in  communities  where  the  acquisition  of 
wealth  and  honor  are  suffered  to  exclude  the  better  feelings  of 
human  nature.  Lands  of  unequaled  fertility,  and  the  still  more 
prolific  waters  and  the  chase  supplied  almost  unsolicited  the  wants 
of  life  and  largely  contributed  to  the  light  hearted  gaiety  of  the 
people.  With  ample  leisure  and  free  from  corroding  cares,  they 
engaged  in  their  various  amusements  with  more  than  ordinary 
pleasure.  Prominent  among  their  diversions  was  the  light  fantas 
tic  dance  of  the  young.  At  this  gay  and  innocent  diversion  could 
be  seen  the  village  priest  and  the  aged  patriarch  and  his  com 
panion,  whose  eyes  beamed  with  delight  at  beholding  the  harmless 
mirth  of  their  children.  When  parties  assembled  for  this  purpose 
it  was  customary  to  choose  the  older  and  more  discreet  persons  to 
secure  proper  decorum  during  the  entertainment  and  see  that  all 
had  an  opportunity  to  participate  in  its  pleasure.  Frequently, 
on  the.se  occasions,  fathers  and  mothers  whose  youthful  enthu 
siasm  time  had  mellowed  down  to  sober  enjoyments  again  became 
young  and  participated  in  the  mazy  evolutions  of  the  dance. 
Even  the  slave,  imbibing  the  spirit  of  the  gay  assemblage,  was 
delighted  because  his  master  Avas  happy,  and  the  latter  in  turn 
was  pleased  at  the  enjoyment  of  the  slave.  Whenever  the  old, 
who  were  authority  in  such  cases,  decided  that  the  entertainment 
had  been  protracted  sufficiently  long,  it  was  brought  to  a  close ; 
and  thus  the  excesses  which  so  frequently  attend  parties  of  this 
kind  at  the  present  day  were  avoided. 

At  the  close  of  each  year  it  was  an  unvarying  and  time-honored 
custom  among  them  for  the  young  men  to  disguise  themselves 
in  old  clothes,  visit  the  several  houses  of  the  village,  and  engage  in 
friendly  dances  with  the  inmates.  This  was  understood  as  an 
invitation  for  the  members  of  the  family  to  meet  in  a  general  ball, 
to  dance  the  old  year  out  and  the  new  year  in.  Large  crowds 
assembling  on  these  occasions,  and  taking  with  them  refreshments, 

[*Says  Hall  in  his  Sketches  of  the  West:  " We  have  heard  of  an  occasion  on  which 
this  reciprocal  kindness  was  very  strongly  shown.  Many  years  ago  a  murder  having 
been  committed  in  some  broil,  three  Indian  young- men  were  given  up  by  the  Kaskas- 
kias  to  the  civil  authorities  of  the  newly  established  American  government.  The  pop 
ulation  of  Kaskaskia  was  still  entirely  French,  who  felt  much  sympathy  for  their  Indian 
f  rien<)3,  and  saw  these  hard  proceedings  of  the  law  with  great  dissatisfaction.  The  la 
dies,  particularly,  took  a  warm  interest  in  the  fate  of  the  young  aborigines,  and  deter 
mined  if  they  must  die,  they  should  at  least  be  converted  to  Christianity  in  the  mean 
while,  and  be  baptized  in  the  true  church.  Accordingly,  after  due  preparation, 
arrangements  were  made  for  a  public  baptism  of  the  neophites  in  the  old  cathedral  of 
the  village.  Each  of  the  youths  wasadopted  by  a  lady  who  gave  him  a  name  and  was  to 
stand  godmother  in  the  ceremony,  and  the  lady  patronesses  with  their  respective 
friends  were  busily  engaged  for  some  time  in  preparing  decorations  for  the  festivities. 
There  was  quite  a  sensation  in  the  village.  Never  were  three  young  men  brought  into 
notoriety  more  suddenly  or  more  decidedly.  The  ladies  talked  of  nothing  else  and  all 
the  needles  in  the  village  were  employed  in  tl"e  preparation  of  finery  for  the  occasion. 
Previous  to  the  evening  of  hanging, 'the  aboriginals  gave  the  jailer  the  slip  and  es 
caped,  aided  most  probably  by  the  ladies,  who  had  planned  the  whole  affair  with  a  view 
tothisend.  Thelawisnot  vindictive  in  new  communities.  The  danger  soon  blew 
over;  the  young  men  again  appeared  in  public  and  evinced  their  gratitude  to  their 
benefactors.] 


130  HISTORY  OF   ILLINOIS. 

with  good  clieer  and  merry  dance  beguiled  the  flying  hours  till  the 
clock  on  the  mantle  chimed  the  advent  of  the  new  born  year. 
Another  custom  was,  on  the  Oth  of  January,  to  choose  by  lot  4  kings, 
each  of  whom  selected  for  himself  a  queen,  after  which  the  parties 
thus  selected  proceeded  to  make  arrangements  for  an  entertain 
ment  styled,  in  the  parlance  of  the  times,  a  king-ball.  Toward  the 
close  of  the  lirst  dance,  the  old  queens  selected  new  kings  whom 
they  kissed  as  the  formality  of  introduction  into  office.  In  a  simi 
lar  manner,  the  newly  selected  kings  chose  new  queens,  and  the 
lively  and  mirthful  dance  continued  during  the  carnival,  or  the 
week  preceding  Lent.  The  numerous  festivals  of  the  Catholic 
church  strongly  tended  to  awaken  and  develope  the  social  and 
friendly  intercourse  of  the  people. 

All  were  Catholics  and  revered  the  pope  as  the  vice-gerent  of 
God,  and  respected  their  priests  as  spiritual  guides  and  friendly 
counselors  in  the  secular  affairs  of  life.  Mostly  without  schools 
or  learning,  the  priest  was  the  oracle  in  science  and  religion,  and 
their  enunciations  on  these  subjects  were  received  with  an  unques 
tioning  faith  as  true.  Ignorant  of  creeds  and  logical  disputations, 
their  religion  consisted,  in  the  main,  of  gratitude  to  God  and  love 
for  mankind — qualities  by  far  more  frequently  found  in  the  unpre 
tending  Avalks  of  life  than  in  the  glare  of  wealth  and  power. 

As  the  result  of  these  virtues,  children  were  loving  and  obedient, 
husbands  and  wives  kind  and  affectionate.  The  latter  had  the 
undivided  control  of  domestic  matters;  and  as  a  further  tribute  to 
her  moral  worth,  she  was  the  chief  umpire  in  cases  of  social  equity 
and  propriety.  None  more  than  she,  whose  intuition  could  i>ene- 
trate  at  a  glance  the  most  subtle  casuistry,  was  better  qualified  to 
detect  and  enforce  it  in  a  gentle  and  impartial  manner.  The  peo 
ple  attended  church  in  the  morning,  after  which  they  collected  and 
spent  the  remainder  of  the  day  in  social  intercourse  and  innocent 
pastimes.  To  the  more  sedate  Protestant,  such  amusements  on 
the  Sabbath,  seem  unreasonable ;  but  the  French  inhabitants  of 
the  country,  in  these  early  times,  regarded  them  as  a  part  of  their 
religion,  and  conducted  them  with  the  utmost  propriety.  If  ques 
tioned  as  to  their  gaiety  on  the  Sabbath,  they  replied,  that  man  was 
made  for  happiness,  and  the  more  he  enjoyed  the  innocent  pleas 
ures  of  life  the  more  acceptable  he  rendered  himself  to  his  crea 
tor.  They  contended  that  those  who,  on  the  Sabbath,  repressed 
the  expression  of  joyous  feelings  under  the  guise  of  sanctity,  were 
the  persons  ready  to  cheat  their  neighbors  during  the  remainder 
of  the  week.  Such,  were  the  religious  sentiments  of  a  people  prone 
to  hospitality,  urbanity  of  manners,  and  innocent  recreation;  who 
presented  their  daily  orisons  to  the  throne  of  grace  with  as  much 
confidence  of  receiving  a  blessing,  as  that  enjoyed  by  his  most 
devout  Puritan  brother. 

The  costume  of  the  Illinois  French,  like  their  manners  and  cus 
toms,  was  simple  and  peculiar.  Too  poor,  and  too  remote  to  obtain 
finer  fabrics,  the  men,  during  the  summer,  wore  pantaloons  made 
of  coarse  blue  cloth,  which,  during  winter,  was  supplanted  by 
buckskin.  Over  their  shuts  and  long  vests,  a  flannel  cloak  was 
worn,  to  the  collar  of  which  a  hood  was  attached,  which,  in  cold 
weather,  was  drawn  over  the  head,  but  in  warm  weather  it  fell 
back  on  the  shoulders  after  the  manner  of  a  cape.  Among  voy 
agers  and  'hunters,  the  head  was  more  frequently  covered  with  a 


COSTI^IES   AND   OCCUPATIONS.  131 

blue  handkerchief  folded  in  the  form  of  a  turban.  In  the  same 
manner,  but  tastefully  trimmed  with  ribbons,  was  formed  the  fancy 
head  dress  which  the  women  wore  at  balls  and  other  festive  occa 
sions.  The  dress  of  the  matron,  though  plain  and  of  the  antique 
short-waist,  was  frequently  varied  in  its  minor  details  to  suit  the 
diversities  of  taste.  Both  sexes  wore  moccasins  which,  on  public 
occasions,  were  variously  decorated  with  shells,  beads,  and  ribbons, 
giving  them  a  tasty  and  picturesque  appearance. 

No  mechanical  vocation  as  a  means  of  earning  a  livelihood,  was 
known.  The  principal  occupation  was  agriculture,  which,  owing 
to  the  extreme  fertility  of  the  soil,  produced  the  most  munificent 
harvests.  Young  men  of  enterprise,  anxious  to  see  the  world  and 
to  distinguish  themselves,  became  voyagers,  hunters,  and  agents 
of  fur  companies,  and  in  discharging  their  duties,  visited  the  remote 
sources  of  the  Missouri,  Mississippi,  and  their  tributaries.  After 
mouths  of  absence,  spentin  this  adventurous  employment  among  the 
most  distant  savage  nations  of  the  wilderness,  they  would  return  to 
their  native  villages,  laden  with  furs  and  peltries.  These  articles 
for  a  long  time  constituted  the  only  medium  of  exchange,  and  the 
means  whereby  they  procured  guns,  ammunition,  and  other  impor 
tant  requisites  of  their  primitive  life.  The  re-union  with  their  friends 
was  signalized  by  the  dance,  the  most  important  requisite  of  hospi 
tality,  gaiety  and  happiness.  The  whole  village  would  assemble  on 
these  occasions  to  see  the  renewed  voyagers,  and  hear  them  recount 
the  strange  sights  and  the  adventures  which  they  had  encountered. 

Xo  regular  court  was  held  in  the  country  for  more  than  a  hun 
dred  years,  or  till  its  occupation  by  the  English,  evidencing  that  a 
virtuous  and  honest  community  can  live  in  peace  and  harmony 
without  the  serious  infraction  of  law.  The  governor,  aided  by  the 
friendly  advice  of  the  commandants  and  priests  of  the  villages, 
either  prevented  the  existence  of  controversies,  or  settled  them 
when  they  arose,  without  a  resort  to  litigation.  Although  these 
civil  functionaries  were  clothed  with  absolute  power,  such  was  the 
paternal  manner  in  which  it  was  exercised,  it  is  said,  that  the  "rod 
of  domination  fell  on  them  so  lightly  as  to  hardly  be  felt.77  When, 
in  1765,  the  country  passed  into  the  possession  of  the  English, 
many  of  them,  rather  than  submit  to  a  change  in  the  institutions 
to  which  they  were  accustomed  and  attached,  preferred  to  leave 
their  fields  and  homes,  and  seek  a  new  abode  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Mississippi,  still  supposed  to  be  under  the  dominion  of  France. 
Upon  the  reception  of  assurances,  however,  from  Great  Britain, 
that  they  should  be  protected  in  their  property  and  religion,  many 
of  them  remained.  Those  who  had  removed  to  the  west  side  of 
the  river  enjoyed  but  a  brief  interval  of  peace.  Intelligence  was 
received  that  France  had  ceded  all  western  and  southern  Louisiana 
to  Spain,  and  although  Spanish  authority  was  not  extended  over 
the  territory  for  a  period  of  five  years,  it  was  a  period  of  uncer 
tainty  and  anxiety.  The  Spanish  government,  like  that  of  France, 
was  mild  and  parental.  Every  indulgence  was  extended  to  her 
new  subjects,  and  for  thirty  years  they  continued  to  enjoy  their 
ancient  customs  and  religion.  The  next  inroads  upon  their  anti 
quated  habits  was  the  advance  of  the  Americans  to  the  Missis 
sippi,  in  the  region  of  Illinois.  The  unwelcome  news  was  received 
that  all  Louisiana  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  and  a  new  sys 
tem  of  jurisprudence  was  to  be  extended  over  them.  Previous  to 


132  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


this  cession  they  had  to  a  great  extent  become  reconciled  and 
attached  to  Spanish  rule,  but  when  the  new  regime  was  extended 
over  them,  totally  at  a  loss  to  comprehend  the  workings  of  repub 
licanism,  they  asked  to  be  relieved  of  the  intolerable  burden  of 
self-  go  ver  1 1  m  en  t . 

Thus,  in  the  heart  of  the  continent,  more  than  a  thousand  miles 
from  either  ocean,  in  a  region  styled  by  LaSalle  a  territorial  para 
dise,  flourished  these  interesting  communities,  in  the  enjoyment 
of  peace,  contentment  and  happiness.  It  was,  however,  of  a  pas 
sive  character,  wanting  in  that  intensity  of  enjoyment  which  flows 
from  fully  developed  powers  and  an  energetic  and  progressive 
mode  of  life.  The  faculties  of  both  mind  and  body  languish  with 
out  labor,  and  that  may  be  considered  the  normal  condition  of  the 
race  which  brings  into  healthy  play  all  the  diversified  springs  of 
action  and  thought  which  make  up  the  wonderful  machinery  of 
man.  Without  effort  and  useful  industry  he  is  the  creature  of 
languid  enjoyments,  and  a  stranger  to  the  highly  wrought  sensi 
bility  and  the  exquisite  delights  resulting  from  cultured  mental 
and  physical  powers.  Furthermore,  without  enterprise,  the  vast 
material  forces  which  slumber  in  the  crust  of  the  earth,  and  its 
mantle  of  exhuberant  soil,  cannot  be  made  available.  While 
there  was  peace  and  contentment  on  the  banks  of  the  Illinois,  the 
"W abash,  and  the  Upper  Mississippi,  it  was  reserved  for  a  different 
race  to  develop  the  vast  coal  fields  and  exhaustless  soil  of  this 
favored  region,  and  cause  their  life  sustaining  products  to  pulsate 
through  the  great  commercial  arteries  of  the  continent.  While  this 
simple,  virtuous  and  happy  people,  dwelt  in  the  granary  of  Xorth 
America  almost  unconscious  of  its  vast  resources,  there  was  cling 
ing  to  the  inhospitable  shores  of  the  Atlantic  an  intelligent  and 
sinewy  race,  which  was  destined. to  sweep  over  and  occupy  their 
fruitful  muds  as  the  floods  of  the  great  river  overwhelms  and 
imports  fertility  to  its  banks.  Only  a  few  remnants  of  them  have 
escaped  the  inflowing  tide  of  American  population,  who  still  retain 
to  a  great  extent  the  ancient  habits  and  customs  of  their  fathers. 
With  their  decline  came  the  downfall  of  their  tawny  allies  of  the 
forest,  and  a  new  direction  was  given  to  American  history. 
France,  could  she  have  remained  supreme,  with  her  far  reaching 
and  adventurous  genius,  aided  by  Jesuit  enterprise,  would  perhaps 
have  partially  civilized  the  savages  and  thus  have  arrested  their 
destruction.  Populations  would  have  sprung  up  in  the  basins  of 
the  Great  Lakes,  and  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  under  the 
impress  of  a  feudal  monarchy,  and  controlled  by  a  hierarchy  of 
priests  hostile  to  freedom  of  thought.  The  progress  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty  would  have  been  temporarily  but  not  permanently 
suspended.  The  present  free  institutions  of  America  would  have 
been  delayed  till  the  shifting  phases  of  national  life  furnished  new 
opportunities  for  experiment  and  improvement. 

[Many  curious  anecdotes  might  be  still  picked  up  i'?  relation  to  these  early  settlers, 
especially  in  Illinois  and  Missouri,  where  the  Spanish,  French,  English  and  Americans, 
have  had  sway  in  rapid  succession.  At  one  time  the  French  had  possession  of  one  side 
of  the  Mississippi  river  and  the  Spaniards  the  other  ;  and  a  story  is  told  of  a  Spaniard 
living- on  one  shore,  who,  having  a  creditor  residing  on  the  other,  seized  a  child,  the 
daughter  of  the  latter,  and  having  borne  her  across  the  river  which  formed  the  national 
boundary,  held  her  a  hostage  for  the  payment  of  the  debt.  The  civil  authorities  de 
clined  interfering,  and  the  military  did  not  think  the  matter  of  sufficient  importance  to 
create  a  national  war,  and  the  Frenchman  had  to  redeem  the  daughter  by  discharging 
his  creditor's  demand.  The  lady  who  was  thus  abducted  was  still  living  a  few  years 
ago  near  Cahokia,  the  mother  of  a  uumerous  progeny  of  American  French.] 


JEALOUSIES   AND   ANIMOSITIES.  133 

In  the  year  1750  LaBuissonier,  governor  of  Illinois,  was  succeeded 
by  ChevalierMacarty.  The  peace  which  had  given  such  unexampled 
prosperity  to  Louisiana,  was  soon  to  be  broken  by  the  clangor  and 
discord  of  war.  .Already,  in  the  controversy  between  France  and 
England  in  regard  to  their  respective  possessions,  could  be  heard 
the  first  throes  of  the  revolution  which  gave  a  new  master  and  new 
institutions  not  only  to  Illinois,  but  to  the  Avhole  continent.  France 
claimed  the  whole  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  which  her  missionaries 
ami  pioneers  had  explored  and  partially  settled,  and  England  the 
right  to  extend  her  possessions  on  the  Atlantic  indefinitely  west 
ward.  The  jealousies  and  animosities  of  the  parent  countries  soon 
crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  colonial  intrigues  were  the  result. 
Traders  from  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  again  commenced  intro 
ducing  large  quantities  of  goods  among  the  Chiekasaws  and  other 
tribes  of  southern  Louisiana,  and  again  endeavored  to  alienate 
them  from  their  treaty  stipulations  with  the  French.  As  the 
result,  depredations  were  renewed  by  the  Chicasaws,  and  a  third 
expedition  was  sent  to  their  forest  fastnesses  on  the  Tombigbee,  to 
reduce  them  to  submission,  but  like  its  predecessors,  it  was  sub 
stantially  a  failure.  Farther  northward  similar  disturbances 
commenced.  British  merchants  sent  their  agents  to  the  Miamis 
and  other  western  tribes,  whose  traffic  had  been  previously  mo 
nopolized  by  the  French.  A  more  grievous  offense  was  the 
formation  of  a  company  to  whom  the  king  of  England  granted  a 
large  tract  of  land  on  the  Ohio,  and  conferred  on  it  the  privilege 
of  trading  with  the  western  Indians. 

The  operations  of  the  Ohio  company  soon  drew  the  French  and 
English  colonial  authorities  into  a  controversy,  and  the  mother 
countries  Avere  ready  to  back  any  effort  that  either  might  make  for 
the  maintenence  and  extension  of  their  respective  possessions.  As 
the  traders,  who  were  encouraged  by  the  Ohio  company,  were 
mostly  from  Pennsylvania  and  Xew  York,  the  governor  of  Canada 
informed  the  executives  of  these  colonies  that  their  traders  had 
been  trafficing  with  Indians  dwelling  on  French  territory,  and 
unless  they  immediately  desisted  from  this  illicit  commerce,  he 
would  cause  them  to  be  seized  and  punished.  Notwithstanding 
this  menace,  the  Ohio  company  employed  an  agent  to  survey  their 
lands  southwesterly  to  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  and  northwesterly 
some  distance  up  the  Miami  and  Scioto.  Virginia,  also  seconding 
the  efforts  of  the  company,  obtained  from  the  Indians  the  privilege 
to  form  settlements  on  the  southeast  side  of  the  Ohio,  18  miles 
below  the  junction  of  the  Alleghany  and  Monongahela. 

England  and  France  now  saw  that  their  territorial  contest  could 
only  be  settled  by  a  resort  to  arms,  and  each  urged  its  colonial  au 
thorities  to  institute  preparations  for  defending  their  respective 
boundaries.  In  the  coming  contest  the  result  could  not  be  doubt 
ful,  for  the  colonists  of  the  former  power  numbered  1.051, 000,  while 
those  of  the  latter  were  only  52,000.  Beside  this  great  disparity 
of  numbers,  France  had  transmitted  to  her  possessions  institutions 
which  shackled  their  progress.  The  English  colonists  brought 
with  them  advanced  ideas  of  government  from  their  native  land, 
and  left  behind  them  the  monarch  and  the  nobility.  The  French 
emigrant  came  with  only  the  feudal  ideas  of  the  past,  and  cared 
little  for  the  innovations  of  modern  freedom.  The  former  claiming 
the  right  of  religious  liberty,  withdrew  from  the  established  church 


134  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

and  had  a  self-appointed  ministry.  The  latter  was  closed  against 
every  ray  of  theological  light,  and  dominated  by  a  foreign  priest 
hood,  from  whose  teachings  there  was  not  a  single  dissenter.  The 
one  were  self-reliant,  self- sustaining,  and  energetic  ;  ever  pressing 
their  way  against  the  receding  forests ;  always  advancing,  but 
never  retreating  The  other  were  accustomed  to  follow  a  leader, 
and  depend  upon  the  parent  country  for  supplies,  which  they 
might  have  produced  themselves.  The  inhabitants  of  British 
America  had  the  press,  local  legislatures,  municipal  discipline,  the 
benefit  of  free  schools,  and  were  accustomed  to  think  and  act  for 
themselves.  As  the  result,  from  the  waters  of  the  southern  gulf  to 
where  civilization  is  stayed  by  barriers  of  perpetual  frost,  the  con 
tinent  is  their  heritage. 

In  response  to  the  advice  of  the  British  government,  Virginia 
raised  a  force  for  the  protection  of  her  frontier,  and  sent  Major 
Washington  with  a  letter  to  the  French  commandant  011  the  Ohio, 
requesting  him  to  withdraw  his  troops  from  the  dominion  of  Great 
Britain.  The  officer  courteously  replied  that  u  it  was  not  his 
province  to  determine  whether  the  land  situated  on  the  Ohio  be 
longed  to  his  sovereign,  but  he  would  transmit  the  letter  to  his 
superior  officer,  and  act  in  accordance  with  Ms  instructions.  In 
the  meantime,  he  did  not  think  it  incumbent  upon  him  to  obey 
the  summons  of  the  British  government,  and  would  tlefend  his 
position  with  all  the  skill  and  force  at  his  command.7*  Washing 
ton,  after  encountering  much  hardship,  returned  safely,  and 
reported  the  reply  of  the  French  officer.  The  following  year  lie 
received  orders  from  the  governor  of  Virginia  to  proceed  with  1200 
men  and'complete  the  erection  of  a  fort  at  the  junction  of  the  Monon- 
gahela  and  the  Alleghany,  previously  commenced  by  the  Ohio 
company.  The  attempt  to  execute  the  order  was  defeated  by  the 
French  officer,  M.  Contrecoeur,  who,  anticipating  the  arrival  of  the 
Virginia  forces,  moved  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mommgahela  ii» 
advance,  with  18  pieces  of  cannon  and  a  force  of  1,000  French  and 
Indians.  He  drove  away  the  small  detachment  of  Virginia  militia 
and  some  employes  in  the  Ohio  company,  and  completing  the  fort 
they  had  commenced,  they  called  it  liuQuesne,  in  honor  of  the 
governor  of  New  France.  In  the  meantime,  a  small  detachment 
under  Jummonville,  was  sent  to  notify  Washing-ton  to  withdraw 
from  French  territory.  The  American  officer,  learning  beforehand 
the  approach  of  Jummonville,  made  arrangements  to  fall  on  him  by 
surprise.  At  a  place  called  the  Little  Meadows,  the  forces  met, 
and  Washington,  ordering  his  men  to  tire,  set  the  example  by  dis 
charging  his  own  musket.  Its  flash  kindled  the  forests  of  America 
to  a  name,  and  scattered  its  fires  over  the  kingdom  of  Europe.  It 
was  the  signal  gun  whose  reverbrations  followed  the  night  of  years, 
announced  the  revolution  which  banished  from  the  New  World  the 
institutions  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  erected  upon  their  ruins  the 
fabric  of  free  government.  The  tidings  of  the  renconter  earned  the 
fame  of  Washington  across  the  Atlantic,  and  while  liis  name  was 
execrated  by  the  advocates  of  feudal  monarchy,  they  chanted 
in  heroic  verse  the  martyrdom  of  Jummonville,  who  had  been  slain 
in  battle.  "  And  at  the  very  time  Washington  became  known  to 
France,  the  child  was  born  who  was  one  day  to  stretch  out  his 
hand  for  the  relief  of  America.  How  many  defeated  interests  bent 


MILITARY   OPERATIONS.  135 

over  the  grave  of  Jumuionville,  and  how  niauy  hopes  clustered 
about  the  cradle  of  the  infant  Louis.  "* 

Fort  Ohartres  was  at  this  time  the  depot  of  supplies  and  the 
place  of  rendezvous  for  the  united  forces  of  Illinois  and  other 
posts  of  Louisiana.  Shortly  after  the  affray  at  the  Little  Meadows, 
M.  de  Villiers,  a  brother  of  Juniinonville,  and  at  the  time  an  officer 
at  Fort  Chartres,  solicited  Macarty,  the  commandant  of  the  for 
tress,  to  go  and  avenge  the  death  of  his  relative.  Permission  was 
granted,  and  with  a  force  from  the  garrison  and  a  large  number 
of  Indians,  he  passed  down  the  Mississippi  and  up  the  Ohio  to 
Fort  DiiQuesne,  of  which  he  subsequently  became  the  commander. 
From  the  fort  he  proceeded  to  the  ground  of  the  recent  battle. 
Washington,  finding  himself  confronted  with  greatly  superior 
forces,  fell  back  to  Fort  Necessity,  a  rude  stockade  previously 
erected  at  the  Great  Meadows.  Thither  they  were  followed  by  De 
Yilliers  with  a  force  of  GOO  French  and  a  smaller  number  of  Indians, 
who  took  possession  of  an  adjacent  eminence  and  commenced 
firing  from  behind  trees  on  the  men  in  the  fort  beneath  them. 
Animated  by  the  cool  determination  of  their  commander,  the  raw 
provincials,  so  unequal  in  numbers  and  position  to  their  assailants, 
for  nine  hours  maintained  their  position.  At  length  the  French 
commander,  fearing  the  exhaustion  of  his  ammunition,  proposed 
terms  of  capitulation,  which  Washington  in  his  critical  situation 
was  compelled  to  accept.  The  terms  were  magnanimous,  the 
besieged  being  permitted  to  retire  with  the  honors  of  war  and  all 
their  munitions,  except  the  artillery.  Upon  the  defeat  of  the  Vir 
ginia  forces,  England  and  France  took  up  the  gauntlet,  ami  the 
contest  between  the  colonists  became  further  intensified.  In  1755, 
General  Braddock  arrived  in  Virginia  with  two  regiments  of 
British  regulars.  Washington  was  made  one  of  his  aids-de-camp, 
and  afterward  his  force  was  augmented  by  the  addition  of  1,000 
provincials.  Thus  strengthened  he  started  for  Fort  DnQuesne, 
and  at  the  Little  Meadows  received  intelligence  of  the  expected 
arrival  of  500  troops  to  strengthen  the  garrison  of  the  fort. 
Leaving  Col.  Dunbar  with  800  men  to  bring  up  his  stores,  he 
hastened  forward  with  the  remainder  to  reach  the  fort  in  advance 
of  the  reinforcements.  Crossing  the  Monongahela  he  pushed 
forward  with  so  much  rapidity  that  he  seldom  took  time  to  recon 
noitre  the  woods  and  tangled  thickets  through  which  he  was 
passing.  In  the  meantime  the  commandant  at  Fort  DiiQuesne, 
apprised  by  the  French  and  Indian  scouts  of  the  approach  of  the 
British  force,  sent  M.  Beaujeu  with  a  force  of  250  French  and  GOO 
Indians  to  check  their  advance.  Seven  miles  from  the  fort  they 
concealed  themselves  on  the  borders  of  a  ravine  through  which 
Braddock  must  pass,  and  awaited  his  arrival.  As  soon  as  his 
men  entered  the  hollow,  the  concealed  enemy  opened  upon  those 
in  front,  and  the  rear  forces  pushed  rapidly  forward  to  support 
them.  Before  this  could  be  effected,  the  advanced  columns  fell 
back  in  a  heap  on  the  artillery,  and  the  army  became  greatly  con 
fused.  At  this  juncture  the  Virginia  forces,  contrary  to  orders, 
took  positions  behind  trees  and  fought  till  all  were  killed  except 
thirty  men.  The  regulars,  remaining  in  a  compact  body,  were 
terribly  cut  to  pieces.  Braddock  received  a  mortal  wound  and 

*Bancroft. 


13G  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


died  in  the  camp  of  Col.  D  unbar,  whither  with  the  shattered  rem 
nants  of  his  army  he  retreated.  Never  before  had  the  Indians 
received  such  a  harvest  of  scalps  as  that  gathered  from  the  fatal 
field.  Dressed  in  the  laced  hats  and  scarlet  coats  of  the  dead, 
they  celebrated  the  victory  by  exhibiting  their  personal  decorations 
and  iiriiig  guns,  which  were  answered  by  the  artillery  of  the  fort. 
When  the  news  of  the  battle  became  known  the  two  belligerents 
increased  their  forces,  and  in  1754  Fort  Duquesne  again  became 
the  objective  point  of  an  English  army.  Gen.  Forbes,  with  a  force 
of  7,000,  approached  it,  and  the  garrison  of  Illinois  and  other 
troops  being  unable  to  cope  with  such  a  formidable  arnij^  dis 
mantled  the  fort  and  retired  to  different  parts  of  the  West.  A 
portion  of  the  fugitives  under  M.  Massac  descended  the  Ohio  river 
and  built  a  fort  on  the  Illinois  side  of  the  stream,  forty  miles  from 
its  mouth.  The  fort  bore  the  name  of  its  founder,  and  was  fur 
nished  with  a  small  garrison  till  the  close  of  the  Avar.  Such  was 
the  origin  of  the  last  French  fort  built  on  the  Ohio,  divested  of  the 
romance  which  fable  has  thrown  around  its  name.*  In  the  course 
of  the  struggle  Ticonderoga,  Crown  Point  and  Niagara,  fell 
before  the  victorious  arms  of  England,  and  finally  it  terminated 
in  1759  by  the  capture  of  Quebec.  As  the  result  of  the  contest  011 
the  Plains  of  Abraham,  Illinois  and  its  vast  resources  became  the 
heritage  of  a  different  race.  Anglo-Saxon  energy  and  progress 
were  now  to  gather  from  its  prolific  soil  treasures  far  exceeding  in 
value  the  exhaust-less  mines  of  ^t)ld,  which  had  haunted  the  imag 
ination  of  its  Gallic  inhabitants,  even  if  their  dreams  had  been 
realized.  In  this  closing  battle  the  colossal  power  of  France  in 
North  America  received  a  fatal  blow.  From  her  first  permanent 
settlement  on  the  St.  Lawrence  she  held  dominion  over  its  waters 
for  a  period  of  1.50  years.  The  Teutonic  race,  with  its  partiality 
for  individual  rights,  for  self-government  and  freedom,  now  ob 
tained  the  dominion  of  a  continent  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the 
Pole,  and  the  English  tonguge,  whose  utterance  150  years  before 
was  confined  to  two  small  islands  on  the  western  verge  of  Europe, 
was  now  to  become  the  language  of  a  continent,  and  ultimately, 
perhaps,  a  universal  vehicle  for  the  expression  of  human  thought. 

*LNoTE  —  Jas.  Hall,  in  his  Sketches  of  the  West,  says  :  "The  French  had  also  a  fort 
on  the  Ohio,  about  36  miles  above  the  junction  of  that  river  with  the  Mississippi,  of 
which  the  Indians  obtained  possession  by  a  singular  stratagem.  A  number  of  them 
appeared  in  the  day  time  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  each  covered  with  a  bear 
skin,  walking  on  all-fours,  and  imitating  the  motions  of  that  animal.  The  French  sup 
posed  them  to  be  bears,  and  a  party  crossed  the  river  in  pursuit  of  them.  The 
remainder  of  the  troops  left  their  quarters  and  resorted  to  the  bank  of  the  river,  in 
front  of  the  garrison,  to  observe  the  sport.  In  the  meantime,  a  large  body  of  warriors, 
who  were  concealed  in  the  woods  near  by,  came  silently  up  behind  the  fort,  entered  it 
without  opposition,  and  very  few  of  the  French  escaped  the  carnage.  They  afterward 
built  another  fort  on  the  same  ground,  which  they  called  Massacre,  in  memory  of  this 
disastrous  event,  and  which  retained  the  name  of  Fort  Massac  after  it  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  American  government."  The  Rev.  J.  M.  Peck,  in  his  "Annals  of  the 
West,"  thinks  ''the  foregoing  statement  is  a  truthful  one,  according  to  all  the  tradi 
tional  evidence  we  can  collect."  Dr.  Lewis  Beck's  Gazeteer  of  Illinois  and  Missouri 
contains  the  same  story,  as  also  Reynold's  Pioneer  History  of  Illinois  ;  and  in  his  Life 
and  Times,  the  latter  says  :  "Fort  Massacre  was  established  by  the  French  about  the  year 
1711,  and  was  also  a  missionary  station  It  was  only  a  small  fortress  until  the  war  of 
1755  between  the  English  and  French .  In  1756  th  fort  was  enlarged  and  made  a  respec 
table  fortres-,  considering  the  wilderness  it  was  in.  It  was  at  this  pla-e  where  the 
Christian  missionaries  instructed  the  Southern  Indians  in  the  gospel  precepts,  and  it 
was  here  also  that  the  French  soldiers  made  a  resolute  stand  against  the  enemy."  The 
place  is  also  referred  to  some  times  as  the  "old  Cherokee  Fort."  The  Letters  Edifl- 
antes  indicate  it  to  have  been  a  mission  and  trading  post  about  1711  In  1800  two  com 
panies  of  U.S.  troops  were  stationed  at  Fort  Massac  and  a  fe\v  lamilies  resided  in  the 
vicinity.  In  1855,  s-ays  Reynolds,  he  vistedthe  site.  The  walls  of  the  ruins  were  135 
feet  square,  pallisaded  with  earth  between,  and  with  strong  bastions  at  each  angle. 
Three  or  four  acres  were  beautifully  gravelled  with  pebbles  from  the  river,  on  the 
north  of  the  fort,  as  a  parade  ground.  The  site  is  a  beautiful  one.] 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

1759-1763— THE  CONSPIRACY  OF  PONTIAC— ATTACK 
UPON  DETROIT— DESTRUCTION  OF  BRITISH  POSTS 
AND  SETTLEMENTS. 


It  has  already  been  stated  that  the  downfall  of  Quebec  was  the 
overthrow  of  French  power  in  North  America.  It  was  not, 
however,  until  1700,  when  the  feeble  and  disheartened  garrison  of 
Montreal  capitulated  without  resistance,  that  Canada  and  its 
dependencies  were  surrendered  to  the  British.  The  overthrow  of 
French  supremacy  was '  now  assured,  but  the  recoil  of  the  blow 
which  had  smitten  it  down  was  the  cause  of  another  great  struggle 
more  desolating  and  widely  extended  than  the  first,  but  ended 
without  accomplishing  any  political  results.  In  the  second  contest 
the  red  man  became  the  principal  actor  and  exhibited  a  degree  of 
sagacity  and  constancy  of  purpose  never  before  witnessed  in  the 
history  of  his  warfare.  The  English,  to  reap  the  fruits  of  their 
victory  at  Quebec,  sent  Major  Robert  Rogers  to  take  possession  of 
the  outposts  on  the  frontier.  He  was  a  native  of  New  Hamp 
shire,  and  his  startling  adventures  in  the  recent  colonial  struggle 
had  made  him  the  model  hero  of  New  England  firesides.  As  he 
coasted  along  the  southern,  shore  of  Lake  Erie  in  the  early  part  of 
November,  1760,  on  his  way  to  Detroit,  it  suddenly  became  cold 
and  stormy,  and  he  determined  to  put  ashore  and  wait  the  return 
of  pleasant  weather.  A  camp  was  soon  formed  in  the  adjacent 
forest,  then  clothed  in  the  fading  hues  of  Autumn,  when  a  number 
of  chiefs  made  their  appearance  and  announced  themselves  as  an 
embassy  from  Pontiac.  The  day  did  not  pass  away  before  the 
daring  chief  himself  came  to  the  camp  and  demanded  of  Rogers 
his  business  in  the  country.  The  latter  replied  that  he  was  on  his 
way  to  Detroit  to  make  peace  with  the  white  men  and  Indians. 
Pontiac  listened  with  attention  and  said  he  would  stand  in  his  path 
till  morning,  and  after  inquiring  if  they  needed  anything  which 
his  country  afforded  withdrew.  This  was  Rogers'  first  interview 
with  the  Napoleon  of  his  race,  whose  great  conspiracy  forms  the 
subject  of  this  chapter. 

According  to  tradition,  he  was  of  medium  height,  commanding 
appearance,  and  possessed  a  muscular  frame  of  great  symmetry  and 
vigor.  His  complexion  was  darker  than  usual  with  individuals  of 
his  race;  his  features  stern,  bold,  and  irregular,  and  his  bearing 
that  of  a  person  accustomed  to  surmount  all  opposition  by  the 
force  of  an  imperious  will.  He  was  generally  clad  in  a  scanty 
cincture  girt  about  his  loins,  with  his  long  black  hair  flowing 
loosely  behind,  but  on  public  occasions  he  plumed  and  painted 

137 


138  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

after  the  manner  of  his  tribe.  On  the  following-  morning',  in  com 
pany  with  his  chiefs,  he  again  visited  the  camp  and  told  Rogers 
he  was  willing  to  be  at  peace  with  the  English  and  suffer  them  to 
remain  in 'his  country  as  long  as  they  treated  him  and  his  country 
men  with  due  deference  and  justice.  Hitherto  he  had  been  the 
devoted  friend  of  the  French,  and  the  motive  which  now  actuated 
him  was  apparent.  Shrewd,  politic,  and  ambitions,  he  sagaciously 
concluded  that  the  power  of  France  was  declining,  and  it  might  be 
best  to  secure  the  good  will  of  the  English.  He  hoped  by  the  aid 
of  snch  powerful  allies  to  extend  his  influence  over  the  tribes  of 
his  own  race,  and  nattered  himself  that  they  also  would  treat  him 
with  the  deference  which  had  previously  been  accorded  him  by  the 
French.  Rogers  had  several  interviews  with  him,  and  was  struck 
with  the  native  vigor  of  his  understanding  and  the  wonderful 
power  he  exercised  over  those  about  him. 

The  storm  abating,  Rogers  and  his  men  resumed  their  voyage  up 
the  lake.  A  messenger  had  been  sent  in  advance  to  notify 
Captain  Beletre,  the  French  Commandant  at  Detroit,  that  Canada 
had  surrendered,  and  that  an  English  force  was  on  its  way  to 
relieve  him.  This  officer  was  greatly  incensed  at  the  reception  of 
the  news  ;  treated  it  as  an  informal  communication,  and  stirred  np 
the  Indians  to  resist  the  advance  of  Rogers.  When,  therefore,  the 
latter  arrived  at  the  month  of  the  Detroit,  and  was  about  to  ascend 
it,  he  found  four  hundred  Indian  warriors  ready  to  dispute  his 
further  progress.  Pontiac  however,  whose  vigilance  was  ever  on 
the  alert,  interposed  in  behalf  of  his  new  friends,  and  they  were 
permitted  to  reach  Detroit  without  further  opposition.  Rogers 
immediately  took  possession  of  the  fort,  and  the  French  garrison 
defiled  out  on  the  plain  and  laid  down  their  arms.  As  the  French 
colors  wcsre  loAvered  from  the  flagstaff,  and  those  of  England 
hoisted  aloft,  the  spectacle  was  greeted  by  the  yells  of  TOO  Indian 
warriors.  The  Canadian  militia  were  next  disarmed,  and  the 
Indians,  unable  to  comprehend  why  so  many  should  submit  to  so 
few,  regarded  with  astonishment  what  they  considered  as  obse 
quious  conduct  on  the  part  of  their  recent  allies.  Nothing  is  so 
effective  in  winning  the  respect  of  savages  as  an  exhibition  of 
l>o wer,  and  hence  the  Indians  formed  the  most  exalted  conceptions 
of  English  prowess,  but  were  greatly  surprised  at  their  sparing  the 
lives  of  the  vanquished. 

Thus,  on  the  29th  of  November,  1760,  Detroit  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  English.  The  French  garrison  was  sent  prisoners 
down  the  lake,  while  the  Canadian  residents  were  suffered  to  retain 
their  houses  and  lands  on  the  condition  of  their  swearing  allegi 
ance  to  the  government.  Officers  were  sent  to  the  southwest  to 
take  possession  of  Forts  Miami  and  Watannon,*  the  first  situated 
on  the  head  waters  of  the  Manmee,  and  the  latter  011  the  AVabash 
not  far  from  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  Lafayette.  Rogers 
next  started  to  relieve  the  forts  on  the  upper  lakes,  but  was  pre 
vented  by  the  gathering  ice  and  storms  of  Lake  Huron.  The 
following  season,  however,  the  forts  at  the  head  of  Green  Bay  and 
the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph,  and  those  on  the  straits  of  St.  Mary 
and  Mackinaw,  were  garrisoned  by  small  detachments  of  English 
troops.  The  flag  of  France  still  waved  over  the  plains  of  Illinois, 

'Ouiatenon. 


PONTIAC'S  CONSPIRACY.  139 

which  was  not  included  in  the  stipulations  entered  into  at 
Montreal. 

The  country  had  not  long  been  in  the  possession  of  England 
before  a  wide-spread  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  pervaded  its  inhab 
itants.  The  French  element  of  the  population,  having  their  national 
hate  of  the  English  intensified  by  years  of  disastrous  warfare,  left 
their  homes  in  Canada  and  settled  in  Illinois.  Here  they  contin 
ued  to  cherish  their  animosity,  and  whenever  an  opportunity  ottered, 
were  ever  ready  to  embrace  any  scheme  that  might  injure  the 
objects  of  their  ill  will.  In  common  with  their  brethren  of  Illinois, 
they  still  hoped  that  Canada  might  be  restored  to  France,  and  no 
effort  was  spared  by  either  to  bring  about  this  much  desired  result. 
Canada  was  powerless,  yet  Illinois,  her  intimate  neighbor  and 
sympathizer,  was  still  an  untrameled  province  of  France,  and  now 
became  the  depot  of  supplies  and  the  centre  of  French  intrigues  ;  all 
looking  forward  to  the  consummation  of  this  object.  The  Indians, 
whose  good  will  they  had  long  since  won  by  a  conciliatory  policy, 
they  found  ready  instruments  for  the  execution  of  their  designs. 
Accordingly,  swarms  of  French  traders  and  Canadian  refugees 
issued  from  the  head-waters  of  the  Illinois  and  other  points  of 
egress,  and  spreading  over  the  conquered  territory,  held  councils 
with  the  Indians  in  the  secret  places  of  the  forests.  At  these 
secluded  meetings  they  urged  the  excited  savages  to  take  up  arms 
against  the  English,  who  they  declared  were  endeavoring  to  compass 
their  destruction  by  hedging  them  in  with  forts  and  settlements  on 
one  hand,  and  stirring  up  the  Cherokees  to  attack  them  on  the  other. 
To  give  effect  to  these  fabrications,  they  added  more  potent  incen 
tives  of  guns,  ammunition  and  clothing,  which  the  English  had 
refused  to  grant  them.  These,  long  furnished  by  France,  had  now 
become  a  necessity,  but  England  had  incurred  heavy  expenses  in 
the  recent  war,  and  it  became  necessary  for  her  either  to  withhold 
or  deal  them  out  with  scanty  and  reluctant  hands.  Want,  suffer 
ing,  and  in  some  instances  death,  was  the  result •  which,  without .the 
aid  of  French  machinations,  was  sufficient  to  make  them  dislike 
the  English.  Formerly,  under  the  mild  sway  of  France,  when  the 
chiefs  visited  the  forts  they  were  received  with  the  greatest  polite 
ness  and  hospitality  by  the  officers,  and  the  petty  annoyances  of 
their  men  were  disregarded.  ^Sow,  when  in  their  intrusive  man 
ner  they  came  about  the  posts,  they  heard  only  words  of  reproach 
and  abrupt  orders  to  depart,  frequently  enforced  by  blows  from 
ruffian  soldiers.  The  intercourse  of  French  traders  had  always 
been  courteous  and  respectful,  while  those  of  the  English  treated 
them  as  inferiors,  frequently  outraged  their  families,  and  in  various 
ways  gave  them  an  unfavorable  opinion  of  the  nation  which  now 
laid  claim  to  their  country. 

Under  these  circumstances  Pontiac.,  although  he  had  wavered  in 
his  allegiance  to  the  French  so  far  as  to  permit  Rogers  to  occupy 
the  fort  at  Detroit,  began  to  feel  his  partiality  for  his  old  friends 
returning.  The  Sacs,  his  native  tribe,*  under  the  immediate  influ 
ence  of  the  Illinois  French,  were  among  the  first  to  espouse  their 
cause,  and  it  may  safely  be  assumed  that  if  he  was  not  iustrumen- 

*In  the  Hist.  Col.  of  Mass., 2nd  series,  the  reportof  Morse,  1822,  on  the  Sac  and  Fox 
wars  against  the  Illinois,  and  the  life  of  Tecumseh,  he  is  spoken  of  as  a  Sac.  Several  tribes 
were  ambitious  to  claim  his  lineage.  His  residence  among  the  Ottawasmay  have  been 
due  to  his  partiality  for  their  reputation  as  warriors. 


140  HISTOllY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

tal  in  bringing  about  the  result,  lie  was  not  long  in  following  their 
example.  By  his  own  inherent  powers  and  assistance  obtained 
from  the  French,  he  had  become  the  acknowledged  head  of  the 
tribes  of  Illinois,  and  .the  nations  dwelling  in  the  region  of  the  great 
lakes  and  the  Upper  Mississippi.  Says  Captain  Morris,  who  was 
sent  West  by  General  Gage  to  conciliate  the  tribes  of  Illinois: 
"  This  chief  has  a  more  extensive  power  than  was  ever  known 
among  the  Indians,  for  every  chief  used  to  command  his  own 
tribe,  but  18  nations  by  French  intrigue  have  been  brought  to 
unite  and  choose  him  as  their  commander."  Thus  the  name  kin 
dled  in  Illinois,  and  finding  material  in  many  other  localities  upon 
the  eve  of  ignition,  as  we  shall  see,  spread  farther  and  wider,  until 
all  British  America  became  involved  in  the  fiery  ordeal  of  war. 
Operated  upon  by  so  many  causes  of  irritation  and  apprehension,  it 
•was  impossible  ibr  a  people  so  excitable  as  the  Indians  to  long 
remain  quiet.  Accordingly,  as  early  as  1761,  Maj.  Campbell,  then  in 
command  of  Detroit,  received  intimations  that  they  meditated  an 
tack  upon  his  fort,  and  upon  further  inquiry  learned  that  there  was 
to  be  a  general  uprising  of  all  the  tribes  from  Illinois  toXova  Scotia, 
and  that  Forts  Pitt  and  Niagara  were  also  to  be  attacked.  Intelli 
gence  of  this  discovery  was  immediately  transmitted  to  the  com 
manders  of  the  threatened  points,  and  the  calamity  averted.  This 
and  another  similar  plot  detected  and  suppressed  the  folio  wing  sum 
mer,  were  only  the  precursors  of  the  coming  storm  that  swept  the 
whole  country  as  with  the  besoni  of  destruction.  A  plot  was  next 
conceived  in  the  scheming  brain  of  Pontiac  to  attack  all  the  Eng 
lish  forts  on  the  same  day,  and  after  having  massacred  their 
unsuspecting  garrisons,  to  turn  upon  the  defenseless  settlements 
and  continue  the  work  of  death  until  the  entire  English  popula 
tion,  as  the  Indians  fondly  hoped  and  expected,  should  be  driven 
into  the*  sea.  For  comprehensiveness  of  design  and  successful 
execution,  no  similar  conspiracy  can  be  found  in  the  annals  of 
Indian  warfare. 

Pontiac  was  now  50  years  of  age  and  brought  to  the  contest  a 
judgment  matured  by  the  past  experience  of  his  adventurous  life. 
Before  the  breaking  out  of  the  French  war,  he  had  saved  Detroit 
from  the  overwhelming  attack  of  some  discontented  tribes  of  the 
jSorth.  During  the  war  he  fought  valiantly  for  France,  and  is  said 
to  have  commanded  the  Ott  a  was  at  the  defeat  ofBraddock  and 
materially  contributed  to  his  overthrow,  For  his  devotion  and 
courage,  he  was  presented  with  a  full  French  uniform  by  the  Mar 
quis  Montcalm,  only  a  short  time  before  the  famous  battle  on  the 
Plains  of  Abraham.  After  the  defeat  of  the  French  and  the  arrival 
of  Kogers,  as  previously  intimated,  he  manifested  a  desire  to  culti 
vate  the  friendship  of  the  conquerors,  but  was  greatly  disappointed 
in  the  advantages  he  expected  to  derive  from  their  influence.  His 
sagacious  mind  discoA'ered  in  the  altered  posture  of  affairs  the  great 
danger  which  threatened  his  race.  The  equilibrium  hitherto 
subsisting  between  the  French  and  English,  gave  the  Indians  the 
balance  of  power,  and  both  parties  were  compelled  to  some  extent 
to  respect  their  rights.  Under  English  domination  their  import 
ance  as  allies  was  gone  and  their  doom  already  sealed,  unless  they 
could  re-establish  the  power  of  the  French  and  use  it  as  a  check  to 
the  encroachments  of  the  English.  Filled  with  this  idea  and  tired 
by  patriotism,  and  ambition,  he  UOAV  sent  embassadors  to  the  nations 


PONTIAC'S   CONSPIRACY.  141 

of  the  upper  lakes,  to  those  011  the  Illinois,  Mississippi  and  Ohio, 
and  as  far  southward  as  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  His  emissaries,  bear 
ing  the  war  belt  and  bloody  hatchet  as  emblems  of  their  mission, 
•passed  from  tribe  to  tribe,  and  everywhere  the  dusky  denizens  of 
the  forest  eagerly  assembled  to  hear  the  words  of  the  great  war 
chief.  The  principal  of  the  embassy,  holding  aloft  the  emblems  of 
war,  with  violent  gesticulations  delivered  the  fiery  message  pre 
viously  prepared  by  Pontiac  for  this  purpose.  The  attending  chiefs 
and  warriors,  moved  by  these  impassioned  appeals,  pledged  them 
selves  to  assist  in  the  war,  and  the  fervor  thus  excited  rapidly 
spread  till  the  whole  Algonquin  race  was  aglow  with  enthusiasm. 

The  attack  was  to  be  made  in  May,  1763,  only  one  month  after 
the  treaty  of  Paris,  by  which  Illinois  and  all  the  vast  possessions 
of  France,  east  of  the  Mississippi,  passed  under  the  dominion  of 
Great  Britain.  This  event  was  one  of  the  three  important  steps 
by  which  Illinois  passed  from  a  French  province  to  its  present 
position  as  a  member  of  the  American  republic,  the  first  being 
foreshadowed  in  the  triumph  of  Wolfe  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham, 
the  second  in  the  conquests  of  Clark,  and  the  last  in  the  battle  of 
Yorktown.  In  accordance  with  the  requirements  of  the  cession, 
the  posts  of  southern  Louisiana  were  surrendered  to  British  garri 
sons.  In  Illinois,  owing  to  the  impenetrable  barrier  of  hostile 
savages,  which  surrounded  it,  this  was  impossible,  and  the  French 
officers  were  empowered  by  Sir  Jeffrey  Amherst,  the  British  Com 
mander-in-chief,  to  retain  their  position  till  this  difficulty  could  be 
overcome.  In  the  exercise  of  this  trust  they  betrayed  the  confi 
dence  reposed  in  them  by  furnishing  the  Indians  with  large  sup 
plies  of  guns  and  ammunition,  and  for  a  long  time  concealed  the 
transfer  which  had  been  made,  lest  the  knowledge  of  it  might 
cause  the  Indians  to  relax  their  efforts  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
war.  But  for  this  neglect  of  duty,  the  war  which  followed  might 
have  been  either  averted  or  its  virulent  character  greatly  modified. 
The  king,  in  parceling  out  his  newly  acquired  domain  among  the 
colonists,  retained  the  valley  of  the  Ohio  and  the  region  adjacent 
as  a  reservation  for  the  Indians.  The  timely  publication  of  his 
order  in  this  respect  would  have  prevented  the  intrusion  of  the 
settlers  upon  these  lands,  and  thus?  have  removed  a  principal  cause 
of  irritation  among  the  Indians  dwelling  along  the  English 
frontiers.  But  while  the  benevolent  intentions  of  the  king  slum 
bered  in  the  breasts  of  unfaithful  stewards,  the  forests  were  alive 
with  preparations  for  strife  and  carnage.  Indian  maidens  were 
chanting  the  war  song;  magicians  were  retiring  to  the  gloom  of 
rocky  defiles  and  caverns  to  fast  and  learn  the  will  of  the  Great 
Spirit  in  the  coming  struggle,  while  in  the  glare  proceeding  from 
hundreds  of  nightly  camp  fires,  chiefs  and  warriors  were  enacting 
the  savage  pantomime  of  battle. 

The  warlike  spirit  of  the  Indians  gave  great  satisfaction  to  the 
French  inhabitants  of  Illinois,  who  had  so  unwillingly  been  made 
subjects  of  Britain.  To  impart  additional  life  to  their  prepara 
tions,  they  declared  that  the  King  of  France  had  of  late  years  fallen 
asleep,  and  during  his  slumbers  the  English  had  taken  possession 
of  Canada,  but  that  now  he  was  awake  again  and  his  armies  were 
advancing  up  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Mississippi,  to  drive  out  the 
intruders  from  the  homes  of  his  red  children. 


142  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

In  accordance  with  the  arrangement  of  Pontiac,  the  different 
posts  were  to  be  attacked  on  the  same  day  by  the  adjacent  Indians. 
The  arch  conspirator  himself  with  some  of  his  tribes  lived  in  the 
vicinity  of  Detroit,  and  that  point  soon  became  the  focus  of  the 
bloody  struggle.  To  institute  preliminary  arrangements,  a  place 
of  rendezvous  was  selected  on  the  river  below  the  town,  and  mes 
sengers  sent  to  summon  the  tribes  to  meet  him  in  council.  In 
obedience  to  the  call  straggling  bands  of  Ottawas,  Wyandots, 
Chippewas,  and  Pottawatomies,  of  all  ages,  sexes  and  conditions, 
for  several  days  were  seen  emerging  from  the  forests.  Squaws 
accompanied  by  swarms  of  naked  children,  came  to  attend  to  the 
domestic  arrangements  of  the  camps ;  youthful  gallants  attended 
by  maidens,  bedecked  with  feathers  and  ruddy  with  paint,  were 
present  looking  love  at  each  other  and  enjoying  the  social  amuse 
ments  of  savage  life.  But  the  most  important  personages  were 
stalwart  warriors,  who,  while  waiting  the  arrival  of  tardy  delega- 
gations,  lounged  the  lazy  hours  away  in  feasting  and  gambling. 
At  length,  on  the  U7th  of  April,  the  last  stragglers  had  arrived, 
when,  variously  costumed  and  armed  after  the  manner  of  tlieii 
respective  tribes,  they  seated  themselves  in  circles  011  tlie  ground. 
Pontiae  immediately  appeared  in  their  midst  and  with  impassioned 
voice  commenced  his  address.  Contrasting  the  English  with  the 
French,  he  declared  the  former  had  treated  himself  with  contempt 
and  his  countrymen  with  injustice  and  violence.  Presenting  a 
broad  belt  of  wampum,  he  informed  his  wild  auditors  that  he  had 
received  it  from  the  great  father,  the  King  of  France,  who  had 
heard  the  voice  of  his  red  children ;  had  arisen  from  his  sleep  and 
was  sending  iris  great  war  canoes  up  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the 
Mississippi  to  wreak  vengeance  on  his  enemies,  and  that  the  French 
and  their  red  brethren  would  again  fight  side  by  side  as  when 
many  moons  since  they  destroyed  the  army  of  their  enemies  on 
the  banks  of  the  Monongahela.  Having  awakened  in  his  hearers 
their  native  passion  tor  war  and  blood,  he  next  appealed  to  their 
superstitions,  by  relating  a  legend  composed  by  one  of  their  magi 
cians,  which  enjoined  upon  them  as  a  duty  to  drive  the  "dogs  that 
wear  red  clothing  into  the  sea,"  and  made  known  to  them  the  best 
method  of  doing  it.  In  conclusion  he  told  them  that  the  work 
must  commence  at  Detroit  j  that  he  would  gain  admittance  to  the 
fort,  and  having  thus  learned  the  situation  and  strength  of  the 
garrison,  at  another  council  he  would  explain  to  them  the  plan  of 
attack. 

The  object  of  the  convocation  was  now  consummated,  and  long 
before  the  morning  sun  broke  through  the  mists  that  hung  over 
the  river,  the  savage  multitude  had  disappeared  in  the  gloomy  re 
cesses  of  the  forest.  Nothing  remained  to  tell  of  the  night's 
carousals  and  intrigues  but  the  smouldering  embers  of  camp  fires 
and  the  slender  frames  of  several  hundred  Indian  lodges.  Pontiac, 
impatient  for  the  execution  of  his  design  as  previously  announced, 
advanced  with  40  warriors,  and  presenting  himself  at  the  gate  of 
the  fort  asked  permission  to  dance  before  the  officers  of  the 
garrison.  After  some  hesitation  permission  was  granted,  and  he 
and  30  of  his  men  filed  up  to  the  residence  of  Major  Gladwyn, 
then  in  command  of  the  fort.  The  dance  was  commenced,  and 
while  the  officers  and  men  gathered  round  to  witness  the  perform 
ance  the  remaining  10  Indians  strolled  about  the  premises  to  make 


PONTIAC'S   CONSPIRACY.  143 

observations.  When  the  different  parts  of  the  fort  had  been  ex 
amined  the  40  retired,  without  causing-  the  slightest  suspicion  as  to 
the  object  which  induced  the  visit.  Messengers  were  again  sent 
to  summon  the  chiefs  to  meet  in  the  village  of  the  Pottawatomies. 
Here  a  hundred  wily  conspirators  seated  themselves  in  the 
council  hall  of  the  town  to  perfect  in  the  darkness  of  night  the 
black  scheme  they  had  concocted  for  the  destruction  of  the  fort. 
Fitful  flashes  from  the  lire  in  the  centre  of  the  room  fell  upon 
features  stolid  and  immovable  as  if  cast  in  iron,  despite  the  fierce 
passions  that  rankled  in  the  breasts  beneath  them.  As  Pontiac  in 
an  exciting  harrangue  reiterated  the  wrongs  they  had  sustained  at 
the  hands  of  the  English,  and  made  known  his  plan  of  attack, 
deep  guttural  expressions  of  approval  rose  from  his  statue-like 
audience.  Under  pretense  of  holding  a  council  he  proposed 
to  obtain  admittance  to  the  fort  for  himself  and  principal  chiefs, 
and  while  in  conference  with  the  officers,  with  concealed  weapons 
they  would  put  them  to  death.  Meanwhile  the  Indians  loitering 
about  the  palisade  were  to  rush  on  the  unsuspecting  garrison  and 
inflict  on  them  a  similar  fate. 

Detroit,  now  threatened  with  destruction,  was  founded  in  1701 
by  La  Mott  Cadilac,  who  subsequently  became  the  Governor-Gen 
eral  of  Louisiana  and  the  partner  of  Crozat.  Eogers,  who  visited 
it  at  the  close  of  the  French  war,  estimated  its  population  and  that 
of  the  adjacent  settlements  at  2500  souls.  The  fort  which  sur 
rounded  the  town  was  a  palisade  25  feet  high,  furnished  with 
bastions  at  the  four  angles  and  block-houses  over  the  gate  ways. 
On  the  same  side  of  the  river,  and  a  little  below  the  fort,  was  the 
village  of  the  Pottawatomies ;  southeasterly,  on  the  other  side, 
was  that  of  the  Wyandots,  while  on  the  same  bank,  5  miles  above, 
was  the  town  of  the  Ottawas.  The  river,  about  half  a  mile  in 
width  opposite  the  fort,  flowed  through  a  landscape  of  unrivaled 
beauty.  In  its  pure  waters  were  glassed  the  outlines  of  the  noble 
forests  that  grew  on  its  banks.  Farther  back  white  Canadian 
cottages  looked  cosily  out  of  the  dark  green  foliage,  while  in  the 
distance  Indian  wigwams  sent  up  wreathy  columns  of  smoke  high 
in  the  transparent  northern  atmosphere.  Pontiac,  the  master 
spirit  of  this  sylvan  paradise,  dwelt  on  an  island  at  the  outlet  of 
Lake  St.  Clair,  and  like  Satan  of  old  revolved  in  his  powerful  mind 
schemes  for  marring  its  beauty  and  innocence.  Though  he  was 
friendly  to  the  French  they  seemed  to  apprehend  some  coming 
disaster.  The  October  preceding  the  outbreak  dark  clouds  gath 
ered  over  the  town  and  settlement,  and  drops  of  rain  fell  of  a 
strong  sulphurous  odor,  and  so  black  the  people  are  said  to  have 
collected  and  used  them  for  ink.  Many  of  the  simple  Canadians, 
refusing  to  accept  a  scientific  explanation  of  the  phenomenon, 
thought  it  was  the  precurser  of  some  great  calamity. 

Although  breathing  out  vengeance  and  slaughter  against  the 
English,  the  designs  of  the  chief  were  to  be  defeated.  According 
to  local  tradition,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  6th  of  May,  the  day  pre 
ceding  the  intended  assault,  intelligence  of  the  conspiracy  was 
communicated  to  Gladwyn  by  a  beautiful  Chippewa  girl,  who  had 
formed  for  him  an  attachment  and  wished  to  save  his  life.  Osten 
sibly  she  visited  the  fort  to  deliver  a  pair  of  ornamental  moccasins 
which  he  had  requested  her  to  in  ake.  After  delivering  t hem ,  sh e  was 
seen,  late  in  the  afternoon,  lingering  about  the  fort,  Avith  a  dejected 


144  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

countenance.  Gladwyn  himself  at  length  noticed  her  altered  man 
ner,  and  asked  the  cause  of  her  trouble.  When  assured  that  she 
would  not  be  betrayed,  she  stated  that  on  the  following- day,  Pontiac  - 
and  00  chiefs,  with  guns  concealed  under  their  blankets,  would  visit 
the  fort  to  hold  a  council,  and  that  after  he  had  presented  a  peace 
belt  in  a  reversed  position  as  a  signal  for  attack,  the  chiefs  were  to 
shoot  down  the  officers,  and  their  men  in  the  streets  were  to  murder 
the  garrison.  Gladwyu  immediately  communicated  what  he  had 
heard  to  the  garrison,  and  preparations  were  commenced  to  avert 
the  threatened  calamity.  Lest  some  wild  impulse  should  precip 
itate  an  attack  before  morning,  half  the  garrison  was  ordered 
under  arms,  the  number  of  sentinels  doubled,  and  the  officers 
arranged,  to  spend  the  night  on  the  ramparts.  In  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  fort  there  was  quiet,  but  the  winds  that  swept 
across  the  river  bore  to  the  listening  sentinels  the  distant  boom 
of  Indian  drums,  and  the  wild  yells  of  savages  performing  the  war 
dance.  The  following  morning,  when  the  mist  had  disappeared 
a  fleet  of  canoes  was  seen  moving  across  the  river,  tilled 
with  savages  mostly  in  a  recumbent  position,  lest  if  seen 
their  numbers  might  excite  suspicions.  Presently  groups  of  tall 
warriors  wrapt  in  blankets  up  to  their  throats  were  seen  stalking 
across  the  common  toward  the  fort.  These  Avere  all  admitted,  for 
ii'ot  only  the  garrison  but  the  whole  population  of  fur  traders  were 
armed,  and  Gladwyu  defied  their  treachery.  It  said  that  as 
Pontiac  entered,  he  involuntarily  uttered  an  exclamation  of 
surprise  and  disappointment.  Eecovering  from  his  consternation, 
he  started  in  the  direction  of  the  council  house,  followed  by  his 
chiefs,  who,  notwithstanding  their  usual  stoicism,  cast  uneasy 
glances  at  the  ranks  of  glittering  steel  on  each  side  of  their  path 
way.  Passing  into  the  hall  they  found  the  officers  fully  armed  and 
waiting  to  receive  them.  Pontiac,  observing  with  suspicion  their 
swords  and  pistols,  asked  Ghuhvyn  why  so  many  of  his  young  men 
were  in  the  attitude  of  war.  The  latter,  witk  the  dissimulation 
which  his  adversary  was  practicing,  replied  that  he  had  ordered 
his  soldiers  under  arms  for  the  purpose  of  exercise  and  discipline. 
With  evident  distrust  the  chiefs  at  length  sat  down  on  mats  pro 
vided  for  their  accommodation,  while  Pontiac  commenced  speaking, 
holding  in  his  hand  the  wampum  which  was  to  be  the  signal  of 
attack.  Though  it  was  thought  he  would  hardly  attempt  to  carry 
out  his  design  under  present  circumstances,  yet  during  the 
delivery  of  his  speech  he  was  subjected  to  the  most  rigid  scrutiny 
by  the  officers.  Once,  it  is  said,  he  was  about  to  give  the  signal, 
when  Gladwyn  by  a  slight  movement  of  the  hand  made  it  known 
to  the  attending  soldiers,  and  instantly  the  drum  beat  a  charge 
and  the  clash  of  arms  was  heard  in  the  passage  leading  to  the 
room.  Pontiac,  confounded  at  these  demonstrations,  and  seeing 
the  stern  eye  of  Gladwyn  fastened  upon  him,  in  great  perplexity 
took  his  seat.  Gladwyn,  in  a  brief  reply,  assured  him  that  the 
friendly  protection  of  the  English  would  be  extended  to  his  people 
as  long  as  they  deserved  it,  but  threatened  the  most  condign  pun 
ishment  for  the  first  act  of  aggression.  The  council  now  broke  up ; 
the  gates  were  thrown  open,  and  the  Indians  departed.  It  has 
been  a  query  why  the  chiefs  were  not  detained  as  hostages,  but 
the  full  extent  of  their  intrigues  was  unknown.  The  Avhole  affair 


PONTIAC'S   CONSPIRACY.  145 

was  regarded  as  a  paroxysmal  outbreak  which  would  soon  termi 
nate  if  an  open  rupture  could  be  avoided. 

Pontiac,  foiled  in  his  attempt  against  the  fort,  was  enraged  and 
mortified,  but  not  discouraged.  He  considered  his  escape  from 
the  fort  as  evidence  that  his  designs  were  not  fully  known,  and 
on  the  following-  morning1  returned  with  three  companions  and 
endeavored  to  remove  the  suspicions  which  he  had  excited.  Imme 
diately  after  his  interview  with  Gladwyn,  however,  he  repaired  to 
the  village  of  the  Pottawatomies  and  commenced  consulting  with 
their  chiefs  in  regard  to  another  attempt  against  the  fort.  As  the 
result,  on  the  9th  of  May,  the  common  behind  the  fort  was  crowded 
with  savages,  and  their  chief,  advancing  to  the  gate,  asked  that 
he  and  his  warriors  might  be  admitted  and  enjoy  with  the  garrison 
the  fragrance  of  the  friendly  calumet.  Gladwyn  concisely  but 
uncourteously  replied,  that  "  he  might  enter,  but  his  rabble  must 
remain  without."  Thus  circumvented,  he  became  livid  with  hate 
and  defiance,  and  stalked  off  in  the  direction  of  his  warriors, 
large  numbers  of  whom  were  prostrate  on  the  ground,  and  sud 
denly  rising  up,  the  plain,  as  if  by  magic,  se  med  alive  with  yelping 
creatures  part  man,  part  wolf,  and  part  devil,  who  rushed  upon 
some  English  inhabitants  outside  of  the  fort  and  put  them  to  death. 
Pontiae,  taking  no  part  in  the  brutal  butcheries  of  his  men,  imme 
diately  leaped  into  a  canoe,  and  with  a  speed  commensurate  with 
his  rage  and  disappointment,  forced  his  way  up  the  river  to  the 
village  of  the  Ottawas.  Bounding  ashore  and  pointing  across  the 
water,  with  imperious  voice  he  ordered  the  entire  population  to 
move  to  the  opposite  side,  that  the  river  might  no  longer  interpose 
a  barrier  between  him  and  his  enemy.  At  night-fall  he  leaped 
into  the  central  area  of  the  village,  and  brandishing  his  tomahawk, 
commenced  the  war  dance.  As  warrior  after  warrior  straggled  in 
from  the  day's  carnage,  they  fell  into  the  ring,-  and  circling  round 
and  round,  made  the  night  hideous  with  unearthly  yells.  Long- 
however  before  morning  the  tribe  was  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river  and  pitched  their  camp  above  the  mouth  of  the  small  stream 
known  as  Bloody  Run,  from  the  tragedy  which  was  shortly  after 
ward  enacted  on  its  banks.  In  the  early  twilight  of  morning, 
with  terrific  yells,  they  bounded  naked  over  the  fields  and  com 
menced  firing  on  the  fort.  Large  numbers  secured  a  position 
behind  a  low  hill,  and  soon  its  summit  became  wreathed  with 
puffs  of  white  smoke  from  their  rapidly  discharging  guns.  Others 
gathered  in  the  rear  of  some  out-buildings,  but  a  cannon,  charged 
with  red-hot  missiles  was  immediately  brought  to  bear  on  the  dry 
material,  which,  becoming  wrapt  in  flames,  soon  caused  the  con 
cealed  savages  to  retreat  with  precipitation.  For  six  hours  the 
attack  was  unabated,  but  as  the  day  wore  away  the  fire  slackened, 
and  at  last  only  a  gun  could  be  heard  now  and  then  in  the  direction 
of  the  retiring  ibe. 

After  this  discomfiture,  Pontiae  augmented  his  forces  and,  on 
the  12th  of  May,  renewed  the  attack.  Day  after  day  the  fighting- 
was  continued,  till  the  rattle  of  bullets  on  the  palisade  and  the 
discordant  yells  of  savages  became  familiar  sounds  to  the  garrison 
within.  Stealthy  warriors  wormed  their  way  through  the  tall 
grass,  and  crouching  behind  some  sheltering  object,  shot  arrows 
tipped  with  burning  tow  upon  the  houses  within  the  fort.  These 
efforts,  however,  proved  abortive.  Cisterns  were  dug  inside  to 
10 


14G  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

quench  the  flames  and  sorties  outside  were  made  from  time  to  time 
till  all  the  adjacent  orchards,  fences  and  building's,  were  leveled 
to  the  ground,  and  no  screen  was  left  to  conceal  a  lurking  foe. 

The  Indians,  expecting  to  take  the  fort  at  a  single  blow,  had 
failed  to  provide  for  a  protracted  siege.  Their  numbers  daily 
augmenting  by  the  arrival  of  straggling  bands  of  warriors  from 
Illinois  and  other  parts  of  the  West  and  South,  the  question  of 
food  soon  became  an  important  consideration.  To  obtain  it  they 
had  already  irritated  the  Canadian  farmers  by  committing  depre 
dations  upon  their  stock,  and  a  delegation  of  their  head  men  called 
on  Pontiac  to  remonstrate  against  these  outrages.  He  admitted 
the  truth  of  the  allegations,  expressed  regret  for  the  injuries  they 
had  sustained,  and  at  once  instituted  means  for  obtaining  supplies 
without  their  repetition  in  the  future.  He  visited  the  different 
Canadian  families,  making  a  careful  estimate  of  their  provisions, 
levied  upon  each  a  proportionate  amount  for  the  sustenance  of  the 
assembled  tribes,  now  numbering  nearly  1,000  warriors  and  more 
than  2,000  women  and  children.  The  levies  thus  made  were 
brought  into  camp,  and  a  commissary  appointed  to  prevent  the 
excessive  eating  and  waste  which  the  savage  always  practices 
when  unrestricted  in  his  access  to  food.  Pontiac,  being  unable  to 
make  immediate  compensation,  gave  promissory  notes,  drawn  on 
birch  bark  and  signed  Avith  the  figure  of  an  otter,  the  totem  of 
his  family.  To  his  credit  it  is  said  these  were  all  afterward  hon 
orably  paid.  This  approach  to  the  usages  of  civilized  life  was 
doubtless  suggested  by  some  of  his  Canadian  allies,  yet  his  ready 
adoption  of  them  indicates  a  sagacity  which  is  without  a  parallel 
in  the  history  of  his  race.  In  the  prosecution  of  the  siege  he  also 
endeavored  to  obtain  from  the  Canadians  the  method  of  making 
approaches  to  a  fort  as  practiced  in  civilized  warfare.  Likewise, 
to  aid  his  undisciplined  warriors,  he  sent  ambassadors  to  M.  Key  on, 
the  commandant  of  Fort  Chartres,  for  regular  soldiers.  This 
officer  had  no  soldiers  at  his  disposal,  but  abundantly  furnished 
munitions  in  their  stead.  Says  Sir  William  Johnson,  Superin- 
perintendent  of  Indian  affairs : 

"It  now  appears  from  the  very  best  authorities,  and  can  be  proven  by  the 
oath  of  several  respectable  persons,  prisoners  among  the  Indians  of  Illinois, 
and  from  the  account  of  the  Indians  themselves,  that  not  only  many  French 
traders,  but  also  the  French  officers,  went  among  the  Indians,  as  they  said,  fully 
authorized  to  assure  them  that  the  French  King  was  determined  to  support 
them  to  the  utmost,  and  not  only  invited  them  to  visit  Illinois,  where  they 
were  plentifully  supplied  with  ammunition  and  other  necessaries,  but  also 
sent  several  canoe  loads  at  different  times  up  the  Illinois  river  to  the  Miamis, 
as  well  as  up  the  Ohio  to  the  Shawnees  and  Delawares." 

Thus,  while  Detroit  was  the  scene  of  the  principal  outbreak  of 
the  war,  Illinois  more  largely  than  any  other  place  furnished  the 
means  to  put  it  in  motion  and  keep  it  alive.  But  while  other 
localities  were  bleeding  and  sore  from  the  vengeful  thrusts  of  the 
strife,  the  Illinois  Frenchmen,  caressed  and  protected  by  savage 
admirers,  hunted  and  fished  as  usual  in  the  peaceful  forests  and 
gentle  rivers  of  his  western  paradise. 

As  the  ^erils  were  thickening  around  Detroit,  there  came  vague 
rumors  from  time  to  time  of  settlements  destroyed,  forts  attacked 
and  garrisons  butchered.  These  flying  reports  were  soon  followed 
by  definite  information  that,  with  the  exception  of  Detroit,  all  the 
posts  scattered  at  wide  intervals  throughout  the  vast  forests  west 


PONTIAC'S   CONSPIRACY.  147 

of  Forts  Pitt  and  Niagara,  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
The  first  reliable  evidence  of  this  kind  was  the  appearance  of  a 
party  of  warriors  in  the  rear  of  Detroit,  bearing  aloft  a  number  of 
scalps  taken  from  victims  they  had  slain  in  the  capture  of  Fort 
Saudusky.  Ensign  Paully,  in  command  of  the  fort  at  the  time, 
and  subsequently  adopted  by  one  of  the  tribes  near  Detroit,  wrote 
to  Gladwyn,  giving  an  account  of  the  capture.  Seven  Indians 
called  at  the  fort,  and  being  intimately  acquainted  with  the  garri^ 
son,  were  readily  admitted.  Two  of  the  party  seated  themselves 
on  each  side  of  Paully,  and  after  lighting  their  pipes,  with  feigned 
indifference  commenced  a  conversation,  during  Avhich  they  sud 
denly  seized  and  disarmed  him.  Simultaneously  a  discordant  din  of 
yells  and  the  clashing  of  arms  was  heard  without,  and  when  Paully 
afterward  was  taken  from  the  room  by  his  captors,  he  beheld  the 
parade  ground  strewn  with  the  mangled  bodies  of  his  men.  At 
night  he  was  conducted  to  the  lake  in  the  light  of  the  burning  fort 
and  started  over  its  still  waters  for  Detroit. 

On  the  15th  of  June,  a  number  of  Pottawatomies  with  some  pris 
oners,  who  proved  to  be  Ensign  Schlosser,  the  commander  of  Fort 
St.  Joseph,*  and  three  of  his  private  soldiers.  Their  captors  had 
come  to  exchange  them  for  some  of  their  own  men,  who  for  some 
time  had  been  retained  as  prisoners  in  the  fort.  After  this  w^as 
effected,  the  Englishmen  related  the  story  of  their  capture.  Early 
in  the  morning  preceding  the  attack,  the  neighborhood  of  the  fort 
was  enlivened  by  the  appearance  of  a  large  number  of  Pottawat 
omies,  who  stated  that  they  had  come  to  visit  their  relations  resid 
ing  on  the  river  St-  Joseph.  Hardly  had  the  commandant  time  to 
suspect  danger  when  he  was  informed  that  the  fort  was  surrounded 
by  hundreds  of  Indians,  evidently  intending  to  make  an  assault. 
Schlosser  hastened  to  get  his  men  under  arms,  but  before  this  could 
be  effected  an  attack  was  made,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  fort  was 
plundered  and  all  its  garrison  slain,  except  himself  and  the  priso 
ners  mentioned. 

Only  three  days  later  a  Jesuit  priest  arrived  at  Detroit,  bringing 
with  him  a  letter  from  Captain  Etherington  detailing  the  capture 
of  the  fort  at  Mackinaw,  of  which  he  was  commander.  For  several 
successive  days  the  Chippewas  had  been  assembling  on  a  plain 
near  the  fort  and  playing  games  of  ball.  Finally,  on  the  14th  of 
June,  while  engaged  at  this  pastime,  the  ball  was  intentionally 
thrown  near  the  fort,  and  the  Indians,  rushing  up  ai  if  to  get  it, 
seized  Captain  Etherington  and  Lieut.  Lesley  standing  near  the 
gate,  and  hurried  them  off  to  the  woods.  At  the  same  time,  another 
party  rushed  into  the  fort,  and  with  hatchets  furnished  by  their 
squaws,  who  had  previously  entered  with  them,  concealed  under 
tlieir  blankets,  slew  15  of  the  garrison,  while  the  remainder  and 
all  the  English  fur  traders  were  made  prisoners. 

The  next  disaster  of  this  kind  was  the  loss  of  Fort  Watannon. 
A  letter  was  received  from  Lieut.  Jenkins,  the  commanding  officer, 
informing  Gladwyn  that  on  the  1st  of  June  he  and  several  of  his 
men  were  seized  by  strategy,  and  the  rest  of  the  garrison,  being 
without  a  leader,  surrendered.  The  Indians  afterward  apologized 
for  their  conduct  by  declaring  the  attack  was  not  the  result  of  their 
own  inclinations  but  due  to  the  pressure  which  had  been  brought 

•Originally  Miami. 


148  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS 

to  bear  on  them  by  surrounding  tribes.  This  plea  may  have  been 
true,  for  they  were  farther  removed  from  English  influence  than 
most  of  the  other  tribes  and  hence  more  paciiic. 

Fort  Miami,  on  the  Maumee,  in  command  of  Ensign  Holmes, 
added  another  to  the  list  of  captured  forts.  Though  this  officer 
had  detected  and  circumvented  a  previous  attempt  against  the 
fort,  his  cunning  adversaries  at  length  triumphed  over  his  vigi 
lance.  On  the  27th  of  May  an  Indian  girl,  who  was  living  with 
him,  told  him  that  a  squaw  lay  sick  in  a  neighboring  wigwam^  and 
desired  him  to  administer  medical  relief.  Placing  the  utmost  con 
fidence  in  the  girl,  he  followed  her  till  they  came  in  sight  of  a 
number  of  lodges,  when  she  pointed  out  to  him  the  one  containing 
the  invalid  and  withdrew.  Holmes,  unsuspicious  of  danger,  con 
tinued  on  his  errand  of  mercy  till  as  he  neared  the  wigwam  two 
guns  flashed  from  behind  it,  and  his  lifeless  body  fell  prostrate  011 
the  ground.  Exultant  yells  of  savages  followed  the  report  of  the 
guns,  and  a  Canadian  soon  came  to  the  fort  and  demanded  its 
surrender,  informing  the  garrison  that  their  lives  would  be  spared 
if  they  complied,  but  in  case  of  refusal  their  claims  to  mercy  would 
be  forfeited.  Taken  by  surprise,  and  without  a  commander  to 
direct  them,  they  threw  open  the  gates  and  gave  themselves  up  as 
prisoners.' 

With  the  previous  disasters  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  beleaguered 
garrison  at  Detroit,  on  the  22d  of  June,  their  attention  was 
attracted  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  where  they  saw  the  sav 
ages  conducting  Ensign  Christie,  the  commandant  of  Presque  Isle, 
and  the  prisoners  to  the  camp  of  Pontiac.  Christie  afterward 
escaped  and  related  the  particulars  of  the  seige  and  surrender  of 
his  post,  situated  near  the  present  town  of  Erie  on  the  southern 
shore  ot\the  lake  after  which  it  was  named.  On  the  15th  of  June 
it  was  surrounded  by  200  Indians,  and  the  garrison  immediately 
retired  to  the  blockhouse,  the  most  impregnable  part  of  the  forti 
fications.  The  savages,  sheltered  in  a  ravine,  close  by,  sent  volleys 
of  bullets  at  the  port  holes  and  burning  balls  of  pitch  upon  the 
roof  and  against  the  sides  of  the  building.  Eepeatedly  it  took 
fire,  and  finally  the  barrels  of  water  which  had  been  provided  for 
extinguishing  the  flames  were  all  exhausted.  There  was  a  well  in 
the  parade  ground,  but  it  was  instant  death  to  approach  it,  and 
they  were  compelled  to  dig  another  in  the  blockhouse.  Meanwhile 
the  enemy  had  made  a  subternean  passage  to  the  house  of  the 
commandant  and  set  it  on  fire,  and  the  walls  of  the  blockhouse 
near  by  were  soon  wrapt  in  a  sheet  of  flame.  The  well  was  now 
complete  and  the  fire  subdued,  but  the  men  were  almost  suffocated 
by  heat  and  smoke.  While  in  this  condition  they  learned  that 
another  more  effectual  attempt  would  soon  be  made  to  burn  them, 
and  at  the  instance  of  the  enemy  they  agreed  to  capitulate. 
Parties  met  for  this  purpose,  and  after  stipulating  that  the  garri 
son  should  march  out  and  retire  unmolested  to  the  nearest  post, 
the  little  fortress  which  had  been  defended  with  so  much  valor  was 
surrendered.  Notwithstanding  the  terms  agreed  upon,  a  part  of 
the  men  were  taken  as  prisoners  to  the  camp  of  Pontiac,  and  part 
bedecked  as  warriors  were  adopted  by  the  different  tribes  of  the 
conquerers. 

The  destruction  of  Laboeuf  and  Yenango,  011  the  head  waters 
of  the  Alleghany,  closes  the  black  catalogue  of  captured  posts. 


PONTIAC'S   CONSPIRACY.  149 

On  the  18th  of  June,  a  large  number  of  Indians  surrounded  the 
former,  the  only  available  defence  of  which  was  a  block-house. 
Fire  arrows  were  showered  upon  it,  and  by  midnight,  the  upper 
story  was  wrapt  in  names.  The  assailants  gathered  in  front  and 
eagerly  watched  for  the  inmates  to  rush  out  of  the  burning  build 
ing,  that  they  might  shoot  them.  In  the  meantime,  however,  they 
hewed  an  opening  through  the  rear  wall,  and  passing  out  unper- 
ceived,  left  the  savages  exulting  in  the  thought  that  they  were 
perishing  in  the  flames.  But  from  Yenango,  destroyed  about  the 
same  time,  not  a  single  person  escaped  or  was  left  alive  to  tell  of 
their  fate.  2Sot  long  afterward  it  was  learned  from  Indians  who 
witnessed  its  destruction,  that  a  party  of  warriors  entered  it  under 
the  pretext  of  friendship,  and  closing  the  gates  behind  them, 
'butchered  all  the  garrison  except  the  principal  officer,  whom  they 
tortured  over  a  slow  fire  several  successive  nights  till  life  was  ex 
tinct  Forts  Pitt  and  Niagara  were  also  attacked,  but  like  that 
of  Detroit,  their  garrisons  proved  too  strong  for  the  savage  assail 
ants  who  sought  their  destruction. 

But  the  destruction  of  life  and  property  in  the  forts  was  only  a 
fraction  of  the  losses.  The  storm  of  savage  vengeance  fell  with 
appalling  fury  on  the  frontiers  of  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  Penn 
sylvania,  and  for  hundreds  of  miles  north  and  south  they  became 
n  continuous  theatre  of  rapine,  slaughters,  and  burnings,  without 
a  parallel  in  all  past  and  succeeding  years.  Bands  of  infuriated 
savages  skulking  in  the  forests,  suddenly  bounded  forth  from  their 
lurking  places  and  surrounded  the  unprotected  homes  of  settlers. 
The  startled  inmates  where  scarcely  aware  of  danger  before  they 
became  the  victims  of  the  most  ferocious  butcheries.  Mothers 
were  compelled  to  stand  by  and  witness  the  brains  of  their  help 
less  innocents  dashed  out  against  the  walls  of  their  dwellings ; 
daughters  were  carried  away  into  captivity  to  become  the  wives  of 
their  savage  captors,  while  fathers  and  sons  were  bound  to  trees 
and  roasted  over  slow-burning  fires  to  protract  and  intensify  their 
sufferings.  Whole  settlements  in  the  valley  retreats  of  the  AUeg- 
hanies,  where  a  prolific  soil  and  industry  were  rapidly  multiplying 
the  necessaries  of  life,  were  entirely  depopulated.  Fields  ripen 
ing  for  harvest  were  laid  waste ;  herds  of  domestic  animals,  like 
their  owners,  were,  killed;  dwellings  were  burnt  to  the  ground,  and 
where  plenty  and  happiness  had  once  lived  together  in  peace,  there 
was  now  only  desolation  and  death.  Thousands  of  fugitives  fled 
to  the  interior  towns  and  made  known  the  fearful  tragedies  they 
had  witnessed,  and  such  had  been  the  deep  dissimulation  of  the 
savages,  the  story  of  their  butcheries  preceded  even  the  faintest 
suspicions  of  danger. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

SIEGE  OF  DETROIT— PONTIAC  RALLIES  THE  WESTERN 
TRIBES— HIS  SUBMISSION  AND  DEATH. 


Detroit  was  still  the  head  of  savage  machinations  and  the  home 
of  the  arch  conspirator  who,  with  the  complacency  of  a  Nero, 
looked  round  on  the  constantly  widening  circle  of  ruin  and  death. 
The  garrison  of  which  he  had  the  immediate  custody  was  confined, 
as  if  in  a  vice,  to  the  narrow  confines  of  the  fort.  The  attempt  of 
Cyler  to  reinforce  it,  terminated  in  the  defeat  and  death  of  some 
60  of  his  men.  Most  of  the  unfortunates  taken  alive  were  carried 
to  the  camp  of  Pontiac,  where  some  were  pierced  with  arrows,  some 
had  their  hands  and  feet  cut  off,  while  others  were  fastened  fo 
trees  and  children  employed  to  roast  them  alive.  For  several  days 
after  death  had  ended  their  sufferings,  their  bodies  were  seen  float 
ing  down  the  river  by  the  fort,  still  ghastly  with  the  brutal  atro 
cities  which  had  caused  their  death.  No  expedient  was  left  untried 
which  might  injure  the  besieged.  Huge  fire  rafts  were  set  afloat 
down  the  river  to  burn  two  small  schooners  opposite  the  fort.  On 
one  occasion  a  faint  light  was  descried  on  the  river  above,  which 
grew  larger  and  brighter  as  it  descended  the  stream.  Presently 
it  loomed  up  in  a  violent  conflagration  and,  fortunately  passing 
between  the  vessels  and  the  fort,  revealed  with  the  light  of  day 
the  tracery  of  cordage  and  spars  on  one  side,  and  the  long  line  of  pal 
isades  on  the  other.  The  distant  outlines  of  the  forest  and  a  dark 
multitude  of  savages  were  plainly  visible  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  stream,  the  latter  watching  the  effects  of  their  artifice  as  the 
crackling,  glimmering  mass  floated  down  with  the  current  of  the 
waters,  in  which  its  tires  were  finally  quenched.  Though  all  the 
arts  of  savage  warfare  were  employed  to  prevent  the  reinforce 
ment  of  the  fort,  it  was  at  length  accomplished,  and  an  assault 
made  on  the  camp  of  Pontiac.  In  this  fierce  conflict,  which  rose" 
to  the  dignity  of  a  pitched  battle,  the  English  were  defeated  with 
a  heavy  loss,  and  compelled  to  retire  to  the  fort  for  safety. 

Attracted  by  this  success,  large  numbers  of  warriors  flocked  to 
the  standard  of  Pontiac,  and  the  spirit  of  his  men,  previously  begin 
ning  to  flag,  was  revived  and  the  siege  prosecuted  with  unexam 
pled  vigor  till  the  last  of  September.  The  Indian  is  naturally 
fickle  and  impulsive,  and  perhaps  the  history  of  his  race  does  not 
furnish  another  instance  of  such  protracted  effort  and  constancy 
as  this.  Their  remarkable  perseverance  must,  no  doubt,  be  attrib 
uted  to  their  intense  hatred  of  the  English,  the  hope  of  'assistance 
from  France,  and  the  controlling  influence  of  Pontiac.  Their  ammu 
nition,  however,  was  now  exhausted,  and  as  intelligence  had  been 
received  that  Major  Wilkius,  with  a  large  force,  was  on  his  way  to 

150 


PONTIAC'S  CONSPIRACY.  151 

Detroit,  many  of  them  were  inclined  to  sue  for  peace.  They  feared 
the  immediate  consequences  of  an  attack,  and  proposed  by  lulling 
the  English  into  security,  to  retire  unmolested  to  their  winter  hunt 
ing  ground  and  renew  offensive  operations  in  the  spring.  A  chief  of 
the  (Jhippewas,  therefore,  visited  the  fort  and  informed  Gladwyn  that 
the  Pottawatornies,  Wyandots  and  his  own  people  were  sorry  for 
what  they  had  done,  and  desired  thereafter  to  live  in  peace.  The 
English  officer  well  knew  the  emptiness  of  their  pretentious,  but 
granted  their  request  that  he  might  have  an  opportunity  of  replen 
ishing  the  fort  with  provisions.  The  Ottawas,  animated  by  the 
unconquerable  spirit  of  Pontiac,  continued  a  disultory  warfare  till 
the  first  of  October,  when  an  unexpected  blow  was  dealt  the  imper 
ious  chief,  and  he,  too,  retired  from  the  contest. 

General  Amherst,  now  aware  that  the  occupation  of  the  forts  in 
Illinois  by  French  garrisons  greatly  served  to  protract  and  inten 
sify  the  war,  would  fain  have  removed  them,  but  still  found  it 
impossible  to  break  through  the  cordon  of  savage  tribes  which  girt 
it  about.  Pontiac  had  derived  thence  not  only  moral  support,  but 
large  supplies  of  guns  and  ammunition,*  and  the  only  remedy  of 
the  British  general  was  to  write  to  M.  Xeyon  de  Villiers,  instruct 
ing  him  to  make  known  to  the  Indians  their  altered  relations  under 
the  treaty  by  which  the  country  had  been  transferred  to  England. 
This  officer,  with  evident  reluctance  and  bad  grace,  was  now  com 
pelled  to  make  known  what  he  had  long  concealed,  and  accordingly 
wrote  to  Pontiac  that  "he  could  not  expect  any  assistance  from  the 
French  ;  that  they  and  the  English  were  now  at  peace  and  regarded 
each  other  as  brothers,  and  that  the  Indians  should  abandon  th.eir 
hostilities,  which  could  lead  to  no  good  result. "  The  chieftain, 
enraged  and  mortified  at  having  his  long  cherished  hope  of  assist 
ance  dashed  to  the  ground,  with  a  number  of  his  countrymen 
immediately  departed  for  the  country  of  the  Maumee.  intending 
to  stir  up  its  inhabitants  and  renew  the  contest  the  ensuing  spring. 
With  his  withdrawal,  Detroit  lost  its  significance  in  the  war, 
and  its  leader  was  to  return  no  more  except  as  an  intercede!-  for 
peace. 

The  winter  of  17G3-4 passed  away  without  the  occurrence  of  any 
event  of  special  interest.  The  ensuing  summer  two  expeditions 
were  fitted  out  by  the  English ;  one  intended  to  operate  against 
the  savages  residing'  on  the  great  lakes,  and  the  other  for  the 
reduction  of  those  living  in  the  valley  of  the  Ohio.  Bouquet  hav 
ing  charge  of  the  latter,  advanced  from  Fort  Pitt,  and  encounter 
ing  the  warlike  Shawnees  and  Delawares  on  the  banks  of  the 
Muskingum,  soon  reduced  them  to  an  unconditional  peace.  Among 
the  demands  made  by  this  efficient  officer,  was  the  surrender  of 
all  their  prisoners.  Large  numbers  were  brought  in  from  Illinois 
and  the  region  eastward,  some  of  whom  had  been  captured  as  far 
back  as  the  French  and  English  war,  and  had  now  almost  forgot 
ten  their  homes  and  friends'of  childhood.t 

*Says  Sir  William  Johnson  :  In  an  especial  manner  the  French  promote  the  inter 
ests  of  Pontiac,  whose  influence  has  now  become  so  considerable,  as  General  Gage 
observes  in  a  letter  to  me,  tbat  it  extends  even  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
has  been  the  principal  cause  of  our  not  saining  possession  of  Illinois,  which  the  French, 
as  well  as  the  Indians,  are  interested  in  preventing.  " 

tOf  the  scenes  attending  the  reunion  of  broken  families  and  long  sundered  friends, 
a  few  incidents  have  been  preserved  and  are  worthy  of  relation  A  young  Virginian, 
who  had  been  robbed  of  his  wife  and  child,  enlisted  in  the  army  of  Bouquet  1'orthe 
purpose  of  recovering  them.  After  suffering  'he  most  intense  anxiety,  he  at  length  dis 
covered  her  in  a  group  of  prisoners,  bearing  in  her  arms  a  child  born  in  captivity  ;  but 


152  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Bradstreet,  who  commanded  the  other  force,  wrested  from  the 
savages  the  military  hosts,  which  cunning  and  treachery  had 
placed  in  their  power.  As  a  part  of  his  plan,  while  at  Detroit,  he 
sent  Captain  Morris,  and  a  number  of  friendly  Canadians  and 
Indians,  to  induce  the  savages  of  Illinois  to  make  peace  with  the 
English.  Having  effected  arrangements  for  this  purpose,  they 
ascended  the  Maumee  in  a  canoe,  and  soon  fell  in  with  a  party  of 
some  200  Indians  who  treated  Morris  with  great  violence.  They 
had  come  directly  from  the  camp  of  Pontiae,  and  soon  led  him 
into  the  presence  of  the  great  chief,  who  with  a  scrowling  brow 
denounced  the  English  as  liars.  He  then  displayed  a  letter  written 
by  some  Frenchman,  though  purporting  to  be  from  the  King  of 
France,  which  Morris  declares  contained  the  greatest  calumnies 
that  ingenious  malice  could  devise  for  prejudicing  the  minds  of  the 
Indians  against  the  English.  The  party,  after  being  stripped  of 
everything  except  their  clothing,  aims,  and  canoe,  were  suffered 
ito  depart.  Resuming  the  ascent  of  the  river,  in  seven  days  they 
reached  Fort  Miami  and  effected  a  landing.  This  post  not  having 
been  garrisoned  since  its  capture  the  preceding  year,  the  Cana 
dians  had  built  their  houses  within  its  palisades,  and  a  few  Indians 
made  it  a  temporary  abode.  A  Miami  village  was  directly  oppo 
site  on  the  other  side  of  the  stream,  while  the  meadows  immediately 
around  it  were  dotted  with  lodges  of  the  Kickapoos,  who  had  re 
cently  arrived.  After  getting  ashore  they  proceeded  through  the 
meadows  toward  the  fort,  but  before  reaching  it  they  were  suddenly 
surrounded  by  a  mob  of  infuriated  savages,  bent  on  putting  them 
to  death.  Fortunately  the  chiefs  interposed,  and  before  any  seri 
ous  violence  was  offered  the  sudden  outburst  of  savage  passion  Avas 
checked.  Threatened  and  insulted,  however,  Morris  was  con 
ducted  to  the  fort  and  there  ordered  to  remain,  while  the  Cana 
dians  were  forbidden  to  shelter  him  in  their  houses.  He  had  not 
long  been  in  this  situation  before  two  warriors  entered,  and 
with  uplifted  tomahawks  seized  and  conducted  him  to  the  river. 
Supposing  it  was  their  intention  to  drown  him,  he  was  agreeably 
disappointed  when  they  drew  him  into  the  water  and  led  him  safe 
to  the  opposite  shore.  Here  he  was  stripped,  and  with  his  hands 
bound  behind  him,  led  to  the  Miami. village,  where  instantly  a  vast 
concourse  of  savages  collected  about  him,  the  majority  of  whom 
were  in  favor  of  putting  him  to  death.  A  tumultuous  debate  on 
the  subject  soon  folloAved,  during  which  two  of  his  Canadian 
followers  made  their  appearance  to  induce  the  chiefs  to  spare  his 
life.  The  nephew  of  Pontiac,  who  possessed  the  bold  spirit  of  his 
uncle,  was  also  present  and  pointed  out  to  the  rabble  the  impro- 

the  pleasure  of  the  meeting  was  alloyed  by  the  absence  of  another  child,  which  had 
been  taken  from  the  mother  and  carried  she  knew  not  wither.  Anxious  days  and 
Aveeks  passed  away,  but  no  tidings  of  its  fate  were  received.  At  leng-th  the  mother, 
almost  frenzied  with  despair,  discovered  it  in  the  arms  of  an  Indian  and  seized  it  with 
irrepressible  transports  of  joy. 

Young  women,  now  the  wives  of  warriors  and  the  mothers  of  a  mongrel  offspring, 
were  reluctantly  brought  into  the  presence  of  their  white  relatives  ;  and  children 
whose  long  residence  among  their  captors  had  obliterated  the  remembrance  of  former 
associations,  struggled  lustily  to  escape.  With  the  returning  army  they  were  carried 
to  the  East,  where  they  were  visited  by  hundreds  whose  relatives  had  been  abducted 
by  the  Indians.  Among  the  fortunate  seekers  was  a  mother,  who  discovereu  in  the 
swarthy  features  of  one  of  the  rescued  captives  the  altered  lineaments  of  her  daughter. 
The  latter  had  almost  forgotten  her  native  tongue  ;  and  making  no  response  to  the 
words  of  maternal  endearment,  the  parent  wept  that  the  child  she  had  so  often  sung1 
to  sleep  on  her  knee  had  now  forgotten  her  in  old  age.  "The  humanity  of  Bouquet 
suggested  an  expedient  :  '  Sing  the  songs  you  used  to  sing  to  her  when  a  child.'  The 
old  lady  obeyed,  and  a  sudden  start,  a  look  of  bewilderment,  and  a  passionate  flood  of 
tears  restored  the  long  lost  daughter  to  the  mother's  arms."—  PARKMAN.] 


PONTIAC'S   CONSPIRACY.  153 

priety  of  putting  him  to  death,  when  so  many  of  their  kindred 
were  in  the  hands  of  the  English  at  Detroit.  He  was  accordingly 
released,  but  soon  afterward  again  seized  by  a  maddened  chief  and 
bound  to  a  post.  Young  Pontiac,  now  more  determined  than  ever, 
rode  up  and  severing  the  cords  with  his  hatchet,  exclaimed :  "I  give 
this  man  his  life.  If  any  of  you  want  English  meat  go  to  Detroit, 
or  the  lakes,  and  you  will  have  plenty  of  it.  What  business  have 
you  with  the  Englishman,  who  has  come  to  speak  with  us?"* 

The  current  of  feeling  now  began  to  change  in  favor  of  sparing 
his  life,  and  after  having  violently  thrust  him  out  of  the  village, 
they  suffered  him  to  return  to  the  fort.  Here  the  Canadians  would 
have  treated  him  Avith  kindness,  but  were  unable  to  do  so  without 
exposing  themselves  to  the  tierce  resentments  of  the  savages. 
Despite  the  inauspicious  commencement  of  the  journey,  Morris 
was  still  desirous  of  completing  it,  but  was  notified  by  the  Kieka- 
poos  if  he  attempted  to  pass  them  they  would  certainly  put  him  to 
death.  He  was  also  informed  that  a  delegation  of  Shawnee  war 
riors  was  on  its  way  to  the  post  for  the  same  purpose.  The  same 
party,  with  a  number  of  Delawares,  had  visited  the  Miamis  a  short 
time  before  the  arrival  of  the  embassy,  to  urge  upon  them  the 
necessity  of  renewing  hostilities,  and  much  of  the  bad  treatment 
to  which  he  had  been  subjected  was  due  to  the  feeling  which  they 
had  engendered.  From  the  fort  they  proceeded  westward,  spread 
ing  the  contagion  of  their  hostile  feelings  among  the  tribes  of 
Illinois,  and  other  Indians,  between  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi, 
declaring  that  they  would  fight  the  English  as  long  as  the  sun 
furnished  light  for  the  continuance  of  the  conflict.  Thus  it  became 
evident  that  the  Shawnees  and  Delawares  had  two  sets  of  embass- 
adors,  and  while  one  was  sent  to  sue  for  peace  with  Bouquet,  the 
other  was  urging  the  neighboring  tribes  to  renew  the  atrocities  of 
war.  Under  these  circumstances  the  further  prosecution  of  the 
journey  was  impracticable,  and  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  his 
Indian  and  Canadian  attendants,  Morris  decided  to  return.  Sup 
posing  that  Bradstreet  was  still  at  Detroit,  he  made  his  way 
thither,  but  found  that  he  had  gone  to  Sandusky.  Being  too  much 
exhausted  to  follow  him,  he  sent  a  letter  detailing  his  hardships 
among  the  Indians,  and  the  unfavorable  issue  of  the  expe 
dition. 

Hardly  had  Morris  escaped  from  the  dark  forests  of  the  Maumee 
before  Pontiac  was  again  in  motion.  Preceding  his  advance,  a 
wave  of  tumultuous  excitement  swept  westward  to  the  Mississippi. 
M.  Xeyon,  commandant  of  Fort  Chartres,  in  the  meantime  had 
retired,  and  St.  Ange  d'Bellrive  had  taken  upon  himself  the 
arduous  duties  of  the  vacated  situation.  Mobs  of  Illinois,  and 
embassies  from  the  Delawares,  Shawnees,  and  Miamis,  daily  im 
portuned  him  for  arms  and  ammunition,  to  be  used  against  the 
English.  The  flag  of  France,  which  they  had  been  taught  to 
revere,  still  clung  to  the  staff  on  the  summit  of  the  fort,  and  Illi 
nois  was  now  the  only  sanctuary  Avhich  remained  for  them  to 
defend.  While  thus  actuated  by  feelings  of  patriotism  there  were 
other  causes  which  gave  intensity  to  their  zeal.  The  whole  region 
bordering  the  Mississippi  was  filled  with  French  traders,  who  re 
garded  the  English  as  dangerous  rivals  and  were  ready  to  resort 
to  any  expedient  which  might  be  instrumental  in  their  expulsion 

*Parkman. 


154  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

from  the  country.  Using  every  calumny  and  falsehood  that  malice 
could  suggest,  to  excite  opposition  to  the  objects  of  their  jealousy, 
they  now  told  the  Indians  that  the  English  were  endeavoring  to 
stir  up  civil  feuds  among  them,  whereby  they  might  fight  and 
destroy  each  other.  They  still  insisted  that  the  long  delayed 
armies  of  France  would  soon  be  in  the  country,  and  to  keep  alive 
this  oft  repeated  falsehood  the  traders  appeared  frequently  in 
French  uniforms,  representing  themselves  as  embassadors  of  the 
King,  and  sent  forged  letters  bearing  the  royal  signature  to 
Pontiac,  urging  him  to  persist  in  his  efforts  against  the  common 
enemy. 

As  intimated,  Pontiac,  with  400  warriors,  in  the  Autumn  of 
17G4  crossed  the  Wabash  to  visit  these  tribes  and  give  direction  to 
their  efforts.  Unshaken  amidst  the  ruin  which  threatened  his 
race,  with  tireless  energy  he  entered  the  villages  of  the  Miamis, 
Kiekapoos,  and  Piankishas,  and  breathed  into  them  his  own 
unconquerable  spirit.  Receiving  from  them  promises  of  co-opera 
tion,  he  next  directed  his  course  through  trackless  expanses  of 
prairie  verdure,  to  the  homes  of  the  Illinois.  These  Indians,  repeat 
edly  subdued  by  surrounding  nations,  had  lost  their  Avarlike 
spirit,  and  were  reprimanded  by  Pontiac  for  their  want  of  zeal. 
Hastily  collecting  an  assemblage,  he  told  the  cowering  multitude 
that  uhe  would  consume  them  as  the  lire  consumes  the  dry  grass 
on  the  prairies  if  they  hesitated  in  offering  assistance."  This 
summary  method  of  dealing  with  the  tardy  savages  drew  from 
them  unanimous  assent  to  his  views,  and  promises  of  assistance 
which  the  most  warlike  tribes  would  have  been  unable  to  perform. 
Leaving  the  Illinois,  he  hastened  to  Fort  Chartres,  and  entered 
the  council  hall  with  a  retinue  of  400  warriors.  Assuming  the 
gravity  and  dignity  characteristic  of  his  race  on  public  occasions. 
he  addressed  the  commandant,  as  follows : 

"Father,  we  have  long  desired  to  see  you,  and  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  taking 
you  by  the  hand.  While  we  refresh  ourselves  with  the  soothing  incense  of  the 
friendly  calumet,  we  will  recall  the  battles  fought  by  our  warriors  against  the 
enemy  which  still  seeks  our  overthrow.  But  while  we  speak  of  their  valor 
and  victories,  let  us  not  forget  our  fallen  heroes,  and  with  renewed  resolves  and 
more  constant  endeavors  strive  to  avenge  their  death  by  the  downfall  of  our 
enemies.  Father,  I  love  the  French,  and  have  led  hither  1113'  braves  to  main 
tain  your  authority  and  vindicate  the  insulted  honor  of  France.  But  you  must 
not  longer  remain  inactive  and  suffer  your  red  brothers  to  contend  alone  against 
the  foe,  wTho  seek  our  common  destruction.  We  demand  of  you  arms  and 
warriors  to  assist  us,  and  when  the  English  dogs  are  driven  into  the  sea,  we 
will  again  in  peace  and  happiness  enjoy  with  you  these  fruitful  forests  and 
prairies,  the  noble  heritage  presented  by  the  Great  Spirit  to  our  ancestors." 

St.  Aiige',  being  unable  to  furnish  him  with  men  and  munitions, 
offered  in  their  stead  compliments  and  good  will.  But  Pontiac, 
regarding  his  mission  too  important  to  be  thus  rejected,  com 
plained  bitterly  that  he  should  receive  such  poor  encouragement 
•from  those  whose  wrongs  he  was  endeavoring  to  redress.  His 
warriors  pitched  their  lodges  about  the  fort,  and  sueh  were  the 
manifestations  of  displeasure  that  the  commandant  apprehened 
an  attack.  Pontiac  had  previously  caused  his  wives  to  prepare  a 
belt  of  wampuu  more  than  six  feet  in  length,  interwoven  with  the 
totems  of  the  different  tribes  and  villages  still  associated  with  him 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  While  at  the  fort  this  was  assigned 
to  a  chosen  band  of  warriors  who  were  instructed  to  descend  the 


PONTIAC'S  CONSPIRACY. 


Mississippi,  and  exhibiting  it  to  the  numerous  nations  living  on 
its  banks,  exhort  them  to  repel  all  attempts  which  the  English 
might  make  to  ascend  the  river.  They  were  further  required  to 
call  on  the  governor  of  New  Orleans  and  obtain  the  assistance 
which  8t.  Ange  had  refused.  Pontiae,  aware  that  the  Mississippi 
on  the  south,  and  the  Ohio  on  the  east  were  the  channels  by  which 
Illinois  AY  as  most  accessible  to  the  English,  wisely  determined  to 
interpose  barriers  to  their  approach  by  these  great  highways. 
Not  long  after  the  departure  of  his  warriors,  tidings  were  received 
at  the  fort  which  verified  the  sagacity  and  correctness  of  his  anti 
cipations. 

The  previous  spring  Major  Loftus,  with  a  force  of  400  men, 
sailed  from  Fensacola  to  New  Orleans,  for  the  purpose  of  ascend 
ing  the  Mississippi  and  taking  possession  of  Fort  Chartres.  Being 
embarked  in  unwieldy  boats,  his  progress  was  slow,  and  when 
only  a  short  distance  above  the  town  he  was  unexpectedly  assailed 
by  the  warriors  of  Pontiae.  They  were  fired  upon  from  both  sides 
of  the  river,  which,  swollen  by  a  freshet,  had  inundated  its  banks 
and  formed  swampy  labyrinths,  from  which  it  was  impossible  to 
dislodge  the  foe.  Several  soldiers  were  killed  at  the  first  discharge, 
and  the  terrified  olficers  immediately  deciding  a  farther  advance 
impossible,  fell  back  to  New  Orleans.  Here  they  found  the  merri 
ment  of  the  French  greatly  excited  at  their  discomfiture,  which, 
it  was  alleged,  had  been  caused  by  not  more  than  30  warriors. 
Loftus.  smarting  under  the  ridicule,  boldly  accused  the  governor 
of  having  been  the  author  of  his  defeat,  though  there  was  not  the 
si  igl  i  test  ground  for  such  suspicion.  As  the  result  of  fear,  from 
which  he  had  not  yet  recovered,  he  likewise  conceived  the  idea 
that  the  Indians  intended  to  attack  him  on  his  return  on  the  river 
below,  and  petitioned  the  governor,  Avhomhe  had  just  accused  of 
collusion  with  the  savages,  to  interpose  and  prevent  it.  The 
French  officer,  with  a  look  of  contempt,  agreed  to  furnish  him 
with  an  escort  of  French  solders,  but  Loftus,  rejecting  this  humil 
iating  offer,  declared  he  only  wanted  an  interpreter  to  confer  with 
the  Indians  whom  he  should  meet  on  the  way.  One  was  granted, 
and  he  sailed  from  Pensacola,  leaving  the  forts  of  Illinois  still  in 
the  hands  of  the  French,  but  virtually  controlled  and  protected 
by  the  warriors  of  Pontiae.  After  this  abortive  effort  to  reach 
Fort  Chartres,  Captain  Pitman  sailed  from  Mobile  to  make  a  sec 
ond  attempt.  Hearing  in  New  Orleans  the  commotion  excited 
among  the  savages  by  the  messengers  of  Pontiae,  he  was  deterred 
from  proceeding  openly  without  an  escort.  It  however  occurred 
to  him  that  he  might  reach  his  destination  in  the  guise  of  a 
Frenchman,  by  going  with  a  company  of  Creole  traders,  'but  owing 
to  the  great  danger  of  detection,  this  also  was  abandoned. 

In  the  meantime  the  ambassadors  of  Pontiae,  true  to  the  trust 
reposed  in  them,  had  traversed  the  immense  forest  solitudes, 
watered  by  the  tortuous  windings  of  the  Mississippi,  reeking 
with  the  deadly  exhalations  of  poisonous  marshes.  Visiting  the 
tribes  scattered  over  this  vast  wilderness,  even  to  the  southern  ex 
treme  of  Louisiana,  whither  the  fame  of  Pontiae  had  preceded  them, 
they  infused  into  them  a  spirit  of  resistance  to  British  encroach 
ments.  Next  repairing  to  New  Orleans  to  demand  military  aid, 
they  found  the  inhabitants  excited  over  the  transfer  of  their 
territory  to  the  dominion  of  Spain.  By  a  special  provision  New 


156  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

Orleans  had  not  been  included  in  the  cession  made  to  England 
east  of  the  Mississippi,  and  now  they  had  just  learned  that  their 
parent  country  had  transferred  all  her  remaining  possessions  to 
the  crown  of  Spain.  The  inhabitants  cordially  hated  the  Span 
iards,  and  their  patriotic  governor,  mortified  at  the  disgrace,  be 
came  the  victim  of  a  disease  that  shortly  afterward  caused  his 
death.  Bowed  with  disease  and  shame,  he  received  the  messen 
gers  of  Pontiac  in  the  council  hall  of  the  town.  Besides  the 
French  officials,  a  number  of  English  officers  were  present  at  the 
interview.  The  orator  of  the  Indian  deputation  Avas  a  Shawnee 
warrior,  who,  displaying  the  great  belt  of  wainpurn  and  pointing 
to  the  English,  said : 

"  These  red*  dogs  have  crowded  upon  us  more  and  more,  and  when  we  ask  why 
they  do  it,  we  are  told  that  you,  our  French  fathers,  have  given  them  our  land. 
But  we  know  they  have  lied.  These  lands  are  neither  yours  nor  theirs,  and 
no  man  shall  give  or  sell  them  without  our  consent.  Fathers,  we  have  always 
been  your  faithful  children,  and  we  have  come  to  obtain  from  you  arms  to  aid 
us  in  this  war." 

After  an  ineffectual  attempt  by  the  governor  to  allay  the  animos 
ity  expressed  in  the  speech,  and  a  promise  to  furnish  them  with 
supplies  for  their  immediate  wants,  the  council  adjourned  till  the 
next  day,  When,  however,  it  again  assembled,  the  dying  gover 
nor  had  breathed  out  his  life.  M.  Aubrey,  his  successor,  presided 
in  his  place.  After  one  of  the  Indian  orators,  according  to  the 
solemn  custom  of  his  people,  had  expressed  his  regret  for  the  sud 
den  death  of  the  governor,  a  Miami  chief  arose  and  said  : 

"Since  we  last  sat  on  these  seats  we  have  heard  strange  words.  We  hare 
learned  that  you,  whom  Ave  have  loved  and  served  so  well,  have  given  these 
lands  on  which  we  dwell  to  our  common  foe.  We  have  also  ascertained  that 
the  English  have  forbidden  you  to  send  traders  to  our  villages,  and  that  you, 
whom  we  thought  so  great  and  brave,  have  obeyed  their  commands  like 
women,  leaving  us  to  die  and  starve  in  misery.  We  now  tell  you  again  that 
these  lands  are  ours,  and  moreover  that  we  can  live  Avithout  your  aid  and  hunt 
and  fish  and  fight  as  did  our  ancestors  before  us.  All  we  ask  is  the  gnus,  the 
knives,  and  the  hatchets  we  have  worn  out  in  fighting  your  battles." 

To  these  home-thrusts  of  Indian  invective,  M.  Aubrey  could 
make  but  a  feeble  reply.  Presents  were  distributed  among  them, 
but  produced  no  effect  on  the  indignant  warriors,  and  on  the  mor 
row  they  commenced  their  ascent  of  the  great  river. 

The  great  influence  of  Pontiac  in  Illinois  convinced  General 
Gage,  the  successor  of  General  Amherst,  that  as  long  as  the  posts 
of  Illinois  remained  in  the  hands  of  French  officers  and  the  nag  of 
Trance  was  recognized  in  any  part  of  the  ceded  territory,  it  would 
be  impossible  to  eradicate  from  the  minds  of  the  Indians  the  phan 
tom  of  French  assistance.  He  therefore  determined  to  send  a 
force  westward  of  sufficient  magnitude  to  overcome  all  opposition, 
and  at  once  terminate  the  Avar,  by  removing  the  cause.  After  the 
repulse  of  Loftus  the  southern  route  to  Illinois  was  regarded  as 
impracticable,  and  it  was  decided  to  send  the  troops  by  way  of  the 
Ohio.  George  Croghan  and  Lieutenant  Frazer,  accompanied  by  a 
small  escort,  were  sent  in  advance  to  prepare  the  Indians  for  the 
advent  of  the  contemplated  expedition.  Croghan  had  for  years 
been  a  trader  among  the  western  tribes,  and  by  the  aid  of  his 
manly  character  had  won  the  respect  of  the  savages,  and  was  well 
fitted  for  the  discharge  of  this  important  trust.  The  party  set  out 

•Alluding  to  the  red  coats  of  the  British  soldiers 


PONTIAC'S   CONSPIRACY.  157 

for  Fort  Pitt  in  February,  17(55,  and  after  having  penetrated  snow 
bound  forests  and  mountain  defiles  during  the  rigors  of  a  severe 
winter,  they  arrived  safely  at  the  fort.  Here  Croghan  was  de 
tained  several  weeks,  for  the  purpose  of  having*  a  consultation 
with  the  Shawnees  and  Delawares,  along  whose  southern  border 
the  expedition  was  to  pass.  In  the  meantime,  fearing  that  the 
delay  attending  his  negotiations  might  have  a  prejudicial  effect 
upon  the  tribes  of  Illinois,  he  sent  Frazer  immediately  forward  to 
enter  upon  the  important  duties  with  which  they  had  been  en 
trusted.  The  icy  blockade  which  during  the  winter  had  obstructed 
the  navigation  of  the  Ohio,  now  disappeared,  and  the  party  em 
barking  in  a  canoe,  descended  with  the  current  of  the  river  near 
1,000  miles  without  encountering  opposition.  But  when  a  landing 
was  effected  the  followers  of  Pontiac  were  on  hand,  and  he  met 
with  a  reception  similar  to  that  accorded  to  Morris  the  previous 
autumn.  Buffeted  and  threatened  with  death,  he  abandoned  the 
object  of  his  visit,  and  fled  in  disguise  down  the  river  to  seek  a 
refuge  among  the  French.  .The  universal  overthrow  which  had 
attended  the  efforts  of  the  Indians  in  all  the  surrounding  regions, 
caused  them  to  look  upon  Illinois  as  sacred  ground,  and  hence 
their  determined  efforts  to  prevent  its  desecration  by  the  intru 
sion  of  their  hated  foe. 

The  English,  having  thus  far  failed  to  effect  an  entrance  into  the 
country  by  force  and  negotiations,  now  determined  to  try  their 
hand  at  conciliation.  They  had  heard  of  the  wonderful  influence 
exerted  over  the  savages  in  this  way  by  the  French,  and  concluded 
that  their  own  efforts  might  be  attended  with  similar  results.  For 
this  purpose  they  secured  the  services  of  a  Frenchman,  and  sent 
him  up  the  river  with  a  boat  load  of  goods,  which  he  was  instructed 
to  distribute  among  the  Indians  as  presents  from  the  English. 
Intelligence  of  this  movement  traveled  far  more  rapidly  than  the 
supplies,  and  Pontiac  determined  that  they  should  subserve  his 
own  interest  and  not  that  of  his  enemies.  He,  therefore,  watched 
the  arrival  of  the  boat,  and  no  sooner  had  a  landing  been  effected 
than  his  men  leaped  aboard,  and  having  flogged  the  Frenchman 
and  his  crew,  distributed  the  goods  among  themselves.  As  was 
customary,  these  supplies  were  soon  squandered  with  reckless 
prodigality,  and  the  savages  when  pressed  with  want  turned  to  the 
French  for  assistance.  But  the  latter  were  now  expecting  the 
arrival  of  a  British  force  to  take  possession  of  the  country,  and 
fearing  that  punishment  might  overtake  them  for  past  offences, 
concluded  it  best  to  withhold  their  assistance.  St.  Ange  and  other 
officers,  also  believing  that  their  successors  would  soon  arrive, 
informed  them  that  henceforth  they  must  look  for  supplies  to  the 
English,  whose  good  will  it  was  now  their  interest  to  cultivate. 

Hunger  itself  is  more  powerful  than  an  "  army  with  banners, n 
and  when  the  savages  saw  other  disasters  equally  appalling  and 
imminent,  the  most  resolute  warriors  began  to  hesitate  in  regard  to 
the  further  prolongation  of  the  struggle.  Even  Pontiac,  whose 
masculine  fibre  and  enduring  fortitude  the  ordinary  vicissitudes  of 
war  failed  to  affect,  began  to  waver  when  he  learned  that  the  highest 
French  dignitaries  refused  to  grant  him  aid.  The  expectations 
which  had  so  long  nerved  his  arm  were  fast  vanishing,  and 
with  a  sorrowful  heart  he  beheld  the  vast  civil  and  military  com 
binations  he  had  formed,  in  a  state  of  hopeless  disintegration. 


158  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

Deserted  by  allies  on  every  hand,  there  was  no  place  of  refuge 
whither  he  might  fly  for  safety.  In  the  south  and  west  were  fierce 
tribes,  the  hereditary  enemies  of  his  people ;  from  the  east  came 
an  overwhelming1  foe  to  engulf  him,  while  the  north,  the  home  of 
his  children  and  the  scenes  of  his  youthful  activities  and  aspi 
rations,  was  under  the  guns  of  an  impregnable  fortress.  At 
present,  unable  to  extricate  himself  from  the  labyrinth  of  impend 
ing  dangers,  he  was  compelled  to  submit  and  wait  a  future  day  of 
vengeance. 

Croghan,  having  completed  his  conference  with  the  Indians  at 
Fort  Pitt,  with  his  own  men  and  a  number  of  Delaware  and  Shaw- 
nee  warriors,  on  the  15th  of  May,  1765,  started  down  the  Ohio. 
With  little  detention,  he  landed  on  the  Illinois  shore,  a  short  dis 
tance  below  the  month  of  the  Wabash.*  Soon  after  disembark 
ing,  he  was  unexpectedly  greeted  by  a  shower  of  bullets  proceed 
ing  from  tangled  thickets  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  whereby  5  of 
his  men  were  killed  and  most  of  the  remainder  wounded.  Imme 
diately  following  the  explosion  of  musketry,  80  yelping  Kickapoos 
rushed  from  their  coverts,  and  disarming  the  English,  took  posses 
sion  of  all  their  personal  effects.  When  thus  rendered  powerless, 
the  assailants  began  to  apologize  for  the  dastardly  attack.  They 
declared  to  Croghan  that  the  French  had  told  them  that  his  escort 
consisted  of  Cherokees,  their  mortal  enemies,  and  that  under  this 
false  impression,  they  had  made  the  assault.  This  pretext  was, 
however,  another  instance  of  the  deception  for  which  that  tribe 
was  distinguished.  Though  endeavoring  to  excuse  their  conduct 
on  the  plea  of  ignorance,  it  was  afterward  ascertained  that  they 
had  dogged  Croghan  for  several  days,  and  knew  well  the  charac 
ter  of  his  escort.  With  less  government  over  themselves  than 
children,  and  tilled  with  the  instinct  of  devils,  their  real  object  was 
to  wreak  Vengeance  on  the  English  and  gratify  a  rabid  desire  for. 
blood. 

Carefully  guarded  as  a  prisoner,  Croghan  was  conducted  np  the 
Wabash  to  Yincennes,  where,  fortunately,  lie  met  with  a  number 
of  his  former  friends,  who  not  only  effected  his  release  but  sharply 
reprimanded  his  captors  for  their  unjustifiable  conduct.  From 
Vincenues  he  was  escorted  farther  up  the  river  to  Fort  Watanon 
and  entertained  with  much  apparent  cordiality  by  Indians  with 
whom  he  had  been  previously  acquainted.  Here  he  spent  several 
days  in  receiving  and  shaking  hands  with  deputations  of  chiefs 
and  warriors  from  the  surrounding  region,  allot'  whom  were  appar 
ently  anxious  to  be  on  friendly  terms  with  the  English,  and 
expressed  a  desire  for  the  return  of  peace.  In  contrast  with  these 
evidences  of  good  will,  a  Frenchman  arrived  with  a  message  from 
a  chief  living  in  Illinois,  urging  the  Indians  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
fort  to  put  the  English  ambassador  to  death.  Despite  this  mur-' 
derous  request,  lie  was  assured  by  his  savage  friends  that  they 
w^ould  not  only  protect  his  person,  but  assist  in  taking  possession 
of  the  country  where  the  hostile  chief  resided.  Unexpectedly  a 

*"  On  the  6th  of  June  they  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  AVabash.  Here  they  found  a 
breastwork,  supposed  to  have  been  erected  by  Indians.  Six  miles  further,  they 
encamped  at  a  place  called  the  'old  Shawnee  village,'  upon  or  near  the  present  site 
of  Shawneetown,  which  perpetuates  its  name.  At  this  place  they  remained  Bdays  for 
the  purpose  of  opening  a  friendly  intevcouse  and  trade  with  the  Wabash  tribes  ;  and 
while  here,  Col.  Croghan  sent  messengers  with  dispatches  for  Lord  (Lieut.  ?)  Frazer 
who  had  gone  from  Fort  Pitt  as  commandant  at  Fort  Chartres,  and  also  to  M.  St.  Ange, 
the  former  French  commandant.''— MONNET  je,  1,346. 


PONTIAC'S   CONSPIRACY.  159 

messenger  next  came  from  St.  Ange,  requesting  him  to  visit  Fort 
Chartres  and  adjust  affairs  preparatory  to  his  withdrawal  from 
the  fort.  As  this  was  in  accordance  with  his  intentions,  he  imme 
diately  set  out,  but  had  not  proceeded  far  before  he  was  met  by 
Pontiac  and  a  numerous  retinue  of  warriors.  The  chief  had  come 
to  otter  terms  of  peace,  and  Croghan  returned  with  him  to  the  fort 
for  consultation.  The  chiefs  and  warriors  of  the  surrounding 
nations  also  met  in  council,  and  Pontiac,  in  the  presence  of  the 
multitude,  introduced  the  pipe  of  peace  and  expressed  his  concur 
rence  in  the  friendly  sentiments  which  had  been  interchanged  at 
the  fort  before  his  arrival.  He  declared  that  the  French  had  misled 
him  with  the  statement  that  the  English  proposed  to  stir  up  the 
Cherokees  against  his  brethren  of  Illinois,  and  thus  reduce  them 
to  servitude.  The  English,  he  agreed,  might  take  possession  of 
Fort  Chartres  and  the  other  military  posts,  but  sagaciously  inti 
mated  that  the  French  had  never  purchased  the  lands  of  the 
Illinois,  and  as  they  lived  on  them  by  sufferance  only,  their  suc 
cessors  would  have  no  legal  right  to  their  possession.  The  amicable 
feelings  manifested  by  the  Illinois  chiefs  who  were  present, 
obviated  the  necessity  of  his  proceeding  farther  westward,  and  he 
next  directed  his  attention  to  the  tribes  of  the  north-east. 

Accompanied  by  Pontiac  he  crossed  to  Fort  Miami,  and  descend 
ing  the  Maumee,  held  conferences  with  the  different  tribes  dwell  ing 
in  the  immense  forests  which  shelter  the  banks  of  the  stream. 
Passing  thence  up  the  Detroit,  he  arrived  at  the  fort  on  the  17th 
of  August,  where  he  found  a  vast  concourse  of  neighboring  tribes. 
The  fear  of  punishment,  and  the  long  privations  they  had  suffered 
from  the  suspension  of  the  fur  trade,  had  banished  every  thought 
of  hostility,  and  all  were  anxious  for  peace  and  its  attendant  bless 
ings.  After  numerous  interviews  with  different  tribes  in  the  old 
town  hall,  where  Pontiac  first  essayed  the  execution  of  his 
treachery,  Croghan  called  a  final  meeting  on  the  27th  of  August. 
Imitating  the  forest  eloquence  with  which  he  had  long  been 
familiar,  he  thus  addressed  the  convocation : 

"  Children,  we  are  very  glad  to  see  so  many  of  you  present  at  your  ancient 
council  fire,  which  has  been  neglected  for  some  time  past.  Since  then  high 
winds  have  blown  and  raised  heavy  clouds  over  your  country.  I  now,  by  this 
belt,  re-kindle  your  ancient  fires,  and  throw  dry  wood  upon  it,  that  the  'blaze 
may  ascend  to  heaven,  so  that  all  nations  may  see  it  and  know  that  you  live  in 
peace  with  your  fathers,  the  English.  By  this  belt  I  disperse  all  the  black 
clouds  from  over  your  heads,  that  the  sun  may  shine  clear  on  your  women 
and  children,  and  that  those  unborn  may  enjoy  the  blessings  of  this  general 
peace,  now  so  happily  settled  between  your  fathers,  the  English,  and  you  and 
all  your  younger  brethren  toward  the  sunsettiug." 

Pontiac  replied: 

"Father,  we  have  all  smoked  together  out  of  this  peace  pipe,  and  as  the 
Great  Spirit  has  brought  us  together  for  good,  I  declare  to  all  the  nations  that 
1  have  made  peace  with  the  English.  In  the  presence  of  all  the  tribes  now 
assembled,!  take  the  King  of  England  for  my  father,  and  dedicate  this  pipe  to 
iiis  use,  that  thenceforth  we  may  visit  him  and  smoke  together  in  peace." 

The  object  of  Croghan's  visit  was  now  consummated,  but  before 
he  departed  he  exacted  from  Pontiac  a  promise  that  the  following 
spring  he  would  repair  to  Oswego  and  enter  into  a  treaty  with  Sir 
William  Johnson,  in  behalf  of  the  western  nations  associated  with 
him  in  the  war. 

uln  the  meantime  a  hundred  Highlanders  of  the  42d  regiment, 
those  veterans  whose  battle  cry  had  echoed  over  the  bloodiest 


100  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

fields  of  America,  bad  left  Fort  Pitt  under  command  of  Captain 
Stirling,  and  descending  the  Ohio  undeterred  by  the  rigor  of  the 
season,  arrived  at  Chartres  just  as  the  snows  of  early  winter  began 
to  whiten  the  naked  forests.  The  Hag  of  France  descended  from 
the  rampart,  and  with  the  stern  courtesies  of  war  St.  Ange  yielded 
up  his  post,  the  citadel  of  Illinois,  to  its  new  masters.  In  that 
act  was  consummated  the  double  triumph  of  British  power  in 
America.  England  had  crushed  her  hereditary  foe ;  France  in  her 
fall  had  left  to  irretrievable  ruin  the  savage  tribes  to  whom  her 
policy  and  self-interest  had  lent  a  transient  support."*  The  doomed 
nations  were  next  to  seal  their  submission  to  the  power  which  had 
wrought  their  ruin,  and  British  sway  would  be  complete. 

Reminded  of  his  promise  to  Croghan  by  the  leafy  drapery  of 
summer,  Pontiac  repaired  to  Oswego,  and  for  the  last  time  appeared 
before  the  representatives  of  English  sovereignty.  In  the  midst 
of  a  large  concourse,  which  the  importance  of  the  occasion  had 
drawn  together,  he  arose  and  said  :  "Father,  we  thank  the  Great 
Spirit  who  has  given  us  this  day  of  bright  skies  and  genial  warmth 
to  consider  the  great  affairs  now  before  us.  In  his  presence,  and 
in  behalf  of  all  the  nations  toward  the  sunsetting,  of  which  I  am 
the  master,  I  now  take  you  by  the  hand.  I  call  upon  him  to  wit 
ness,  that  I  have  spoken  from  my  heart,  and  in  the  name  of  the 
tribes  which  I  represent,  I  promise  to  keep  this  covenant  as  long 
as  I  live."  Having  now  fulfilled  his  promise,  he  retired  from  the 
scene  of  his  humiliation  with  a  sad  heart.  Before  his  fierce  glance 
the  vail  which  hides  the  present  from  the  future  was  withdrawn, 
and  he  saw  his  people,  deceived  by  intruding  strangers,  driven 
from  the  home  of  their  ancestors  and  fleeing  westward  to  perish 
on  the  desert  with  hunger. 

After  the  treaty  he  returned  to  the  west,  and  for  three  years 
buried  Ifis  disappointment  in  the  seclusion  of  its  dark  forests, 
providing  as  a  common  hunter  for  his  family.  In  the  earlier  part 
of  the  year  1709,  some  slight  disturbance  occurred  between  the 
Indians  of  Illinois  and  some  French  traders  living  in  and  around 
St.  Louis.  Simultaneously  Pontiac  appeared  in  the  excited  region, 
but  whether  he  was  connected  with  the  disturbance  is  not  known. 
The  English  evidently  regarded  him  with  distrust,  and  determined 
to  take  his  life  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  the  bloody  drama  he  had 
formerly  enacted.  Soon  after  his  arrival  he  went  to  St.  Louis  and 
called  on  his  old  friend  St.  Ange,  then  in  command  of  the  Spanish 
garrison.  For  this  purpose  he  arrayed  himself  in  the  uniform 
which  had  been  presented  him  by  Montcalm,  and  which  he  had  the 
good  taste  never  to  wear  except  on  important  occasions.  St.  Ange 
and  the  principal  inhabitants  of  the  place  gave  him  a  cordial  wel 
come,  and  exerted  themselves  to  render  his  visit  agreeable.  He 
had  been  there  but  a  few  days  when  he  heard  that  there  was  a 
social  gathering  of  the  Indians  at  Cahokia,  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  river,  and  informed  his  friend  that  he  would  cross  over  and 
see  what  they  were  doing.  St.  Ange,  aware  of  the  danger  he 
would  encounter,  endeavored  to  disuade  him  from  his  purpose,  but 
the  chief  boasting  that  he  was  not  afraid  of  the  English,  departed. 
At  Cahokia  he  found  the  Indians  engaged  in  a  drunken  carousal, 
and  soon  becoming  intoxicated  himself,  started  to  the  neighboring 
woods,  and  shortly  afterward  was  heard  singing  magic  songs,  in 

*Parkman. 


PONTIAC'S  CONSPIRACY.  161 

the  mystic  influence  of   which  he  reposed  the   greatest  confi 
dence. 

There  was  an  English  trader  in  the  village  at  the  time,  who,  in 
common  with  the  rest  of  his  countrymen,  regarded  him  with  the 
greatest  distrust,  and  while  the  oportunity  was  favorable  deter 
mined  to  effect  his  destruction.  He  approached  a  vagabond  Indian 
of  the  Kaskaskia  tribe,  and  bribed  him  with  a  barrel  of  Avhiskey  to 
execute  his  murderous  intent.  The  assassin  approached  the  woods, 
and  at  a  favorable  moment  glided  up  behind  the  chief  and  buried 
his  tomahawk  in  his  brain.  Thus  base!}7  terminated  the  carreer 
of  the  warrior,  whose  great  natural  endowments  made  him  the 
greatest  hero  of  his  race,  and  with  him  ended  their  last  great  struggle 
to  resist  the  inroads  of  civilized  men.  The  body  was  soon  found, 
and  the  village  became  a  pandemonium  of  howling  savages.  His 
friends,  worse  than  brutalized  by  their  fiery  potations,  seized  their 
arms  to  wreak  vengeance  on  the  perpetrator  of  the  murder,  but  the 
Illinois,  interposing  in  behalf  of  their  countryman,  drove  them 
from  the  town.  Foiled  in  their  attempt  to  obtain  retribution,  they 
fled  to  the  neighboring  nations,  and  making  known  the  momentous 
intelligence,  a  war  of  extermination  was  declared  against  the 
abettors  of  this  crime.  Swarms  of  Sacs,  Foxes,  Pottawatomies, 
and  other  northern  tribes  who  had  been  fired  by  the  eloquence  of 
the  martyred  chief,  descended  to  the  plains  of  Illinois,  and  whole 
villages  were  extirpated  to  appease  his  shade.*  St.  Auge  pro 
cured  the  body  of  his  guest,  and  mindful  of  his  former  friendship 
buried  it  with  the  honors  of  war  near  the  fort  under  his  command 
at  St.  Louis.  His  proud  mausoleum  is  the  great  city  which  has 
since  risen  above  his  unknown  grave,  and  his  loud  requiem  the  din 
of  industry  and  the  tramp  of  thousands  descended  from  the  race 
he  hated  with  such  remorseless  rancor.  The  forest  solitudes 
through  which  he  loved  to  wander  have  been  swept  away,  his 
warriors  are  no  more,  and  the  rusty  relics  of  their  former  existence 
can  only  be  found  in  the  cabinet  of  the  antiquary,  while  the  great 
river  which  floated  only  their  frail  canoes  is  now  beat  into  foam  by 
the  powerful  enginery  of  the  passing  steamboat. 

*It  was  at  this  time  that  the  tragedy  before  described  on  the  Hock  of  St.  Louis  was 
enacted,  which  has  since  been  kuowu  as  "Starved  Rock." 


11 


CHAPTER  XY. 

1765-78— ILLINOIS  AS  A  BKITISH  PBOYINCE  —  Partial 
Exodus  of  the  French — Their  Dislike  of  English  Laic,  and 
Restoration  of  their  Own  by  the  Quebec  Bill  —  Land  Grants  by 
British  Commandants — Curious  Indian  Deeds — Conditon  of  the 
Settlements  in  1766,  by  Captain  Pitman — Brady's  and  Meillctte's 
Expeditions  to  the  St.  Joseph  in  1777-78. 


It  was  on  the  10th  of  October,  1765,  that  the  ensign  of  France 
was  replaced  on  the  ramparts  of  Fort  Chartres  by  the  flag  of  Great 
Britain.  At  the  time  the  colonies  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard  were 
assembled  in  preliminary  congress  at  New  York,  dreaming  of  lib 
erty  and  independence  for  the  continent,  while  the  great  valley 
east  of  the  Mississippi,  with  its  broad  rivers  rushing  from  the 
mountains  and  gathering  in  the  plain,  its  vast  prairies  unsurpassed 
for  their  wealth  of  soil,  its  boundless  primeval  forests  with  their 
deep  solitudes,  into  which  were  presently  to  be  summoned  the 
eager  millions  of  many  tongues  to  build  their  happy  homes,  passed 
finally  from  the  dominion  of  France  under  the  yoke  of  Great 
Britain.*  Besides  being  constructively  a  part  of  Florida  for  over 
100  years,  during  which  time  no  Spaniard  set  foot  upon  her  soil 
or  rested  his  eye  upon  her  beautful  plains,  Illinois,  for  nearly  90 
years,  had  been  in  the  actual  occupation  of  the  French,  their  puny 
settlements  slumbering  quietly  in  colonial  dependence  on  the  far- 
off  waters  of  the  Kaskaskia,  Illinois  and  Wabash.  But  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  had  gained  at  last  a  permanent  foot-hold  on  the  banks  of 
the  great  river,  and  a  new  life,  instinct  with  energy  and  progress, 
was  about  to  be  infused  into  the  country. 

M.  Neyon  de  Yilliers,  long  the  commandant  of  Fort  Chartres, 
kept  from  the  French,  and  particularly  the  Indians,  so  long  as  he 
could,  a  knowledge  of  the  cession  of  the  country  to  Great  Britain 
by  the  treaty  of  Paris,  and  finally,  when  it  had  gained  publicity 
and  when  the  power  and  influence  of  the  great  Indian  conspirator 
was  broken,  rather  than  dwell  under  the  detested v  flag  of  the  con 
queror,  he  abandoned  Illinois  in  the  summer  of  1764,  followed  by 
many  of  the  inhabitants,  to  New  Orleans.  The  command  of  the 
fort  and  country  then  devolved  upon  M.  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive,  a 
veteran  Canadian  officer  of  rare  tact  and  large  experience,  who,  40 
years  prior,  had  escorted  Chaiievoix  through  the  West,  the  Jesuit 
• traveler  mentioning  him  with  commendation.  His  position  required 

'Bancroft 

162 


BRITISH   OCCUPATION.  163 

skill  and  address  to  save  his  feeble  colony  from  a  renewed  war 
with  the  English,  and  from  a  general  massacre  by  the  incensed 
hordes  of  savages  under  Pontiac  surrounding  him.  By  the  home 
government  he  had  been  advised  of  the  cession  to  the  British,  and 
ordered  to  surrender  the  country  upon  their  arrival  to  claim  it. 
By  repeated  embassies  from  Pontiac  and  from  various  warlike 
tribes  toward  the  east,  he  was  importuned  for  assistance  against 
the  English,  and  unceasingly  tormented  by  the  Illinois  demand 
ing  arms  and  ammunition.  But  in  various  dexterous  ways,  he  put 
off  from  time  the  importunate  savages  with  fair  speeches  and  occa 
sional  presents,  while  he  anxiously  awaited  the  coining  of  the  British 
garrison  to  take  possession  and  relieve  him  of  his  dilenma.*  After 
the  evacuation  of  Fort  Chartres,  he  also  retired  from  the  country, 
conducting  his  feeble  garrison  of  21  soldiers  to  the  infant  settle 
ment  of  St.  Louis,  where,  in  the  absence  of  any  Spanish  rule  as 
yet,  he  continued  to  exercise  the  functions  of  his  office  with  great 
satisfaction  to  the  people  until  November,  1770,  when  his  authority 
was  superceded  by  Piernas,  commandant  under  the  Spanish  gov 
ernment.  By  a  secret  treaty,  ratified  November  3,  1702,  the  king 
of  France  had  ceded  to  the  king  of  Spain  all  the  territory  west  of  the 
Mississippi  to  its  remotest  tributaries,  including  New  Orleans  ;  but 
the  civil  jurisdiction  of  Spain  was  not  enforced  in  Upper  Louis 
iana  until  1709.t  Prior  to  his  departure,  with  a  fatherly  care  and 
benevolent  intent,  St.  Ange  instituted  for  those  he  left  behind  in 
Illinois  some  wise  and  salutory  regulations  regarding  titles  to 
their  lands.f 

The  exodus  of  the  old  Canadian  French  was  large  just  prior  and 
during  the  British  occupation.  Unwilling  to  dwell  under  the  flag 
of  their  hereditary  enemy,  many,  including  some  of  the  wealth 
iest  families,  removed  with  their  slaves  and  other  personal  effects, 
mostly  to  Upper  Louisiana,  just  across  the  Mississippi,  and  settled 
in  the  small  hamlet  of  St.  Genevieve.  Others  joined  and  aided 
Laclede  in  founding  the  present  great  city  of  St.  Louis,  the  site  of 
which  had  then  but  just  been  selected  as  a  depot  for  the  fur  com 
pany  of  Louisiana.  The  number  of  inhabitants  of  foreign  lineage 
residing  in  the  Illinois  settlements  were  estimated  as  follows: 
White  men  able  to  bear  arms,  700  •  white  women,  500  ;  their  chil 
dren,  850;  negroes  of  both  sexes,  900  ;  total,  2,950.  Bythehegira, 
one-third  of  the  whites  and  a  greater  proportion  of  the  blacks 
removed,  leaving  probably  less  than  2,000  souls  at  the  commence 
ment  of  the  British  occupation,  during  which  the  influx  did  not 
more  than  keep  pace  with  the  efflux.  Few  English  or  Americans 
even  visited  the  country  under  the  British  rule,  and  less  settled. 
Scarcely  an  Anglo-Saxon  (other  than  the  British  troops,  traders, 
officers  and  favored  land  speculators)  was  seen  there  during 
this  time,  and  until  the  conquest  of  Clark  in  1778. 

Captain  Sterling,  of  the  42d  Royal  Highlanders,  brought  out 
with  him,  and  in  taking  possession  of  Fort  Chartres,  published 
the  following  proclamation : 

"By  His  Excellency,  Thomas  Gage,  Major-General  of  the  King's  armies, 
Colonel  of  the  22d  regiment,  General  commanding  in  chief  all  the  forces  of  His 
Majesty  in  North  America,  etc.,  etc: 

*Seehis  letter  to  Governor  D'Abbadie,  Sept.  9th. 
tMonette's  Valley  of  the  Mississippi. 
^Peek's  Annals  of  the  West. 


164  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

"Whereas,  by  the  peace  concluded  at  Paris,  on  the  10th  of  February,  17G3,  the 
country  of  the  Illinois  has  been  ceded  to  His  Britannic  Majesty,  and  the,  taking 
possession  of  the  said  country  of  the  Illinois  by  troops  of  His  Majesty,  though 
dela}red,  has  been  determined  upon,  we  have  found  it  good  to  make  known  to 
the  inhabitants — 

"That  His  Majesty  grants  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Illinois  the  liberty  of  the 
Catholic  religion,  as  it  has  already  been  granted  to  his  subjects  in  Canada;  he 
has  consequently  given  the  most  precise  and  effective  orders,  to  the  end  that 
his  new  Roman  Catholic  subjects  of  the  Illinois  may  exercise  the  worship  of 
their  religion  according  to  the  rights  of  the  Roman  Church,  in  the  same  manner 
as  in  Canada; 

"  That  His  Majesty,  moreover,  agrees  that  the  French  inhabitants,  or  others, 
who  have  been  subjects  of  the  Most  Christian  King,  may  retire  in  full  safety 
and  freedom,  wherever  they  please,  even  to  New  Orleans,  or  any  other  part  of 
Louisiana,  although  it  should  happen  that  the  Spaniards  take  possession  of  it 
in  the  name  of  .His  Catholic  Majesty ;  and  they  may  sell  their  estate,  provided 
it  be  to  subjects  of  His  Majesty,  and  transport  their  effects,  as  well  as  persons, 
without  restraint  upon  their  emigration,  under  any  pretense  whatever,  except 
in  consequence  of  debts  or  of  criminal  process; 

"That  those  who  choose  to  retain  their  lands  and  become  subjects  of  His 
Majesty,  shall  'enjoy  the  same  rights  and  privileges,  the  same  security  for  their 
persons  and  effects  and  liberty  of  trade,  as  the  old  subjects  of  the  King; 

"That  they  are  commanded,  by  these  presents,  to  take  the  oath  of  fidelity 
and  obedience  to  His  Majesty,  in  presence  of  Sieur  Sterling,  Captain  of  the 
Highland  regiment,  the  bearer  hereof,  and  furnished  with  our  full  powers  for 
this  purpose; 

"  That  we  recommend  forcibly  to  the  inhabitants,  to  conduct  themselves  like 
good  and  faithful  subjects,  avoiding  by  a  wise  and  prudent  demeanor  all  cause 
of  complaint  against  them ; 

"  That  they  act  in  concert  with  His  Majesty's  officers,  so  that  his  troops  may 
take  peaceable  possession  of  all  the  posts,  and  order  be  kept  in  the  country ;  by 
this  means  alone  they  will  spare  His  Majesty  the  necessity  of  recurring  to  force 
of  arms,  and  will  find  themselves  saved  from  the  scourge  of  a  bloody  war,  and 
of  all  the  evils  which  the  march  of  an  army  into  their  country  would  draw 
after  it." 

"  We  direct  that  these  presents  be  read,  published,  and  posted  up  in  the 
usual  places. 

"  Done  and  given  at  Headquarters,  New  York.  Signed  with  our  hand,  sealed 
with  our  seal  at  arms,  and  countersigned  by  our  Secretary,  this  30th  of  De 
cember,  1764. 

"THOMAS  GAGE,  [L.  S.] 

"  By  His  Excellency: 

"  G.  MATURIN." 

With  such  fair  and  liberal  concessions,  so  well  calculated  to  gain 
the  favor  and  affection  of  the  French,  and  stay  their  emigration, 
Captain  Sterling  began  the  government  of  this  isolated  colony. 
But  it  was  destined  to  be  of  short  duration.  He  died  some  three 
months  after  his  arrival,  leaving  the  office  of  commandant  vacant. 
Under  these  circumstances  their  former  beloved  commandant,  M. 
St.  Ange,  returned  to  Fort  Chartres  and  discharged  the  duties  of 
the  office  until  a  successor  to  Captain  Sterling  should  be  sent  out. 
Major  Frazer  was  next  sent  out  from  Fort  Pitt.  He  exercised  a 
brief  but  arbitrary  power  over  the  settlements,  when  he  was  re 
lieved  by  a  Colonel  Reed,  who  proved  for  the  colonists  a  bad 
exchange.  For  18  months  he  enacted  the  petty  tyrant  by  a  series 
of  military  oppressions  over  these  feeble  settlements,  which  were, 
by  reason  of  their  isolation,  entirely  without  redress.  He  was,  how 
ever,  at  last  removed  and  succeeded  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Wil- 
kiiis,  who  arrived  September  5,  1768.  He  brought  orders  for  the 
establishment  of  a  court  of  justice  in  Illinois  for  the  administra 
tion  of  the  laws  and  the  adjustment  and  trial  of  all  controversies 


BRITISH   OCCUPATION.  1C5 

existing  between  the  people  relating  to  debts  or  property,  either 
real  or  personal. 

On  the  -Jlst  of  November,  1768,  Col.  Wilkins  issued  his  procla 
mation  for  a  civil  administration  of  the  laws  of  the  country.  For 
this  purpose  he  appointed  seven  magistrates  or  judges,  from 
among  the  people,  as  a  civil  tribunal,  to  hold  monthly  terms  of 
court.  The  names  of  these  first  exponents  of  the  principles  of  the 
common  law  of  England  upon  the  soil  of  Illinois,  we  are  unable  to 
transmit.  A  term  of  this  court  was  held,  commencing  December 
6,  17G8,  at  Fort  Chartres,  which  was  the  first  common  law  juris 
diction  ever  exercised  within  the  present  limits  of  Illinois.  Al 
though  we  call  this  a  common  law  court,  it  was  in  point  of  fact  a 
very  nondescript  affair.  It  was  a  court  of  first  and  last  resort — no 
appeal  lay  from  it.  It  was  the  highest,  as  well  as  lowest — the 
only  court  in  the  country.  It  proved  anything  but  popular,  and 
it  is  just  possible  that  the  honorable  judges,  themselves  taken 
from  among  the  i>eople,  may  not  have  been  the  most  enlightened 
exponents  of  the  law.  The  people  were  under  the  laws  of  England, 
but  the  trial  by  jury — that  great  bulwark  of  the  subject's  right, 
coeval  with  the  common  law  and  reiterated  in  the  British  Consti 
tution —  the  French  mind  was  unable  to  appreciate,  particu 
larly  in  civil  trials.  They  thought  it  very  inconsistent  that  the 
English  should  refer  nice  questions  relating  to  the  rights  of 
property  to  a  tribunal  consisting  of  tailors,  shoemakers  or  other 
artisans  and  tradespeople,  for  determination,  rather  than  the 
judges  learned  in  the  law.  While  thus  under  the  English  admin 
istration  civil  jurisprudence  was  sought  to  be  brought  nearer  to 
the  people,  where  it  should  be,  it  failed,  because,  owing  to  the 
teachings  and  perhaps  genius  of  the  French  mind,  it  could  not  be 
made  of  the  people.  For  near  90  years  had  these  settlements  been 
ruled  by  the  dicta  and  decisions  of  theocratic  and  military  tribu 
nals,  absolute  in  both  civil  and  criminal  cases,  but,  as  may  well  be 
imagined,  in  a  po.st  so  remote,  where  there  was  neither  wealth, 
culture  nor  fashion,  all  incentives  tooppress  the  colony  remained 
dormant,  and  the  extraordinary  powers  of  the  priests  and  com 
mandants  were  exercised  in  a  patriarchal  spirit  which  gained  the 
love  and  implicit  confidence  of  the  people.  Believing  that  their 
rulers  were  ever  right,  they  gave  themselves  110  trouble  or  pains 
to  review  their  acts.  Indeed,  many  years  later,  when  Illinois  had 
passed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  the  perplexed 
inhabitants,  unable  to  comprehend  the  to  them  complicated  ma 
chinery  of  republicanism,  begged  to  be  delivered  from  the  intoler 
able  burden  of  self-government  and  again  subjected  to  the  will  of 
a  military  commandant. 

In  1774  the  English  Parliament  restored  to  the  people  their 
ancient  laws  in  civil  cases,  without  the  trial  by  jury ;  guaranteed 
the  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  and  rehabilitated  the  Roman 
Catholic  clergy  with  the  privileges  stipulated  in  the  articles  of 
capitulation  of  Montreal  in  1700.  The  act  was  known  as  the 
"Quebec  bill,"  which  extended  the  boundaries  of  the  province  of 
Quebec  to  the  Mississippi,  including  all  the  French  inhabitants  at 
Detroit,  Mackinaw,  011  the  Wabash,  and  in  the  Illinois  country. 
Its  object  was  to  firmly  attach  these  remote  French  colonies,  as 
well  as  all  Canada,  to  the  English  government,  and  to  thwart  the 
rising  opposition  of  the  colonies  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard  to  its 


166  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS 

policy.  The  latter  strongly  disapprobated  it,  viewing  it  as  but 
another  stroke  of  ministerial  policy  to  secure  the  aid  of  the  French 
toward  their  subjugation.  The  colonists  were  then  openly  arrayed 
against  the  arbitrary  acts  of  the  home  government.  At  a  conven 
tion  held  at  Falmouth,  Mass.,  September  ±>,  1774,  it  was  resolved 
that  "As  the  very  extraordinary  and  alarming  act  for  establishing 
the  Roman  Catholic  religion  and  French  laws  in  Canada  may 
introduce  the  French  or  Indians  into  our  frontier  towns,  we  recom 
mend  that  every  town  and  individual  in  this  country  should  be 
provided  with  a  proper  stock  of  military  stores,"  etc.  The  French 
colonists,  apprised  of  the  bitter  opposition  of  the  English  colonists 
to  the  Quebec  bill,  and  believing  that  Puritanism  was  inclined  to 
deprive  them  of  the  religious  privileges  granted  by  it,  were  bound 
the  closer  to  the  support  of  the  government  during  the  first  years 
of  the  revolutionary  war.  It  is  asserted  that  the  French  supplied 
Indian  war  parties  with  arms  and  ammunition  to  commit  depre 
dations  upon  the  western  frontiers  of  the  English  settlements.* 

After  the  acquisition  of  New  France  by  Great  Britain,  the  king, 
by  his  proclamation  of  October  7th,  1763,  forbade  his  subjects 
"making  any  purchases  or  settlements  whatever,  or  taking  pos 
session  of  any  of  the  lands  beyond  the  sources  of  any  of  the  rivers 
which  fall  into  the  Atlantic  ocean  from  the  west  or  northwest." 
The  policy  was  to  reserve  thisA'ast  and  fertile  region  as  a  hunting 
ground  for  the  Indians,  and  by  means  of  the  lakes  place  within 
British  control  their  enormous  fur  and  peltry  trade ;  to  confine  the 
English  colonies  to  the  seaboard  within  the  reach  of  British  ship 
ping,  which  would  be  more  promotive  of  trade  and  commerce, 
while  the  granting  of  large  bodies  of  land  in  the  remote  interior,  it 
was  apprehended,  would  tend  to  separate  and  render  independent 
the  people,  who  would  want  to  set  up  for  themselves.! 

Notwithstanding  this  policy  of  the  home  government,  the  most 
noticeable  feature  of  Colonel  Wilkins'  administration  was  the  won 
derful  liberality  with  which  he  parceled  out  the  rich  domain  over 
which  he  ruled  in  large  tracts  to  his  favorites  in  Illinois,  Philadel 
phia  and  elsewhere,  without  other  consideration  than  the 
requiring  of  them  to  re-convey  to  him  an  interest.  Under  the 
proclamation  of  the  king,  dated  October  7, 1763,  the  taking  or  pur 
chasing  of  lands  from  the  Indians  in  any  of  the  American  colonies 
was  strictly  forbidden,  without  special  leave  or  license  being  first 
obtained.  In  view  of  this  prohibition,  Colonel  Wilkins  and  some 
others  of  the  commanders  during  the  British  occupation  of  Illinois, 
from  1765  to  1775,  seem  to  have  considered  the  property  of  the 
French  absentees  as  actually  forfeited,  and  granted  it  away.  But 
this  transaction  never  received  the  sanction  of  the  king ;  by  no 
official  act  was  this  property  in  any  manner  annexed  to  the  Brit 
ish  crown.  True,  under  the  laws  of  England,  an  alien  could  not 
hold  land,  yet  to  divest  his  title,  and  cause  it  to  become  escheated, 
a  process  in  the  nature  of  an  inquisition  was  necessary.  Did  not 
the  same  rule  apply  in  the  case  of  a  conquered  country  before  the 
forfeiture  of  the  lands  of  an  absentee  became  complete? 

Colonel  Wilkins'  grants  amounted  to  many  thousands  of  acres. 
One  became  afterwards  somewhat  notorious.  This  was  made  to 


'Dillon's  Ind.  90, 

+See  letter  of  the  Royal  Governor  of  Georgia  to  the  British  Lords  of  Trade,  1769. 


BRITISH   OCCUPATION.  1G7 

John  Baynton,  Samuel  Whartoii  aud  George  Morgan,  merchants 
of  Philadelphia — who,  "trading  in  this  country,  have  greatly  con 
tributed  to  his  majesty's  service" — "for  range  of  cattle  and  for 
tilling  grain,"  said  to  contain  13,980  acres,  but  the  metes  and 
bounds  disclosed  it  to  cover  some  30,000  acres.*  It  was  a  mag 
nificent  domain,  lying  between  the  villages  of  Kaskaskia  and 
Prairie  du  Rocher,  in  the  present  county  of  Randolph.  The  con 
veyance  opens  and  closes  with  the  flourishes  of  the  period :  "  John 
AVilkins,  Esq.,  lieutenant  colonel  of  his  majesty's  18th,  or  royal 
regiment  of  Ireland,  governor  and  commandant  throughout  the 
Illinois  country,  sends  greeting,"  etc.,  etc.,  whereunto  he  "  set  his 
hand  and  seal-at-arins  at  Fort  Chartres,  this  12th  day  of  April,  in 
the  ninth  year  of  the  reign  of  our  sovereign,  Lord  George  the  Third, 
king  of  Great  Britain,  France  and  Ireland,"  etc.,  etc.,  1709.  A 
condition  is  annexed  that  "The  foregoing  be  void  if  disapproved 
of  by  his  majesty  or  the  commander-in-chief." 

On  the  25th  of  June  following,  at  Fort  Chartres,  George  Morgan 
and  J.  Ramsey  executed  an  instrument  of  writing,  reciting  a 
number  of  grants  besides  the  foregoing,  together  with  the  names 
of  the  grantees,  wherein  in  consideration  of  Colonel  John  'AYilkiiis, 
"the  better  to  promote  the  said  service,  has  agreed  to  be  interested 
one  .sixth  part  therein,"  they  "engage  that  each  of  the  before  men 
tioned  persons  shall  assign  over  to  the  whole,  and  to  Colonel 
Wilkins,  five-sixth,  parts  thereof,"  etc.  For  the  better  carrying 
out  of  their  plans,  the  British  officers,  and  their  grantees  perhaps, 
committed  a  wanton  outrage  on  the  records  of  the  ancient  French 
grants  at  Kaskaskia,  destroying  to  a  great  extent  their  regular 
chain  of  title  and  conveyances.t 

By  act  of  congress  of  1788,  the  Governor  of  the  Northwestern 
territory  was  authorized  to  confirm  the  possessions  and  titles  of 
the  French  and  Canadian  inhabitants  and  other  settlers  on  the 
public  lands,  who,  on  or  before  1788,  had  professed  themselves 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  any  one  of  them.  Governor  St. 
Clair  confirmed  many  of  these  grants  in  a  very  loose  manner, 
sometimes  by  the  bundle.  But  this  British  grant  of  30,000  acres, 
which  had  been  assigned  to  John  Edgar,  was  patented  by  the 
Governor  to  Edgar  and  his  (the  Governor's)  son,  John  Murray  St. 
Clair,  to  whom  Edgar,  previous  to  the  confirmation,  had  conveyed  a 
moiety  by  deed.  Much  fault  was  found  with  this  and  many  other 
transactions,  and  some  grave  charges  were  made  by  Mich  aelJ  ones 
and  E.  Backus,  U.  S.  land  commissioners  for  the  district  of  Kas 
kaskia,  as  to  the  manner  of  obtaining  confirmation  of  innumerable 
old  land  grants.  But  the  title  to  the  claim  in  question  Avas  after 
ward  confirmed  by  the  U.  S.  Government  to  Edgar  and  St.  Clair, 
notwithstanding  the  adverse  report  of  the  commissioners.  Edgar 
was  for  many  years  the  largest  land  holder  and  richest  man  in 
Illinois.  He  had  deserted  the  British  naval  service,  and  in  1784 
came  to  Kaskaskia  with  a  stock  of  goods. 

At  an  Indian  council  held  at  Kaskaskia,  in  1773,  an  association 
of  English  traders  and  merchants,  styling  themselves  "Illinois 
Land  Company,"  obtained,  July  5th,  from  ten  chiefs  and  head  men 
of  the  Kaskaskias,  Cahokias,  and  Peorias,  by  a  curiously  signed 
deed,  two  immense  tracts  of  land,  the  first 

*American  State  Papers,  vol.  11,  Public  Lands. 
tAm.  State  papers. 


168  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

"Beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the  Huron  creek,  called  by  the  French  the  river 
of  Mary,  being  about  a  league  below  the  mouth  of  the  Kaskaskia  river;  thence 
a  northward  of  east  course,  in  a  direct  line  to  the  Hilly  Plains,  eight  leagues  or 
thereabouts,  be  the  same  more  or  less;  thence  the  same  course,  in  a  direct  line 
to  the  Crabtree  Plains,  seventeen  leagues,  or  thereabouts,  be  the  same  more  or 
less;  thence  the  same  course,  in  a  direct  line  to  a  remarkable  place  known  by 
the  name  of  the  Big  Buffalo  Hoofs,  seventeen  leagues,  or  thereabouts,  be  the 
same  more  or  less;  thence  the  same  course,  in  a  direct  line  to  the  Salt  Lick 
creek,  about  seven  leagues,  be  the  same  more  or  less ;  thence  crossing  the  said 
creek,  about  one  league  below  the  ancient  Shawneestown,  in  an  easterly 
or  a  to  the  north  of  east  course,  in  a  direct  line  to  the  river  Ohio,  about  four 
leagues,  be  the  same  more  or  less;  thence  down  the  Ohio,  by  the  several 
courses  thereof,  until  it  empties  itself  into  the  Mississippi,  about  thirty-five 
leagues,  be  the  same  more  or  less;  and  then  up  the  Mississippi,  by  the  several 
courses  thereof,  to  the  place  of  beginning,  thirty-three  leagues,  or  thereabouts, 
be  the  same  more  or  less." 

This,  it  will  be  perceived  by  tracing  the  line,  included  ten  or 
twelve  of  the  most  southerly  counties  in  the  State. 
The  other  tract  was  bounded  as  follows : 

"Beginning  at  a  place  or  point  in  a  direct  line  opposite  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Missouri  river ;  thence  up  the  Mississippi,  by  the  several  courses  thereof,  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  river,  about  six  leagues,  be  the  same  more  or  less; 
and  then  up  the  Illinois  river,  by  the  several  courses  thereof,  to  Chicagou  or 
Garlick  creek,  about  ninety  leagues  or  thereabouts,  be  the  same  more  or  less ; 
then  nearly  a  northerly  course,  in  a  direct  line,  to  a  certain  place  remarkable, 
being  the  ground  on  which  an  engagement  or  battle  was  fought,  about  forty 
or  fifty  years  ago,  between  the  Pewaria  and  Rinard  Indians,  about  50  leagues, 
be  the  same  more  or  less;  thence  by  the  same  course,  in  a  direct  line,  to  two 
remarkable  hills,  close  together,  in  the  middle  of  a  large  prairie  or  plain,  about 
forty  leagues,  be  the  same  more  or  less ;  thence  a  north-east  course,  in  a  direct 
line,  to  a  remarkable  spring,  known  by  the  Indians  by  the  name  of  Foggy 
Spring,  about  fourteen  leagues,  be  the  same  more  or  less;  thence  in  the  sume 
course,  in  a  direct  line,  to  a  great  mountain  to  the  northward  of  White  Buffalo 
Plain,  about  fifteen  leagues,  be  the  same  more  or  less;  thence  nearly  a  south 
west  course,  in  a  direct  line,  to  the  place  of  beginning,  about  forty  leagues,  be 
the  same  more  or  less." 

The  consideration  recited  in  the  deed  of  conveyance  was :  250 
blankets,  2(>0  stroudes,  350  shirts,  150  pairs  of  stroud  and  half 
thick  stockings,  150  stroud  breechcloths,  500  Ibs.  of  gunpowder, 
4,000  Ibs.  of  lead,  1  gross  of  knives,  30  Ibs.  of  vermilion,  2,000 
gunnints,  200  Ibs.  of  brass  kettles,  200  Ibs.  of  tobacco,  3  doz.  gilt 
looking-glasses,  1  gross  gun  worms,  2  gross  awls,  1  gross  tire 
steels,  Iti  doz.  of  gartering,  10,000  Ibs.  of  Sour,  500  bus.  of  Indian 
corn,  12  horses,  12  horned  cattle,  20  bus.  of  salt,  20  guns,  and  5 
shillings  in  money.  This  deed  was  duly  signed  by  the  Indian 
chiefs  and  attested  by  the  names  of  ten  persons,  and  was  recorded 
in  the  office  of  a  notary  public  at  Kaskaskia,  September  2d,  1773. 
The  transaction  was  effected  for  the  Illinois  Land  Company  by  a 
member  named  William  Murray,  then  a  trader  in  the  Illinois 
country.  There  belonged  to  it  two  members  in  London,  ten  in 
Philadelphia,  two  in  Lancaster,  three  in  various  counties  of  Penn 
sylvania,  one  in  Pittsburg,  and  George  Castler  and  James  Kumsey, 
merchants  of  the  Illinois  country.  The  names  indicate  the  members 
to  have  been  mostly  Jews. 

In  1775,  Louis  Viviat,  a  merchant  of  the  Illinois  country,  acting 
as  the  agent  of  an  association  denominated  the  Wabash  Land 
Company,*  obtained  by  a  deed  dated  October  18th,  from  eleven 
Piaunkeshaw  chiefs,  immense  tracts  of  land  lying  on  both  sides  of 

*We  recognize  in  this  company  some  of  the  same  names  as  in  the  Illinois  Company. 


BRITISH   OCCUPATION.  1G9 


the  Ouabach  river,  one  commencing  at  Cat  river  52  leagues  above 
Vincenues,  to  Point  Coupee,  with  40  leagues  in  width,  on  the  east 
side  and  30  leagues  (90  miles)  on  the  west  side — Illinois.  Another 
tract,  also  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  beginning  at  the  mouth  of 
White  river,  to  the  Ohio,  50  leagues,  and  extending  40  leagues  into 
Indiana  and  30  into  Illinois.  The  number  of  acres  contained  iu 
these  grants  was  about  37,497,000.  The  consideration  was  much 
the  same  as  recited  in  the  other  purchases.  The  deed  was  regis 
tered,  as  the  other,  at  Kaskaskia. 

The  title  thus  acquired  to  enormous  bodies  of  fertile  lands,  was 
contrary  to  the  King's  proclamation,  and  at  best  imperfect.  But 
it  Avas  the  revolt  of  the  colonies  and  the  establishment  of  their 
independence  that  frustrated  the  schemes  of  these  powerful  com 
panies.  Their  grants  might  otherwise  have  been  perfected  by  the 
King.  In  1780  (April  29th),  the  two  land  companies  effected  a 
consolidation  under  the  style  of  "The  United  Illinois  and  Wabash 
Land  Companies."  Through  their  agents  they  HOAV  applied  to 
congress  repeatedly  for  a  recognition  and  confirmation  of  their 
Indian  grants,  in  part  at  least,  their  efforts  running  through  a 
period  of  30  years— 1787,  1791,  1797,  1804  and  1810;  but  that  body 
was  firm,  and  all  their  applications  were  rejected. 

We  here  give  some  valuable  extracts  from  an  old  English  report 
of  108  pages,  entitled,  "The  present  state  of  the  European  Settle 
ments  on  the  Mississippi,"  by  Captain  Phillip  Pitman,  published 
at  London  in  1770.  Captain  Pitman  was  engineer  in  the  British 
army  and  was  sent  out  to  make  a  survey  of  the  forts  and  report 
the  condition  of  the  villages  and  improvements  in  these  newly 
acquired  territories  of  the  British  crown.  This  work  is  a  docu 
ment  of  rare  value,  filling  up,  as  it  does  in  a  measure,  a  hiatus 
in  Illinois  history  for  which  there  are  no  other  authentic  sources 
of  information.  He  visited  Illinois  in  170G.  Of  Kaskaskia,  he 
gives  the  following  description  : 

"  The  village  of  Notre  Dame  de  Cascasquias  is  by  far  the  most  considerable 
settlement  in  the  country  of  the  Illinois,  as  well  from  its  number  of  inhabi 
tants  as  from  its  advantageous  situation.  *  * 

"  Mons.  Paget  was  the  first  who  introduced  water-mills  in  this  country,  and 
he  constructed  a  very  fine  one  on  the  river  Cascasquias,  which  was  both  for 
grinding  corn  and  sawing  boards.  It  lies  about  one  mile  from  the  village. 
The  mill  proved  fatal  to  him,  being  killed  as  he  was  working  it,  with  two 
negroes,  by  a  party  of  the  Cherokees,  in  the  year  1764. 

"  The  principal  buildings  are  the  church  and  Jesuits' House,  which  has  a 
small  chapel  adjoining  it;  these,  as  well  as  some  other  houses  in  the  village, 
are  built  of  stone,  and,  considering  this  part  of  the  world,  make  a  very  good 
appearance.  The  Jesuits'  plantation  consisted  of  240  arpents  (an  arpeut  is 
85-100  of  an  acre)  of  cultivated  land,  a  very  good  stock  of  cattle,  and  a  brewery ; 
which  was  sold  by  the  French  commandant,  after  the  country  was  ceded  to  the 
English,  for  the  crown,  in  consequence  of  the  suppression  of  the  order. 

"  Mons.  Beauvais  was  the  purchaser,  who  is  the  richest  of  the  English  sub 
jects  in  this  country;  he  keeps  80  slaves;  he  furnishes  86,000  weight  of  flour  to 
the  King's  magazine,  which  was  only  part  of  the  harvest  he  reaped  in  one  year. 
Sixty-five  families  reside  in  this  village,  beside  merchants,  other  casual  people, 
and  slaves.  The  fort,  which  was  burnt  down  hi  October,  1766,  stood  on  the 
summit  of  a  high  rock  opposite  the  village  and  011  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river.  It  was  an  oblong  quadrangle,  of  which  the  extreme  polygon  measured 
290  by  251  feet.  It  was  built  of  very  thick  square  timber,  and  dove-tailed  at 
the  angles.  An  officer  and  twenty  soldiers  are  quartered  in  the  village.  The 
officer  governs  the  inhabitants,  under  the  direction  of  the  commandant  at 
Fort  Chartres.  Here  are  also  two  companies  of  militia." 


170  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

Prairie  du  Eoclier — "  La  Prairie  des  Bodies" — is  described  as 
being 

"About  17  [14]  miles  from  Cascasquias.  It  is  a  small  village,  consisting  of 
22  dwelling  houses,  all  of  which  are  inhabited  by  as  many  families.  Here  is  a 
little  chapel,  formerly  a  chapel  of  ease  to  the  church  at  Fort  Chartres.  The 
inhabitants  are  very  industrious,  and  raise  a  great  deal  of  corn  and  every  kind 
of  stock.  The  village  is  two  miles  from  Fort  Chartres.  [This  was  Little 
Village,  which  was  a  mile  or  more  nearer  than  the  Fort.]  It  takes  its  name 
from  its  situation,  being  built  under  a  rock  that  runs  parallel  with  the  river. 
Mississsippi  at  a  league  distance,  for  40  miles  up.  Here  is  a  company  of  militia, 
the  Captain  of  which  regulates  the  police  of  the  village. 

"  Sahit  Phillipe  is  a  small  village  about  five  miles  from  Fort  Chartres,  on  the 
road  to  Kaoquias.  There  are  about  sixteen  houses  and  a  small  church  standing ; 
all  of  the  inhabitants,  except  the  Captain  of  the  militia,  deserted  it  in  1765,  and 
went  to  the  French  side,  (Missouri.)  The  Captain  of  the  militia  has  about 
twenty  slaves,  a  good  stock  of  cattle,  and  a  water-mill  for  corn  and  planks. 
This  village  stands  on  a  very  fine  meadow,  about  one  mile  from  the  Mis 
sissippi." 

"  The  village  of  Saint  Fainille  de  Kaoquias  (Cahokia)  is  generally  reckoned 
fifteen  leagues  from  Fort  Chartres  and  six  leagues  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Missouri.  It  stands  near  the  side  of  the  Mississippi,  and  is  marked  from 
the  river  by  an  island  (Duncan's)  two  leagues  long.  The  village  is  opposite 
the  center  of  this  island ;  it  is  long  and  straggling,  being  three-fourths  of  a  mile 
from  one  end  to  the  other.  It  contains  forty-five  dwelling  houses,  and  a  church 
near  its  center.  The  situation  is  not  well  chosen,  as  in  the  floods  it  is  generally 
overflowed  two  or  three  feet  deep.  This  was  the  first  settlem  nt  on  the  Mis- 
sissipoi.  The  land  was  purchased  of  the  savages  by  a  few  Canadians,  some  of 
whom  married  women  of  the  Kaoquias  nation,  and  others  brought  wives  from 
Canada,  and  then  resided  there,  leaving  their  children  to  succeed  them.  The 
inhabitants  of  this  place  depend  more  on  hunting  and  their  Indian  trade  than 
on  agriculture,  as  they  scarcely  raise  corn  enough  for  their  own  consumption  ; 
they  have  a  great  plenty  of  poultry  and  good  stocks  of  horned  cattle. 

'•  The  mission  of  St.  Sulpice  had  a  very  fine  plantation  here,  and  an  excellent 
house  built  on  it.  They  sold  this  estate,  and  a  very  good  mill  for  corn  and 
planks,  to  a  Frenchman  who  chose  to  remain  uncler  the  English  government. 
They  also^disposed  of  thirty  negroes*  and  a  good  stock  of  cattle  to  different 
people  in  "the  country,  and  returned  to  France  in  1764.  What  is  called  the 
fart,  is  a  small  house  standing  in  the  center  of  the  village.  It  differs  nothing 
from  the  other  houses,  except  in  being  one  of  the  poorest.  It  was  formerly 
inclosed  with  high  palisades,  but  these  were  torn  down  and  burnt.  Indeed  a 
fort' at  this  place  could  be  of  but  little  use." 

Begardiug  the  soil,  products  and  commerce,  of  the  colony,  Pitt- 
mail  says: 

"  The  soil  of  this  country,  in  general,  is  very  rich  and  luxuriant ;  it  produces 
all  kinds  of  European  grains,  hops,  hemp,  flax,  cotton  and  tobacco,  and 
European  fruits  come  to  great  perfection.  The  inhabitants  make  wine  of  the 
wild  grapes,  which  is  very  inebriating,  and  is,  in  color  and  taste,  very  like  the 
red  wine  of  Provence. 

In  the  late  wars,  New  Orleans  and  the  lower  parts  of  Louisiana  were  sup 
plied  with  flour,  beef,  wines,  hams  and  other  provisions,  from  this  country.  At 
present  its  commerce  is  mostly  confined  to  the  peltry  and  furs,  which  are  got 
in  traffic  from  the  Indians ;  for  which  are  received  in  return  such  European 
commodities  as  are  necessary  to  carry  on  that  commerce  and  the  support  of  its 
inhabitants." 

Of  the  Indians,  he  says : 

"  The  principal  Indian  nations  in  this  country  are,  the  Cascasquias,  Kaho- 
quias,  Mitchigamias,  and  Peoyas ;  these  four  tribes  are  generally  called  the 
Illinois  Indians.  Except  in  the  hunting  seasons,  they  reside  near  the  English 
settlements  in  this  country.  They  are  a  poor,  debauched,  and  detestable 
people.  They  count  about  350  warriors.  The  Panquichas.  Mascoutins,  Mi- 
amies,  Kickapous,  and  Pyatonons,  though  not  very  numerous,  are  a  brave  and 
warlike  people." 

Of  old  Fort  Chartres,  the  strongest  fortress  in  the  Mississippi 
valley,  which  was  re-built  by  the  French  government  in  1756, 


BRITISH   OCCUPATION.  171 

during  the  French  and  English  war  in  America,  Captain   Pitman 
furnishes  the  following  description: 

"  Fort  Chartres,  when  it  belonged  to  France,  was  the  seat  of  the  government 
of  the  Illinois.  The  headquarters  of  the  English  commanding  officer  is  now 
here,  who,  in  fact,  is  the  arbitrary  governor  of  the  country.  The  fort  is  an 
irregular  quadrangle;  the  sides  of  the  exterior  polygon  are  490  feet.  It  is 
built  of  stone,  and  plastered  over,  and  is  only  designed  as  a  defense  against  the 
Indians.  The  walls  are  two  feet  two  inches  thick,  and  are  pierced  with  loop 
holes  at  regular  distances,  and  with  two  port-holes  for  cannon  in  the  facies  and 
two  in  the  flanks  of  each  bastion.  The  ditch  has  never  been  finished.  The 
entrance  to  the  fort  is  through  a  very  handsome  rustic  gate.  Within  the  walls 
is  a  banquette  raised  three  feet,  for  the  men  to  stand  on  when  they  fire  through 
the  loop  holes.  The  buildings  within  the  fort  are,  a  commandant's  and  a  com 
missary's  house,  the  magazine  of  stores,  corps  de  garde,  and  two  barracks ; 
these  occupy  the  square.  Within  the  gorges  of  the  bastion  are  a  powder  mag 
azine,  a  bake  house,  and  a  prison,  in  the  floor  of  which  are  four  dungeons,  and 
in  the  upper,  two  rooms,  and  an  out-house  belonging  to  the  commandant.  The 
commandant's  house  is  thirty-two  yards  long  and  ten  broad,  and  contains  a 
kitchen,  a  dining-room,  a  bed-chamber,  one  small  room,  five  closets  for  serv 
ants,  and  a  cellar.  The  commissary's  house  (now  occupied  by  officers)  is  built 
on  the  same  line  as  this,  and  its  proportion  and  the  distribution  of  its  apart 
ments  are  the  same.  Opposite  these  are  the  store-house  and  the  guard-house ; 
they  are  each  thirty  yards  long  and  eight  broad.  The  former  consists  of  two 
large  store-rooms,  (under  which  is  a  la~ge  vaulted  cellar,)  a  large  room,  a  bed 
chamber,  and  a  closet  for  the  store-keeper ;  the  latter  of  a  soldiers'  and  officers' 
guard-room,  a  chapel,  a  bed-chamber,  a  closet  for  the  chaplain,  and  an  artillery 
store-room.  The  lines  of  barracks  have  never  been  finished  ;  they  at  present 
consist  of  two  rooms  each  for  officers,  and  three  for  soldiers;  they  are  each 
twenty  feet  square,  and  have  betwixt  a  small  passage.  There  are  fine  spacious 
lefts  over  each  building  which  reach  from  end  to  end ;  these  are  made  use  of  to 
lodge  regimental  stores,  working  and  entrenching  tools,  &c.  It  is  generally 
believed  that  this  is  the  most  convenient  and  best  built  fort  in  North  America. 
*  *  *  In  the  year  1764,  there  were  about  forty  families  in  the  village  near 
the  fort,  and  a  parish  church,  seived  by  a  Franciscan  friar,  dedicated  to  St. 
Anne.  In  the  following  year,  when  the  English  took  possession  of  the  coun 
try,  they  abandoned  their  houses,  except  three  or  four  families,  and  settled  in 
the  villages  en  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  choosing  to  continue  under  the 
French  government." 

Iii  1756,  when  the  fort  was  rebuilt,  the  intervening  distance 
to  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi  was  some  900  yards.  A  sand  bar 
was  forming  opposite,  to  which  the  river  was  fordable.  At  the 
time  of  Captain  Pitman's  visit,  the  current  had  cut  the  bank  away 
to  within  80  yards  of  the  fort,  the  sand  bar  had  become  an  island 
covered  with  a  thick  growth  of  cottonwoods,  and  the  intervening 
channel  was  40  feet  deep.  The  great  freshet  of  1772,  which  inun- , 
dated  the  American  Bottom,  produced  such  havoc  upon  the  bank 
that  the  west  walls  and  2  bastions  were  precipitated  into  the  rag 
ing  current  of  the  mighty  river.  The  British  garrison  abandoned 
it  and  and  took  up  their  quarters  at  Fort  Gage,  on  the  bluff  of  the 
Kaskaskia,  opposite  the  ancient  village  of  that  name,  to  which  the 
seat  of  government  was  removed.  Since  then  the  great  citadel  of 
New  France  has-been  a  ruin.  Those  of  its  walls  which  escaped 
destruction  by  the  flood,  were  in  great  part  hauled  away  by 
the  neighboring  villagers  for  building  purposes.  In  1820  the 
ruins  were  visited  by  Dr.  Lewis  C.  Beck  and  Mr.  Hanson  of 
Illinois,  who  made  an  accurate  drawing  of  the  plan  for  the  Illinois 
and  Missouri  Gazetter.  Many  of  the  rooms,  cellars,  parts  of  the 
walls,  showing  the  opening  for  the  large  gate,  port-holes,  &c.,  were 
still  found  in  a  tolerable  state  of  preservation.  The  exterior  line 
of  the  walls  measured  1447  feet.  By  1850,  a  dense  forest  sur- 


172  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

rounded  and  covered  the  ruins,  and  trees,  3  feet  in  diameter,  had 
grown  up  within  the  crumbling  Avails.* 

Fort  Gage,  which  continued  to  be  the  headquarters  of  the  Brit 
ish  while  they  occupied  the  country,  was,  in  shape,  an  oblong  par 
allelogram,  280  by  251  feet,  built  of  large  squared  timbers.  In  1772 
the  British  garrison  consisted  of  only  20  soldiers  and  an  officer. 
In  the  village  of  Kaskaskia  were  organized  2  small  companies  of 
.well  disciplined  French  militia.  When  George  Rogers  Clark,  in. 
1778,  effected  the  bloodless  conquest  of  Illinois,  not  a  British  sol- 
dier  was  on  garrison  duty  in  the  country.  M.  Bocheblave,  a  French 
man,  was  in  command  as  the  British  governor.  He  occupied  Fort 
Gage,  and  in  Kaskaskia  the  French  militia  was  kept  in  good  order. 
We  iiud  no  chronicle  of  how  long  Colonel  Wilkins  remained  in 
command,  or  when  the  last  remnant  of  the  British  garrison  took  up 
its  line  of  departure.  It  is  highly  probable  that  these  withdrawals 
were  made  with  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  of  the  revolution. 

The  Illinois  French  were  remote  from  the  main  theatre  of  the 
revolutionary  Avar;  and  while  they  had  perhaps  little  sympathy 
with  the  object  for  Avhich  the  colonies  struggled,  their  hatred  of 
their  hereditary  foe  Avas  active.  In  1777,  Thomas  Brady,  whom 
they  commonly  called  "  Monsieur  Tom,  "  a  courageous  and  enter 
prising  Pennsylvanian  who  had  wandered  out  to  Cahokia,  organized 
there  and  at  Prairie  du  Pont  a  band  of  10  ATolunteers,  and  in  Octo 
ber,  proceeding  to  the  British  post  on  the  St.  Joseph  in  Michigan, 
surprised  and  attacked  the  fort  in  the  night  time,  defeating  the 
garrison  of  21  men.  A  negro  slave  who  had  escaped  from  the 
French  in  Illinois,  was  killed  in  his  flight.  A  large  quantity  of 
goods  for  the  Indian  trade,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  victors,  which 
doubtless  had  been  one  incentive  to  the  expedition.  With  these, 
their  homeward  journey  was  retarded,  and  the  British  traders, 
having  rallied  the  soldiers  and  stirred  up  the  Indians,  with  a  large 
force  made  pursuit  and  fell  upon  the  camp  of  the  marauders  on 
the  Calumet  in  the  night  time,  killing  2,  wounding  2  more  (who 
were  afterward  dispatched  with  the  tomahawk)  and  made  prisoners 
of  the  rest.  Brady,  in  being  sent  East,  effected  his  escaped,  and 
later  returned  to  Cahokia,  where  he  married  the  celebrated  widow 
LeCompt. 

The  following  year,  while  Colonel  Clark  was  conducting  his 
expedition  against  Kaskaskia,  Paulette  Meillet,  the  founder 
of  Peoria,  which  Avas  then  called  Lav-Hie  a  Meillet,  who  was 
a  remarkable  character  for  bravery,  brutality  and  enterprise, 
burning  to  avenge  the  disaster  of  Brady's  party,  in  which  Avere 
many  of  his  relatives,  assembled  about  300  warriors,  red,  white 
and  mixed,  and  marched  thence  to  St.  Joseph.  On  the  Avay, 
through  the  broad  praries  on  foot  under  the  rays  of  the  summer's 
sun,  M.  Amlin,  one  of  his  men,  exhausted  with  fatigue,  gave  out. 
Celerity  and  secrecy  being  essential  to  success,  and  unwilling  to  be 
encumbered  Avith  the  sick,  the  soldier  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  toma 
hawk,  sunk  in  his  brain  by  the  brutal  commander.  Amving  at 
the  post,  the  fort  was  surrounded,  and,  after  an  obstinate  engage 
ment,  the  garrison  surrendered  and  was  permitted  to  retire  to  Canada. 
The  prisoners  of  Brady's  party  were  released,  and  the  stores  of 
merchandise,  said  to  have  amounted  to  $50,000,  were  brought  away 
to  Peoria.t 

'.Reynold's  Pioneer  History.  tSee  Peck's  Annals  of  the  West. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

177S— CONQUEST  OF  ILLINOIS,  BY  GEORGE  ROGERS 

CLARK. 


While  the  colonists  of  the  east  were  maintaining  a  fierce  struggle 
with  the  armies  of  England,  their  western  frontiers  were  ravaged 
by  merciless  butcheries  of  Indian  warfare.  The  jealousy  of  the 
savage  had  been  aroused  to  action  by  the  rapid  extension  of 
American  settlements  westward  and  the  improper  influence  exerted 
by  a  number  of  military  posts  garrisoned  by  British  troops  in 
different  parts  of  the  west.  To  prevent  indiscriminate  slaughters 
arising  from  these  causes  Illinois  became  the  theatre  of  some  of  the 
most  daring  exploits  connected  with  American  history.  The  hero 
of  these  achievements  by  which  this  beautiful  land  was  snatched 
as  a  gem  from  the  British  crown,  was  George  Rogers  Clark.  He 
wras  born  in  Albemarle  county,  Virginia,  November  19,  1752,  and 
like  his  great  cotemporary  of  the  Revolution  in  his  youth  studied 
and  practiced  the  art  of  surveying  land.  The  manly  exercise  con 
nected  with  the  original  surveys  of  the  country  seemed  to  create  a 
partiality  for  the  adventurous  exposure  of  military  life.  Little  is 
known  in  regard  to  Clark's  early  history.  It  is  said  he  became  a 
proficient  in  geography  and  devoted  considerable  time  to  the  study 
of  mathematics,  but  owing  to  the  imperfect  conditTon  of  the  schools 
and  the  exciting  times  of  his  youth,  the  presumption  is  that  his 
education  was  confined  to  the  useful  rather  than  ornamental 
branches  of  learning.  Shortly  after  attaining  his  majority  he  en 
listed  as  a  staff  officer  in  Governor  Dunm ore's  war  and  with  many 
other  daring  spirits  of  the  times  was  present  in  the  campaign  of 
1774  on  the  river  Scioto.  For  nieretorious  conduct  he  was  offered  a 
commission  in  the  royal  service  which,  owing  to  the  unfriendly  feel 
ing  then  existing  between  the  colonists  and  the  mother  country  and 
unsatisfactory  termination  of  the  war,  he  declined.  Dunmore 
became  apprehensive  that  the  colonists  would  rebel,  and  it  was 
believed  by  Washington  and  others  that  he  was  instructed  to  so 
treat  with  the  Indians  that  he  could  use  them  as  allies  in  case  of 
revolt. 

A  spirit  for  adventure  being  awakened  in  the  mind  of  young 
Clark  by  the  war  in  1775  he  visited  the  wilds  of  Kentucky.  Here 
he  found  the  pioneers  in  a  state  of  excitement  as  to  whether  the 
country  on  the  south  side  of  the  Kentucky  river  was  a  part  of  the 
territory  of  Kentucky  or  Virginia.  At  the  suggestion  of  Clark  a 
meeting  was  called  for  considering  the  subject  and  devising 
the  best  means  of  remedying  the  perplexed  state  of  affairs.  The 
meeting  was  duly  held  and  a  paper  prepared  setting  forth  their 
grievances,  and  Clark  and  Gabriel  Jones  were  appointed  to  lay  it 

173 


174  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

before  the  legislature  of  Virginia.  The  envoys  started  on  their 
journey,  and  after  suffering  the  most  distressing  hardships  arrived 
at  the  county  of  Bottetourt  where  they  heard  that  the  legislature 
had  just  adjourned.  At  the  reception  of  this  news  Gabriel  Jones 
returned  to  the  settlement  on  the  Holstein  river  and  Clark  pro 
ceeded  on  his  way  to  Hanover  county,  where  he  found  Governor 
Henry  lying  sick  at  his  private  residence.  Clark  made  known  to 
him  the  object  of  his  visit,  which  the  executive  cordially  ap 
proved,  and  to  further  his  views  gave  him  a  letter  to  the  council 
for  further  consideration.  At  the  fall  term  of  the  Legislature  of 
1776,  Clark  and  Jones  presented  their  Kentucky  petition  to  that 
body,  and  despite  the  efforts  of  Henderson  and  other  Xorth  Caro 
lina  land  speculators,  the  disputed  territory  was  erected  into  the 
county  of  Kentucky,  which  embraced  the  limits  of  the  present 
State  of  the  same  name.  In  addition  to  this  political  recognition, 
the  parent  State  gave  500  Ibs.  of  powder  for  the  defense  of  the 
isolated  settlement,  a  gift  which  now  seems  small,  but  then  looked 
large,  for  the  tremendous  struggle  of  the  revolution  demanded  all 
the  energies  of  the  donor  to  protect  her  own  people  and  firesides 
from  the  ravages  of  the  enemy. 

Clark's  great  services  for  Kentucky  and  the  good  will  inspired 
by  his  manly  appearance  and  genial  manners  induced  the  pioneers 
to  place  him  at  the  head  of  their  irregular  militia,  and  he  soon 
instituted  such  effective  means  of  defense  that  in  all  the  fierce 
conflicts  with  the  savages,  which  gave  Kentucky  the  name  of 
"Bloody  Ground,7'  his  valor  was  more  than  equal  to  the  emergency. 
Intimately  acquainted  with  the  progress  of  colonization  west  of 
the  Alleghanies,  he  was  the  first  to  fully  comprehend  the  advan 
tages  which  would  arise  from  the  extension  of  American  conquest 
to  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi.  While  associated  with  the  mili 
tary  operations  in  Kentucky,  his  sagacity  enabled  him  to  trace  the 
Indian  ravages  tg  the  instigations  of  British  emissaries  at  Kas- 
kaskia,  Vincennes,  Detroit  and  other  places  in  their  possession. 
These  remote  posts  furnished  the  Indians  with  clothing  and  mili 
tary  stores,  and  Clark  believing  that  their  capture  was  the  only 
possible  way  to  abate  the  evils  caused  by  their  sav.age  allies,  sent 
two  spies  by  the  name  of  Moore  and  Dunn,  to  learn  the  nature  of 
their  defences.  They  having  made  observations  returned  and  re 
ported  that  their  militia  was  well  organized  and  active  ;  that  the 
predatory  excursions  of  the  Indians  were  encouraged  by  the  British 
authorities  and  that  notwithstanding  British  agents  had  endeavored 
by  misrepresentation  to  prejudice  the  minds  of  the  French  inhab 
itants  against  the  colonists  many  of  them  were  evidently  in  favor 
of  their  cause  and  interests.  Clark,  furnished  with  this"  informa 
tion,  again  started  to  Virginia  to  make  known  to  the  government 
his  plans  respecting  the  subjugation  of  these  British  outposts. 
While  on  the  road  thither,  fortunately  for  the  enterprise  which  he 
had  in  view,  the  battle  of  Saratoga  was  fought,  and  resulting  in- 
victory  to  the  Americans,  prepared  the  public  mind  for  a  more 
spirited  prosecution  of  the  war.  On  reaching  the  capital,  Clark's 
impressive  representations  captivated  the  mind  of  Governor  Henry 
with  the  idea  of  subduing  these  British  strongholds  in  the  centre 
of  their  savage  confederates.  The  enterprise,  however,  was  re 
garded  as  extremely  hazardous,  and  so  great  was  secrecy  indis 
pensable  to  success  that  it  was  r-ot  deemed  prudent  to  entrust  the 


BRITISH   OCCUPATION.  175 

direction  of  it  to  the  legislature.  Being  interrogated  by  Jefferson  as 
to  what  he  Avould  do  in 'case  of  defeat,  lie  replied  "cross  the  Missis 
sippi  and  seek  the  protection  of  the  Spaniards."  The  plan  was  so 
thoroughly  digested  that  the  approbation  of  the  council  was  readily 
obtained,  and  to  secure  men,  George  Wythe,  Thomas  Jefferson  and 
George  Mason  pledged  themselves,  if  the  enterprise  was  successful, 
to  use  their  influence  to  secure  a  bounty  of  300  acres  of  land  for 
every  one  engaged  in  the  service.  Governor  Henry  gave  him  1200 
pounds  in  depreciated  currency,  and  an  order  on  the  commandant 
of  Ft.  Pitt  for  ammunition  boats,  and  other  necessary  equipments. 
He  also  furnished  instructions,  one  set  authorizing  him  to  enlist  7 
companies  of  50  men  each  for  the  defense  of  Kentucky,  and  the 
other  was  drawn  as  follows  : 

"  Lieut.  Colonel  George  Rogers  Clark  : 

"Yon  are  to  proceed  with  all  convenient  speed  to  raise  7  companies  of  soldiers, 
to  consist  of  50  men  each,  officered  in  the  usual  manner,  and  armed  most  prop 
erly  for  the  enterprise;  and  with  this  force  attack  the  British  force  at  Kaskas 
kia.  It,  is  conjectured  that  there  are  many  pieces  of  cannon,  and  military  stores 
to  a  considerable  amount  at  that  place,  the  taking  and  preservation  of  which 
would  be  a  valuable  acquisition  to  the  state.  If  you  are  so  fortunate,  therefore, 
as  to  succeed  in  your  expedition,  you  will  take  every  possible  measure  to 
secure  the  artillery  and  stores,  and  whatever  may  advantage  the  state.  For  the 
transportation  of  the  troops,  provision s% etc.,  down  the  Ohio,  you  are  to  apply 
to  the  commanding  officer  at  Fort  Pitt  for  boats,  and  during  the  whole  trans 
action  you  are  to  take  especial  care  to  keep  the  true  destination  of  your  force 
secret  ;  its  success  depends  upon  this.  Orders  are,  therefore,  given  to  Captain 
Smith  to  secure  the  two  rnen  from  Kaskaskia.  It  is  earnestly  desired  that 
you  show  humanity  to  such  British  subjects  and  other  persons  as  fall  into  your 
hands.  If  the  white  inhabitants  of  that  post  and  neighborhood  will  give  un 
doubted  evidence  of  their  attachment  to  this  state,  for  it  is  certain  they 
live  within  its  limits,  by  taking  the  test  prescribed  by  law,  and  by  every  other 
way  and  means  in  their  power,  let  them  be  treated  as  fellow-citizens,  and  their 
persons  and  property  be  duly  respected.  Assistance  and  protection  against  all 
enemies,  whatever,  shall  be  afforded  them,  and  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia 
is  pledged  to  accomplish  it.  But  if  these  people  will  not  accede  to  these  reason 
able  demands,  they  must  feel  the  consequences  of  war,  under  that  direction  of 
humanity  that  has  hitherto  distinguished  Americans,  and  which  it  is  expected 
you  will  ever  consider  as  the  rule  of  your  conduct,  and  from  which  you  are  in  no 
instance  to  depart.  The  corps  you  are  to  command  are  to  receive  the  pay  and 
allowance  of  militia,  and  to  act  under  the  laws  and  regulations  of  this  state 
now  in  force  as  to  militia.  The  inhabitants  of  this  post  will  be  informed  by  you 
that  in  case  they  accede  to  the  offers  of  becoming  citizens  of  this  common 
wealth,  a  proper  garrison  will  be  maintained  amcng  them,  and  every  attention 
bestowed  to  render  their  commerce  beneficial ;  the  fairest  prospects  being  opened 
to  the  dominions  of  France  and  Spain.  It  is  in  contemplation  to  establish  a 
post  near  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio.  Cannon  will  be  wanted  to  fortify  it.  Part 
of  those  at  Kaskaskia  will  be  easily  brought  thither,  or  otherwise  secured  as 
circumstances  make  necessary.  You  are  to  apply  to  General  Hand,  at  Pitts- 
burg,  for  powder  and  lead  necessary  for  this  expedition.  If  he  cannot  supply 
it,  the  person  who  has  that  which  Captain  Sims  brought  from  New  Orleans 
can.  Lead  was  sent  to  Hampshire,  by  my  orders,  and  that  may  be  delivered  to 
you.  Wishing  you  success,  I  am  your  humble  servant, 

P.  HENKY.  " 

These  instructions  breathe  a  generosity  and  humanity  in  strik 
ing  contrast  with  the  spirit  of  the  British  government,  whose 
minions  were  suffering  our  soldiers  to  perish  by  thousands  in 
prison-ships  for  the  want  of  food  and  offering  bounties  to  encour 
age  the  merciless  savages  to  murder  and  scalp  our  helpless  women 
and  children.  It  was  thought  best  to  raise  the  requisite  number 
of  troops  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  as  the  colonies  needed  all  the 


176  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

available  forces  of  the  east  for  the  Atlantic  defences.  To  enlist 
men  Major  William  B.  Smith  went  to  the  settlement  of  the  Hoi- 
stein,  and  for  the  same  purpose  Captains  Leonard  Helm  and  Joseph 
Bowman  visited  other  localities.  Clark  proposed  to  get  assist 
ance  at  Pittsburg,  but  on  account  of  jealousy  arising  from  the 
rival  claims  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  to  the  dominion  of  the 
Kentucky  settlements,  he  was  unsuccessful,  and  the  latter  colony 
furnished  the  troops.  His  real  destination  being  unknown,  many 
thought  it  would  be  better  to  remove  the  Kentuckiaiis  than  to 
attempt  their  defence  while  their  own  citadels  and  the  whole 
country  round  them  was  threatened  by  the  savage  confederates  of 
England.  Clark  in  the  meantime  being  informed  that  Major 
Smith  had  raised  4  companies,  and  that  Captains  Helm  and  Bow 
man  would  join  him  with  two  others  at  Brownsville,  on  the 
Monongahela,  made  no  further  attempts  to  secure  enlistments  at 
Fort  Pitt.  Major  Smith's  men  were  to  go  by  way  of  Cumberland 
Gap  to  Kentucky,  and  Clark,  Avith  the  other  troops,  amounting  to 
300  men  and  a  number  of  private  adventurers,  commenced  the 
descent  of  the  Ohio.  At  the  mouth  of  the  great  Kanawa  he  was 
besought  by  Captain  Arbuckle,  commanding  the  fort  at  the  junc 
tion  of  the  two  rivers,  for  assistance  in  capturing  a  band  of  Indians 
Avlio  had  attacked  him  the  preceding  day.  Thinking,  however,  his 
own  enterprise  was  of  greater  moment,  and  wishing  to  strictly 
comply  with  his  instructions,  he  continued  on  his  course.  He 
landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky,  with  the  intention  of  erect 
ing  a  fortification  at  that  point,  but  after  mature  consideration 
abandoned  it  for  a  more  favorable  position  farther  westward,  at 
the  falls  of  the  Ohio.  While  here,  learning  that  of  the  4  compa 
nies  promised  by  Major  Smith,  Captain  Dillard's  alone  had  arrived 
in  Kentucky,  he  wrote  to  Captain  Bowman,  informing  him  of  his 
intention  to  establish  a  fort  at  the  falls,  and  having  in  view  an 
enterprise  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the  country,  requested  him 
to  repair  thither  with  Major  Smith's  men,  and  as  man}7  more  as 
could  be  spared  from  the  frontier  stations.  At  this  place  he  for 
tified  Corn  Island,  opposite  Louisville,  not  only  as  a  base  of 
operations,  but  as  a  means  of  protecting  boatmen,  who,  in  pass 
ing  the  rapids,  were  frequently  attacked  and  plundered  by  the 
Indians.  When  joined  by  Captain  Bowman's  party  from  Ken 
tucky,  it  was  discovered  that  the  withdrawal  of  his  forces  from  the 
country  left  it  to  a  great  extent  without  protection,  and  therefore 
only  a  portion  of  them  were  engaged,  with  the  understanding  that 
when  the  remainder  of  Major  Smith's  men  arrived  the  others  should 
return  for  the  defence  of  Kentucky.  Clark  now  announced  to  his 
assembled  forces  the  real  destination  of  the  expedition,  and  with 
the  exception  of  Captain  Dillard's  company,  the  project  met  the 
enthusiastic  approbation  of  the  men.  Lest  desertions  might  occur 
in  the  disaffected  company,  the  boats  were  secured  and  sentinels 
stationed  at  different  points  where  the  Ohio  was  supposed  to  be 
fordable.  Notwithstanding  these  precautions,  one  of  Captain 
Dillard's  lieutenants  and  the  most  of  the  men,  passing  the  senti 
nels  unperceived,  waded  to  the  opposite  shore  and  disappeared  in 
the  woods.  A  mounted  party  the  next  day  was  sent  in  pursuit  of 
the  fugitives,  with  orders  to  kill  all  who  refused  to  return,  and 
although  overtaken  20  miles  from  the  river,  such  was  their  vigil 
ance  that  only  8  were  caught  and  brought  back.  "  The  disap- 


BRITISH   OCCUPATION.  177 


pointment  caused  by  the  loss  of  the  men,7'  says  Clark  in  his 
journal,  "was  cruel,  and  in  its  consequences  alarming."  The 
remainder  of  the  deserters,  dispersed  in  the  woods  to  elude  pur 
suit,  suffered,  the  most  intense  privations,  and  when  finally  they 
readied  Harrodsburg,  the  brave  Kentuckians  were  so  exasperated 
at  the  baseness  of  their  conduct  that  for  a  long  time  they  refused 
to  admit  them  into  their  stations.  The  forces  -were  now  about  to 
separate,  and  in  a  day  of  rejoicing  and  mutual  encouragement  the 
heroes  of  the  Kaskaskia  expedition  took  leave  of  their  friends  who 
were  to  return  for  the  defense  of  Kentucky.  After  the  departure 
of  the  latter,  Clark's  little  army,  under  the  command  of  Captains 
Bowman,  Helm,  Harrod  and  Montgomery,  only  numbered  153 
men.  Everything  being  in  readiness,  on  the  24th  of  June,  1778, 
while  the  sun  was  in  a  total  eclipse,  he  left  the  position  which  he 
had  fortified  and  fell  down  the  river.  This  phenomenon  fixes  the 
time  of  Clark's  embarkation,  and  by  the  same  means  other  impor 
tant  events  of  history,  the  dates  of  which  were  wholly  unknown, 
have  been  determined  with  perfect  precision.  Science  in  modern 
times  has  so  far  divested  occurrences  of  this  kind  of  the  terrors 
which  they  excited  in  ancient  armies,  that  among  the  men  of  the 
expedition  but  little  importance  was  attached  to  the  eclipse,  as  a 
harbinger  for  good  or  evil. 

All  unnecessary  baggage  was  left  behind  that  they  might  not  be 
encumbered  in  the  difficult  march  which  they  proposed  to  make 
across  the  country,  in  order  to  reach  unperceived  the  post  which 
they  designed  to  capture.  Clark  was  anxious  to  make  an  assault 
upon  the  post  of  Vincennes,  but  the  greater  extent  of  the  French 
settlements  in  Illinois,  the  prospect  of  securing  them  as  allies  if 
they  were  conquered,  and  the  facility  of  retreat  to  the  Spanish 
possessions  beyond  the  Mississippi,  in  case  of  defeat,  inclined  him 
to  the  original  plan  of  the  campaign.  While  descending  the  river 
a  letter  was  fortunately  received  from  Colonel  Campbell,  of  Fort 
Pitt,  stating  that  an  alliance  had  been  entered  into  between  France 
and  the  United  States,  and  that  the  army  and  navy  of  the  former 
were  coming  to  our  assistance.  This  information  was  calculated 
to  make  a  favorable  impression  upon  the  French  and  Indians  of 
Illinois,  and  therefore  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the  successful 
termination  of  the  expedition.  Landing  on  an  island  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Tennessee,  the  guard  stopped  a  man  by  the  name  of  John 
Duff  and  a  number  of  other  American  hunters,  from  whom  they 
also  had  the  good  fortune  to  obtain  valuable  information  respect 
ing  the  garrison  at  Kaskaskia.  Duff  and  his  party  had  recently 
been  at  that  place,  and  he  informed  Clark  that  a  French  Canadian 
by  the  name  of  liocheblave  was  in  command ;  that  he  kept  the 
militia  well  drilled;  sentinels  stationed  on  the  Mississippi,  and 
had  ordered  the  hunters  and  Indians  in  their  excursions  through 
the  country  to  watch  for  the  rebels,  or  "  Long  Knives,"  as  they 
designated  the  Virginians.  They  also  stated  the  fort  was  kept  in 
order  as  a  place  of  retreat  in  case  they  were  attacked ;  that  its  de 
fence  was  attended  to  more  for  the  purpose  of  military  discipline 
than  from  any  apprehensions  of  immediate  danger,  and  that  if 
any  assault  was  anticipated,  its  great  strength  would  enable  the 
garrison  to  make  a  formidable  resistance.  The  declaration  of 
Moore -and  Dunn  respecting  the  fearful  apprehensions  with  which 
the  inhabitants  regarded  the  Virginians  was  likewise  corrobora- 
12 


178  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

ted.  Having  obtained  tlie  hunters  for  guides,  Clark  dropped 
down  the  stream,  and  landing  near  Fort  Massac,  concealed  the 
boats  in  a  small  creek  emptying  into  the  river.  The  distance  from 
this  point  to  Kaskaskia  is  120  miles,  and  at  that  time  the  inter 
vening  country  was  difficult  to  traverse,  in  consequence  of  streams, 
swamps  and  other  obstructions.  The  expedition  started  across 
this  tract  in  the  direction  of  Kaskaskia,  both  leader  and  men 
sharing  the  vicissitudes  incident  to  travel  in  the  wilds  of  an  un 
cultivated  region.  Success  depended  entirely  upon  secrecy,  and 
to  send  out  hunting  parties  in  pursuit  of  game,  upon  which  they 
mostly  depended  for  subsistence,  it  was  feared  might  be  the 
means  of  discovery. 

On  the  third  day,  John  Saunders,  the  principal  guide,  becoming 
bewildered  and  being  unable  to  point  out  the  course,  suspicion  was 
immediately  excited  in  regard  to  his  fidelity,  and  a  cry  arose  among 
the  men  to  put  him  to  death.  He,  however,  accompanied  by  a 
guard,  was  permitted  to  go  to  the  adjoining  prairie  for  further 
search,  and  was  told  unless  he  directed  them  into  the  hunters7 
path  leading  to  Kaskaskia,  a  road  in  consequence  of  having  so  fre 
quently  traveled  he  could  not  easily  forget,  he  should  certainly  be 
hung.  After  spending  some  time  in  examining  the  features  of  the 
country,  he  exclaimed :  u  I  know  that  point  of  timber,  n  and  point 
ing  out  the  direction  of  Kaskaskia  established  his  innocence.  In 
the  afternoon  of  the  4th  of  July,  1778,  the  invading  party,  \vith 
their  garments  worn  and  soiled,  and  beards  of  three  weeks' 
growth,  approached  the  village  where  their  long  and  wearisome 
journey  terminated,  and  concealed  themselves  among  the  hills  east 
of  the  Kaskaskia  river.  Clark  sent  out  parties  to  reconnoitre,  and 
at  night-fall,  a  detachment  took  possession  of  a  house  f  of  a  mile 
above  the  town,  and  on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  From  the  family 
living  in  it,  he  learned  that  there  were  a  great  many  men  in  town, 
that  but  few  of  them  were  Indians,  and  that  the  militia  had 
recently  been  under  arms,  but  no  danger  being  discovered 
they  were  dismissed.  Boats  having  been  procured  for  transport 
ing  the  troops,  the  forces  were  divided  into  3  parties ;  2  of  which 
crossing  to  the  west  side  of  the  river,  were  to  proceed  to  different 
parts  of  the  town,  while  the  other,  under  Colonel  Clark,  was  to 
capture  the  fort,  on  the  east  side.  If  Clark  should  be  successful 
in  securing  the  fort,  at  a  given  signal  the  other  detachments,  with 
a  shout,  were  to  take  possession  of  the  town  and  send  heralds 
who  could  speak  the  French  language,  to  warn  the  inhabitants 
that  they  would  be  shot  down  if  they  appeared  in  the  street. 

Kaskaskia,  at  that  time,  contained  about  250  houses,  and  the 
British  officer,  who  had  charge  of  the  place  after  the  revolt  of  the 
Atlantic  colonies,  endeavored  to  create  in  the  minds  of  the  unsus 
pecting  French  the  most  dreadful  apprehensions  respecting  the 
ferocity  and  brutality  of  the  "  Long  KniA^es ;  "  telling  them  that 
they  not  only  plundered  property  but  indiscriminately  murdered 
men,  women  and  children  when  they  fell  into  their  hands.  The 
object  of  these  falsehoods  was  to  stimulate  the  people  of  these 
remote  outposts  to  make  a  determined  resistance  in  case  they  were 
attacked,  and  to  induce  them  to  supply  the  Indians  with  guns, 
ammunition  and  scalping  knives  to  aid  them  in  their  depredations 
upon  the  Americans.  Clark  now  wisely  concluded  if  he  could  sur 
prise  them  fear  would  cause  them  to  submit  without  resistance, 


BRITISH   OCCUPATION.  179 

and  they  would  afterward  become  friendly  from  gratitude  if  treated 
with  unexpected  clemency.  The  plan  of  attack  was  successfully 
executed.  Clark  without  resistance  entered  the  fort  through  a 
postern  gate  on  the  side  next  to  the  river,  and  the  others,  passing 
into  the  village  at  both  extremities  with  the  most  hideous  outcries, 
alarmed  the  unsuspecting:  inhabitants,  who  commenced  screaming 
"  the  Long  Knives, "  u  the  Long  Knives."  In  about  two  hours 
after  the  surprise,  the  townsmen,  panic  stricken,  delivered  up  their 
arms,  and  though  the  victory  was  complete  it  had  been  obtained 
without  shedding  a  drop  of  blood.  The  victors,  in  obedience 
orders,  rendered  the  remainder  of  the  night  a  pandemonium  of 
tumult.  This  artifice  as  it  prevented  opposition  and  the  effusion  of 
blood,  was  the  most  innocent  means  that  could  have  been  resorted  to 
to  in  order  to  be  successful.  M.  Kocheblave,  the  British  commadant, 
was  not  aware  that  he  was  a  prisoner  till  an  officer  of  the  detachment 
which  had  entered  the  fort,  penetrated  to  his  bedroom  and  tapped 
him  on  the  shoulder.  The  public  papers  were  either  concealed  or 
destroyed.  It  was  supposed  that  the  governor's  lady,  presuming 
upon  the  deference  which  would  be  extended  to  her  sex  and  rank, 
concealed  them  in  her  trunk,  and  such  was  the  chivalry  of  these 
ancient  Virginians  that,  although  the  papers  were  supposed  to  be 
valuable,  they  suffered  her  trunk  to  be  removed  without  examina 
tion. 

In  seeking  for  information  during  the  night,  they  learned  that  a 
considerable  body  of  Indians  was  encamped  near  Cahokia,  50 
miles  higher  up  the  Mississippi,  and  that  M.  Cerre,  the  principal 
merchant  of  Kaskaskia  and  an  inveterate  hater  of  the  American 
cause,  was  at  St.  Louis  on  his  way  to  Quebec.  This  information 
respecting  the  intensity  of  his  hatred  was,  perhaps,  a  misrepre 
sentation.  None  of  the  French  inhabitants  of  Illinois  were 
greatly  attached  to  the  British  government,  and  it  is  probable  that 
his  unfriendly  feeling  was  only  the  prejudice  he,  in  common  with 
the  rest  of  his  countrymen,  entertained  against  the  Virginians. 
His  family  and  a  large  assortment  of  merchandise  were  then  in 
Kaskaskia,  and  Clark  thought  that  if  these  pledges  were  in  his 
possession,  he  could  render  the  influence  of  this  opulent  merchant 
available  in  case  an  emergency  should  occur  in  which  he  might 
need  it.  A  guard  was  accordingly  placed  about  his  house  and 
seals  put  on  his  property,  and  also  on  all  the  merchandise  belong 
ing  to  other  citizens  of  the  place. 

On  the  5th  day  Clark  Avithdrew  his  forces  from  the  town  to  posi 
tions  around  it,  and  to  augment  the  gloomy  forebodings  which  had 
already  unnerved  the  inhabitants,  he  sternly  forbade  alt  intercourse 
between  them  and  his  own  men.  After  the  removal  of  the  troops 
the  citizens  were  again  permitted  to  appear  in  the  streets, 
but  when  Clark  perceived  they  assembled  in  groups  and  earnestly 
engaged  in  conversation,  he  caused  some  of  the  principal  militia 
officersto  be  put  in  irons,  without  assigning  any  cause  for  the  arrest 
or  granting  any  opportunity  for  defense.  This  exhibition  of  arbi 
trary  power  did  not  spring  from  a  despotic  disposition  or  a 
disregard  for  the  principles  of  liberty.  No  one  excelled  Clark  in 
the  respect  which  he  entertained  for  the  rights  of  others,  and  he 
keenly  felt  himself  the  hardships  which  the  necessities  of  his  situ 
ation  compelled  him  to  inflict  upon  those  in  his  power.  The  terror 
hitherto  intense  now  reached  its  climax,  and  when  hope  had  nearly 


180  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

vanished  Clark,  who  of  all  commanders  had  the  clearest  insight 
into  human  nature,  granted  an  audience  to  the  priest  and  five  or 
six  elderly  men  of  the  village.  The  shock  which  they  received 
from  the  capture  of  their  town,  by  an  enemy  which  they  regarded 
with  so  much  horror,  could  only  be  equaled  by  their  surprise  when 
admitted  to  the  presence  of  their  captors.  Their  clothes  were  torn 
and  soiled  by  the  rough  usage  to  which  they  had  been  exposed,  and, 
as  Clark  says,  they  looked  more  frightful  than  savages.  Their 
appearance,  uncouth  in  the  extreme,  doubtless  to  the  sensibility 
and  refinement  of  the  ancient  French,  seemed  worse  than  the 
reality.  After  admission  the  deputatation  remained  sometime 
unable  to  speak  and  when  at  length  their  business  was  demanded 
they  could  not  determine  who  should  be  addressed  as  commander 
so  effectually  had  the  hardships  of  the  expedition  obliterated  the 
distinction  between  the  chieftain  and  his  men.  Colonel  Clark 
being  pointed  out,  the  priest  in  the  most  submissive  tone  and 
posture,  said  that  "the  people  expected  to  be  separated,  perhaps 
never  to  meet  again  and  they  requested  the  privilege  of  meeting 
in  the  church  to  take  leave  of  each  other  and  commend  their 
future  lives  to  the  protection  of  a  merciful  God."  Clark,  aware 
they  suspected  him  of  hostility  to  their  religion,  carelessly  remarked 
that  athe  Americans  did  not  interfere  with  the  beliefs  of  others 
but  let  every  one  worship  God  according  to  his  convictions  of 
duty,"  that  they  might  assemble  in  the  church  "but  on  no  account 
must  a  single  person  venture  outside  of  the  village."  Some  farther 
conversation  was  attempted,  but  that  the  alarm  might  not  abate  it 
was  roughly  repelled,  Clark  abruptly  informing  them  that  he  had 
not  time  for  further  intercourse.  The  entire  population  immediately 
convened  in  the  church,  and  the  houses  being  deserted  orders  were 
given  that  they  should  not  under  any  pretext  be  entered  by  the 
soldiers,  and  that  all  private  property  should  be  honorably 
respected.  After  remaining  in  church  a  longtime  the  priest  and  a 
few  others  again  called  upon  Colonel  Clark,  and  expressed  their 
thanks  for  the  great  favor  which  he  had  granted  them  and  also  a 
desire  that  he  would  inform  them  what  disposition  he  proposed  to 
make  of  the  people.  They  stated  that,  owing  to  the  remoteness  of 
their  situation  they  did  not  fully  comprehend  the  nature  of  the 
contest  between  England  and  her  colonies ;  that  their  conduct  had 
been  influenced  by  British  commanders  whom  they  were  constrained 
to  obey,  and  that  some  of  their  citizens  had  expressed  themselves 
in  favor  of  the  Americans,  whenever  the  restraint  to  which  they 
were  subject  would  permit.  They  added,  their  present  condition 
was  the  resuft  of  war  and  they  were  willing  to  submit  to  the  loss 
of  property,  but  begged  that  they  might  not  be  separated  from 
their  families,  and  that  some  food  and  clothing  might  be  retained 
for  their  future  support. 

Clark  having  now  sufficiently  wrought  upon  their  fear,  resolved 
to  try  the  effect  of  lenity.  "What  P'  said  he,  abruptly  addressing 
them,  "do  you  mistake  us  for  savages?  Do  you  think  Americans 
will  strip  women  and  children  and  take  the  bread  out  of  their 
niouthsP  "My  countrymen,"  said  the  gallant  colonel,  "disdain  to 
make  war  upon  helpless  innocence.  It  was  to  protect  our  own 
wives  and  children  that  we  penetrated  the  wilderness  and  subju 
gated  this  stronghold  of  British  and  Indian  barbarity,  and  not  the 
despicable  object  of  plunder.  We  do  not  war  against  Frenchmen 


BRITISH   OCCUPATION.  181 

The  King  of  France,  your  former  ruler,  is  the  ally  of  the  colonies ; 
his  fleets  and  arms  are  fighting  our  battles,  and  the  war  must  shortly 
terminate.  Embrace  which  ever  side  you  deem  best,  and  enjoy 
your  religion,  for  American  law  respects  the  believers  of  every 
creed  and  protects  them  in  their  rights.  And  now,  to  convince  yon 
of  my  sincerity,  go  and  inform  the  inhabitants  that  they  can  dismiss 
their  fears  concerning  their  property,  and  families  that  they  can 
conduct  themselves  as  usual,  and  that  their  friends  who  are  in 
confinement  shall  immediately  be  released."  The  revulsion  of 
feeling  which  followed  this  speech  can  better  be  imagined  than 
described.  The  village  seniors  endeavored  to  apologize  for  the 
suspicion  they  had  entertained,  upon  the  supposition  that  the 
property  of  a  captured  town  belongs  to  the  conquerers,  but  Clark 
gently  dispensing  with  all  explanations  desired  them  immediately 
relieve  the  anxiety  of  their  friends  and  strictly  comply  with  the 
terms  of  a  proclamation  which  he  was  about  to  issue.  The 
good  news  soon  spread  throughout  the  village ;  the  bell  rang 
a  merry  peal  and  the  people  almost  frantic  with  joy  assembled  in 
the  church  to  thank  God  for  their  happy  deliverance.  Clark's 
anticipations  were  fully  verified,  the  inhabitants  were  allowed  all 
the  liberty  they  could  desire  and  all  cheerfully  submitted  to  him  as 
the  commandant  of  the  village. 

An  expedition  was  now  planned  against  Cahokia,  and  several 
influential  Kaskaskians  voluntarily  offered  to  accompany  it.  They 
assured  Clark  that  the  Cahokians  were  their  kindred  and  friends, 
and  that  when  the  situation  of  Kaskaskia  was  explained  to  them 
they  would  be  willing  to  change  their  political  relations.  Their 
offer  was  accepted,  and  Major  Bowman  and  his  company  were 
selected  a»s  one  party  for  the  new  conquest,  and  the  other  the 
French  militia  commanded  by  their  former  officers,  the  entire 
detachment  being  but  little  inferior  in  numbers  to  that  which 
invaded  the  country.  Mounted  on  horseback  the  expedition 
reached  Cahokia  before  the  surrender  of  Kaskaskia  was  known  to 
the  inhabitants.  On  being  perceived,  the  cry  of  "the  Long  Knives, 
the  Long  Knives,"  as  at  Kaskaskia,  created  the  most  intense  con 
sternation  among  the  timid  portion  of  the  little  community.  As 
soon,  however,  as  the  new  French  allies  could  notify  them  of  the 
change  of  government,  this  formidable  appellation  of  the  Virginians 
was  changed  to  huzzas  for  freedom  and  the  Americans.  Major 
Bowman  took  possion  of  the  fort  without  opposition;  the  Indian 
force  in  the  vicinity  was  dispersed,  and  the  inhabitants  a  few  days 
afterward  took  the  oath  of  allegiance. 

The  success  which  had  hitherto,  attended  the  efforts  of  Clark 
greatly  exceeded  the  means  employed,  but  such  were  the  compli 
cations  of  his  position  that  he  was  compelled  to  use  the  greatest 
address  in  order  to  maintain  it.  He  cultivated  the  most  intimate 
relations  with  the  Spanish  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  instructed  his  men  to  create  the  impression  that  the  head 
quarters  of  his  army  was  at  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio  ;  that  reinforce 
ments  were  daily  expected  to  arrive,  and  that  when  they  came 
military  operations  would  be  resumed  upon  a  more  extended  scale. 
This  artifice  enabled  him  to  counteract  the  extensive  influence  of 
his  adversaries,  and  ultimately  triumph  over  their  superior 
strength. 


182  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

In  the  meantime  M.  Cerre,  whose  influence  Clark  had  endeav 
ored  to  obtain  by  securing  his  property  and  family,  became 
anxious  to  return  to  Kaskaskia.  Fearing  to  place  himself  in  the 
hands  of  the  American  officer  without  some  protection,  he  pro 
cured  letters  of  recommendation  from  the  Spanish  governor  of  St- 
Louis7  and  the  commandant  of  St.  Genevieve,  with  a  view  to  ol>. 
taming  a  passport.  Clark,  however,  refused  his  application,  and 
intimated  that  it  need  not  be  repeated,  as  he  understood  that  M. 
Cerre  was  a  man  of  sense,  and  if  he  had  not  been  guilty  of  encour 
aging  Indian  barbarities,  he  need  not  apprehend  any  danger. 
These  sentiments  having  been  communicated  to  M.  Cerre,  he  im 
mediately  repaired  to  Kaskaskia,  and  called  upon  Colonel  Clark, 
who  informed  him  that  he  was  charged  with  inciting  the  Indians 
to  plunder  and  murder  the  Americans,  and  that  humanity  required 
that  such  violators  of  honorable  warfare  should  be  punished 
according  to  the  enormity  of  their  crimes.  The  merchant,  in  reply 
to  this  accusation,  said  he  challenged  any  man  to  prove  that  he 
had  encouraged  the  depredations  of  the  Indians,  and  that  on  the 
contrary,  he  could  produce  many  witnesses  who  had  heard  him 
repeatedly  condemn  such  cruelties  in  decided  terms.  lie  further 
remarked  that  he  never  interfered  in  matters  of  state,  except  when 
his  business  demanded  it;  that  he  was  not  well  acquainted  with 
the  nature  of  the  contest  in  which  the  colonists  were  engaged,  and 
that  these  charges  were  perhaps  preferred  by  some  of  his  debtors, 
who  sought  by  this  means  a  release  from  their  obligations.  Being 
willing  to  submit  to  an  examination  in  the  presence  of  his  accus 
ers,  Clark  requested  him  to  retire  to  another  room,  while  he  sum 
moned  them  to  appear.  In  a  short  time  they  came  in,  followed  by 
a  large  part  of  the  inhabitants,  but  when  M.  Cerre  was  brought 
into  their  midst  they  were  confounded.  Clark  told  them  that  he 
was  unwilling  to  condemn  any  one  without  a  trial ;  that  M.  Cerre 
was  now  in  their  presence,  and  if  they  found  him  guilty  of  the 
alleged  crime  he  should  be  summarily  punished.  At  the  conclu 
sion  of  these  remarks,  the  witnesses  commenced  whispering  with 
each  other  and  retiring,  till  only  1  out  of  7  was  left.  He  being 
called  on  for  his  proof,  replied  that  he  had  none,  and  M.  Cerre  was 
thus  honorably  acquitted.  His  friends  and  neighbors  congratu 
lated  him  upon  the  happy  termination  of  the  trial,  and  Clark 
informed  him  that  although  it  was  desirable  he  should  become  an 
American  citizen,  yet  if  he  was  not  inclined  to  do  so?  he  was  at 
liberty  to  dispose  of  his  property  and  remove  from  the  village. 
M.  Cerre  was  so  pleased  with  the  equitable  and  generous  treat 
ment  which  he  had  received  at  the  hands  of  the  American  com 
mander,  he  immediately  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  and  thereafter 
remained  the  staunch  friend  of  the  new  political  power  which  he 
espoused. 

Clark  never  resorted  to  artifice  or  punishment  except  when  he 
could  make  it  conducive  to  the  public  good.  In  the  cases  narra 
ted  he  kept  up  the  appearance  of  rigor  with  the  view  to  enhancing 
the  favors  which  policy  and  the  magnanimity  of  his  own  disposi 
tion  inclined  him  to  grant.  So  adroit  had  been  his  management 
that  he  subdued  without  bloodshed  all  the  French  settlements 
within  the  present  boundaries  of  Illinois.  The  captures,  as  we 
shall  have  occasion  to  show,  were  fraught  with  great  consequences 
to  the  nation,  and  does  it  speak  less  honorably  for  him  who,  with 


BRITISH   OCCUPATION.  183 

great,  skill,  had  accomplished  them  with  few  instead  of  thousands, 
or  because  he  had  conquered  without  the  shedding  of  blood  instead 
of  making-  the  plains  of  Illinois  gory  with  the  blood  of  the  enemy 
and  that  of  his  friends  !  The  essence  of  true  heroism  is  the  same, 
whatever  may  be  the  scale  of  action,  and  although  numbers  are 
the  standard  by  which  military  honors  are  usually  awarded,  they 
are  in  reality  only  one  of  the  extrinsic  circumstances.  So 
important  were  Clark's  achievements  considered,  that  on  the  23d 
of  November,  1778,  he  and  his  brave  officers  and  men  were  voted 
the  thanks  of  the  Virginia  House  of  Delegates  for  their  extraordi 
nary  resolution  and  perseverance  in  so  hazardous  an  enterprise, 
and  the  important  services  thereby  rendered  the  country.  In  this 
extraordinary  conquest  the  Americans  were  doubtless  assisted  by 
the  affection  which  the  French  inhabitants  still  retained  for  their 
ancient  Fatherland,  now  allied  with  the  colonies. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

CLARK  OBTAINS  POSSESSION  OF  YINCENNES— TREA 
TIES  WITH  THE  INDIANS— VINCENNES  FALLS  INTO 
THE  HANDS  OF  THE  ENGLISH,  AND  IS  RE-CAPTURED 
BY  CLARK. 


Clark  now  turned  his  attention  to  the  British  post  of  St.  Vin 
cents  (Vincennes),  the  subjugation  of  which  would  not  only  extend 
the  dominion  of  his  native  State,  but  from  its  contiguity  render  his 
own  position  and  government  more  seeure.  He,  therefore,  sent  for 
M.  Gibault,  who,  being  the  Catholic  priest  both  of  Vincennes  and 
Kaskaskia,  could  give  him  any  information  he  desired.  He 
informed  Clark  that  Governor  Abbot  had  lately  gone  011  business 
to  Detroit,  and  that  a  military  expedition  against  the  place  Avas 
wholly  unnecessary.  Desirous  of  having  his  parishioners  free 
from  the  violence  of  war,  he  offered  to  induce  the  people  to  transfer 
their  allegiance  to  the  Americans  without  the  assistance  of  troops. 
This  proposition  was  readily  accepted,  and  DeLafont  and  a  spy 
were  selected  to  accompany  him.  The  embassy  set  off  for  Vincen 
nes,  and*  after  a  full  explanation  between  the  priest  and  his  nock, 
the  inhabitants  concluded  to  sever  their  relations  with  the  British 
government  and  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  common  wealth 
of  Virginia.  A  temporary  governor  was  appointed,  and  the  Amer 
ican  flag  immediately  displayed  over  the  fort,  to  the  great  sur 
prise  of  the  Indians.  The  savages  were  told  that  their  old  father, 
the  king  of  France,  had  come  to  life  and  was  angry  with  them 
because  they  fought  for  the  English,  and  that  if  they  did  not  wish 
the  land  to  be  bloody  with  war  they  must  make  peace  with  the 
Americans.  M.  Gibault  %nd  party  returned  about  the  1st  of 
August,  with  the  joyful  intelligence  that  everything  was  peace 
ably  adjusted  at  Vincenues  in  favor  of  the  Americans.  This  news 
was  both  a  source  of  astonishment  and  gratification,  as  such  a 
result  was  hardly  to  be  expected. 

The  3  months  for  which  Clark's  men  had  enlisted  was  now  ter 
minated,  and  his  instructions  being  indefinite,  he  was  at  first  at  a 
loss  how  to  proceed.  If  the  country  was  abandoned  at  this  junc 
ture,  the  immense  advantages  already  gained  would  be  sacrificed, 
and,  therefore,  acting  upon  the  discretion  which  necessity  demanded, 
he  re-enlisted  as  many  of  his  own  men  as  were  willing  to  continue 
in  the  service,  and  commissioned  French  officers  tdraise  a  com 
pany  of  the  inhabitants.  He  established  a  garrison  at  Kaskaskia, 
under  the  command  of  Captain  Williams,  another  at  Cahokia 
under  Captain  Bowman,  and  selected  Captain  Sims,  who  had 
accompanied  the  expedition  as  a  volunteer,  to  take  charge  of  the 
men  who  wished  to  return.  The  latter  officer  was  also  intrusted 

184 


AMERICAN   OCCUPATION.  185 

with  orders  from  Clark  for  the  removal  of  the  station  from  Corn 
Island,  at  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  to  the  main  land,  and  a  stockade 
fort  was  erected  where  Louisville,  the  metropolis  of  Kentucky, 
has  since  been  built.  Captain  John  Montgomery,  in  charge  of 
Bocheblave  and  the  bearer  of  dispatches,  was  sent  to  Richmond, 
which  had  become  the  capital  of  Virginia.  It  had  been  the  inten 
tion  to  restore  to  the  British  commander  his  slaves,  which  had 
been  seized  as  public  property,  and  he  and  some  of  his  friends 
were  invited  to  dine  with  Clark  and  his  officers,  when  the  restitu 
tion  was  to  take  place.  M.  Kocheblave,  however,  called  them  a 
set  of  rebels  and  exhibited  such  bitterness  of  feeling,  that  it  was 
necessary  to  send  him  to  the  guard-house  and  finally  a  prisoner 
to  Virginia.  The  generous  idea  of  returning  the  slaves  to  their 
former  owner  having  been  frustated  by  this  pro  vocation,  they  were 
subsequently  sold  for  500  pounds,  which  was  divided  among  the 
troops  as  prize  money. 

The  government  of  Virginia  in  the  meantime  was  informed  of 
the  reduction  of  the  country  and  Clark  desiring  that  a  civil  govern 
ment  might  be  instituted,  an  act  was  passed  in  October,  1778, 
organizing  the  county  of  Illinois  which  included  all  the  territory 
of  the  commonwealth  west  of  the  Ohio  river.  This  immense  region, 
exceeding  in  superficial  extent  the  whole  of  Great  Britain  and  Ire 
land,  was  at  that  time  the  largest  county  in  the  world,  and  contained 
the  best  section  of  farming  lands  on  the  continent.  A  bill  was 
also  passed  to  raise  500  men  for  opening  communication  with  Xew 
Orleans,  for  the  benefit  of  the  isolated  settlements,  and  Col.  John 
Todd  was  appointed  the  principal  officer  in  the  government  of  the 
new  county,  and  justice  was  for  the  first  time  administered  under 
the  authority  of  Virginia. 

About  the  middle  of  August,  Clark  appointed  Capt.Helm  com 
mandant  of  Vincennes  and  Indian  agent  for  the  department  of  the 
Wabash.  His  great  prudence  and  intimate  knowledge  of  Indian 
character  eminently  qualified  him  for  the  duties  of  this  important 
trust.  It  was  also  the  intention  of  Col.  Clark  to  place  a  strong 
detachment  under  his  command  as  soon  as  reinforcements  should 
arrive  from  Virginia. 

At  that  time  there  lived  in  the  vicinity  of  Vincennes  a  chief  of 
the  Piaukashaw  Indians,  who  possessed  great  influence  over  his 
people.  He  was  complimented  by  his  countrymen  with  the  appel 
lation  of  the  Grand  Door  of  the  Wabash,  in  imitation  of  the  title 
of  Pontiac,  who  was  styled  the  Grand  Door  of  St.  Joseph.  Clark 
had  exchanged  messages  with  him  through  Gibault,  the  catholic 
priest,  and  he  instructed  Helm  to  secure  his  influence,  as  nothing 
could  be  done  within  the  Indian  confederacy  of  the  Wabash  without 
his  approbation.  The  American  agent  arriving  safe  at  Vincennes, 
and  being  received  with  acclamation  by  the  inhabitants,  he  imme 
diately  invited  the  Grand  Door  to  a  conference.  The  proud  and 
pompous  chief  was  pleased  with  the  courtesies  of  Capt.Helm,  who, 
in  a  friendly  talk,  communicated  to  him  an  invitation  from  Clark 
to  unite  with  the  "Long  Knives"  and  his  old  master,  the  King  of 
France.  In  reply  to  this  invitation,  he  said  that  he  was  glad  to  see 
a  chief  of  the  "Long Knives"  in  toAvn,  but  with  the  caution  peculiar 
to  Indian  character,  declined  giving  a  definite  answer,  until  he 
could  confer  with  the  principal  men  of  his  tribe.  In  all  their  inter 
course,  the  Grand  Door  observed  the  ceremonies  of  the  most 


186  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

courtly  dignity,  and  the  American,  to  operate  on  his  vanity, 
exhibited  the  same  pomposity,  till  after  several  days  the  interview 
was  concluded.  Finally,  Capt.  Helm  was  invited  to  attend  a  council 
of  chiefs,  in  which  the  Grand  Door  informed  him,  in  a  strain  ot 
Indian  eloquence,  that  "the  sky  had  been  very  dark  in  the  war 
between  the  'Long  Knives'  and  English,  but  now  the  clouds  were 
brushed  away  he  could  see  the  'Long  Knives7  were  in  the  right, 
and  if  the  English  conquered  them,  they  might  also  treat  the 
Indians  in  the  same  way."  He  then  jumped  up,  struck  his  hands 
against  his  breast,  and  said,  "he  had  always  been  a  man  and  a 
warrior,  and  now  he  was  a  'Long  Knife'  and  would  tell  the 
red  people  to  bloody  the  land  no  longer  for  the  English."  He  and 
his  red  brethren  then  took  Capt.  Helm  by  the  hand,  and  during 
the  remainder  of  his  life,  lie  remained  the  staunch  friend  of  the 
Americans.  Dying  two  years  afterward,  at  his  request  he  was 
buried  with  the  honors  of  Avar,  near  the  Fort  of  Cahokia. 

Many  chiefs  south  of  Lake  Michigan  followed  the  example  of 
the  Grand  Door,  and  the  British  influence,  which  had  caused  great 
mischief  to  the  frontier  settlements,  daily  declined.  Much  of  the 
success  attending  these  negotiations  was  due  to  the  influence  of 
the  French,  for  the  Indians,  relying  implicitly  upon  their  state 
ments,  became  greatly  alarmed  at  the  growing  power  of  the  Ameri 
cans.  Clark's  method  of  effecting  treaties  with  them  was  attended 
with  remarkable  success.  He  had  studied  the  French  and  Spanish 
methods  of  intercourse,  and  thought  their  plan  of  urging  them  to 
make  treaties  was  founded  upon*  a  mistaken  estimate  of  their 
character.  He  Avas  of  opinion  that  such  overtures  were  construed 
by  the  savages  as  evidence  of  either  fear  or  Aveakness,  and  there 
fore  studiously  avoided  making  the  first  adA*ances.  Unlike  the 
English,  who  endeavored  to  win  their  good  will  by  freely  granting 
them  presents,  he  either  bestowed  them  reluctantly,  or  fought 
them  until  they  Avere  compelled  to  seek  refuge  in  treaties  as  a 
means  of  self-preservation.  The  ceremonies  attending  his  coun 
cils  with  these  sons  of  the  forest,  as  they  illustrated  their  charac 
ter,  are  worth  recording.  The  first  convocation  of  this  kind  in 
which  Colonel  Clark  was  present,  met  at  Cahokia  about  the  1st  of 
September.  The  various  parties  had  assembled,  and  as  the  Indians 
were  the  solicitors,  one  of  the  chiefs  approached  the  table  where 
Colonel  Clark  was  sitting,  bearing  three  belts,  one  of  which  Avas 
emblematical  of  peace,  another  contained  the  sacred  pipe,  and  a 
third  the  fire  to  light  it.  After  the  pipe  was  lighted,  it  Avas  first 
presented  to  the  heavens,  then  to  the  earth,  next  forming  a  circle, 
it  Avas  offered  to  all  the  spirits,  invoking  them  to  A\  itness  their 
proceedings,  and  finally  to  Colonel  Clark  and  the  other  members 
of  the  council.  At  the  conclusion  of  these  formalities,  a  chief  arose 
and  spoke  in  la^or  of  peace,  after  Avhich  he  threw  down  the  bloody 
belt  and  flag,  which  had  been  given  to  him  by  the  English,  and 
stamped  on  them,  as  eA^idence  of  their  rejection.  Clark  coldly  re 
plied  that  he  would  consider  what  he  had  heard  and  give  them  an, 
answer  on  the  following  day.  He  however  intimated  that  their 
existence  as  a  nation  depended  on  the  determination  of  the  coun 
cil,  and  as  peace  Avas  not  concluded,  he  cautioned  the  chief  not  to 
let  any  of  his  countrymen  shake  hands  with  the  white  people, 
saying  it  would  be  time  to  give  the  hand  when  the  heart  also 
could  be  given  with  it.  When  he  had  ceased  speaking,  one  of  the 


AMERICAN   OCCUPATION.  187 


chiefs  remarked  that  such  sentiments  were  like  men  who  had  but 
one  heart  and  who  did  not  speak  with  a  forked  tongue.  The 
council  then  adjourned  till  the  next  day,  and  when,  at  the  appoint 
ed  time  the  Indians  reassembled,  Clark  thus  ^addressed  them: 

"  MEN  AND  WARRIORS  :  Pay  attention  to  my  words.  You  informed 
me  yesterday  that  you  hoped  the  Great  Spirit  had  brought  us  together 
for  good.  I  have  the  same  hope,  and  trust  each  party  will  strictly  adhere 
to  whatever  is  agreed  upon,  whether  it  be  peace  or  war.  I  am  a  man 
and  warrior,  not  a  councilor.  I  carry  war  in  my  right  hand,  peace  in 
my  left.  I  am  sent  by  the  ^reat  council  of  the  Long  Knives  and  their 
friends,  to  take  possession  of  all  the  towns  occupied  by  the  English  in 
this  country,  and  to  watch  the  red  people;  to  bloody  the  paths  of  those 
who  attempt  to  stop  the  course  of  the  rivers,  and  to  clear  the  roads  for 
those  who  desire  to  be  in  peace.  I  am  ordered  to  call  upon  the  Great 
Fire  for  warriors  enough  to  darken  the  land,  that  the  red  people  may 
hear  no  sound  but  of  birds  which  live  on  blood.  I  know  there  is  a  mist 
before  your  eyes.  I  will  dispel  the  clouds  that  you  may  clearly  see  the 
causes  of  the  war  between  the  Long  Knives  and  the  English  ;  then  you 
may  judge  which  party  is  in  the  right,  and  if  you  are  warriors,  as  you 
profess,  prove  it  by  adhering  faithfully  to  the  party  which  you  shall  be 
lieve  to  be  entitled  to  your  friendship." 

After  Clark  had  explained  in  detail  the  cause  and  eftect  of  the 
war  existing  beween  the  English  and  the  colonies,  lie  thus  con 
cluded  : 

"  The  whole  land  was  dark  ;  the  old  men  held  down  their  heads  for 
shame,  because  they  could  not  see  the  sun  ;  and  thus  there  was  mourn 
ing  for  many  years  over  the  land.  At  last  the  Great  Spirit  took  pity  on 
us,  and  kindled  a  great  council  tire  at  Philadelphia,  planted  a  post,  put 
a  tomahawk  by  it  and  went  away.  The  sim  immediately  broke  out,  the 
sky  was  blue  again,  and  the  old  men  held  up  their  heads  and  assembled 
at  the  fire.  They  took  up  the  hatchet,  sharpened  it,  and  immediately 
put  it  in  the  hands  of  our  young  men,  ordering  them  to  strike  the  Eng 
lish  as  long  as  they  could  find  one  on  this  side  of  the  Great  Water.  The 
young  men  immediately  struck  the  war  post  and  blood  was  shed.  In 
this  way  the  war  began,  and  the  English  were  driven  from  one  place  to 
another,  until  they  got  weak,  and  then  hired  the  red  people  to  right  for 
them.  The  Great  Spirit  got  angry  at  this,  and  caused  your  old  father, 
the  French  King,  and  other  great  nations  to  join  the  Long  Knives,  and 
fight  with  them  against  all  their  enemies.  So  the  Euglish  have  become 
like  deer  in  the  woods,  and  you  can  see  that  it  was  the  Great  Spirit  that 
troubled  your  waters,  because  you  have  fought  for  the  people  with  whom 
he  was  displeased.  You  can  now  judge  who  is  in  the  right.  I  have 
already  told  you  who  I  am.  Here  is  a  bloody  belt,  and  a  peace  belt ; 
take  which  you  please  ;  behave  like  men,  aud  do  not  let  your  being  sur 
rounded  by  Long  Knives  cause  you  to  take  up  one  belt  with  your  hands 
while  your  hearts  take  up  the  other.  If  you  take  the  bloody  path,  you 
can  go  in  safety  and  join  your  friends,  the  English.  We  will  then  try 
lil\e  warriors  who  can  stain  our  clothes  the  longest  with  blood.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  you  ta'ke  the  path  of  peace,  and  are  received  as  brothers 
by  the  Long  Knives,  and  then  listen  to  bad  birds  that  are  flying  through 
the  land,  you  cannot  longer  be  considered  men,  but  creatures  with  two 
tongues,  which  ought  to  be  destroyed.  As  I  am  convinced  that  you 
never  heard  the  truth  before,  1  do  not  wish  you  to  answer  me  before  you 
have  taken  time  for  consideration.  We  will  therefore  part  this  eveniug, 
aud  when  the  Great  Spirit  shall  bring  us  together  again,  let  usspeak  aud 
think  as  men  with  but  one  heart  and  one  tongue.  " 

On  the  following  day,  the  council  fire  was  kindled  with  more 
than  ordinary  ceremony,  and  one  of  the  chiefs  came  forward  and 
said : 

"  We  have  listened  with  great  attention  to  what  the  chief  of  the  Long 
Knives  told  us,  and  are  thankful  that  the  Great  Spirit  has  opened  our 
ears  and  hearts  to  receive  the  truth.  We  believe  you  tell  us  the  truth, 


188  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

for  you  do  not  speak  like  other  people,  and  that  our  old  men  are  right, 
who  always  said  the  English  spake  with  double  tongues.  We  will 
take  the  belt  of  peace,  and  cast  down  the  bloodly  belt  of  war ;  our  war 
riors  shall  be  called  ^ome  ;  the  tomahawk  shall  be  thrown  into  the 
river,  where  it  can  never  be  found ;  and  we  will  carefully  smooth  the  road 
for  your  brothers  whenever  they  wish  to  come  arid  see  you.  Our  friends 
shall  hear  of  the  good  talk  you  have  given  us,  and  we  hope  you  will  send 
chiefs  among  our  countrymen,  that  they  may  see  we  are  men,  and 
adhere  to  all  we  have  promised  at  this  fire,  which  the  Great  Spirit  has 
kindled  for  the  good  of  all  who  attend." 

The  pipe  was  agaiii  lighted,  the  spirits  were  called  on  to  witness 
the  transactions,  and  the  council  concluded  by  shaking  hands. 

In  this  manner  alliances  were  formed  Avith  other  tribes,  and  in 
a  short  time  Clark's  power  was  so  well  established  that  a  single 
soldier  could  be  sent  in  safety  as  far  north  as  the  head  waters  of 
the  streams  emptying  into  the  lakes.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  lakes 
the  British  retained  their  influence,  some  of  the  tribes  being1 
divided  between  them  and  the  Americans.  This  sudden  and 
extensive  change  of  sentiment  among  the  Indians,  was  due  to  the 
stern  and  commanding  influence  of  Colonel  Clark,  supported  by 
the  alliance  of  the  French  with  the  colonies,  and  the  regard  which 
the  Indians  still  retained  for  their  first  Great  Father.  It  required 
great  skill  on  the  part  of  Clark,  while  in  command  of  such  dimin 
utive  forces,  to  keep  alive  the  impression  which  had  originally 
been  made  respecting  the  arrival  of  forces  from  the  Falls  of  the 
Ohio.  To  create  a  favorable  impression,  the  fees  connected  with 
the  administration  of  justice  were  abated.  The  maintenance  of 
friendly  intercourse  with  the  Spanish  authorities,  and  the  per 
mission  of  trade  among  the  inhabitants  on  both  sides  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  was  also  productive  of  good  will. 

In  his  negotiation  with  the  Indians,  an  incident  occurred  about 
this  time*  which,  from  its  romantic  character,  is  worthy  of  mention. 
A  large  reward  was  offered  the  Meadow  or  Mascoutiu  Indians, 
who  accompanied  the  other  tribes  to  the  council,  to  assassinate 
the  American  commander.  For  this  purpose  they  pitched  their 
camp  on  the  same  side  of  Cahokia  creek  occupied  by  Clark,  dis 
tant  100  yards  from  the  fort  and  the  American  headquarters.  It 
was  arranged  that  a  part  of  their  number  should  cross  the  creek, 
which  could  easily  be  waded,  fire  in  the  direction  of  the  Indian 
encampment,  and  then  flee  to  the  quarters-  of  Clark,  where,  under 
the  pretense  of  fear,  they  were  to  obtain  admission  and  put 
the  garrison  to  death.  The  attempt  was  made  about  1  o'clock  in 
tlie  morning.  The  flying  party  having  discharged  their  guns,  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  cast  suspicion  upon  the  Indians  on  the  oppo 
site  side  of  the  creek,  started  directly  to  the  American  encampment 
for  protection.  Clark  was  still  awake  with  the  multiplied  cares 
of  his  situation,  and  the  guards  being  stronger  than  had  been 
anticipated,  presented  their  pieces  and  compelled  the  fugitives  to 
halt.  The  town  and  garrison  were  immediately  under  arms;  the 
Mascoutins,  whom  the  guard  had  recognized  by  moonlight,  were 
sent  for,  and  being  interrogated  respecting  their  conduct,  declared 
that  they  had  been  fired  upon  by  enemies  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  creek,  and  that  they  had  fled  to  the  Americans  for  refuge.  The 
French,  however,  understanding  them  better  than  their  conquer 
ors,  called  for  a  light,  and  on  examination  discovered  that  their 
leggings  and  moccasins  were  wet  and  muddy,  which  was  evidence 


AMERICAN   OCCUPATION.  189 

that  they  had  crossed  the  creek  and  that  the  Indians  they  visited 
were  friends  instead  of  enemies.  The  intended  assassins  were 
dismayed  at  this  discovery,  and  Clark,  to  convince  the  Indians  of 
the  confidence  which  he  reposed  in  the  French,  handed  over  the 
culprits  to  them  to  be  dealt  with  as  they  thought  proper.  Inti 
mations  were,  however,  made  to  them  privately,  that  they  ought 
to  be  confined,  and  they  were  accordingly  manacled  and  sent  to 
the  guard-house.  In  this  condition  they  were  daily  brought  into 
the  council,  Avhere  he  whom  they  had  endeavored  to  kill,  was 
funning  friendly  relations  Avith  their  red  brethren  of  other  tribes. 
When  all  the  other  business  of  the  council  was  transacted,  Clark 
ordered  the  irons  to  be  struck  off,  and  said:  "Justice  requires 
that  you  die  for  your  treacherous  attempt  upon  my  life  during  the 
sacred  deliberations  of  a  council.  I  had  determined  to  inflct  death 
upon  you  for  your  base  designs,  and  you  must  be  sensible  that  you 
have  justly  forfeited  your  lives  5  but  on  considering  the  meanness 
of  watching  a  bear  and  catching  him  asleep,  I  have  concluded  that 
you  are  not  warriors,  but  old  women,  and  too  mean  to  be  killed 
by  the  Long  Knives.  Since,  however,  you  must  be  punished  for 
wearing  the  apparel  of  men,  it  shall  be  taken  away  from  you,  and 
you  shall  be  furnished  with  plenty  of  provisions  for  your  journey 
home,  and  while  here  you  shall  be  treated  in  every  respect  as 
squaws."  At  the  conclusion  of  these  cutting  remarks,  Clark  turned 
to  converse  with  others.  The  offending  Indians,  expecting  anger 
and  punishment,  instead  of  contempt  and  disgrace,  were  exceed 
ingly  agitated.  After  counseling  with  each  other,  one  of  the  chiefs 
came  forward,  and  laying  a  pipe  and  belt  of  peace  on  the  table, 
made  some  explanatory  remarks.  The  interpreter  stood  ready  to 
translate  these  words  of  friendship,  but  Clark  refused  to  hear 
them,  and  raising  his  sword  and  shattering  the  pipe,  declared  that 
the  Long  Knives  never  treated  with  women.  Some  of  the  other 
tribes  with  whom  alliances  had  been  formed,  now  interposing  for 
the  discomfitted  Indians,  besought  Clark  to  pity  their  families  and 
grant  them  pardon.  To  this  entreaty  he  coldly  replied,  that  athe 
Long  Knives  never  made  war  upon  these  Indians ;  they  are  of  a 
kind  which  we  shoot  like  wolves  when  we  meet  them  in  the  woods, 
lest  they  kill  the  deer."  This  rebuke  wrought  more  and  more  upon 
the  guilty  parties,  and,  after  again  taking  counsel,  two  of  the 
young  men  came  forward,  covered  their  heads  with  blankets, 
and  sat  down  at  the  feet  of  the  inexorable  Clark.  Two  chiefs  also 
arose,  and  standing  by  the  side  of  the  victims  who  thus  offered 
their  lives  as  an  atonement  for  the  crime  of  their  tribe,  again  pre 
sented  the  pipe  of  peace,  saying,  we  hope  this  sacrifice  will  appease 
the  anger  of  the  Long  Knife.  The  American  commander,  not 
replying  immediately,  as  if  still  unsatisfied,  the  most  profound 
silence  reigned  in  the  assembly,  and  nothing  was  heard  but 
the  deep  breathing  of  the  multitude,  all  turning  their  eyes  upon 
Clark,  as  if  to  read  in  the  expression  of  his  countenance  the 
fate  of  the  devoted  Indians.  The  sudden  impulse  caused  by  the 
heroism  of  this  romantic  incident,  almost  overcame  the  powerful 
nerve  of  Clark,  who,  from  the  first,  had  intended  to  grant  these 
Indians  peace,  but  with  a  reluctance,  as  he  says,  that  should 
enhance  its  value.  At  length,  to  relieve  the  great  suspense  of  the 
assembly,  lie  advanced  toward  the  young  men  and  ordering  them 
to  uncover  their  heads  and  stand  up,  said :  "I  am  rejoiced  to  find  men 


190  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

among  all  nations ;  these  two  young  warriors  who  have  offered 
their  lives  a  sacrifice,  are  at  least  proof  for  their  own  countrymen. 
Such  men  only  are  worthy  to  be  chiefs,  and  with  such  I  like  to 
treat."  He  then  took  them  by  the  hand,  and  in  honor  of  their 
magnanimity  and  courage,  introduced  them  to  the  American  officers 
and  other  members  of  the  assembly,  after  which  all  saluted  them 
as  the  chiefs  of  their  tribe.  "The  Roman  Curtius  leaped  into  the 
Gulf  to  save  his  countrymen,  and  Leonidas  died  in  obedience  to 
the  laws  of  Greece ;  but  in  neither  of  these  instances  was  displayed 
greater  heroism  than  that  exhibited  by  these  unsophisticated 
children  of  nature."  They  were  ever  after  held  in  high  esteem 
among  the  braves  of  their  own  tribe,  and  the  fame  of  the  white 
negotiator  was  correspondingly  extended.  A  council  Avas  immedi 
ately  convened  for  the  benefit  of  the  JMeadow  Indians;  an  alliance 
was  formed  with  their  chiefs,  and  neither  party  ever  afterward  had 
occasion  to  regret  the  reconciliation  thus  effected. 

Although  it  was  Clark's  general  aim  not  to  ask  favors  of  the 
Indians,  yet  some  of  their  chiefs  were  so  intelligent  and  powerful 
he  occasionally  invited  them  to  A^isit  him  and  explan  the  nature  of 
the  contest  between  the  English  and  the  colonists.  A  noted  instance 
of  this  kind  was  his  intercourse  with  Black  Bird,  a  A'ery  distin 
guished  chief  whose  lands  bordered  on  Lake  Michigan,  and  who 
had  obtained  such  a  reputution  among  his  people  that  a  departure 
from  the  usual  policy  Avas  deemed  advisable.  Black  Bird  Avas  in 
St.  Louis  when  the  country  was  first  invaded,  but  having  little 
confidence  in  Spanish  protection,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Clark  apolo 
gizing  for  his  absence,  and  returned  to  his  tribe.  A  special  mes 
senger  Avas  sent  requsting  him  to  come  to  Kaskaskia,  and  comply 
ing  with  the  invitation,  he  called  upon  Colonel  Clark  with  only  8 
attendants.  Great  preparations  were  immediately  made  for  hold 
ing  a  couilcil,  but  the  sagacious  chief,  disliking  the  usual  formali 
ties  of  Indian  negotiation,  informed  Clark  that  he  came  on  business 
of  importance,  and  desired  that  no  time  might  be  wasted  in  useless 
ceremonies.  He  stated  that  he  wished  to  converse  with  him,  and 
proffered  without  ostentation  to  sit  with  him  at  the  same  table.  A 
room  Avas  accordingly  furnished  and  both,  provided  with  interpret 
ers,  took  their  seats  at  the  same  stand  and  commenced  the  confer 
ence.  Black  Bird  said  he  had  long  wished  to  have  an  interview 
with  a  chief  of  our  nation  ;  he  had  sought  information  from  pris 
oners  but  could  not  confide  in  their  statements,  for  they  seemed 
afraid  to  speak  the  truth.  He  admitted  that  he  had  fought  against 
us,  although  doubts  of  its  justice  occasionally  crossed  his  mind; 
some  mystery  hung  over  the  matter  which  he  desired  to  have 
removed;  he  was  anxious  to  hear  both  sides  of  the  question,  but 
hitherto  he  had  only  been  able  to  hear  but  one.  Clark  undertook 
to  impart  the  desired  information,  but  owing  to  the  difficulty  of 
rendering  himself  intelligent,  several  hours  were  spent  in  answering 
his  questions.  At  the  conclusion,  Black  Bird,  among  other  things, 
said  that  he  was  glad  that  their  old  friends,  the  French,  had  united 
their  arms  with  ours,  and  that  the  Indians  ought  to  do  the  same. 
He  affirmed  that  his  sentiments  were  fixed  in  our  favor  ;  that  he 
would  never  again  listen  to  the  offers  of  the  English,  who  must 
certainly  be  afraid  because  they  hire  with  merchandise  the  Ind 
ians  todo  their  fighting.  He  closed  by  saying  that  he  would  call 
in  his  young  men,  and  thus  put  an  end  to  the  war,  as  soon  as  he 


AMERICAN   OCCUPATION.  191 

could  get  an  opportunity  of  explaining"  to  them  the  nature  of  the 
contest.  This  determination  of  the  chief  was  very  agreeable  to 
Clark,  who  informed  him  that  he  would  write  to  the  government  of 
Virginia  and  have  them  registered  among  the  friends  of  the  white 
people.  A  few  days  afterward,  thisintelligent  Indian,  supplied 
with  presents  and  accompanied,  at  his  request,  by  an  agent  of 
Clark,  set  off  for  his  native  forests.  His  conduct  afterward  exem 
plified  the  honesty  of  his  professions,  for  he  thereafter  remained 
the  faithful  friend  of  the  Americans. 

Clark  in  his  intercourse  with  the  Indians,  never  blamed  them 
for  accepting  the  presents  of  the  English,  as  the  necessities  of 
their  condition  and  the  inability  of  the  Americans  to  supply  their 
wants,  rendered  it.  unavoidable.  Commerce  had  to  some  extent 
already  introduced  among  them  superior  appliances  of  civilization. 
The  rifle  and  its  ammunition  had  long  since  superceded  the  bow 
and  arrow,  and  blankets,  cooking  utensils,  cutlery,  and  other  im 
plements  manufactured  in  an  advance  state  of  arts,  were  as 
necessary  to  the  .savage  as  the  civilized  man.  While,  however, 
he  forebore  to  reproach  them  for  receiving  presents  from  the 
English,  he  endeavored  to  impress  upon  their  minds  the  degrada 
tion  of  fighting  for  hire.  The  "Long  Knives,"  lie  said,  "regarded 
the  scalps  taken  while  fighting  in  self-defence  as  the  greatest  of 
trophies,  but  those  obtained  in  mercenary  warfare,  are  thrown  to 
the  dogs  or  used  as  toys  for  the  amusement  of  their  children." 

Another  chief  by  the  name  of  Lages,  about  this  time,  sent  ;i/ 
letter  to  Clark.  He  was  also  known  by  the  appellation  of  Big 
Gate,  a  title  which  he  received  from  having  shot  a  British  soldier, 
standing  at  the  fort  when  Pontiac,  with  whom  he  was  then  associ 
ated,  besieged  Detroit.  Several  marauding  parties  against  our 
frontier  settlements,  had  been  successfully  commanded  by  this 
warrior,  who  happened  to  fall  in  with  a  party  of  Piankeshaws 
going  to  Kaskaskia  to  make  the  Americans  a  visit.  Gaudily  decked 
in  the  full  costume  of  war,  and  with  the  bloody  belt,  which  the 
British  had  given  him,  suspended  about  his  neck,  he  daily  came  to 
the  council  and  occupied  one  of  the  most  prominent  seats.  As  a 
silent  spectator  he  thus  attended  till  all  the  public  business  was 
transacted,  the  American  officer  then  accosted  him  with  an  apology 
for  not  having  paid  his  respects  during  the  deliberations  of  the 
assembly.  Although  we  are  enemies,  said  he,  it  is  customary  with 
the  white  people  to  treat  celebrated  warriors  with  respect,  in  pro 
portion  to  the  exploits  which  they  have  performed  against 
each  other  in  war.  Being  a  distinguished  warrior,  Clark  invited 
him  to  dinner.  Surprised  at  this  civility  he  at  first  endeavored  to 
decline  the  invitation.  The  American  officer,  however,  when  he 
attempted  to  offer  an  excuse,  repeated  with  greater  warmth  his 
solicitations,  till  the  feelings  of  the  chief  were  wrought  up  to  the 
highest  piteh  of  excitement.  Eoused  in  this  manner  he  advanced 
to  the  center  of  the  room,  threw  down  the  war  belt,  tore  off  the 
clothes  and  flag,  which  had  been  given  him  by  his  friends,  the 
English.  Despoiled  of  these  presents,  he  struck  himself  violently 
on  the  breast,  and  said  that  he  had  been  a  warrior  from  his  youth, 
and  delighted  in  battles ;  that  he  had  fought  three  times  against  the 
Americans  and  was  preparing  another  war  party,  when  he  heard 
of  Colonel  Clark's  arrival ;  that  he  had  determined  to  visit  the 
Americans,  who  he  now  thought  were  right,  and  that  he  was  hence- 


102  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS 

forth  a  "Long  Knife"  and  would  war  no  longer  for  the  English.  He 
then  concluded  by  shaking  hands  with  Clark  and  his  officers  and 
saluting  them  as  brothers.  The  comical  part  of  the  affair  was  that 
the  new  brother  was  now  naked,  and  since  he  must  be  clothed,  a 
fine  laced  suit  was  provided  and  lie  appeared  at  the  entertainment 
arrayed  in  all  the  trappings  of  military  costume.  After  the  repast 
was  over,  in  a  private  interview,  he  disclosed  to  Clark  the  situation 
of  Detroit,  and  offered  to  obtain  a  scalp  or  prisoner  from  its  gam 
son.  Clark  not  wishing  to  encourage  the  barbarities  of  the  Indians, 
declined  the  former,  but  assured  the  warrior  of  his  willingness  to 
accept  the  latter,  provided  he  treated  the  captive  kindly  when  lie 
got  him  m  his  power.  This  policy  of  appealing  to  the  better  feel 
ings  of  humanity  was  little  appreciated  by  the  savages,  and  iu 
some  instances  caused  them  to  unite  witli  the  less  scrupulous 
enemy  who  suffered  them  to  plunder  and  murder  without  stint, 
provided  British  aggrandizement  was  the  result.  When  the  chief 
departed  Clark  gave  him  a  captain's  commission  and  a  medal  as 
evidence  of  the  new  relations  and  responsibilities  which  he  had 
assumed. 

While  the  American  commander  was  thus  negotiating  with  the 
Indians,  Hamilton,  the  British  governorof  Detroit  heard  of  Clark's 
invasion,  and  was  incensed  that  the  country  which  he  had  in  charge 
should  be  wrested  fromhimbya  few  ragged  militia  from  Virginia. 
He  therefore  hurriedly  collected  a  force  consisting  of  30  regulars, 50 
i^rench  Canadians  and  400  Indians,  and  marching  by  way  of  the 
Wabash.  appeared  before  the  fort  at  Yincennes  on  the  15th  of 
December,  1778.  The  inhabitants  made  no  effort  to  defend  the 
town,  and  when  Hamilton's  forces  arrived  Capt.  Helm  and  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Henry  were  the  only  Americans  in  the  fort.  The 
latter  charging  a  cannon,  placed  it  in  the  open  gateway,  and  the 
captain  standing  by  it  with  a  lighted  match  cried  out  as  Hamilton 
came  in  hailing  distance,  "halt."  The  British  officer,  not  knowing 
the  strength  of  the  garrison  stopped  and  demanded  the  surrender 
of  the  fort.  Helm  exclaimed  "no  man  shall  enter  here  till  I  know 
the  terms."  Hamilton  responded,  "you  shall  have  the  honors  of 
war.7'  The  entire  garrison,  consisting  of  one  officer  and  one  private, 
then  capitulated,  and  receiving  the  customary  courtesies  for  their 
brave  defense,  marched  out  with  the  honors  of  war.  Capt.  Helm 
was  retained  a  prisoner,  the  French  inhabitants  were  disarmed, 
and  a  large  portion  of  Hamilton's  troops  were  detached  against  the 
settlements  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi. 

These  movements  transpired  at  Vincennes,  6  weeks  before  the 
intelligence  reached  Kaskaskia,  thus  verifying  the  serious  appre 
hensions  which  Clark,  in  the  meantime,  had  entertained  for  the 
safety  of  the  place.  In  consequence  of  these  forebodings,  he  en 
gaged  Colonel  Vigo  to  go  and  reconnoitre  the  situation  of  the 
post.  No  choice  could  have  been  more  fortunate.  Although  Yigo 
was  an  Italian  by  birth,  no  one  excelled  him  in  devotion  to  the 
cause  of  freedom  and  sympathy  for  an  oppressed  people  strug 
gling  for  their  rights.  Associated  as  a  merchant  with  the  Spanish 
governor  of  St.  Louis,  he  amassed  a  large  fortune,  which,  with  the 
greatest  generosity,  he  expended  during  the  revolution  for  the 
benefit  of  his  adopted  country.  Having  for  a  long  time  resided  in 
Indiana,  and  died  there,  the  State,  in  honor  of  his  memory,  called 
a  county  after  his  name,  arid  Congress  ultimately  refunded  a  large 


AMERICAN  OCCUPATION.  193 

part  of  the  money  which  he  had  expended.  After  conferring  with 
Clark,  he  started  on  his  mission,  and  when  within  five  miles  of  his 
destination,  he  was  captured  by  the  Indians  and  taken  before 
Governor  Hamilton.  He  was  regarded  as  an  American  spy,  but 
being  a  Spanish  subject,  and  very  popular  with  the  inhabitants  of 
the  town,  the  British  officer  did  not  dare  to  proceed  against  him 
according  to  his  suspicions.  The  citizens  threatened  to  stop  hia 
supplies  if  he  was  not  suffered  to  depart.  Hamilton  reluctantly 
proposed  to  let  him  go  if,  during  the  war,  he  would  not  do  any 
act  injurious  to  British  interests.  Colonel  Yigo  peremptorily 
refused  to  become  a  party  to  such  a  compact.  Agreeing,  however, 
not  to  do  anything  prejudicial  in  his  homeward  journey,  he  was 
permitted  to  return  in  a  boat,  down  the  Wabash  and  up  the  Mis 
sissippi,  to  St.  Louis.  He  remained  neutral  just  long  enough  to 
comply  with  his  stipulations,  for,  on  his  arrival  home,  he  imme 
diately  changed  his  clothes,  and  set  off  for  Kaskaskia  to  commu 
nicate  the  information  which  he  had  obtained  to  Colonel  Clark. 
After  detailing  the  capitulation  of  Vincennes  and  the  disposition 
of  the  British  force,  he  made  known  Hamilton's  intentions  of  re 
conquering  Illinois,  and  his  meditated  attack  upon  Kaskaskia,  on 
the  re-assembling  of  his  forces  in  the  spring,  as  the  surest  way  of 
effecting  this  object.  When  this  place  was  reduced,  with  his 
forces  augmented  by  the  addition  of  700  warriors  from  Mackinaw, 
the  Cherokees  and  Chickasaws,  and  other  tribes,  he  proposed  to 
penetrate  as  far  as  Fort  Pitt,  and  subjugate  in  his  march  all  the' 
intervening  settlements.  So  elated  was  the  British  commander 
with  his  hopes  of  conquest,  he  intended,  in  a  short  time,  to  be 
master  of  all  the  territory  of  Virginia  between  the  Alleghanies 
and  the  Mississippi.  • 

Clark,  in  view  of  the  critical  condition  of  the  country,  and  the 
extreme  peril  of  Lis  own  situation,  wrote  to  Governor  Henry,  of 
Virginia,  acquainting  him  of  Hamilton's  designs,  and  asking  him 
for  troops.  Parties  of  hostile  Indians,  sent  out  by  the  British 
governor,  began  to  appear,  and  as  assistance  could  not  be  obtained 
from  the  State  in  time,  with  the  promptness  which  the  emergency 
demanded,  he  resolved  to  help  himself.  Anticipating  his  rival,  he 
commenced  preparations  with  his  own  limited  means  to  carry  the 
war  into  the  enemy's  country,  for,  as  he  says,  "  I  knew  if  I  did 
not  take  him,  he  would  take  me."  Colonel  Vigo  had  informed 
him  that,  owing  to  the  dispersion  of  the  British  forces,  the 
garrison  at  Vincennes  was  reduced  to  80  men,  three  pieces  of 
cannon  and  some  swivels,  and  that  if  the  town  was  attacked  be 
fore  the  troops  were  recalled,  it  might,  without  difficulty,  be 
recaptured.  Without  a  moment's  delay,  a  galley  was  fitted  up, 
mounting  two  4-pounders  and  4  swivels,  and  placed  in  charge 
of  Capt.  John  Rogers,  and  a  company  of  46  men,  with  orders  after 
reaching  the  Wabash  to  force  their  way  up  the  stream  to  the 
mouth  of  White  Kiver,  and  remain  there  for  further  instructions. 
Clark  next  ordered  Captain  Bowman  to  evacuate  the  fort  at  Caho- 
Ma  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  an  expedition  to  proceed  across 
by  land,  and  co-operate  with  the  force  under  Captain  Rogers. 
The  French  inhabitants  of  Cahokia  and  Kaskaskia  raised  two 
companies,  commanded  by  Captains  McCarty  and  Charleville, 
which,  with  the  Americans,  amounted  to  170  men.  On  the  7th  of 
February,  1779,  just  8  days  after  the  reception  of  the  news  from 
13 


194  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

Vincennes,  this  forlorn  hope  commenced  its  march  in  a  northeast 
erly  direction,  over  the  immndated  flats  of  the  country,  in  a  wet, 
bnt  fortunately,  not  cold  season.  To  relieve  the  hardships  of  the 
journey,  which  was  perhaps  the  most  dreary  one  performed  during 
the  revolution,  hunting,  game  feasts,  and  Indian  war  dances  were 
instituted  for  the  amusement  of  the  men.  After  incredible  hard 
ships,  on  the  13th  they  reached  the  forks  of  the  Little  W abash, 
the  low  bottom  lands  of  which  were  covered  with  water.  At  this 
part  of  the  stream  the  opposite  banks  were  5  miles  apart 
and  the  water  so  deep  when  Clark  arrived  as  in  many  places 
to  be  waded  with  the  greatest  difficulty.  Here,  drenched  in 
the  rains  which  fell  almost  daily,  they  managed  to  construct  a 
canoe,  and  ferry  over  their  baggage  to  the  opposite  shore.  Hith 
erto  they  had  borne  their  labors  with  great  fortitude,  but  now 
many  became  discouraged  by  the  continued  obstacles  which  beset 
the  way.  While  wading  the  Wabash,  and  in  some  instances  to 
the  shoulders  in  mud  and  water,  an  incident  occurred  which,  by 
its  merriment,  greatly  relieved  the  desponding  spirits  of  the  men. 
There  was  in  the  service  an  Irish  drummer,  who  was  of  small  stat 
ure,  but  possessed  rare  talent  in  singing  comic  songs.  On  coining 
to  a  depression  beyond  his  depth,  he  put  his  drum  into  the  water, 
and  mounting  on  the  head,  requested  one  of  the  tallest  men  to 
pilot  him  across  the  stream,  while  he  enlivened  the  company  by 
his  wit  and  music. 

On  the  morning  of  the  18th,  11  days  after  leaving  Kaskaskin, 
they  heard  the  signal  guns  of  the  fort,  and  during  the  evening  of 
the  same  day,  arrived  at  the  Great  Wabash,  9  miles  below  Vin 
cennes.  The  galley  had  not  arrived  with  the  supplies,  and  the 
men  being  exhausted,  destitute  and  almost  in  a  starving  con- 
tioh,  it  required  all  of  Clark's  address  to  keep  them  from  giving  up 
in  despair.  The  river  was  out  of  its  banks,  all  the  low  lands 
were  submerged,  and  before  means  of  transportation  could  be  pro 
cured  they  might  be  discovered  by  the  British  and  the  entire  party 
captured.  On  the  20th,  a  boat  from  Vincennes  was  hailed  and 
brought  to  land,  from  the  crew  of  which  was  received  the  cheer 
ing  intelligence  of  the  friendly  disposition  of  the  French  inhabit 
ants,  and  that  no  suspicion  of  Clark's  movements  was  entertained 
by  the  British  garrison.  The  last  day  of  the  march,  the  most 
formidable  difficulties  were  encountered.  Says  Colonel  Clark,  in 
his  journal : 

"  The  nearest  land  to  us,  in  the  direction  of  Vincennes,  was  a  spot 
called  the  'Sugar  Camp/  on  the  opposite  side  of  a  slough.  I  sounded  the 
water,  and  finding  it  deep  as  my  neck,  returned  with  the  design  of  hav 
ing  the  men  transported  on  board  the  canoes  to  the  camp,  though  I  knew 
it  would  spend  the  whole  day  and  the  ensuing  night,  as  the  vessels  would 
pass  slowly  through  the  bushes.  The  loss  of  so  much  time  to  men 
half-starved,  was  a  matter  of  serious  consequence,  and  I  would  now 
have  given  a  great  deal  for  a  day's  provisions  or  one  of  our  horses. 
When  I  returned,  all  ran  to  hear  the  "report.  I  unfortunately  spoke  in  a 
serious  manner  to  one  of  the  officers ;  the  whole  were  alarmed  without 
knowing  what  I  said.  I  viewed  their  confusion  for  a  minute,  and  whis 
pered  for  those  near  me  to  do  as  I  did.  I  immediately  put  some  water 
in  my  hand,  poured  powder  on  it,  blackened  my  face,  gave  the  war- 
whoop  and  marched  into  the  water.  The  party  immediately  followed  , 
one  after  another,  without  uttering  a  word  of  complaint.  I  ordered  those 
near  me  to  sing  a  favorite  song,  which  soon  passed  through  the  line  and 
all  went  cheerfully.  I  now  intended  to  have  them  transported  across 


AMERICAN   OCCUPATION.  195 

the  deepest  part  of  the  water,  but  when  about  waist-deep,  one  of  the 
men  informed  me  that  he  thought  he  had  discovered  a  path.  We  fol 
lowed  it,  and  finding  that  it  kept  on  higher  ground,  without  further  dif 
ficulty  arrived  at  the  camp,  where  there  was  dry  ground  on  which  to 
pitch  our  lodges.  The  Frenchmen  that  we  had  taken  on  the  river, 
appeared  to  be  uneasy  at  our  situation,  and  begged  that  they  might  be 
permitted,  during  the  night,  to  visit  the  town  in  2  canoes  and  bring, 
from  their  own  houses,  provisions.  They  said  that  some  of  our  men 
could  go  with  them  as  a  surety  for  their  conduct,  and  that  it  would  be 
impossible  to  leave  that  place  till  the  waters,  which  were  too  deep 
for  marching,  subsided.  Some  of  the  officers  believed  that  this  might 
be  done,  but  I  would  not  suffer  it.  I  could  never  well  account  for  my 
obstinacy  on  this  occasion,  or  give  satisfactory  reasons  to  myself  or  any 
body  else  why  I  denied  a  proposition  apparently  so  easy  to  execute,  and 
of  so  much  advantage  ;  but  something  seemed  to  tell  me  it  should  not  be 
done. 

"  On  the  following  morning,  the  finest  we  had  experienced,  I  har 
angued  the  men.  What  I  said  I  am  not  now  able  to  recall;  but  it  may 
be  easily  imagined  by  a  person  who  possesses  the  regard  which  I,  at  that 
time,  entertained  for  them,  I  concluded  by  informing  them,  that  pass 
ing  the  sheet  of  water,  which  was  then  in  full  view  and  reaching  the 
opposite  woods,  would  put  an  end  to  their  hardships  ;  that  in  a  few  hours 
they  would  have  a  sight  of  their  long-wished  for  object,  and  immedi- 
atefy  stepped  into  the  water  without  waiting  for  a  reply.  Before  a  third 
of  the  men  had  entered,  I  halted  and  called  to  Major  Bowman,  and 
ordered  him  to  fall  into  the  rear  with  25  men  and  put  to  death  any  man 
who  refused  to  march  with  us,  as  we  did  not  wish  to  have  any  such 
among  us.  The  whole  gave  a  cry  of  approbation,  and  on  we  went. 
This  was  the  most  trying  of  all  the  difficulties  we  experienced.  I  gen 
erally  kept  15  of  the  strongest  men  next  myself,  and  judged  from  my 
own  feelings,  what  must  be  that  of  the  others.  Getting  near  the  middle 
of  the  inundated  plain,  I  found  myself  sensibly  failing,  and  as  there  were 
no  trees  for  the  men  to  support  themselves,  I  feared  that  many  of  the 
weak  would  be  drowned.  I  ordered  the  canoe  to  ply  back  and  forth,  and 
with  all  diligence  to  pick  up  the  men ;  and  to  encourage  the  party,  sent 
some  of  the  strongest  forward  with  orders  that,  when  they  had  advanced 
a  certain  distance,  to  pass  the  word  back  that  the  water  was  getting 
shallow,  and  when  near  the  woods,  to  cry  out  land.  This  stratagem 
had  the  desired  effect.  The  men,  encouraged  by  it,  exerted  themselves 
almost  beyond  their  abilities;  the  weak  holding  on  the  stronger.  On 
reaching  the  woods  where  the  men  expected  land,  the  water  was  up  to 
their  shoulders  ;  but  gaining  the  timber  was  the  greatest  consequence, 
for  the  weakly  hung  to  trees  and  floated  on  the  drift  till  they  were 
taken  off  by  the  canoes.  The  strong  and  tall  got  ashore  and  built  tires  ; 
but  many  of  the  feeble,  unable  to  support  themselves  on  reaching  land, 
would  fall  with  their  bodies  half  in  the  water.  The  latter  were  so 
benumbed  with  cold,  we  soon  found  that  fires  would  not  restore  them, 
and  the  strong  were  compelled  to  exercise  them  with  great  severity  to 
revive  their  circulation. 

"  Fortunately,  a  canoe  in  charge  of  some  squaws  was  going  to  town, 
which  our  men  captured,  and  which  contained  half  a  quarter  of  buffalo 
meat,  some  corn,  tallow  and  kettles.  Broth  was  made  of  this  valuable 
prize  and  served  out  to  the  most  weakly  with  great  care.  Most  of  the 
men  got  a  small  portion,  but  many  of  them  gave  part  of  theirs  to  the 
more  famished,  jocosely  saying  something  cheering  to  their  comrades. 
This  little  refreshment  gave  renewed  life  to  the  company.  We  next 
crossed  a  deep  but  narrow  lake,  in  the  canoes,  and  marching  some  dis 
tance,  came  to  a  copse  of  timber  called  Warrior's  Island.  We  were  now 
distant  only  two  miles  from  town,  which,  without  a  single  tree  to  ob 
struct  the  view,  could  be  seen  from  the  position  we  occupied. 

"  The  lower  portions  of  the  land  between  us  and  the  town  were  cov 
ered  \\  ith  water,  which  served  at  this  season  as  a  resort  for  ducks  and 
other  water  fowl.  We  had  observed  several  men  out  on  horseback  shoot 
ing  them,  half  a  mile  distant,  and  sent  out  as  many  of  our  active  young 
Frenchmen  to  decoy  and  take  one  of  them  prisoner,  in  such  a  manner 
as  not  to  alarm  the  others.  Being  successful,  in  addition  to  the  informa- 


190  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


tion  which  had  been  obtained  from  those  taken  on  the  river,  the  captive 
reported  that  the  British  had  that  evening  completed  the  wall  of  the 
fort,  and  that  there  were  a  good  many  Indians  in  town.  Our  situation 
was  truly  critical.  No  possibility  of  retreat  in  case  of  defeat,  and  in  full 
view  of  the  town,  which,  at  this  time,  had  600  men  in  it — troops, 
inhabitants  and  Indians.  The  crew  of  the  galley,  though  not  50  men, 
would  now  have  been  a  re-inforcement  of  immense  magnitude  to  our 
little  army,  but  we  could  not  think  of  waiting  for  them.  Each  had  for 
gotten  his  suffering,  and  was  ready  for  the  fray,  saying  what  he  had 
suffered  was  nothing  but  what  a  man  should  bear  for  the  good  of  his 
country.  The  idea  of  being  made  a  prisoner  was  foreign  to  every  man, 
as  each  expected  nothing  but  torture  if  they  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Indians.  Our  fate  was  to  be  determined  in  a  few  hours,  and  nothing  but 
the  most  daring  conduct  would  insure  success.  I  knew  that  a  number 
of  the  inhabitants  wished  us  well;  that  many  were  lukewarm  to  the  in 
terests  of  either  party.  I  also  learned  that  the  Grand  Door  had  but  a 
few  days  before  openly  declared,  in  council  with  the  British,  that  he 
was  a  brother  and  friend  of  the  Long  Knives.  These  were  favorable 
circumstances,  and  as  there  was  little  probability  of  our  remaining  until 
dark  undiscovered,  I  determined  to  commence  operations  immediately, 
and  wrote  the  following  placard  to  the  people  of  the  town.  '  To  the  in 
habitants  of  Vincenues  :  Gentlemen,  being  now  within  two  miles  of 
your  village  with  my  army,  determined  to  take  your  fort  this  night,  and 
not  being  willing  to  surprise  you,  I  take  this  opportunity  to  request 
such  of  you  as  are  true  citizens,  and  willing  to  enjoy  the  liberty  which  I 
bring  you,  to  remain  still  in  your  houses,  and  those,  if  any  there  be,  who 
are  friends  of  the  king,  let  them  instantly  repair  to  the  fort  and  join  the 
hair-buyer  general*,  and  fight  like  men.  And  if  any  of  the  latter  do 
not  go  to  the  fort,  and  shall  be  discovered  afterward,  they  may  depend 
upon  severe  punishment.  On  the  contrary,  those  who  are  true  friends 
to  liberty,  may  depend  upon  being  well  treated,  and  I  once  more  request 
them  to  keep  out  of  the  streets,  for  every  one  I  find  in  arms  on  my  arri 
val  shall  be  treated  as  an  enemy.'  ': 

This  forcible  letter,  which  shows  Clark's  insight  into  human 
nature  by  inspiring  confidence  in  the  friendly,  and  filling  the  adverse 
party  with*  dismay,  was  half  the  battle  that  followed.  On  the 
receipt  of  the  letter,  the  people  of  the  town  supposed  the  invaders 
had  come  from  Kentucky  as  no  one  imagined  it  possible  that  an 
expedition  could  come  from  Illinois,  in  consequence  of  the  freshets 
which  prevailed  at  that  season  of  the  year.  To  deepeen  this  impres 
sion,  letters  purporting  to  come  from  well  known  gentlemen  in 
Kentucky,  were  written  and  sent  to  the  inhabitants,  and  so  well 
established  was  the  conviction,  that  the  presence  of  Clark  could 
not  be  credited  till  his  person  was  pointed  out  by  one  who  knew 
him.  The  soldiers,  as  on  previous  occasions,  were  directed  to 
greatly  exaggerate  the  strength  of  the  American  forces. 

About  sunset  on  the  23d,  they  sallied  forth  to  attack  the  fort- 
When  in  full  view  of  it,  they  were  divided  into  platoons,  each  dis. 
playing  a  different  flag,  and  by  marching  and  countermarching 
among  some  mounds  between  them  and  the  town,  their  apparent 
numbers  greatly  exceeded  their  real  strength.  Nearing  the  village 
and  encamping  on  the  adjacent  heights,  some  commotion  was  per 
ceptible  in  the  streets,  but  no  hostile  demonstration  occurred  at 
the  fort,  and  it  was  afterward  ascertained  that  even  the  friends  of 
the  British  were  afraid  to  give  notice  of  Clark's  presence.  The 
utmost  impatience  prevailing  in  the  American  encampment,  to 
know  the  cause  of  the  silence,  Lieut.  Bailey,  with  14  men  was 
sent  to  make  an  attack  upon  the  garrison.  The  fire  of  the  party 

*Thus  named  from  having1  hired  the  Indians  to  murder  the  American  prisoners,  by 
payiog  so  much  per  scalp. 


AMERICAN   OCCUPATION.  197 

was  attributed  to  some  drunken  Indians,  who  had  saluted  the  fort 
iii  that  manner  on  previous  occasions,  and  it  was  not  till  after  one 
of  the  bcseiged  was  shot  through  a  port  hole  that  the  real  character 
of  the  assailants  was  ascertained,  and  the  engagement  commenced 
in  earnest.  Henry  and  Captain  Helm  were  still  retained  as 
prisoners  in  the  fort.  Through  the  Avife  of  the  former,  who  lived 
in  Vinceunes,  and  was  permitted  to  visit  her  husband  daily,  Clark 
obtained  minute  information  respecting  the  garrison.  Learning  in 
this  way  where  Capt.  Helm  lodged — knowing  his  fondness  for 
apple-toddy,  and  believing  he  would  have  some  on  the  hearth  as 
usual,  he  suffered  one  of  his  men  to  fire  on  his  quarters,  with  a 
view,  as  he  said,  to  knock  the  mortar  into  the  captain's  favorite 
beverage.  At  the  time  he  was  playing  cards  with  Hamilton,  and 
when  the  bullets  commenced  rattling  about  the  chimney,  he  jumped 
up  and  swore  that  it  was  Clark,  that  he  would  take  all  of  them 
prisoners,  and  that  the  d— d  rascal  had  ruined  his  toddy.  While 
thus  conversing,  Helm  observed  some  of  the  soldiers  looking  out  of 
the  port  holes  and  cautioned  them  not  to  do  so  again  as  the  Amer 
icans  would  certainly  shoot  out  their  eyes.  It  so  happened  that 
one  of  the  men  afterward  attempting  to  look  out  was  shot  in  the 
eye,  which  Capt.  Helm  observing  exclaimed,  "there,  I  told  you  so." 
These  incidents,  characteristic  of  the  men  and  the  times,  doubtless 
had  their  effect  upon  the  garrison. 

The  ammunition  of  the,  Americans,  who  had  expected  supplies 
from  the  galley,  being  now  nearly  exhausted,  some  of  the  inhabi 
tants  furnished  them  with  powder  and  ball,  which  had  been  buried 
to  keep  it  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  British.  Had  the 
Americans  also  needed  assistance,  the  Grand  Door,  with  Avhom  a 
treaty  had  previously  been  concluded,  appeared  with  100  warriors 
and  offered  his  services  to  Clark,  who,  though  declining  his  aid  in 
the  field,  requested  his  presence  and  influence  in  council. 

The  Americans  had  advanced  behind  a  bank  to  within  30  yards 
of  the  fort,  whose  guns  in  consequence  of  their  elevation,  were 
useless,  and  no  sooner  was  a  port  hole  darkened  than  a  dozen 
rifles  discharged  their  contents  into  the  apperture,  and  the  British 
soldiers  could  no  longer  be  kept  at  their  posts.  Clark  perceiving 
their  difficulties,  in  the  course  ot  the  morning  demanded  the  sur 
render  of  the  fort,4which  Hamilton  refused,  stating  that  he  would 
not  be  awed  into  anything  unbecoming  a  British  officer.  The  men 
were  urgent  to  take  the  fort  by  storm,  but  Clark  knowing  that  he 
could  get  possession  of  it  without  the  expenditure  of  life  result 
ing  from  an  assault,  wisely  opposed  their  desires.  In  the  evening 
of  the  same  day  Hamilton,  apprehensive  that  he  would  be  com 
pelled  to  surrender  at  discretion,  sent  a  flag  to  the  beseigers 
desiring  a  truce  of  three  days.  This  Clark  refused,  although  during 
the  armistice  the  galley  might  arrive  with  its  men  and  munitions, 
which  would  greatly  facilitate  his  operations  for  the  reduction  of 
the  fort.  He  proposed  in  return  the  unconditional  surrender  of  the 
garrison,  and  informed  the  British  commander  if  he  wished  to  have 
an  interview  for  that  purpose,  he  might  meet  him  at  the  churclk  In 
compliance  with  this  offer,  Gov.  Hamilton,  in  company  with  Capt. 
Helm  and  Major  Hay,  waited  on  Col.  Clark  at  the  appointed  place. 
At  the  conference  which  ensued,  the  American  commander  reject 
ing  all  the  overtures  of  his  antagonist,  resolutely  adhered  to  his 
first  proposition,  and  when  Capt.  Helm  attempted  to  moderate  his 


198  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

demands,  he  informed  him  that  a  prisoner  had  no  rig-lit  to  interfere. 
^Hamilton  thereupon  replied,  that  he  was  free  from  that  moment, 
but  Clark  unmoved,  would  not  accept  his  release  upon  these  terms, 
telling'  him  he  must  return  and  abide  his  fate,  and  the  British 
officers  that  the  firing  would  recommence  in  15  minutes.  The  gen 
tlemen  were  about  to  retire  to  their  respective  quarters,  when 
Hamilton  called  Clark  aside,  and  politely  asked  his  reasons  for 
rejecting  the  liberal  terms  which  had  been  offered.  The  latter 
sternly  replied,  UI  am  aware  the  principal  Indian  partisans  from 
Detroit  are  in  the  fort,  and  1  only  want  an  honorable  opportunity 
of  putting  such  instigators  of  Indian  barbarities  to  death.  The 
cries  of  widows  and  orphans  made  by  their  butcheries,  require 
such  blood  at  my  hands.  1  consider  this  claim  upon  me  for  punish 
ment  next  to  divine,  and  I  would  rather  lose  50  men  than  not 
execute  a  vengeance  demanded  by  so  much  innocent  blood.  If 
Gov.  Hamilton  is  willing  to  risk  his  garrison  for  such  miscreants, 
he  is  at  perfect  liberty  to  do  so."  Major  Hay,  who  heard  this  state 
ment  inquired,  "Pray,  sir,  who  do  you  mean  by  'Indian  partisans?7 " 
Clark  promptly  replied,  "I  consider  Major  Hay  one  of  the  principal 
ones."  The  latter,  as  if  guilty  of  the  charge,  immediately  turned 
deadly  pale,  trembled  and  could  hardly  stand.  Gov.  Hamilton 
blushed  for  this  exhibition  of  cowardice  in  presence  of  the  Ameri 
can  officer,  and  Capt.  Helm  could  hardly  refrain  from  expressing* 
contempt.  Clark's  feelings  now  relented,  and  secretly  resolving  to 
deal  more  leniently  with  the  British  officers,  before  separating  he 
told  them  he  would  reconsider  the  matter  and  let  them  know  the 
result.  After  retiring,  a  council  of  Avar  was  held  and  milder  terms 
being  submitted  to  Gov.  Hamilton,  he  accepted  them,  and  on  the 
24th  of  February,  1770,  the  garrison  surrendered.* 

The  following  day  Clark  took  possession  of  the  fort,  hoisted  the 
Auierican'nag,  and  fired  13  guns  to  celebrate  the  recovery  of  this 
important  stronghold.  Seventy  prisoners  were  captured,  and  a 
considerable  quantity  of  military  stores  became  the  property  of 
the  victors.  Most  of  the  prisoners  were  permitted  to  return  to 
Detroit  on  parol  of  honor,  but  Hamilton  and  a  few  others  were 
sent  to  Virginia,  where  the  council  ordered  them  into  confinement 
as  a  punishment  for  their  ultra  barbariism,  in  offering  rewards 
for  the  scalps  of  those  who  were  captured  by  the  Indians.  Gen. 
Phillips  protesting  against  this  rigid  treatment,  Jefferson  referred 
the  matter  to  Washington,  who  considering  it  a  violation  of  the 
agreement  made  at  the  surrender  of  the  fort,  they  were  released. 

During  the  siege  of  the  fort,  a  party  of  Indian  warriors,  bringing- 
with  them  two  white  persons,  whom  they  had  captured  in  a  raid 
on  the  frontier  of  Kentucky,  arrived  and  camped  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  village.  Ignorant  of  Clark's  presence,  he  sent  against  them 
a  force  which  soon  routed  them,  with  a  loss  of  nine  warriors.  The 
remainder  precipitately  tied,  well  pleased  to  escape  with  their  lives 
from  an  enemy  Avhose  prowess  on  previous  occasions  they  had 
learned  to  fear.  A  few  days  afterward,  Capt.  Helm  and  60 
men  were  detached  to  proceed  up  the  W abash  and  intercept  val 
uable  military  stores  then  on  the  way  from  Detroit  to  Vincennes. 
The  expedition  was  successful,  securing  the  convoying  party  and 
property  to  the  amount  of  $50,000.  On  the  return  of  the  detach 
ment  laden  with  their  spoils,  the  galley  hove  in  sight,  and  was 

*Butler's  Kentucky. 


AMERICAN   OCCUPATION.  199 

preparing  for  an  attack  on  the  little  river  fleet,  when  the  ensign 
of  freedom  was  discovered  waving  over  the  fort.  The  crew, 
although  rejoicing  in  the  triumph  of  their  brethren  who  had  pre 
ceded  them  by  land,  regretted  exceedingly  the  circumstances 
which  had  denied  them  the  privilege  of  participating  in  the  reduc 
tion  of  the  fort. 

After  taking  Vincennes  under  obstacles  which,  by  any  other 
commander  except  Clark,  would  have  been  deemed  insurmount 
able,  this  brilliant  achieveineiitwas  only  considered  the  stepping 
stone  to  other  and  richer  conquests.  Detroit  was  undoubtedly 
within  the  reach  of  the  enterprising  Virginian.  "Fortune  has 
thus  twice  placed  this  point  in  my  power,"  he  writes  to  Gov.  Henry. 
"  Had  I  been  able  to  raise  500  men  when  I  first  arrived  in  the 
country,  or  300  when  at  Vincennes,  I  should  have  attempted  its 
subjugation.77  Intelligence  was  brought  to  him  that  the  gtr  nson 
at  that  time  contained  but  80  men,  many  of  whom  were  invalids, 
and  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  were  so  partial  to  the  Amer 
icans  as  to  rejoice  exceedingly  when  they  heard  of  Hamilton's 
capture.  In  view  of  these  facts,  Clark  determined  to  make  an 
attack  upon  the  place,  when  receiving  dispatches  from  the  gov 
ernor  of  Virginia  promising  a  battalion  of  men,  he  deemed  it  most 
prudent  to  postpone  operations  till  the  reinforcements  should 
arrive. 

Leaving  Capt.  Helm  in  command  at  Vincennes,  Clark  embarked 
on  board  the  galley  and  returned  to  Kaskaskia,  where  he  found 
himself  more  embarrassed  by  the  depreciated  currency  which  had 
been  advanced  to  him  by  the  government  of  Virginia,  than  j^re- 
viously  by  the  British  and  Indians.  While  adjusting  these  diffi 
culties,  the  war  with  England  and  the  colonies  terminated  in  the 
independence  of  the  latter,  and  with  it  followed  a  suspension  of 
the  hostilities  which  had  so  long  devastated  the  western  frontier. 
Clark's  services  being  no  longer  needed,  at  the  instance  of  Gen. 
Harrison  he  was  relieved  of  his  command,  receiving  the  most 
hearty  encomiums  of  Virginia's  noblest  statesmen  for  the  valuable 
services  he  had  rendered  the  country. 

The  advantages  resulting  from  the  capture  of  the  military  sta 
tions  of  Illinois  cannot  be  over  estimated.  Hamilton,  as  intimated, 
had  made  arrangements  to  enlist  all  the  southern  and  western 
Indians  for  his  contemplated  campaign  the  ensuing  spring,  and 
had  he  not  been  intercepted,  the  entire  country  between  the  Alle- 
ghanies  and  the  Mississippi  might  have  been  overrun,  and  thus 
have  changed  the  whole  current  of  American  history.  Jefferson 
said,  in  a  letter  to  Clark,  "  Much  solicitude  will  be  felt  for  the 
result  of  your  expedition  to  the  Wabash  ;  if  successful  it  will  have 
an  important  bearing  in  determining  our  north-western  boundary." 
Accordingly,  as  predicted  by  this  great  statesman,  in  the  prelim 
inary  negotiations  i\»r  peace  and  boundary  of  1782  between  the 
colonies  and  the  three  great  rival  powers  of  Europe,  the  conquest 
of  Clark  had  a  controlling  influence  in  their  deliberations.  Spain, 
claimed  the  entire  region  between  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers,  on 
the  pretense,  that  in  the  winter  of  1781,  sixty-five  Spaniards  and 
an  equal  number  of  Indians  captured  St.  Joseph,  a  small  English 
fort  near  the  source  of  the  Illinois,  and  took  possession  of  the  adja 
cent  country  in  the  name  of  their  sovereign.  Dr.  Franklin,  one  of 
the  negotiators,  referring  to  the  claim  of  this  power,  said  it  was 


200  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

the  design  of  the  Spanish  court  to  restrict  the  United  States  to 
the  Alleghanies,  and  he  hoped  that  Congress  Avould  insist  on  the 
Mississippi  as  the  western  boundary.  It  Avas,  however,  found 
impossible  to  connect  the  Spanish  possessions  on  the  Lower  Mis 
sissippi  with  the  disputed  territory,  for  Clark  had  built  Fort 
Jefferson,  below  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  and  Virginia  had  actual 
possession  between  the  two  rivers.  France,  at  the  treaty  of  Paris, 
in  1763,  had  transferred  all  this  vast  region  to  England,  and  could 
make  no  claim.  She,  however,  objected  to  the  right  of  the  Amer 
icans,  hoping  by  this  stroke  of  policy  in  favor  of  her  jealous  rivals, 
to  gain  some  other  point  in  the  controversy  where  she  was  more 
directly  interested. 

Nor  had  England  the  presumption  to  contend,  that  it  did  not 
belong  to  the  colonies,  which  had  established  themselves  as  the 
United  States.  The  patent  of  Virginia  covered  most  of  the  dis 
puted  territory  j  the  army  of  Clark  had  subdued  and  permanently 
occupied  it.  Subsequently  it  had  been  organized  as  a  county  of 
the  State,  and  consequently  the  English  envoy  could  not  claim  it, 
with  any  more  propriety  than  other  parts  of  the  commonwealth 
after  the  battle  of  Yorktown.  He  was  too  accurate  a  jurist  to 
allow  the  claim  of  Spain,  or  to  listen  to  the  objections  of  France  ; 
but  what  would  have  been  his  decision  looking  to  British  aggran 
disement,  had  it  not  been  for  the  civil  and  military  rule  previously 
established  by  the  Americans  ? 

In  estimating  the  debt  of  gratitude  we  owe  to  Clark  and  his 
sturdy  Virginia  veterans,  let  us  consider  whether  the  great  country 
of  Louisiana,  subsequently  purchased  by  Jefferson  from  the  First 
Consul,  could  have  been  obtained  but  for  the  service  which  they 
rendered.  Nay,  but  for  their  valor,  the  magnificent  national 
domain  now  stretching  away  to  the  Pacific,  and  promising  to 
absorb  the  whole  continent,  might  have  been  broken  at  the  moun 
tain's  summit  or  the  river's  shore ;  and  the  Republic,  now  exerting 
controlling  influence  among  the  great  nationalities  of  the  world, 
would  consequently  have  remained  an  inconsiderable  power. 

After  his  campaigns  in  Illinois,  Clark  engaged  in  a  number  of 
expeditions  against  the  Indians :  fought  under  Baron  Steuben  in 
the  East  against  the  traitor  Arnold,  and  finally  enlisted  as  a  brig 
adier-general  in  the  armies  of  France  to  operate  against  the 
Spanish  possessions  on  the  lower  Mississippi.  Before  anything 
was  effected.  Genet,  the  French  minister  and  leader  of  the  enter 
prise,  was  recalled,  Clark's  commission  was  annulled,  and  he 
retired  to  private  life.  During  the  latter  years  of  his  life  he 
became  an  invalid,  suffering  intensely  from  rheumatic  affections 
caused  by  exposure  in  his  previous  campaigns.  With  advancing 
age  the  disease  assumed  the  form  of  paralysis,  and  terminated 
fatally,  his  death  and  burial  occurring  in  1818,  at  Locust  Grove, 
near  Louisville. 

The  rippling  waters  of  the  beautiful  Ohio  still  murmura  requiem 
over  the  grave  which  contains  his  dust,  and  his  tireless  energy 
still  lives  in  the  enterprise  of  the  millions  who  dwell  in  the  land 
he  loved  and  defended.  In  other  respects  the  innovations  of  time 
have  ruthlessly  effected  a  change. 

Only  the  relics  of  the  race  which  contended  with  him  for  the 
empire  of  the  wilderness,  can  be  found  in  the  cabinet  of  the 
antiquary  j  forests,  solitary  and  unproductive,  have  passed  aAvay, 


AMERICAN  OCCUPATION.  201 


and  a  new  creation  of  fruitful  fields  and  cultivated  landscapes  lias 
taken  their  place  ;  the  untrained  energies  and  stationary  condition 
of  savage  life  have  been  superceded  by  a  civilization  whose  onward 
march  is  heard  in  the  turmoil  of  rising  cities,  the  din  of  railroad 
trains,  or  the  panting  steamboat  lashing  in  to  foam  the  watery  high 
ways  which  bear  it  on  the  errands  of  commerce. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
1778-1787— ILLINOIS   UNDER  VIRGINIA. 

The  French  Take  the  Oath  of  Allegiance — Illinois  County — American 
Immigrants — La  Balme's  Expedition — The  Cession  of  the  Coun 
try,  and  Delays  Incident  Thereto — No  Regular  Courts  of  Law 
—Curious  Land  Speculation. 


The  respect  shown  by  Clark  and  his  followers  for  their  property 
and  religion,  the  news  of  an  alliance  between  their  mother  conn- 
try,  France,  and  the  United  States,  and  perhaps  their  hereditary 
hatred  to  the  British,  readily  reconciled  the  French  inhabitants  of 
Kaskaskia  and  neighboring  towns  to  the  change  of  government 
over  them.  In  October,  1778,  the  Virginia  Assembly  erected  the 
conquered  country,  embracing  all  the  territory  northwest  of  the 
Ohio,  claimed  under  this  conquest  and  otherwise,  into  the  County 
of  Illinois,  a  pretty  extensive  county,  which  has  since  been  carved 
up  into  5  large  States,  containing  a  population  now  exceeding' 
8,000,000  souls.  A  force  of  500  men  was  ordered  to  be  raised  for 
its  defence,  an  order  which  Clark  had  in  part  anticipated  by  en 
listments  made  on  his  own  reponsibility.  Colonel  Clark  continued 
to  be  the  military  commander  of  all  the  Avestern  territory,  both 
north  and  south  of  the  Ohio,  including  Illinois. 

Colonel  John  Todd,  then  residing  in  Fayette  county,  Kentucky, 
who,  under  Clark,  had  been  the  first  man  to  enter  Fort  Gage,  was 
appointed  lieutenant-commandant  of  the  County  of  Illinois.  Pat 
rick  Henry,  governor  of  Virginia,  in  his  letter,  dated  Williams- 
burg,  Virginia,  December  12th,  1778,  apprising  Todd  of  his 
appointment,  instructed  him  to  cultiA^ate  and  conciliate  the  affec 
tions  of  the  French  and  Indians,  and  inculcate  the  value  of  liberty; 
that  011  account  of  his  want  of  acquaintance  with  the  usages  and 
manners  of  the  people,  to  advise  with  the  intelligent  and  upright 
of  the  country  j  to  give  particular  attention  to  Colonel  Clark  and 
his  corps,  and  co-operate  with  him  in  any  military  undertaking  ;  to 
tell  his  people  that  peace  could  not  be  expected  so  long  as  the 
British  occupied  Detroit  and  incited  the  savages  to  deeds  of  rob 
bery  and  murder  ;  that,  in  the  military  line,  it  Avould  be  expected 
of  him  to  over-awe  the  Indians,  that  they  might  not  war  on  the 
settlers  southeast  of  the  Ohio  j  to  consider  himself  as  thehead  of  the 
civil  department,  and  see  that  the  inhabitants  have  justice  done 
them  for  any  injury  received  from  the  soldiery,  and  quell  their 
licentiousness;  to  touch  not  upon  the  subject  of  boundaries  and 
lands  with  the  Indians  and  arouse  their  jealousy  ;  to  punish  every 
tresspass  upon  the  same,  and  preserve  peace  with  them ;  to  maiii- 

202 


A   COUNTY   OF   VIRGINIA.  203 

fest  a  high  regard  toward  His  Catholic  Majesty,  and  tender  the 
friendship  and  services  of  his  people  to  the  Spanish  commandant 
at  St.  Louis.  A  large  discretion  was  given  him  in  his  administra 
tion  of  civil  affairs,  and  monthly  reports  were  asked. 

In  the  spring  of  1779,  Colonel   Todd  visited  Kaskaskia,  and 
began  at  once  to   organize  a  temporary  government  for  the  colo 
nies.     On  the  15th  of  June,  he  issued  the  following  proclamation : 
'"Illinois  [County]  to-wit  : 

u  Whereas,  from  the  fertility  and  beautiful  situation  of  the  lands  bor 
dering  upon  the  Mississippi,  Ohio,  Illinois  and  Wabash  rivers,  the  taking 
up  of  the  usual  quantity  of  land  heretofore  allowed  for  a  settlement  by 
the  government  of  Virginia,  would  injure  both  the  strength  and  com 
merce  of  tins  country  :  I  do,  therefore,  issue  this  proclamation,  strictly 
enjoining  all  persons,  whatsoever,  from  making  any  new  settlements 
upon  the  flat  lands  of  said  rivers,  or  within  one  league  of  said  lands, 
unless  in  manner  and  form  of  settlements  heretofore  made  by  French 
inhabitants,  until  further  orders  herein  given.  And,  in  order  that  all 
the  claims  to  lands,  in  said  county,  may  be  fully  known,  and  some 
method  provided  for  perpetuating,  by  record,  the  just  claims,  every 
inhabitant  is  required,  as  soon  as  conveniently  may  be,  to  lay  before  the 
person,  in  each  district  appointed  for  that  purpose,  a  memorandum  of 
his  or  her  land,  with  copies  of  all  their  vouchers ;  and  where  vouchers 
have  been  given,  or  are  lost,  such  depositions  or  certificates  as  will  tend 
to  support  their  claims: — The  memorandum  to  mention  the  quantity 
of  land,  to  whom  originally  granted,  and  when,  deducing  the  title 
through  various  occupants  to  the  present  possessor.  The  number  of 
adventurers  who  will  shortly  overrun  this  country,  renders  the  above 
method  necessary,  as  well  as  to  ascertain  the  vacant  lands,  as  to  guard 
against  tresspasses  which  will  probably  be  committed  on  lands  not  on 
record.  Given  under  my  hand  and  seal,  at  Kaskaskia,  theloth  of  June, 
in  the  3rd  year  of  the  commonwealth,  1779. 

"JOHN  TODD,  Ju.  " 

Many  of  the  French  inhabitants  at  Kaskaskia,  Cahokia  and 
Vincennes,  readily  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Virginia.  Not 
only  these,  but  many  of  the  chief  men  of  the  Indian  tribes 
expressed  sentiments  of  friendship  for  the  United  States  govern 
ment. 

At  the  period  of  which  we  write,  with  the  exception  of  the 
French  along  the  Mississippi,  and  a  few  families  scattered  along 
the  Illinois  and  Wabash  rivers,  all  within  the  present  boundaries 
of  Illinois  was  the  abode  of  the  nomadic  savage.  During  the 
years  1779-80,  the  westward  emigration  from  the  Atlantic  States, 
took  a  very  considerable  start.  Among  the  circumstances  which 
gave  it  impetus,  were  the  brilliant  achievements  of  Col.  Clark  at 
Kaskaskia  and  Vincennes,  Avhich  were  the  occasion  of  publishing 
abroad  the  fertile  plains  of  Illinois  ;  the  triumph  of  the  British  arms 
in  the  south,  and  a  threatened  advance  upon  Virginia ;  and  the 
liberal  manner  of  the  latter  State,  in  inviting  families  to  take  pos 
session  of  the  public  lands  claimed  by  her  in  the  western  country. 
Three  hundred  family  boats  arrived  at  the  Falls  of  Ohio  in  the 
spring  of  1780,  mostly  destined  for  Kentucky.*  Among  the  im 
migrants  to  Illinois,  we  note  the  names  of  James  Moore,  Shadrach 
Bond,  James  Garrison,  Kobert  Kidd  and  Larken  Kutherford,  the 
two  latter  having  been  with  Clark.  They  were  from  Virginia  and 
Maryland.  With  their  families,  they,  without  molestation  in  those 
perilous  times,  crossed  the  Alleghanies,  descended  the  Ohio, 
stemmed  the  Mississippi,  and  landed  safely  at  Kaskaskia.  James 

*Butler's  Kentucky. 


204  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

Moore,  the  leader,  and  a  portion,  of  his  party,  located  on  the  hills 
near  Bellefontaiue,  while  Bond  and  the  rest  settled  in  the  Ameri 
can  Bottom  (from  which  circumstance  that  name  is  derived),  near 
Harrison  ville,  afterwards  known  as  the  blockhouse  fort.  James 
Piggot,  John  Doyle,  llobert  Whitehead  and  a  Mr.  Bo  wen,  soldiers 
in  Clark's  expedition,  also  shortly  after  settled  in  Illinois.  Doyle 
had  a  family  and  taught  school.  He  Avas,  perhaps,  the  first  teacher 
to  make  that  profession  his  business  in  Illinois.  He  also  spoke 
French  and  Indian,  and  in  the  latter  language  was  frequently  em 
ployed  as  interpreter.  Not  until  1785  was  this  little  band  of 
American  pioneers  reinforced.  Then  came  Joseph  Ogle,  Joseph 
Warley  and  James  Andrews,  all  from  Virginia  and  each  with  a 
large  family.  In  the  following  year  the  American  settlements 
were  again  augmented  by  the  arrival  of  James  Lemen,  George 
Atchersou,  and  David  Waddell  with  their  families,  besides  several 
others.* 

/  While  the  country  was  under  the  Virginia  regime  (but  without 
the  sanction  of  her  authorities),  La  Balme,  a  native  of  France,  in 
the  fall  of  1780  during  the  revolutionary  war,  made  another  attempt 
to  lead  an  expedition  from  Kaskaskia  against  the  British.  It  con 
sisted  of  30  men,  and  was  ostensibly  formed  to  capture  the  post 
of  Detroit.  At  Vincennes  it  was  reinforced  by  a  few  men.  The 
party  moved  up  the  Wabash,  and  at  the  head  of  the  Maumee 
attacked  and  destroyed  a  British  trading  post  called  Kekionga,  on 
the  site  of  the  present  Fort  Wayne.  After  securing  the  booty, 
the  party  retired  to  the  banks  of  the  small  river  Aboite,  where 
they  encamped.  Here  a  party  of  Indians  attacked  them  in  the 
night,  the  leader  and  a  few  of  his  followers  were  killed,  the  re 
mainder  dispersed,  and  the  expedition  against  Detroit  failed.  Its 
object,  like  those  of  Brady  and  Meillet,  was  doubtless  pi  under. t 

Col.  l\)dd,  the  Virginia  commandant,  was  but  little  of  his  time  in 
our  part  of  the  Illinois  county  ;  he  remained  in  command  until  the 
time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  at  the  battle  of  Blue  Licks  in 
Kentucky,  August  18,  1782,  where  he  was  in  command,  not  having 
resigned  as  commander  of  the  militia  of  that  district  in  Kentucky. 
This  was  the  bloodiest  Indian  battle  ever  fought  in  Kentucky. 
Cols.  Todd,  Trig,  Harlan,  and  a  son  of  Daniel  Boone,  all  fell.  It 
was  a  sad  day  ;  the  Kentuckians  lost  07  men,  more  than  a  third  of 
their  force,  mostly  killed.  Col.  Todd  had  just  returned  from 
Virginia  on  business  pertaining  to  the  Illinois  county.  His  gov 
ernment  in  Illinois  was  popular. 

The  successor  of  Col.  Todd  was  a  Frenchman,  named  Timothy 
deMontbrun,  of  whose  administration,  how  long  it  lasted,  or  who 
was  his  successor,  little  or  nothing  is  known.  Montbrun's  name 
appears  to  land  grants  and  other  documents  among  the  archives 
at  Kaskaskia. 

The  Cession  of  Illinois. — As  we  have  seen,  all  of  the  North 
western  territory,  by  private  conquest,  passed  under  the  dominion 
of  Virginia  at  a  time  when  all  the  States  were  engaged  in  a  common 
war,  defending  against  the  power  of  the  mother  country  to  reduce 
them  to  subjection  5  and  whatever  was  the  right  of  a  State  to 
organize  an  individual  war  enterprise,  and  turn  its  success  to 

*See  Annals  of  the  West, 
t  Reynold's  Pioneer  History. 


A   COUNTY   OF   VIRGINIA.  205 

private  advantage,  by  extending  her  jurisdiction  over  a  vast  and 
fertile  region  for  her  separate  benefit  and  aggrandizement,  the 
congress  of  the  States,  probably  for  the  sake  of  harmony,  acqui 
esced  in  the  validity  of  this.  But  Virginia  and  a  number  of  other 
States  asserted  still  another  claim  to  these  western  lands,  and 
during  the  revolutionary  war  these  conflicting  claims  became  quite 
a  hindrance  to  the  prompt  adoption  of  the  articles  of  confedera 
tion.  Many  of  the  original  colonies  had  their  boundaries  exactly 
denned  in  their  royal  charters,  but  Virginia,  Connecticut,  Massa 
chusetts,  and  the  Carolinas,  claimed  to  extend  westward  to  the 
farther  ocean,  or  to  the  Mississippi ;  since,  under  the  treaty  of 
Paris,  17G3,  that  river  had  become  the  established  western 
boundary  of  Great  Britain.  New  York,  too,  under  certain  alleged 
concessions  to  her  jurisdiction  made  by  the  Iroquois,or  six  nations, 
the  conquerers  of  many  Algonquin  tribes  including  the  Illinois, 
claimed  almost  the  whole  of  the  western  country  from  beyond  the 
lakes  on  the  north  to  the  Cumberland  mountains  on  the  south, 
and  west  to  the  great  river. 

Large  ideas  as  to  the  pecuniary  value  of  the  western  lands 
obtained  at  the  time,  from  which  vast  revenues  were  anticipated. 
The  prospective  well-filled  coifers  of  the  States,  as  well  as  the 
broad  expansion  of  their  dominions,  excited  the  envy  of  their  land 
less  sisters.  The  latter  held,  therefore,  that  as  these  lands,  as  well 
as  their  own  independence,  had  to  be  wrested  from  the  British 
crown  by  joint  effort,  they  ought  to  become  joint  property.  Still, 
the  claimant  States  in  congress  had  succeeded  in  getting  a  clause 
inserted  into  the  proposed  articles  of  confederation,  that  no  State 
should  be  deprived  of  any  territory  for  the  joint  benefit  of  all. 
But  Maryland,  a  non-claimant  State,  refused  her  assent  to  the  arti 
cles  with  that  provision.  The  adoption  of  the  articles,  which  would 
make  of  the  colonies  a  union,  was  very  much  desired.  New  York 
now,  whose  claim  was  the  most  baseless,  opened  the  way  by  allow 
ing  her  delegates  in  congress,  at  discretion,  to  cede  to  the  union  all 
her  interest  west  of  a  line  drawn  through  the  western  extremity  of 
Lake  Ontario.  Congress  urged  this  example  upon  the  other 
claimant  states,  guaranteeing  that  the  ceded  lands  should  be  dis 
posed  of  for  the  common  benefit  of  all ;  and  as  the  territories  became 
populated  they  should  be  divided  into  States  and  admitted  into 
the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  States. 

Connecticut  next  proposed  a  cession  of  her  indefinite  due  western 
extension,  retaining,  however,  a  tract  of  some  3,000,000  acres  in 
Northwestern  Ohio,  known  since  as  the  Western  Eeserve.  This 
she  also  relinquished  in  the  year  1800.  The  Virginia  assembly, 
hoping  to  reanimate  the  flagging  cause  of  the  South  by  a  more 
thorough  union,  just  prior  to  its  adjournment,  December  31,  1780, 
on  the  approach  of  Arnold,  who  sacked  and  burned  Richmond 
within  a  few  days  after,  ceded  to  the  United  States  all  her  claim 
|fco  the  territory  north-west  of  the  river  Ohio,  requiring  from  con 
gress,  however,  a  guarantee  of  her  right  to  the  remainder  south 
of  the  Ohio  and  east  of  the  Mississippi.  The  New  York  delegates 
soon  after  exercised  the  discretion  confided  to  them  by  their  State, 
and  executed  a  deed  of  cession,  reserving  the  right  of  retraction 
unless  the  same  guarantees  were  extended  to  New  York  as  to  any 
other  ceding  States.  On  the  same  day  the  delegates  of  Maryland, 
being  thereunto  empowered  by  act  of  the  State,  signed  the  articles 


HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


of  confederation,  which  completed  the  ratification,  and  a  nation 
was  launched. 

This  was  early  in  the  spingof  1781;  Virginia,  however,  did  not 
execute  her  deed  of  cession  till  March  1,  1784.  In  the  meantime 
peace  had  been  made  with  Great  Britain,  by  which  nearly  all  this 
country  passed  to  the  ownership  of  the  Nation,  in  common,  and 
Virginia  modified  her  act  of  cession  by  omitting  her  demand  to  the 
territory  south-east  of  the  Ohio.  The  deed  of  cession  was  executed 
by  her  delegates  in  Congress,  Thomas  Jefferson,  Samuel  Hardy, 
Arthur  Lee  and  James  Monroe.  It  stipulated  that  the  territory 
should  be  cut  into  States  not  less  than  100  nor  more  than  150  miles 
square;  to  be  republican  in  form,  and  to  be  admitted  into  the 
union  with  u  the  same  rights  of  sovereignty,  freedom  and  inde 
pendence  as  the  other  States;7'  that  indemnity  for  the  expenses  of 
her  expeditions  incurred  in  subduing  the  British  posts  in  the  west 
be  allowed  her;  that  land,  not  exceeding  150.000  acres,  promised 
by  her,  should  be  allowed  to  George  Rogers  Clark,  his  officers  and 
soldiers;  that  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  lands  ceded  shall 
be  considered  a  common  fund  for  all  the  States, present  and  future; 
and  that  "the  French  andCanadian  inhabitants,  and  other  settlers 
of  the  Kaskaskias,  Post  Vincennes,  and  the  neighboring  villages, 
Avho  have  professed  themselves  citizens  of  Virginia,  shall  have 
their  possessions  and  titles  confirmed  to  them,  and  be  protcted  in 
the  enjoyment  of  their  rights  and  liberties." 

Immediately  after  the  execution  of  the  deed  of  cession  by  Vir 
ginia,  Congress  proposed  by  ordinance,  (April  23, 1784,)  to  establish 
a  form  of  government  for  the  entire  western  region,  from  the  Gulf  to 
the  Lakes,  though  it  was  not  yet  wholly  acquired.  The  plan  proposed 
to  divide  the  whole  into  17  States;  a  tier  of  8  was  to  border  on  the 
Mississippi,  whose  eastern  boundary  was  to  be  a  north  and  south 
line  through  the  falls  of  the  Ohio,  and  each  to  contain  two  par 
allels  of  latitude,  except  the  northernmost,  which  was  to  extend 
from  the  45th  parallel  to  the  northern  limits  of  the  United  States; 
to  the  east  of  these  a  corresponding  tier  of  8  more  was  to  be  laid 
off,  whose  eastern  boundary  was  to  be  a  north  and  south  line  run 
ning  through  the  month  of  the  Great  Kanawha;  the  remaining 
tract,  to  the  east  of  this  and  north  of  the  Ohio,  was  to  constitute 
the  17th  State.  In  these  territories,  the  settlers,  either  on  their 
petition  or  by  act  of  Congress,  were  to  receive  authority  to  create 
a  temporary  form  of  government;  but  when  20,000  free  inhabi 
tants  had  settled  within  any  of  them,  they  were  authorized  to  call 
a  convention,  form  a  constitution,  and  establish  for  themselves  a 
permanent  government,  subject  to  the  following  requirements:  to 
remain  forever  a  part  of  the  confederacy  of  the  United  States  ;  to 
be  subject  to  the  articles  of  confederation  and  the  acts  and  ordi 
nances  of  Congress  like  the  original  States;  not  to  interfere  with 
the  disposal  of  the  soil  by  Congress;  to  be  liable  to  their  proportion 
of  the  federal  debt,  present  and  prospective;  not  to  tax  the  lands 
of  the  United  States ;  their  respective  governments  to  be  repub 
lican;  not  to  tax  lands  belonging  to  non-residents  higher  than 
those  of  residents;  and  when  any  one  got  of  free  inhabitants  as 
many  as  the  least  numerous  of  the  original  Thirteen  States,  to  be 
admitted  into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  them.  The  com 
mittee,  of  which  Mr.  Jefferson  was  chairman,  reported  also  this 


A   COUNTY   OF   VIRGINIA.  207 

remarkable  provision,  the  adoption  of  which,  and  unalterable 
adherence  to,  would  doubtless  have  prevented  the  late  re 
bellion:  '-That  after  they  ear  1800,  of  the  Christian  era,  there 
shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  in  any  of  the 
said  States,  otherwise  than  in  punishment  of  crimes,  whereof  the 
party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted."  But  this  proviso  failed  on 
account  of  not  receiving  a  majority  of  the  States.  The  four  New 
England  States,  with  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  voted  for  it; 
New  Jersey,  Delaware  and  Georgia,  were  unrepresented;  North 
Carolina  was  divided;  Maryland,  South  Carolina  and  Virginia, 
(Mr.  Jefferson  being  overborne  by  his  colleagues.)  voted  against 
it.  The  anti-slavery  clause  was  stricken  out  and  the  resolutions 
became  an  ordinance. 

While  such  was  the  law  for  these  territories,  it  never  received 
application  to  any  of  them  ;  no  organization  was  ever  effected 
under  it.  Nor  had  Massachusetts  in  the  meantime  relinquished 
her  claim  in  the  territories.  In  1785,  Kufus  King  renewed  the  anti- 
slavery  proviso  in  congress,  as  a  condition  upon  which  she  would 
make  a  cession  of  her  claim.  The  question  was  referred  to  a  com 
mittee  of  eight  States,  where  it  slept  the  sleep  that  knows  no 
waking.  Massachusetts,  however,  in  accordance  with  the  Virginia 
scheme  of  dividing  the  western  territory  into  small  States,  ceded 
her  claim,  April  19,  1785;  and  with  the  consent  of  Congress  to 
accept  the  cession  of  Connecticut,  with  the  reservation  of  3,000,000 
acres.  September  13th,  1780,  the  title  of  the  confederated  States  to 
the  lands  north-west  of  the  river  Ohio  became  complete.  In  the 
meantime,  by  act  of  congress,  surveys  and  explorations  were 
going  on  in  the  territories  which  glaringly  exposed  the  total  disre 
gard  of  natural  boundaries,  and  the  inconvenience  resulting  from 
cutting  up  the  western  country  into  fourteen  small  States.  Virginia 
and  Massachusetts  were  now  called  upon  to  modify  the  conditions 
of  their  deeds,  so  as  to  allow  that  portion  of  the  territory  north 
west  of  the  Ohio  to  be  divided  up  into  three  or  five  States,  at  the 
option  of  Congress,  which  was  accordingly  done,  and  the  following 
year  Congress  passed  the  ordinance  of  1787. 

This  was  a  slow  transition  period,  which  was  doubly  experienced 
in  the  settlements  of  Illinois  which  were  the  fartherest  removed 
from  the  seat  of  power,  be  it  Virginia  or  the  United  States. 
During  all  this  time,  and  for  three-  years  after  the  adoption  of 
the  ordinance  of  1787,  and  until  the  organization  of  the  county 
of  St.  Clair,  by  Governor  St.  Clair,  in  1790,  there  was  a  very 
imperfect  administration  of  the  law,  which  consisted  of  a  mixture 
of  the  civil  or  the  French,  the  English,  as  resulting  from  the  pro 
mulgations  of  the  arbitrary  acts  of  the  British  commandants  at 
Fort  Chartres,  and  such  as  had  been  instituted  by  the  Virginia 
authorities.  There  were  no  regular  courts  of  law  in  existence  in 
the  country,  and  no  civil  government  worth  mentioning.  The  peo 
ple  were  a  law  unto  themselves ;  their  morals  were  simple  and 
pure,  and  the  grosser  vices  were  kept  dormant.  Crimes  against 
the  peace  of  society  were  rare,  misdemeanors  infrequent,  and 
fraud  and  dishonest  dealings  seldom  practiced.  During  part  of 
this  time,  too,  the  Indians  were  hostile,  committing  many  brutal 
murders,  which  engaged  the  settlers  in  constant  warfare  and 
mutual  protection  against  the  savages ;  a  state  of  affairs  not  con- 


208  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

diicive  to  the  civil  administration  of  the  law  where  even  tne  most 
perfect  code  exists.  The  following  curious  land  speculation,  on  the 
part  of  a  territorial  court  instituted  by  Colonel  Todd,  as  it  relates 
in  part  to  Illinois,  may  not  be  amiss  to  transcribe,  as  it  illustrates 
also  the  fallibility  of  men  in  office,  and  the  necessity  of  the  peo 
ple  to  ever  bold  a  watchful  eye  over  their  official  servants. 

In  June,  1779,  Colonel  Todd  established  a  court  of  civil  and 
criminal  jurisdiction  at  Post  Vincennes,  composed  of  several  mag 
istrates.  Colonel  J.  M.  P.  Legras,  having  been  appointed  com 
mandant  of  the  post,  acted  as  president  of  the  court,  and  exercised 
a  controlling  influence  over  its  proceedings.  Adopting  in  some 
measure  the  usages  and  customs  of  the  early  French  command 
ants,  the  court  began  to  grant  or  concede  tracts  of  land  to  the 
French  and  American  inhabitants,  and  to  different  ciA'il  and  mili 
tary  officers  of  the  country.  Indeed,  the  court  assumed  the  power 
of  granting  lands  to  every  applicant,  mostly  in  tracts  varying1  from 
the  size  of  a  house  lot  to  400  acres,  though  some  were  several 
leagues  square.  Before  1783,  about  2(5,000  acres  of  land  were  thus 
granted  to  different  individuals  j  and  from  1773  to  1787,  when  in 
the  latter  year  the  practice  was  stopped  by  General  Harmar,  the 
grants  amounted  to  22,000  acres,  making  a  total,  first  and  last, 
of  48,000  acres.  The  commandant  and  magistrates,  after  having 
exercised  this  power  for  some  time,  were  easily  led  to  believe  that 
they  had  the  right  to  dispose  of  all  that  large  tract  of  land  which, 
in  1742,  had  been  granted  by  the  Piankeshaw  Indians,  for  the  use 
of  the  French  inhabitants  at  Post  Vincennes.  Once  convinced  of 
their  supreme  dominion  over  this  entire  tract,  the  court  was  not 
long  in  arriving  at  the  conclusion  that  they  might  make  grants  to 
themselves  with  as  much  propriety  as  to  others  ;  and  if  they  could 
do  this^with  small  tracts,  they  might  with  the  whole;  hoping, 
doubtless,  that,  as  the  country  passed  under  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  the  grants  would  receive  confirmation.  Accord 
ingly,  all  that  tract  of  country  extending  on  the  Wabash  72  miles 
fromPointe  La  Coupeeto  the  mouth  of  White  river,  westward  into 
Illinois  120  miles  and  east  from  the  Wabash  90  miles  (excluding 
lands  already  conceded),  "  to  which  the  Indian  title  was  supposed 
to  be  extinguished,  was  divided  between  the  members  of  the 
court,  and  orders  to  that  effect,  entered  on  their  journal ;  each 
member  [as  a  matter  of  delicacy]  absenting  himself  from  the 
court  on  the  day  that  the  order  was  made  in  his  favor,  so  as  to  give 
it  the  appearance  of  being  the  [disinterested]  act  of  his  fellows 
only."* 

This  shameful  transaction  being  totally  illegal,  as  no  agent  or 
trustee  can  make  sale  to  himself,  failing  to  prove  a  source  of  profit 
to  the  grantees  in  open  market,  was  in  a  measure  abandoned. 
Still,  as  the  grant  was  in  due  form,  under  the  great  seal  and 
authority  of  Virginia,  land  speculators,  spying  out  the  matter, 
quietly  purchased  freely  of  the  lands  thus  granted,  which  could 
be  readily  done  for  a  song,  and  then  dispersed  themselves  over  all 
the  United  States,  and  for  many  years  after,  duped  great  numbers 
of  ignorant  and  credulous  people,  many  of  whom  did  not  find  out 
the  swindle  until  moving  out  to  their  lands  so  purchased,  they  dis 
covered  their  titles  to  be  a  myth.  These  swindling  practices 

•Letter  of  Governor  Harrison. 


A  COUNTY  OF  VIRGINIA.  209 

never  wholly  ceased  until  Governor  Harrison,  in  1802,  at  Vin- 
cennes,  forbid  prothonotaries  from  authenticating  under  the  sanc 
tion  of  the  official  seal  of  the  territory,  and  recorders  from 
recording  any  of  these  fraudulent  papers.* 

•Annals  of  the  West. 


14 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

1787— 1800— ILLINOIS  UNDEE  THE  GOVEKNMENT  OF  THE 
NOETH-WESTEEN  TERRITORY. 

Ordinance  of  1787 — Organization  of  St.  Clair  County — Bar  of  Illi 
nois  in  1790 — Impoverished  Condition  of  the  French — Indian 
Hostilities,  }783  to  1795 — Randolph  County — American  Immi 
gration — Sickness — Territorial  Assembly  at  Cincinnati — Notable 
Women  of  the  Olden  Time — Witchcraft  in  Illinois. 


The  celebrated  ordinance  of  1787  was  passed  by  the  congress 
of  the  confederated  States  on  tlie  13th  of  July  of  that  year.  By 
it,  the  whole  of  the  country  north-west  of  the  river  Ohio  was  con 
stituted  one  district,  for  the  purposes  of  temporary  government. 
It  provided  for  the  descent  of  property  in  equal  shares,  substan 
tially  as  under  our  present  laws,  (a  just  provision,  not  then 
generally  recognized  in  the  States,)  "saving,  however,  to  the 
French  anfr  Canadian  inhabitants  and  other  settlers  of  Kaskaskia, 
St.  Vineents,  and  other  neighboring  villages,  who  have  heretofore 
professed  themselves  citizens  of  Virginia,  their  laws  and  customs 
now  in  force  among  them,  relative  to  the  descent  and  conveyance 
of  property."  A  governor  was  provided  for,  whose  term  of  office 
was  three  years,  who  was  to  reside  in  the  district  and  own  a  freehold 
of  1,000  acres  of  land  ;  a  secretary,  whose  commission  was  to  run 
four  years,  subject  to  revocation:  he  was  to  reside  in  the  district 
and  own  500  acres  of  land.  A  court  was  provided  for,  to  consist 
of  three  judges,  two  of  them  to  constitute  a  court;  they  were  to 
exercise  common  law  jurisdiction,  to  reside  in  the  district,  own 
500  acres  of  land,  their  commissions  to  last  during  good  behavior. 
They,  jointly  with  the  governor,  were  to  adopt  such  laws  of  the 
original  States  as  were  suitable  to  the  conditions  of  the  country, 
to  remain  in  force  until  the  organization  of  the  general  assembly, 
which  might  alter  or  re-adopt  them ;  congress,  also,  might  dis 
approve  them.  The  governor  was  constituted  conimander-m-chief 
of  the  militia,  with  power  to  appoint  all  officers  below  the  grade 
of  general  officers.  Until  the  organization  of  the  general  assembly, 
the  governor  was  to  appoint  all  the  civil  officers  in  each  county. 
He  was  to  establish  comities  from  time  to  time,  to  whose  limits 
legal  process  was  to  run.  With  5,000  free  male  inhabitants  of  full 
age,  the  territory  was  entitled  to  a  general  assembly,  the  time  and 
place  of  election  to  be  fixed  by  the  governor;  each  500  were 
entitled  to  one  representative,  till  the  number  reached  25,  after 
which  the  legislature  was  to  regulate  the  number  and  proportion. 
The  qualifications  of  a  member  were,  either  a  residence  in  the 

210 


NORTHWESTERN  TERRITORY.  211 

territory  three  years,  or  citizenship  in  a  State  for  three  years  and 
present  residence  in  the  territory,  and  a  fee  simple  right  to  200 
acres  of  land  within  the  same;  qualification  of  an  elector:  freehold 
fof  50  acres  and  citizenship  in  one  of  the  States,  or  a  like  freehold 
and  two  years  residence  in  the  district.  Representatives  were 
elected  for  the  term  of  two  years.  The  assembly  was  to  consist 
of  the  governor,  council  and  house  of  representatives.  The  council 
was  to  consist  of  five  members,  three  to  constitute  a  quorum; 
time  of  service,  five  years.  Congress  was  to  select  the  council 
from  ten  men — residents  of  the  territory,  each  having  a  freehold 
of  500  acres — nominated  by  the  house  of  representatives.  Bills, 
to  become  laws,  must  pass  both  houses  by  a  majority  and  receive 
the  signature  of  the  governor,  who  possessed  an.  absolute  veto  by 
simply  withholding  his  approval.  The  two  houses,  by  joint  ballot, 
were  to  elect  a  delegate  to  congress,  who  was  allowed  to  debate, 
but  not  to  vote.  An  oath  of  office  of  office  was  to  be  taken  by  all 
the  officers. 

For  extending  the  fundamental  principles  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty,  and  to  fix  the  basis  of  government  of  future  States  to  be 
formed  out  of  said  territory,  it  was  further  provided,  in  six  unal 
terable  articles  of  perpetual  compact  between  the  people  of  the 
original  states  and  the  people  of  the  territory  : 

I.  Xo  person,  in  peaceable  demeanor,  was  to  be  molested  on 
account  of  his  mode  of  worship  or  religious  sentiments. 

II.  The  inhabitants  were  guaranteed  the  benefits  of  the  writs 
of  habeas  corpus  and  trial  by  jury;  a  proportion  ate  representation 
in  the  legislature  and  judicial  proceedings  according  to  the  course 
of  the  common  law.     "All  persons   shall  be  bailable,  unless  for 
capital  offenses,  where  the  proof  shall  be  evident  or  the  presumption 
great.     All  fines  shall  be  moderate;  and  no  cruel  or  unusual  pun 
ishments  shall  be  inflicted.     ]So  man  shall  be  deprived  of  his  liberty 
or  his  property,  but  by  the  judgment  of  his  peers,  or  the  law  of 
the  land ;  and  should  the  public  exigencies  make  it  necessary,  for 
the  common  preservation,  to  take  any  person's  property,  or  to 
demand  his  particular  services,  full  compensation  shall  be  made 
for  the  same."    No  law  ought  ever  to  be  made  or  have  force  in 
said  territory,  that  shall,  in  any  manner,  interfere  with  or  affect 
private  contracts  or  engagements  made  in  good  faith  and  without 
fraud. 

III.  Religion,  morality  and  knowledge  being  necessary  to  good 
government  and  the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and  the  means 
of  education  shall  forever  be  encouraged.     Good  faith,  justice  and 
humanity  toward  the  Indians,  was  to  be  observed ;  their  lands  and 
property  not  to  be  taken  without  consent,  and  peace  and  friend 
ship  to  be  cultivated. 

IV.  The  territory,  and  States  to  be  formed  therein,  were  to 
remain  forever  a  part  of  the  United  States,  subject  to  her  laws; 
the  inhabitants  to  pay  a  just  proportion  of  the  public  debt,  con 
tracted  or  to  be  contracted ;  not  to  tax  the  lands  of  the  United 
States,  nor  those  of  non-residents  higher  than  those  of  residents; 
the  navigable  waters  of  the  lakes  to  remain  forever  free  to  all 
citizens  of  the  United  States. 

V.  The  territory  Avas  not  to  be  divided  into  less  than  three  States, 
and,  at  its  option,  congress  might  "form  one  or  two  (more)  States 
in  that  part  which  lies  north  of  an  east  and  west  line  drawn 


212  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

through  the  southerly  bend  or  extreme  of  Lake  Michigan.7'  With 
60,000  free  inhabitants,  such  States  Avere  to  be  admitted  into  the 
union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  States. 

VI.  "  There  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude 
in  the  said  territory,  otherwise  than  in  the  punishment  of  crimes, 
whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted;"  this  section 
providing  also  for  the  reclamation  of  fugitives  from  labor. 

Such  Avas  substantially  the  fundamental  law  of  this  vast  territory, 
which  has  ever  had  a  controlling  influence  upon  the  destiny  of  the 
States  carved  out  of  it,  and  saved  some  of  them  from  the  perma 
nent  blight  of  slavery.  While  the  conA^ention  at  Philadelphia 
was  occupied  Avith  framing  the  constitution  of  the  United  States, 
congress,  sitting  in  New  York,  disposed  of  this  subject,  which  was 
fraught  with  an  importance  second  only  to  the  constitution  itself. 
The  auti-slavery  clause,  it  Avill  be  observed,  was  substantially  the 
same  as  that  reported  by  Jefferson  in  1784,  for  the  organization'of 
all  the  western  territory,  but  which  was  then  rejected.  The  ordi 
nance  was  reported  from  committee  by  Mr.  Dane,  of  Massachusetts, 
and  unanimously  adopted  by  the  eight  States  then  only  repre 
sented  in  congress.  On  October  5,  1787,  Major  General  Arthur 
St.  Clair  was,  by  congress,  elected  governor  of  the  Northwestern 
territory.  St.  Clair  was  born  in  Scotland  and  emigrated  to 
America  in  1755.  He  serA^ed  in  the  French  and  British  Avar, 
under  General  Amherst,  at  the  taking  of  Louisburg,  in  1758,  and 
at  the  storming  of  Quebec,  under  Wolfe,  in  1759.  After  the  peace 
of  17G3,  he  settled  in  western  Pennsylvania.  In  the  Avar  of  the 
Revolution  he  Avas  first  commissioned  a  colonel,  raised  a  regiment 
of  750  men  and  was  afterward  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major 
general.  In  1788  he  was  tried  by  court-martial  for  evacuating 
Ticonderoga  and  Mt.  Independence,  but  was  honorably  acquitted. 
He  remained  in  the  serATice  until  the  close  of  the  war.  In  1786  he 
was  elected  to  congress,  and  was  chosen  president  of  that  body. 
Owing  to  his  losses  in  the  war  of  the  revolution,  his  friends  pressed 
him  for  the  governorship  of  the  Northwestern  Territory,  that  he 
might  retrieve  his  fortune.  But  he  "had  neither  taste  nor  genius 
for  speculation  in  lands,  nor  did  he  think  it  consistent  with  the 
office."* 

The  instructions  from  congress  were,  in  effect,  to  promote  peace 
and  harmony  between  the  Indians  and  the  United  States,  to  defeat 
all  combinations  or  confederations  between  them,  and  conciliate 
good  feeling  between  them  and  the  white  settlers ;  to  regulate 
trade  with  them;  to  ascertain  as  far  as  possible  the  several  tribes, 
their  head  men  and  number  of  warriors,  and  by  every  means 
attach  them  to  the  government  of  the  United  States ;  and  to  neg 
lect  no  opportunity  to  extinguish  the  Indian  titles  to  lands  west 
ward  as  far  as  the  Mississippi,  and  north  to  the  41st  degree  of 
north  latitude. 

In  the  summer  of  1788,  the  gOA^ernor  and  judges  (Samuel  Holden 
Parsons,  James  Mitchell  Variimn,  and  John  Cleves  Symnies)^  met 
at  Marietta,  the  seat  of  government,  and  adopted  and  promulgated 
a  code  of  laws  for  the  Avhole  territory.  The  governor  immediately 
established  some  counties,  except  in  Illinois,  appointed  the  civil 
officers  for  them,  and  thus,  July  15th,  the  machinery  of  the  terri 
torial  government  under  the  U.  S.  was  put  into  operation.  These 

*His  letter  to  VV.  B.  Giles,  of  Virginia. 


NORTHWESTERN   TERRITORY.  213 

steps  by  the  judges  and  governor  were  commonly  denominated  the 
first  grade  of  territorial  government  under  the  ordinance. 

As  characteristic  of  the  period,  we  note  that  the  punishment  for 
crimes,  owing  to  the  want  of  prisons,  were  generally  of  a  sum 
mary  character :  Death  for  murder,  treason,  and  arson,  (if  loss 
of  life  ensued  therefrom) ;  whipping  with  39  lashes,  and  tine,  for 
larceny,  burglary  and  robbery  5  for  perjury,  whipping,  fine,  or 
standing  in  the  pillory ;  for  forgery,  fine,  disfranchisement  and 
standing  in  the  pillory;  drunkenness,  fine,  for  non-payment  of 
which  to  stand  in  the  stocks  ;  for  non-payment  of  fines  generally, 
the  sheriff  was  empowered  to  bind  out  the  convict  for  a  term  not 
exceeding  7  years;  obscene  conversation  and  profane  swearing 
were  admonished  against,  and  threatened  with  the  loss  of  the  gov 
ernment's  confidence;  morality  and  piety  Avere  endued,  and  the 
Sabbath  pronounced  sacred. 

Under  date  of  October  6th,  1789,  president  Washington  wrote 
to  Governor  St.  Clair :  You  will  also  proceed,  as  soon  as  you  can, 
\vith  safety,  to  execute  the  orders  of  the  late  congress  respecting 
the  inhabitants  at  Post  Vincennes  and  at  the  Kaskaskias,  and  the 
other  villages  on  the  Mississippi.  It  is  a  circumstance  of  some  im 
portance,  that  the  said  inhabitants  should,  as  soon  as  possible, 
possess  the  lands  which  they  are  entitled  to,  by  some  known  and 
fixed  principle.  Accordingly  in  February,  Gov.  St.  Glair  and  the 
Secretary,  Winthrop  Sargent,  arrived  at  Kaskaskia.  The  country 
within  the  boundaries  of  our  present  State  extending  northward  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Little  Mackinaw  creek  on  the  Illinois  was  organ 
ized  into  a  county,  which  was  named  after  His  Excellency,  St. 
Clair,  and  may  be  called  the  mother  of  counties  in  Illinois.  It 
was  divided  into  three  judicial  districts,  a  court  of  common  pleas 
established,  3  judges  appointed,  namely :  John  Edgar,  of  Kas 
kaskia ;  John  Babtiste  Barbeau,  of  Prairie  du  Koeher,  and  John 
D.  Moulin,  of  Cahokia,  each  to  hold  the  courts  for  and  in  the  dis 
trict  of  his  residence.  The  terms  were  fixed  to  be  held  every  three 
months,  hence  the  name  of  quarter  sessions,  by  which  the  courts 
were  generally  known.  William  St.  Clair,  brother  of  the  governor, 
was  appointed  clerk  and  recorder  of  deeds,  and  William  Biggs, 
sheriff.  Cahokia  became  the  county  seat.  While  the  clerk  could 
issue  process  for  the  county,  and  the  sheriff  serve  the  same,  suit 
Lad  to  be  brought  and  entitled  of  the  district  Avhere  the  defendant 
resided,  and  the  writs  to  bear  test  of  the  judges  of  the  respective 
districts,  dated  at  the  respective  villages  and  run  with  the  respec 
tive  districts.  Grand  juries  were  to  be  quarterly  organized  in  each 
district.  The  right  of  appeal  was  rendered  practically  nugatory, 
and  in  no  case  was  it  resorted  to.  The  sessions  of  the  U.  S. 
judges  for  the  territory  were  held  in  bane  at  cither  Cincinnati  or 
Cliillicothe,  a  distance  so  great  from  Illinois,  by  the  then  facilities 
of  travel,  as  to  render  appeal  impracticable.  Of  the  judges,  John 
de  Moulin,  a  native  of  Switzerland,  possessing  a  good  education 
and  fair  knowledge  of  the  civil  law,  was  a  large,  fine  looking  man, 
a  bachelor.  He  was  also  colonel  of  the  militia,  and  showed  well 
on  parade  days.  He  was  very  popular.  Jean  Babtiste  Barbeau, 
was  of  the  original  Canadian  French  stock,  long  settled  in  Illinois; 
energetic,  fair  business  talent,  and  extensive  experience.  John 
Edgar  was  an  Englishman.  Justices  of  the  peace  were  also  ap 
pointed  throughout  the  county.  Their  jurisdiction  was  limited  to 


214  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS 

$20  in  civil  cases ;  in  criminal,  they  possessed  only  examining 
power  ;  juries  before  them  were  not  countenanced.  Appeal  lay  to 
the  common  pleas  courts.*  Thus  was  launched  the  tirst  comity 
of  Illinois  upon  its  career  of  usefulness,  with  all  its  political  ma 
chinery  duly  organized  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States.  Down 
to  this  period,  a  mixture  of  the  old  French,  English  and  Virginia 
laws  had  maintained  a  sort  of  obsolete  existence  and  operation. 

It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  relate  that  the  bar  of  Illinois,  in 
1790,  was  illuminated  by  but  a  single  member,  who  was,  however, 
a  host  himself.  This  was  John  Rice  Jones,  a  Welchman,  born. 
1750.  He  was  an  accomplished  linguist,  possessed  of  a  classical 
education,  and  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  law.  He  was  the 
earliest  practitioner  of  law  in  Illinois  and  would  have  been  con 
spicuous  at  any  bar.  His  practice  extended  from  Kaskaskia  to 
Yincennes  and  Clarksville,  (Louisville,  Ky.)  Contrary  to  the 
habits  of  frontier  life,  he  was  never  idle.  Asa  speaker,  his  capacity 
for  invective  under  excitement  was  extraordinary.  Removing  to 
Yincennes,  he  became  a  member  of  the  territorial  legislature,  and 
in  1807  rendered  important  services  in  re  vising  the  statute  laws  for 
the  territory  of  Indiana.!  In  1780',  news  found  currency  in  the 
western  country  that  congress,  whose  meetings  were  in  great  part 
secret,  had  by  treaty  agreed  with  Spain  to  a  temporary  relinquish- 
ment  of  the  right  to  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi.  The 
western  people,  who  received  these  reports  greatly  magnified,  were 
bitterly  incensed  thereat.  At  Yincennes  a  body  Of  men  were  en 
listed  without  authority,  known  as  the  Wabash  regiment,  to  be 
subsisted  by  impressment  or  otherwise,  of  whom  George  Rogers 
Clark  took  command,  and  by  his  orders  the  Spanish  traders  there 
and  in  the  Illinois,  were  plundered  and  despoiled  of  their  goods 
and  merchandise  in  retaliation  of  similar  alleged  offences  by  the 
Spaniards  at  Natchez.  In  these  outrages  John  Rice  Jones  took  a 
leading  part.  He  became  the  commissary  general  of  the 
marauders,  to  the  support  of  whom  Illinois  merchants  contributed. 
Such  goods  as  were  un suited  to  the  use  of  the  garrison  were  sold 
by  Jones.  These  acts  tended  to  embroil  us  with  Spain.  Jones 
later  removed  to  Missouri,  became  a  member  of  the  constitutional 
convention,  and  was  a  candidate  for  U.  S.  Senator  in  opposition  to 
Mr.  Benton.  He  held  the  office  of  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Missouri  until  his  death,  in  1824. 

The  second  lawyer  of  Illinois,  prior  to  1800,  was  Isaac  l)ar- 
nielle.  To  a  strong  native  intellect,  classical  education  and  a 
tolerable  knowledge  of  the  law,  he  added  an  engaging  manner, 
free  benevolent  disposition,  and  a  rather  large,  portly  and  attractive 
person.  He  was  an  agreeable  speaker,  conspicious  at  the  bar,  and 
popular  with  the  people.  He  was  said  to  have  been  educated  for 
the  ministry  and  had  occupied  the  pulpit.  But  his  great  forte  lay 

*Brown,  History  of  Ills.  p.  273,  (with  a  confused  idea  as  to  boundary),  to  show  the 
inconvenient  size  of  St.  CJair  County,  relates  the  following  : 

Suit  having  been  brought  before  a  Justice  of  Cahokia  to  recover  the  value  of  a  cow, 
and  judgment  having  been  rendered  for  5316,  the  case  was  appealed.  The  adverse 
party  and  witnesses  resided  at  Prairie  duChien,  Wisconsin,  distance  400  miles.  The 
Sheriff,  who  was  also  an  Indian  trader,  having  received  a  summons  for  the  party  and 
subpoenas  for  the  witnesses,  fitted  out  a  boat  with  a  suitable  stock  of  goods  for  tbe 
Indian  trade  and  proceeded  thilher  with  his  papers  Having  served  the  summons  and 
subpoenaed  the  witnesses,  which  included  the  greater  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  Prairie 
du  Chien,  he  made  his  return  charging  mileage  and  service  for  each,  as  he  had  a  right 
to,  his  costs  and  the  cost  of  the  suit  altogether,  it  is  stated,  exceeding  $900.  Whether 
the  costs  were  ever  paid  or  not,  chroniclers  have  failed  to  transmit. 

tSee  Reynold's  Pioneer  Hist,  of  His. 


NORTHWESTERN  TERRITORY.  215 

in  the  court  of  Venus,  where  he  practiced  with  consummate  art  and 
with  more  studious  assuidity  than  his  books  received.  He  never 
married  and  yet  apparently  was  never  without  a  wife.  This  course 
of  life  brought  its  inevitable  consequences.  While  youth  and 
vigor  lasted  all  was  well,  but  with  advancing  age,  he  was  com 
pelled  to  abandon  his  profession,  and  finally  died  in  western 
Kentucky,  at  the  age  of  o'O,  a  poor  and  neglected  school-teacher.* 

As  to  the  practice  of  those  times,  ex-governor  Reynolds  relates 
seeing  the  records  of  a  proceeding  in  court  at  Prairie  du  Eocher, 
against  a  negro  for  the  umurder"  of  a  hog.  The  case  was  mali 
cious  mischief,  for  wantonly  destroying  a  useful  animal,  which  it 
was  sought  to  bring  before  the  court ;  but  in  the  absence  of  a  pros 
ecuting  attorney,  officers  disallowed  at  that  time,  the  grand  jury, 
groping  about  in  the  law  books,  met  with  a  precedent  of  an  indict 
ment  for  murder  and  applied  it  to  the  case  in  hand.  Perhaps 
justice  was  meted  out  as  fully  under  this  indictment  as  if  drawn 
with  the  nicest  precision  as  to  the  nature  of  the  offence,  and  pros 
ecuted  by  the  ablest  attorney  in  the  country. 

In  the  deed  of  cession  from  Virginia,  it  was  stipulated  that  the 
French  and  Canadian  inhabitants,  and  other  settlers,  who  had 
professed  allegiance  to  Virginia,  should  have  their  titles  con 
firmed  to  them.  By  a  law  of  congress  of  1788,  the  governor  of 
the  territory  was  authorized  to  confirm  the  possessions  and  titles 
of  the  French  to  their  lands  (and  those  people  in  their  rights,) 
who,  on  or  before  the  year  1783,  had  professed  themselves  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  or  any  of  them.  But  nothing  had  been 
done  in  this  direction  up  to  the  arrival  of  Governor  St.  Clair  at 
Kaskaskia.  It  was  to  this  that  Washington  had  called  the  gover 
nors  attention,  in  his  letter  of  October  6,  1789.  In  March,  1790, 
to  carry  these  instructions  into  effeet,  the  governor  issued  his  proc 
lamation  to  the  inhabitants,  directing  them  to  exhibit  their  titles 
and  claims  to  the  lands  which  they  held,  in  order  to  be  confirmed 
in  their  possessions.  Numbers  of  these  instruments  were  exhib 
ited,  and  for  those  found  to  be  authentic,  orders  of  survey  Avere 
issued,  the  expense  whereof  was  to  be  paid  by  the  owners.  Such 
payment  was  anything  but  satisfactory  to  the  people,  as  will  be 
seen  by  the  subjoined  quotation  from  the  governor's  report  to  the 
secretary  of  state,  in  1790 ;  and  from  it  may  further  be  gleaned 
the  deplorable  condition  of  the  French,  at  the  time  of  the  gover 
nor's  visit  in  this  oft-painted  Eden  of  the  Far  West  as  if  over 
flowing  with  abundance : 

"  Orders  of  survey  were  issued  for  all  the  claims  at  Kaskaskia, 
that  appeared  to  be  founded  agreeably  to  the  resolutions  of  con 
gress  ;  and  surveys  were  made  of  the  greater  part  of  them.  A 
part  of  these  surveys,  however,  have  only  been  returned,  because 
the  people  objected  to  paying  the  surveyor,  and  it  is  too  true  that 
they  are  ill  able  to  pay.  The  Illinois  country,  as  well  as  that  upon 
the  Wabash,  has  been  involved  in  great  distress  ever  since  it  fell 
under  the  American  dominion.  With  great  cheerfulness,  the  peo 
ple  furnished  the  troops  under  Colonel  Clark,  and  the  Illinois 
regiment,  with  everything  they  could  spare,  and  often  with  much 
more  than  they  could  spare  with  any  convenience  to  themselves. 
Most  of  these  certificates  for  these  supplies  are  still  in  their  hands, 

*Reynold's  Pioneer  Hist. 


216  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

unliquidated  aud  unpaid;  and  in  many  instances,  where  applica 
tion  lias  "been  made  for  payment  to  the  State  of  Virginia,  under 
whose  authority  the  certificates  were  granted,  it  has  been  refused. 
The  Illinois  regiment  being  disbanded,  a  set  of  men,  pretending 
the  authority  of  Virginia,  embodied  themselves,  and  a  scene  of 
general  depredation  ensued.  To  this,  succeeded  three  successive 
and  extraordinary  inundations  from  the  Mississippi,  which  either 
swept  away  their  crops,  or  prevented  their  being  planted.  The  loss 
of  the  greater  part  of  their  trade  with  the  Indians,  which  was  a 
great  resource,  came  upon  them  at  this  juncture,  as  well  as  the 
hostile  incursions  of  some  of  the  tribes  which  had  ever  been  in 
friendship  with  them ;  and  to  these  was  added  the  loss  of  their 
whole  last  crop  of  corn  by  an  untimely  frost.  Extreme  misery 
could  not  fail  to  be  the  consequence  of  such  accumulated  misfor 
tunes.  " 

The  impoverished  condition  of  the  French  settlements  is  fur 
ther  portrayed,  and  doubtless  truly,  in  a  memorial  addressed  to 
Governor  St.  Clair,  while  in  Illinois,  which  bears  the  date  "June  9, 
1790,"  and  is  signed  by  "  P.  Gibault,  Priest,"  and  87  others. 
Gibault  was  the  same  ecclesiastic  who,  in  1788,  conducted  the  suc 
cessful  embassy  of  Colonel  Clark  to  Vincennes,  severing  the 
allegiance  of  that  post  from  the  British  : 

"  The  memorial  humbly  showeth,  that  by  an  act  of  congress  of  June 
20,  1788,  it  was  declared  that  the  lands  heretofore  possessed  by  the  said 
inhabitants,  should  be  surveyed  at  their  expense;  and  that  this  clause 
appears  to  them  neither  necessary  nor  adapted  to  quiet  the  minds  of  the 
people.  It  does  not  appear  necessary,  because  from  the  establishment 
of  the  colony  to  this  day,  they  have  enjoyed  their  property  and  posses 
sions  without  disputes  or  law  suits  on  the  subject  of  their  limits ;  that 
the  surveys  of  them  were  made  at  the  time  the  concessions  were  obtained 
from  their  ancient  kings,  lords  and  commandants  ;  and  that  each  of 
them  kneV  what  belonged  to  him  without  attempting  an  encroachment 
on  his  neighbor,  or  fearing  that  his  neighbor  would  encroach  on  him.  It 
does  not  appear  adapted  to  pacify  them  ;  because,  instead  of  assuring  to 
them  the  peaceable  possessions  of  their  ancient  inheritances,  as  they 
have  enjoy  edit  till  now,  that  clause  obliges  them  to  bear  expenses  which, 
in  their  present  situation,  they  are  absolutely  incapable  of  paying,  and 
for  the  failure  of  which  they  must  be  deprived  of  their  lands. 

"  Your  Excellency  is  an  eye-witness  of  the  poverty  to  which  the 
inhabitants  are  reduced,  and  of  the  total  want  of  provisions  to  subsist 
on.  Not  knowing  where  to  find  a  morsel  of  bread  to  nourish  their  fam 
ilies,  by  what  means  can  they  support  the  expenses  of  a  survey  which 
has  not  been  sought  for  on  their  parts,  and  for  which,  it  is  conceived  by 
them,  there  is  no  necessity?  Loaded  with  misery,  and  groaning  under 
the  weight  of  misfortunes,  accumulated  since  the  Virginia  troops  entered 
the  country,  the  unhappy  inhabitants  throw  themselves  under  the  pro 
tection  of  Your  Excellency,  and  take  the  liberty  to  solicit  you  to  lay 
their  deplorable  situation  before  congress  ;  and  as  it  may  be  interesting 
for  the  United  States  to  know  exactly  the  extent  and  limits  of  their 
ancient  possesssion,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  lands  which  are  yet  at  the 
disposal  of  congress,  it  appears  to  them,  in  their  humble  opinion,  that 
the  expenses  of  the  survey  ought  more  properly  to  be  borne  for  whom 
alone  it  is  useful,  than  by  them  who  do  not  feel  the  necessity  of  it.  Be 
side,  this  is  no  object  for  the  United  States  ;  but  it  is  great,  too  great,  for 
a  few  unhappy  beings,  who,  Your  Excellency  sees  yourself,  are  scarcely 
able  to  support  their  pitiful  existence. ' ; 

The  French  settlements  steadily  declined  and  melted  away  in  pop 
ulation  from  the  time  the  country  passed  under  Anglo-Saxon  rule, 
17G5,  until  their  exodus,  many  years  later,  became  almost  complete. 
After  their  first  hegira,  commencing  with  the  English  occupation, 


NORTHWESTERN   TERRITORY.  217 

down  to  1800,  the  immigration  of  the  latter  race  scarcely  counterbal 
anced  the  emigration  of  the  former.  Indeed,  there  was  a  time  during 
the  Indian  troubles,  that  the  balance  fell  much  behind;  but  after 
the  treaty  of  Greenville,  in  1795,  immigration  was  greatly  increased. 
In  1800,  the  population  was  little,  if  any,  greater  than  in  1765. 
In  capacity  for  conquest  or  colonization,  for  energy  of  character, 
thrift,  ingenious  and  labor-saving  inventions,  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race  surpasses  all  others.  It  was  that  race  which  established  the 
British  constitution  j  which  permanently  colonized  the  shores  of 
America  and  gave  to  it  municipal  liberty,  the  gem  of  republicanism, 
and  which  furnished  our  unrivaled  federative  system,  which  may 
yet  be  the  means  of  politically  enfranchising  the  world.  To  have 
his  secluded  abode  and  remote  quietude  stirred  up  by  such  a  race, 
with  whom  he  felt  himself  incapable  to  enter  the  race  of  life,  the 
Frenchman  of  these  wilds  lost  his  contentment,  and  he  aban 
doned  his  ancient  villages  in  Illinois,  to  the  new  life,  instinct  with 
the  progress  opening  all  around  them,  after  an  occupation  of 
over  a  century. 

INDIAN  HOSTILITIES — 1783  TO  1795. 

After  the  tide  of  European  immigration  had  forced  back  the  red 
men  of  America  from  the  Atlantic  slopes,  they  found  their  best 
hunting  grounds  in  the  magnificient  forests  and  grassy  plains 
beyond  the  Alleghanies,  north  of  the  Ohio  and  east  of  the  Missis 
sippi.  When,  after  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  this  empire  region, 
wrested  from  the  grasp  of  the  British  crown,  was  thrown  open  to 
settlement  and  the  pioneers  of  the  pale  faces  began  to  pour  over 
the  mountains  and  into  the  valley  with  a  steadily  augmenting 
stream,  the  red  men  determined  not  to  give  back  farther.  They 
resolved  to  wage  a  war  of  extermination  for  the  retention  of  this 
vast  and  rich  domain.  Here  had  gathered  the  most  warlike  tribes 
of  the  Algonquin  nations,  who  have  given  to  known  Indian  history 
the  ablest  chieftains  and  greatest  warriors,  Pontiac,  Little  Turtle, 
Tecumseh,  and  his  brother  the  one-eyed  Prophet,  Black  Hawk,  and 
Keokuk. 

During  the  war  of  the  Revolution  all  the  most  belligerent  tribes 
residing  within  this  region,  and  the  fisheries  along  the  great  lakes 
of  the  north,  had  adhered  to  the  side  of  Great  Britain.  But  by 
the  treaty  of  peace,  1783,  the  territory  was  transferred  to  the  U. 
S.  without  any  stipulations  by  England  in  favor  of  her  savage 
allies.  The  British,  during  their  twenty  years  rule,  had  not  extin 
guished  the  Indian  title  to  any  part  of  the  country.  The  French, 
during  their  long  occupation,  had  made  no  considerable  purchases 
of  lands  from  the  western  Indians ;  and  by  the  treaty  of  Paris, 
1763,  the  English  succeeded  only  to  the  small  grants  of  the  French 
about  the  various  forts,  Detroit,  Kaskaskia,  Vincennes,  etc.  True, 
in  1701,  at  Fort  Stanwix,  the  Iroquois  had  ceded  to  Great  Britain 
their  shadowy  claim  over  a  part  of  the  northwestern  territory,  ac 
quired  by  their  wars  with  the  Hurons  and  Illinois,  and  in  1768  the 
six  nations  had  conceded  to  her  their  rights  to  the  lands  south  of 
the  Ohio,  but  the  conquered  tribes  residing  upon  them  and  making 
them  their  hunting  grounds,  abandoned  them  but  temporarily,  and 
returned  and  did  not  respect  the  transfers.  An  Indian  conquest, 
unless  followed  by  permanent  occupation,  was  seldom  more  than  a 


218  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

mere  raid,  aiid  could  not  be  said  to  draw  title  after  it.  There 
fore,  by  the  treaty  of  peace  of  1783,  the  U.  S.  received  nothing 
from  England  beyond  the  old  small  French  grants,  and  the  title  of 
the  six  nations  by  conquest,  such  as  it  was,  to  the  western  territory. 
Indeed,  the  general  government  in  the  I  Vth  article  of  the  ordinance 
of  1787,  seems  to  acknowledge  that  it  had  yet  to  secure  the  title 
to  the  lands  from  the  Indians. 

The  general  government,  on  account  of  the  adherence  of  the 
Indians  to  the  side  of  the  British  during  the  war,  if  not  deducing- 
actual  title,  was  inclined  to  regard  the  lands  of  the  hostile  tribes 
as  conquered  and  forfeited.  But  while  it  attempted  to  obtain 
treaties  of  cession  from  the  several  nations,  it  also  immediately 
threw  open  the  country  to  settlers,  made  sales  to  citizens,  and  in 
the  exercise  of  supreme  dominion,  assigned  reservations  to  some 
of  the  natives,  dictating  terms  and  prescribing  boundaries.  This 
at  once  produced  a  deep  feeling  of  discontent  among  the  Indians, 
and  led  directly  to  the  formation  of  an  extensive  confederation 
among  a  great  number  of  the  northern  tribes. 

In  October,  1784,  the  government  Indian  commissioners  made  a 
second  treaty  at  Fort  Stanwix  with  a  portion  only  of  the  Iroqnois, 
which,  011  account  of  its  not  being  made  at  a  general  congress  of 
all  the  northern  tribes,  was  refused  to  be  acknowledged  by  their 
leading  chiefs,  Brant,  Red  Jacket,  and  others.  The  folio  wing- 
year,  at  Fort  Mclntosh,  the  government  again  treated  with  a  por 
tion  of  the  tribes — the  Wyandot,  Delaware,  Chippewa,  and 
Ottawa  nations — only  partly  represented ;  and  in  January,  1786, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Miami  (Fort  Kinney,)  with  the  Shaw- 
aiiese,  the  Wabash  tribes  refusing  to  attend. 

We  have  seen  that  among  the  instructions  issued  to  Gov.  St. 
Clair,  he.  was  to  carefully  examine  into  the  real  temper  of  the 
Indians,  and  to  use  his  best  efforts  to  extinguish  their  titles  to 
lands,  westward  as  far  as  the  Mississippi,  and  north  to  the  lakes. 
In  the  fall  of  1788,  he  invited  the  northern  tribes  to  confirm  the 
late  treaties  of  Fort  Stanwix  and  Fort  Mclntosh,  ceding  lands ; 
but  the  Indians,  in  general  council  assembled,  refused  to  do  so  and 
informed  the  Governor  "that  no  bargain  or  sale  of  any  part  of 
these  Indian  lands  would  be  considered  as  valid  or  binding."  The 
Governor,  nevertheless,  persisted  in  collecting  a  few  chiefs  of  two 
or  three  nations,  at  Fort  Harmar,  (mouth  of  the  Muskingum),  and 
from  them  obtained  acts  of  confirmation  to  the  treaties  of  Forts 
Stamvix  and  Mclntosh,  ceding  an  immense  conn  try,  in  which  they 
were  interested  only  as  a  branch  of  the  confederacy,  and  unauthor 
ized  to  make  any  grant  or  cession  whatever.*  The  nations,  who 
thus  participated  in  the  acts  of  confirmation,  were  the  Wyandots, 
Delawares,  Ottawas,  Chippewas,  Potawattoinies,  and  Sacs;  but 
the  confederation  of  the  north  claimed  that  it  was  done  without 
authority,  with  the  young  men  of  the  nation,  alleged  to  have  been 
intimidated  and  over-reached.T  But  aside  from  the  fact  that  the 
government  had  treated  with  separate  tribes,  the  grants  obtained 
from  the  Iroquois  and  their  kindred,  the  Wyandots,  and  the  Dela 
wares  and  Shawanese,  were  open  to  scarcely»any  objection s.f  Those 
most  vehement  in  denouncing  the  validity  of  the  concessions  were 

'Proceedings  of  Indian  Council  1793— See  American  State  papers,  V.  357—7. 
tldem. 

JStoue,  ii.  281. 


NORTHWESTERN  TERRITORY.  219 

the  Miamis,  Chippewas,  Piankashaws,  Eel  River  Indians,  Weas 
(Quias  Ouiatenous,)  and  Kaskaskias,  the  latter  four  making-  their 
residence  in  great  part  in  Illinois. 

The  confederacy  of  Indians  at  all  times  strenuously  insisted  that 
the  Ohio  river  should  constitute  a  perpetual  boundary  between 
the  red  and  white  men  ;  and  to  maintain  this  line  the  former  organ 
ized  a  war  against  the  latter,  the  ablest  and  most  stupendous 
known  to  their  annals,  in  the  quelling  of  which  the  government 
was  actively  engaged  for  six  years,  and  which  was  finally  accom 
plished  only  by  the  prowess  of  "Mail  Anthony"  Wayne.  In  their 
determination,  evidence  is  quite  abundant  that  the  Indians  were 
inspired  and  supported  by  the  advice  and  encouragement  of 
British  agents  and  officials,  supplemented  by  the  avarice  of  British 
traders.  It  was  to  their  interest  to  have  this  splendid  country 
remain  the  abode  of  the  savages,  with  whom  to  exchange  their 
gew-gaws  for  valuable  pelts  and  furs;  a  lucrative  trade  which  would 
cease  with  the  advances  of  American  civilization.  The  British 
continued  to  hold  the  northwestern  posts  from  which  to  supply  the 
Indians ;  and  the  home  cabinet  entertained  hopes  that  circum 
stances  might  yet  compel  the  IT.  S.  to  recognize  the  Ohio  as  its 
northwestern  boundary.*  Much  of  the  dissatisfaction  of  the 
Indians  was  clearly  traced  to  the  influence  and  intrigues  under  the 
superintendence  of  Col.  McKee,  the  British  agent  at  Detroit  and 
the  Rapids  of  the  Maumee.t  The  Indian  discontent  was  openly 
encouraged,  and  their  hostility  fanned  into  a  flame  of  war ;  the 
warrior  bands  obtained  their  outfit  of  arms  and  ammunition  from 
the  British  traders ;  to  trade  with  the  Indians  while  at  war  with 
the  U.  S.  they  maintained  as  but  fair  and  just. 

As  the  main  operations  of  this  war  occurred  within  the  limits 
of  the  present  States  of  Ohio  and  Indiana,  we  shall  not  treat  of 
them  in  detail,  notwithstanding  Illinois  was  united  with  them 
under  a  common  government.  Indian  depredations  upon  the  settle 
ments  and  murders  of  the  whites  became  frequent,  inspiring  terror 
on  every  hand.  In  the  fall  of  1790,  Gen.  Harmar  conducted  a 
large,  but  fruitless,  expedition  of  1500  men,  mostly  Kentucky  and 
Pennsylvania  militia,  poorly  armed  and  without  discipline,  from 
Fort  Washington,  (Cincinnati)  against  the  Miami  villages  on  the 
Maumee  and  head  waters  of  the  Wabash.  Caution  had  foolishly 
been  taken  so  notify  the  British  at  Detroit,  that  the  troops 
collected  were  to  be  used  against  the  Indians  alone.f  The  villages 
were  found  deserted.  They  were  destroyed,  together  with  20,000 
bushels  of  corn.  Two  detachments  of  from  300  to  400  men  each, 
the  first  under  Col.  Trotter  and  the  next  under  Col.  Hardin,  rival 
Kentuckians,  engaged  the  Indians,  but  owing  to  wretched  manage 
ment  and  worse  discipline,  both  met  with  defeat  and  very  heavy 
losses. 1 1  The  defeated  army  marched  back  to  Fort  Washington, 
and  the  Indians  were  only  encouraged  in  their  dastardly  work  of 
murder  upon  the  settlements. 

In  the  spring  of  1791,  congress  authorized  Brig.  Gen.  Charles 
Scott,  and  others  of  Kentucky,  to  conduct  an  independent  expe 
dition  against  the  Wabash  Indians.  It  consisted  of  about  1,000 

*See  Burnett's  Letters,  p.  100. 

f-Am.  State  Papers— ^Vayne's  Dispatches. 

kbid 

OAni   State  Papers,  Asheton's  Statement,  and  Cists'  Cin.  Miscellany 


220  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

mounted  volunteers,  who  left  the  Ohio,  May  23d.  Early  011  the 
morning  of  June  1st  they  reached  the  Wabash  at  the  old  Wea 
towns,  a  few  miles  above  the  present  Terre  Haute.  The  villages 
were  discovered  by  the  ascending  smoke  from  the  lodges.  The  army 
was  formed  in  order  of  battle  and  moved  briskly  forward;  the  in 
habitants  being  in  blissful  ignorance  of  the  stealthy  approach  of 
the  foe.  Gen  Scott  reports  that  the  town  was  situated  on  the  low 
ground  bordering  the  Wabash  below  the  plain  across  which  they 
marched.  "  On  turning  the  point  of  woods,  one  house  presented 
in  my  front.  Capt.  Price  was  ordered  to  assault  that  with  40  men. 
He  executed  the  command  with  great  gallantry,  and  killed  two 
wrarriors."  This  remarkably  "gallant"  exploit  doubtless  was  the 
means  of  saving  many  human  livesj  otherwise  totally  surprised  on 
this  early  June  morning.  Gen.  Scott  continues  : 

"When  I  gained  the  summit  of  the  eminence  which  overlooks  the 
villages  on  the  banks  of  the  Wabash,  I  discovered  the  enemy  in  great 
confusion,  endeavoring  to  make  their  escape  over  the  river  in  canoes.  I 
instantly  ordered  Lieutenant  Colonel  commanding  Wilkinson  to  rush 
forward  with  the  first  battalion.  The  order  was  executed  with  prompti 
tude,  and  this  detachment  gained  the  bank  of  the  river  just  as  the  rear 
of  the  enemy  had  embarked  ;  and,  regardless  of  a  brisk  tire  kept  up  from 
a  Kickapoo  town  011  the  opposite  bank,  they,  in  a  few  minutes,  by  a  well 
directed  fire  from  the  rifles,  destroyed  all  the  savages  with  which  five 
canoes  were  crowded."* 

How  this  attack  differed  from  a  regular  murderous  Indian  raid, 
is  left  to  the  discovery  of  the  reader ;  as  also,  how  many  of  the  enemy 
,wcre  women  and  children.  "Many  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  village 
(Ouiatenon)  were  French  and  lived  in  a  state  of  civilization.  By 
the  books,  letters,  and  other  documents  found  there,  it  is  evident 
that  the  place  was  in  close  connection  with  and  dependent  on 
Detroit.  A  large  quantity  of  corn,  a  variety  of  household  goods, 
peltry,  and  other  articles,  were  burned  with  this  village,  which 
consisted  of  about  70  houses,  many  of  them  well  finished.''!  Col. 
John  Hardiii,  "burning  to  retrieve  his  fame,"  was  sent  with  a  de 
tachment  to  a  village  six  miles  down  the  river,  where  he  killed  six 
warriors  and  took  fifty-two  prisoners.  In  the  meantime  another 
force  under  Col.  Wilkinson  had  crossed  the  swollen  river  at  a 
secluded  place  two  miles  above  and  proceeded  on  the  opposite 
bank  to  dislodge  the  refractory  Kickapoos.  On  the  following  day 
Col.  W.  was  again  detached  with  a  force  of  360,  on  foot,  to  destroy 
the  town  of  Kethtipenunk  (Tippecanoe)  which  was  done,  no  doubt 
"gallantly."  Gen.  St.  Clair  in  a  letter  to  Washington  dated  Sept. 
14,  1798,  says  the  Kentuckians  were  "in  the  habit  of  retaliating, 
perhaps,  without  attending  precisely  to  the  nations  from  which 
the  injuries  are  received." 

In  August,  Col.  Wilkinson,  with  an  independent  command,  sur 
prised  the  natives  on  Eel  river.  urfhe  men,"  says  Wilkinson, 
"forcing  their  way  over  every  obstacle,  plunged  through  the  river 
•with  vast  intrepidity.  The  enemy  was  unable  to  make  the  smallest 
resistance.  Six  warriors,  and  (in  the  hurry  and  confusion  of  the 
charge)  two  squaws  and  a  child  were  killed,  34  prisoners  (squaws 
and  children)  were  taken,  and  an  unfortunate  captive  released, 
with  the  loss  of  two  men  killed  and  one  wounded."  Four  thousand 

*Am.  State  Papers,  V.  131. 
tScott's  tteport. 


NORTHWESTERN  TERRITORY.  221 

acres  of  corn  were  destroyed,  and  the  cabins  burned.*  He  was 
voted  the  thanks  of  congress. 

On  the  early  morning  of  November  4,  1791,  occurred  that  most 
disastrous  defeat  of  Gen.  St.  Clair,  in  western  Ohio,  on  a  small 
branch  of  the  Wabash;  b3~  9  o'clock  a.  m.  his  beaten  and  confused 
army,  what  little  was  left  of  it,  was  in  a  complete  and  precipitate 
rout  toward  Fort  Jefferson,  distance  29  miles.  From  the  first 
onset,  the  troops  were  thrown  into  disorder  and  confusion  by  the 
murderous  tire  of  the  savages,  and  panic  reigned  supreme.t  The 
loss  was  890  out  of  a  force  of  1400  engaged  in  battle.  "Six  hundred 
skulls,"  writes  George  Mill  from  General  Wayne's  army  which 
camped  on  the  battle  field  three  years  later,  "were  gathered  up 
and  buried  j  when  we  went  to  lay  down  in  our  tents  at  night,  we 
had  to  scrape  the  bones  together  and  carry  them  out,  to  make  our 
beds."!  The  Indians  engaged  were  estimated  at  1040.  Little 
Turtle,  Mecheeunaqua,  chief  of  the  Miamis,  was  in  command. 
The  battle  field  was  afterwards  known  as  Fort  Recovery. 

The  general  gwernment  made  repeated  efforts,  both  before  and 
during  the  war,  to  arrange  a  peace  upon  a  fair  equivalent  for  the 
lands  of  the  aborigines.  But  the  red  men  flushed  with  victories, 
and  influenced  by  the  artful  whispers  of  the  British  emissaries, 
closed  their  ears  to  every  appeal  for  peace,  and  rejected  proposition 
after  proposition;  nothing  but  the  boundary  line  of  the  Ohio  would 
be  entertained  as  a  basis  for  peace.  At  the  foot  of  the  Maumee 
Rapids,  August  13,  1793,  16  of  the  confederated  nations  being 
represented  in  ccfuncil,  replied  to  the  American  peace  commis 
sioners  : 

"Brothers :    We  shall  be  persuaded  that  you  mean  to  do  us  justice,  if 

S>u  agree  that  the  Ohio  shall  remain  the  boundary  line  between  us.  *  * 
ODey  to  us  is  of  no  value  ;  and  to  most  of  us  unknown  ;  and,  as  no  con 
sideration  whatever  can  induce  us  to  sell  the  lands  on  which  we  get 
sustenance  for  our  women  and  children,  we  hope  we  may  be  allowed  to 
point  out  a  mode  by  which  your  settlers  may  be  easily  removed,  and 
peace  thereby  obtained. 

"Brothers:  We  know  that  these  settlers  are  poor,  or  they  would  never 
have  ventured  to  live  in  a  country  which  has  been  in  continual  trouble 
ever  since  they  crossed  the  Ohio.  Divide,  therefore,  this  large  sum  of 
money,  which  you  have  offered  to  us,  among  these  people.  Give  to  each, 
also,  a  proportion  of  what  you  say  you  would  give  to  us,  annually,  over 
and  above  this  very  large  sum  of  money  ;  and  as  we  are  persuaded,  they 
would  most  readily  accept  of  it  in  lieu  of  the  land  you  sold  them.  If  you 
add,  also,  the  great  sums  you  must  expend  in  raising  and  paying  armies, 
with  a  view  to  force  us  to  yield  you  our  country,  you  will  certainly  have 
more  than  sufficient  for  the  purpose  of  repaying  these  settlers  for  all  their 
labor  and  their  improvements.  •*  *  We  want  peace.  Eestore  to  us  our 
country,  and  we  shall  be  enemies  no  longer." 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  illustrating  our  dealings  with  the  Indians, 
that  a  treaty  of  peace  and  friendship  was  entered  into  at  Vin- 
cennes,  September  27,  1792,  by  Brig.  Gen.  Rufus  Putnam,  accom 
panied  by  John  Heckvelder  and  31  Indians  of  the  Wabash  and 
Illinois  tribes,  the  4th  article  of  which  contained  the  following 
language : 

"Art.  4.  The  United  States  solemnly  guaranty  to  the  Wabash 
and  Illinois  nations  or  tribes  of  Indians,  all  the  lands  to  which 
they  have  a  just  claim  j  and  no  part  shall  ever  be  taken  from  them 

*Wilkinson's  Report. 

tAin.  State  Papers, 

$Am.  Pioneer— Wayne's  Statement. 


222  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

but  by  a  fair  purchase,  and  to  their  satisfaction.  That  the  lands 
originally  belonged  to  the  Indians ;  it  is  theirs,  and  theirs  only. 
That  they  have  a  right  to  sell,  and  a  right  to  refuse  to  sell.  And 
that  the  United  States  will  protect  them  in  their  said  rights." 

When  the  treaty,  which  contained  7  articles,  was  laid  before  the 
United  States  Senate,  the  4th  article  was  objectionable,  and  after 
much  deliberation,  it  was,  Jan.  1),  1794,  rejected  by  a  vote  Of  21  to 
4.— Senate  Jour.  1.  128  to  140. 

The  Illinois  settlements  were  fortunately  beyond  the  main 
theatre  of  this  savage  war;  still,  owing  to  the  general  hostility 
of  nearly  all  the  tribes,  their  depredations  were  each  year  extended 
to  them,  and  a  comparatively  great  number  of  barbarous  murders 
were  committed  by  the  Kickapoos.  These  we  will  give  condensed 
from  the  "Annals  of  the  AVest,"  pages  700  to  705 : 

In  1783,  a  single  murder,  that  of  James  Flannory,  was  first  committed 
while  on  a  hunting  excursion,  but  it  was  not  accounted  ail  act  of  war. 
In  1786  the  Indians  attacked  the  American  settlements,  killed  James 
Andrews,  his  wife  and  daughter,  James  White  and  Samuel  McClure, 
and  two  girls,  daughters  of  Andrews  were  taken  prisoners.  One  of  these 
died  with  the  Indians,  and  the  other  was  ransomed  by  French  traders. 
She  is  now  (1850)  alive,  the  mother  of  a  large  family,  aud  resides  in  St. 
Clair  county.  The  Indians  had  previously  threatened  the  settlement, 
and  the  people  had  built  and  entered  a  blockhouse  ;  but  this  family  was 
out  and  defenceless. 

1787.  Early  in  this  year,  five  families  near  Bellefountaine,  united  and 
built  a  blockhouse,  surrounded  it  with  palisades,  in  which  these  families 
resided.     While  laboring  in  the  corn  field  they  were  obliged  to  carry 
their  rifles,  and  often  at  night  had  to  keep  guard.     Under  these  embar 
rassments,  and  in  daily  alarm,  they  cultivated  their  corn-fields. 

1788.  This  year  the  war  assumed  a  more  threatening  aspect.     Early  in 
the  spring,  William  Biggs  was  taken  prisoner.     While  himself,  John 
Vallis,  and  Joseph  and  Benjamin  Ogle,  were  passing  from  the  station  on 
the  hills  to  the  blockhouse  fort  in  the  bottom,  they  were  attacked  by  the 
Indians.  *  Biggs  and  Vallis  were  a  few  rods  in  advance    of  the  party. 
Vallis  was  killed  and  Biggs  taken  prisoner.  The  others  escaped  unhurt. 
Biggs  was  taken  through  the  prairies  to  the  Kickapoo  towns  011  the 
W abash,  from  whence  he  was  finally  liberated  by  means  of  the  French 
traders.     The  Indians  treated  him  well,  offered  him  the  daughter  of  a 
brave  for  a  wife,  and  proposed  to  adopt  him  into  their  tribe.    He  after 
wards  became  a  resident  of  St.  Clair  county,  was  a  member  of  the  terri 
torial  legislature,  judge  of  the  county  court,  and  wrote  and  published  a 
narrative  of  his  captivity  among  the  Indians. 

On  the  10th  day  of  December,  in  the  same  year,  James  Garrison  and 
Benjamin  Ogle,  while  hauling  hay  from  tbe  bottom,  were  attacked  by 
two  Indians  ;  Ogle  was  shot  in  the  shoulder,  where  the  ball  remained; 
Garrison  sprang  from  the  load  and  escaped  into  the  woods.  The  horses 
taking  fright,  carried  Ogle  safe  to  the  settlement.  In  stacking  the  same 
hay,  Samuel  Garrison  and  Mr.  Riddick  were  killed  and  scalped. 

17S9.  This  was  a  period  of  considerable  mischief.  Three  boys  were 
attacked  by  six  Indians,  a  few  yards  from  the  blockhouse,  one  of  which, 
David  Waddel,  was  struck  with  a  tomahawk  in  three  places,  scalped, 
and  yet  recovered  ;  the  others  escaped  unhurt.  A  short  time  previous, 
James  Turner,  a  young  man,  was  killed  on  the  American  bottom.  Two 
men.  were  afterwards  killed  and  scalped  while  on  their  way  to  St.  Louis. 
In  another  instant,  two  men  were  attacked  on  a  load  of  hay,  one  was 
killed  outright,  the  other  was  scalped,  but  recovered.  The  same  year 
John  Ferrel  was  killed,  and  John  Deinphsey  was  scalped  and  made  his 
escape.  The  Indians  frequently  stole  the  horses  and  cattle  of  the 
settlers. 

1790.  The  embarrassments  of  these  frontier  people  greatly  increased, 
and  they  lived  iu  continual  alarm.  In  the  winter,  a  party  of  Osage  In 
dians,  who  had  not  molested  hitherto,  came  across  the  Mississippi,  stole  a 
number  of  horses  and  attempted  t^  recross  the  river.  The  Americans 


NORTHWESTERN  TERRITORY.  223 

followed  and  fired  upon  them.  James  Worley,  an  old  settler,  having 
got  in  advance  of  his  party,  was  shot,  scalped,  and  his  head  cut  off  and 
left  on  the  sand-bar. 

The  same  year,  James  Smith,  a  Baptist  preacher  from  Kentucky,  while 
on  a  visit  to  these  frontiers,  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Kickapoos.  On 
the  19th  of  May.  in  company  with  Mrs.  Huff  and  a  Frenchman,  he  was 
proceeding  from  the  blockhouse  to  a  settlement  then  known  by  the  name 
of  Little  Village.  The  Kickapoos  fired  upon  them  from  an  ambuscade 
near  Bellefountaine,  killed  the  Frenchman's  horse,  sprang  upon  the 
woman  and  her  child,  whom  they  despatched  with  a  tomahawk,  and  took 
Smith  prisoner.  His  horse  being  shot,  he  attempted  to  flee  on  foot ;  and 
having  some  valuable  papers  in  his  saddle  bags,  he  threw  them  into  a 
thicket,  where  they  were  found  next  day  by  his  friend.  Having  retreated 
a  few  yards  down  the  hill,  he  fell  on  his  knees  in  prayer  for  the  poor 
woman  they  were  butchering,  and  who  had  been  seriously  impressed, 
for  some  days,  about  religion.  The  Frenchman  escaped  on  foot  in  the 
thickets.  The  Indians  soon  had  possession  of  Smith,  loaded  him  with 
packs  of  plunder  which  they  had  collected,  and  took  up  their  line  of 
march  through  the  prairies.  Smith  was  a  large,  heavy  man,  and  soon 
became  tired  under  his  heavy  load,  and  with  the  hot  sun.  Several  con 
sultations  were  held  by  the  Indians,  how  to  dispose  of  their  prisoner. 
Some  were  for  despatching  him  outright,  being  fearful  the  whites  would 
follow  them  from  the  settlement,  and  frequently  pointing  their  guns  at 
his  breast.  Knowing  well  the  Indian  character,  he  would  bare  his 
breast  as  if  in  defiance,  and  point  upwards  to  signify  the  Great  Spirit 
was  his  protector.  Seeing  him  in  the  attitude  of  prayer,  and  hearing 
him  singing  hymns  on  his  march,  which  he  did  to  relieve  his  own  mind 
of  despondency,  they  came  to  the  conclusion  that  he  was  a  "great  medi 
cine,"  holding  daily  intercourse  with  the  Good  Spirit,  and  must  not  be 
put  to  death.  After  this,  they  took  off  his  burdens  and  treated  him 
kindly.  They  took  him  to  the  Kickapoo  towns  on  the  Wabash,  where, 
in  a  few  months,  he  obtained  his  deliverance,  the  inhabitants  of  New 
Design  paying  $170  for  his  ransom. 

1791.  In  the  spring  of  this  year,  the  Indians  again  commenced  their 
depredations  by  stealing  horses.    In  May,  John  Dempsey  was  attacked, 
but  made  his  escape.    A  party  of  eight  men  followed.     The  Indians 
were  just  double  their  number.    A  severe  running  fight  was  kept  up  for 
several  hours,  and  conducted  wTith  great  prudence  and  bravery  on  the 
part  of  the  whites.     Each  party  kept  the  trees  for  shelter,  the  Indians 
retreating,  and  the  Americans  pursuing,  from  tree  to  tree  until  night  put 
an  end  to  the  conflict.    Five  Indians  were  killed  without  the  loss  of  a 
man  or  a  drop  of  blood  on  the  other  side.     This  party  consisted  of  Capt. 
Hull,   who  commanded,  Joseph  Ogle,  sen.,  Benjamin  Ogle,  James  N. 
Semen,  sen.,  J.  Ryan,  Wm.  Bryson,  John  Porter,  and  D.  Draper. 

1792.  This  was  a  period  of  comparative  quietness.    No  Indian  fight 
ing  ;  and  the  only  depredations  committed,   were  in  stealing  a  few 
horses. 

1793.  This  was  a  period  of  contention  and  alarm.    The  little  settle 
ments  were  strengthened  this  year  by  the  addition  of  a  band  of  emigrants 
from  Kentucky  ;  among  which  was  the  family  of  Whiteside.     In  Feb 
ruary,  an   Indian  in  ambuscade  wounded  Joel  Whiteside,  and    was 
followed   by  John   Moore,  Andrew  Kinney,   Thos.  Todd,  and  others, 
killed  and  scalped.    Soon  after,  a  party  of  Kickapoos,  supposed  to  have 
been  headed  by  the  celebrated  war  chief,  Old  Pecan,  made  a  predatary 
excursion  into  the  American  bottom,  near  the  present  residence  of  S.  W. 
Miles,  in  Monroe  county,  and  stole  9  horses  from  the  citizens.  A  number 
of  citizens  rallied  and  commenced  pursuit ;  but  many  having  started 
without  preparation  for  long  absence,  and  being  apprehensive  that  an 
expedition  into  the  Indian  country  would  be  attended    with    much 
danger,  all  returned  but  8  men.     This  little  band  consisted  of  Samuel 
Judy,  John  Whiteside,   Wm.   L.   Whiteside,  Uel  \Vhiteside,  William 
Harrington,  John  Dempsey   and  John  Porter,  with  Wm.  Whiteside,  a 
man  of  great  prudence  and  unquestionable  bravery  in  Indian  warfare, 
whom  they  chose  commander. 

They  passed  on  the  trail  near  the  present  site  of  Belleville,  towards  the 
Indian  camps  on  Shoal  Creek,  where  they  found  3  of  the  stolen  horses, . 


224  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

which  they  secured,  The  party  then,  small  as  it  was,  divided  into  two 
parts  of  four  men  each,  and  approached  the  Indian  camps  from  opposite 
sides.  The  signal  for  attack  was  the  discharge  of  the  captain's  gun. 
One  Indian,  a  son  of  Old  Pecan,  was  killed,  another  mortally,  and  others 
slightly  wounded,  as  the  Indians  fled,  leaving  their  guns.  Such  a  display 
of  courage  by  the  whites,  and  being  attacked  on  two  sides  at  once,  made 
them  believe  there  was  a  large  force,  and  the  old  chief  approached  and 
begged  for  quarter.  But  when  he  discovered  his  foes  to  be  an  insignificant 
number,  and  his  own  party  numerous,  he  called  aloud  to  h  is  braves  to  return 
and  retrieve  their  honor.  His  own  gun  he  surrendered  to  the  whites,  but 
now  he  seized  the  gun  of  the  captain,  and  exerted  all  his  force  to  wrest 
it  from  him.  Captain  Whiteside  was  a  powerful  man,  and  a  stranger  to 
fear,  but  he  compelled  the  Indian  to  retire,  deeming  it  dishonorable  to 
destroy  an  unarmed  man,  who  had  previously  surrendered.  This  in 
trepid' band  was  now  in  the  heart  of  the  Indian  country,  ^syhere  hundreds 
of  warriors  could  be  raised  in  a  few  hour's  time.  In  this  critical  situa 
tion,  Capt.  Whiteside,  not  less  distinguished  for  prudence  than  bravery, 
did  not  long  hesitate.  With  the  horses  they  had  recovered,  they  imme 
diately  started  for  home  without  the  loss  of  time  in  hunting  the 
remainder.  They  traveled  night  and  day,  without  eating  or  sleeping, 
till  they  reached  in  safety  Whiteside's  station,  in  Monroe  county.  On 
the  same  night,  Old  Pecan,  with  70  warriors,  arrived  in  the  vicinity 
of  Cahokia.  From  that  time  the  very  name  of  Whiteside  struck  terror 
among  the  Kickapoos.  Hazardous  aud  daring  as  this  expedition  was,  it 
met  with  great  disapprobation  from  many  of  the  settlers.  Some  alleged 
that  Old  Pecan  was  decidedly  friendly  to  the  whites ;  that  another  party 
had  stolen  the  horses;  that  the  attack  upon  his  camp  was  clandestine 
and  wanton  ;  and  that  it  was  the  cause  of  much  subsequent  mischief. 
These  nice  points  of  casuistry  are  difficult  to  be  settled  at  this  period.  It 
has  long  been  known,  that  one  portion  of  a  nation  or  tribe  will  be  on 
the  war  path,  while  another  party  will  pretend  to  be  peaceable.  Hence 
it  has  been  found  necessary  to  hold  the  tribe  responsible  for  the  conduct 
of  its  party. 

1794.  The  Indians,  in  revenge  of  the  attack  just  narrated,  shot  Thos. 
Whiteside,  a  young  many  near  the  'station  ;'  tomahawked  a  son  of  Wm. 
Whiteside,  so  that  he  died,  all  in  revenge  for  the  death  of  Old  Pecan's 
son.     In  February  of  the  same  year,  the  Indians  killed  Mr.  Huff,  one 
of  the  early  settlers,  while  on  his  way  to  Kaskaskia. 

1795.  Two  men  at  one  time,  and  some  French  negroes  at  another 
time  were  killed  on  the  American   bottom,  and  some  prisoners  taken. 
The  same  year  the  family  of  Mr.  McMahon  was  killed  and  himself  and 
daughters  taken  prisoners.     This  man  lived  in  the  outskirts  of  the  settle 
ment.     Four  Indians  attacked  his  house  in  day-light,  killed  his  wife 
and  four  children  before  his  eyes,  laid  their  bodies  in  a  row  on  the  floor 
of  the  cabin,  took  him  and  his  daughters,  and  marched  for  their  towns. 
On  the  second  night,  Mr.  McMahon,  finding  the  Indians  asleep,  put  on 
their  moccasins  and  made  his  escape.     He  arrived  in  the  settlement  just 
after  his  neighbors  had  buried  his  family.     They  had  inclosed  their 
bodies  in  rude  coffins,  and  covered  them  with  earth  as  he  came  in  sight. 
He  looked  at  the  newly  formed  hillock,  and  raising  his  eyes  to  Heaven 
in  pious  resignation,  said,  "they  were  lovely  and  pleasant  in  their  lives, 
and  in  their  death  are  not  divided." 

His  daughter,  now  Mrs.  Catskill,  of  Ridge  Prairie,  was  afterwards 
ransomed  by  the  charitable  contributions  of  the  people.  Not  far  from 
this  period,  the  Whitesides  and  others  to  the  number  of  14  persons,  made 
an  attack  upon  an  encampment  of  Indians  of  superior  force,  at  the  foot 
of  the  bluffs  west  of  Belleville.  Only  one  Indian  ever  returned  to  his 
nation  to  tell  the  story  of  their  defeat.  The  graves  of  the  rest  were  to  be 
seen,  a  few  years  since,  in  the  border  of  the  thicket,  near  the  battle 
ground.  In  this  skirmish  Capt.  Wm.  Whiteside  was  wounded,  as 
thought,  mortally,  having  received  a  shot  in  the  side.  As  he  fell,  he 
exhorted  his-sons  to  fight  valiantly,  not  yield  an  inch  of  ground,  nor 
let  the  Indians  touch  his  body.  Uel  Whiteside,  who  was  shot  in  the 
arm,  and  disabled  from  using  the  rifle,  examined  the  wound,  and  found 
the  ball  had  glanced  along  the  ribs  and  lodged  against  the  spine.  With 
that  presence  of  mind  which  is  sometimes  characteristic  of  our  backwoods 


NORTHWESTERN  TERRITORY.  225 

hunters,  he  whipped  out  his  knife,  gashed  the  skin,  extracted  the  ball, 
and  holding  it  up,  exultingly  exclaimed,  "Father,  you  are  not  dead!" 
The  old  man  instantly  jumped  up  on  his  feet,  and  renewed  the  right,  ex 
claiming,  "Come  on,  boys,  I  can  fight  them  yet!"  Such  instances  of 
desperate  intrepidity  and  martial  energy  of  character,  distinguished  the 
men  who  defended  the  frontiers  of  Illinois  in  those  days  of  peril. 

After  the  defeat  of  St.  Clair,  the  conduct  of  the  war  in  the 
northwest  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Gen.  Anthony  Wayne.  His 
campaign  during  the  summer  of  1794,  which  culminated  in  the 
victory  of  the  20th  of  August  on  the  Maumee,  proved  a  complete 
success.  The  confederated  tribes,  defeated  and  disheartened,  now 
retired  to  wait  the  long  promised  support  of  the  English.  Brant, 
of  the  Iroquois,  said  :  "A  fort  had  been  built  in  their  country  [by 
the  English]  under  pretense  of  giving  refuge  in  case  of  necessity, 
but  when  that  time  came,  the  gates  were  shut  against  them  as 
enemies."*  For  several  years  difficulties  had  existed  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  which  British  Indian  agents 
and  traders  had  seduously  taught  to  red  men  must  speedily  even 
tuate  in  war,  when  they  would  become  their  open  and  powerful 
ally.  But  on  the  19th  of  November,  1794,  after  protracted  nego 
tiations,  Jay,  at  London,  concluded  a  treaty  of  amity,  commerce, 
and  navigation  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  in 
which  the  King  pledged  a  firm  peace  and  agreed  to  withdraw,  by 
the  1st  of  June,  1790,  all  his  troops  and  garrisons  from  the  posts 
within  the  boundary  lines  of  the  United  States,  as  fixed  by  the 
treaty  of  1783.  This  took  away  from  the  Indians  the  last  hope  of 
British  aid,  so  long  promised  them,  and  the  vast  confederation  of 
savage  tribes,  bending  to  their  inevitable  fate,  hastened  to  the 
headquarters  of  Gen.  Wayne  during  the  winter,  and  signed  prelim 
inary  articles  of  peace,  which  resulted  in  the  treaty  of  Greenville, 
and  which,  after  a  protracted  council  with  all  the  sachems,  chiefs, 
and  principal  men  of  the  confederacy,  lasting  from  June  to  August 
3d,  1795,  was  finally  signed.  A  vast  body  of  land  in  Ohio  and 
Indiana,  large  enough  for  a  good  sized  State,  was  ceded  by  the 
confederate  tribes,  besides  1C  tracts  6  miles  square  at  various 
points  in  the  northwest,  among  which  we  note,  as  being  in  Illinois, 
"one  piece  of  laud,  6  miles  square,  at  the  mouth  of  Chicago  river, 
emptying  into  the  south-west  end  of  Lake  Michigan,  where  a  fort 
formerly  stood ;"  one  piece  12  miles  square,  at  or  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Illinois  river,  and  "one  piece  6  miles  square,  at  the  old 
Peorias  fort  and  village,  near  the  south  end  of  the  Illinois  lake,  on 
said  Illinois  river."  The  Indians  also  allowed  free  passage  through 
their  country,  in  Illinois  from  the  mouth  of  the  Chicago  river  and 
over  the  portage  to  the  Illinois  and  down  to  the  Mississippi,  and 
down  the  Wabash.  Under  the  treaty,  of  what  may  be  considered 
Illinois  tribes,  the  Pottawattomies  were  to  receive  an  annual 
stipend  of  $1000  in  goods  (being  as  much  as  any  tribes  received,) 
and  the  Kickapoos,  Piankeshaws,  and  Kaskaskias,  $500  each.t 

And  now,  as  the  news  of  this  important  treaty  spead  abroad, 
the  retarded  tide  of  emigration  began  to  flow  with  a  steadily  aug 
menting  stream  into  these  territories ;  apprehension  of  danger 
from  the  Indians  was  banished,  and  friendly  intercourse  succeeded 
former  enmity ;  forts,  stations,  and  stockades  were  abandoned  to 
decay  ;  the  hardy  pioneer  pushed  ever  forward  and  extended  the 

*Am.  State  Papers,  V. 
tScott's  Brant,  IT,  390. 

15 


226  HISTORY  OF   ILLINOIS. 

frontier ;  and  men  of  capital  and  enterprise,  securing  titles  to  ex 
tensive  bodies  of  fertile  lands,  organized  colonies  for  their  occupa 
tion,  and  thus  the  wilderness  under  tlie  tread  of  civilization  was 
made  to  blossom  as  the  rose. 

By  an  act  of  congress,  1791,  400  acres  of  land  were  granted  to 
all  heads  of  families  who  made  improvements  in  Illinois  prior  to 
1788,  except  village  improvements.  These  rights  were  commonly 
designated  as  ahead-riglits."  A  list  of  names  of  heads  of  families, 
who  settled  in  Illinois  previous  to  the  year  1788,  entitling  them  to 
these  donations,  which  included  also  non-residents  who  should 
return  in  five  year's  time  to  occupy  their  claims,  shows  a  total 
number  of  244  claimants,  80  of  whom  were  Americans.  By  allow 
ing  the  usual  number  of  5  souls  to  the  family,  we  have  a  popula 
tion  in  that  year  of  1220.  This  excluded  negroes.  Before  1791, 
under  the  militia  law  of  the  governor  and  judges,  the  muster  roll 
gives  about  300  men  capable  of  bearing  arms,  of  which  number 
65  only  were  Americans.* 

In  1797  a  colony  of  126  persons— the  largest  which  had  yet 
arrived — were  most  fatally  stricken  with  disease,  They  were  from 
Virginia,  had  descended  the  Ohio  in  the  spring,  and  landed  at  Ft. 
Massac,  from  which  they  made  their  way  across  the  land  to  the 
New  Design.  This  place,  in  the  present  county  of  Monroe,  was 
established  in  1782.  It  was  located  on  an  elevated  and  beautiful 
plateau  of  ground,  barren  of  timber,  which  commanded  a  view  of 
both  the  Kaskaskia  and  Mississippi  rivers.  The  season  was  ex 
ceedingly  wet,  the  weather  extremely  warm,  and  the  roads  heavy 
and  muddy.  The  colonists  toiled  through  the  woods  and  swamps 
of  Southern  Illinois  for  26  days,  distance  about  135  miles.  They 
were  worn  down,  sick,  and  almost  famished.  Arrived  at  their 
destination,  they  found  among  the  old  settlers  long  harrassed  by 
Indian  warfare,  from  which  they  had  not  recovered,  but  poor  ac 
commodations.  There  was  no  lack  of  hospitality  in  feeling,  but 
that  did  not  enlarge  the  cabins,  which  usually  contained  but  one 
room,  into  many  of  which  3  and  4  families  were  now  crowded  with 
their  sick  and  all.  Food  was  insufficient,  salt  was  very  scarce, 
and  medical  aid  was  almost  out  of  the  question.  A  putrid  and 
malignant  fever  broke  out  among  the  newcomers,  attended  by  such 
fatality  as  to  sweep  half  of  them  into  the  grave  by  the  approach 
of  winter.  No  such  fatal  disease  ever  appeared  before  or  since  in 
the  country.f  The  old  inhabitants  were  not  affected.  The  intelli 
gence  of  this  unwonted  mortality  produced  abroad  the  wrongful 
impression  that  Illinois  was  a  sickly  country,  which  tended  no 
little  to  retard  immigration.  It  is  now  well  established  that  Illinois 
is  far  healthier  than  many  of  her  western  sisters. 

Among  the  first  Americans  who  formed  settlements  remote  from 
the  French,  a  great  want  was  mills.  The  latter  had  had  their 
wind  mills  and  water  mills  since  a  very  early  date;  but  with  their 
hegira  the  wind  mills  fell  into  decay,  and  for  the  others  the  water 
frequently  failed,  and  the  Americans  were  compelled  to  have 
recourse  to  other  means.  The  simplest  modes  of  trituration  was 
by  means  of  the  grater  and  the  mortar.  The  first  consisted  in  the 
brisk  rubbing  of  an  ear  of  corn  over  a  piece  of  tin  closely  pierced 
with  orifices.  The  mortar  was  extemporized  by  excavating  with 

'Reynold's  Pioneer  Hist. 
t  Western  Annals. 


NORTHWESTERN  TERRITORY.  227 

fire  the  butt  of  a  good  sized  short  log,  up-ended,  sufficiently  deep 
to  hold  a  peck  or  more  of  corn.  Over  this  was  erected  a  sweep 
to  lift,  by  counter- traction,  a  piston  with  a  firm,  blunt  end, 
which  served  to  pound  the  corn  into  meal.  To  these  primitive  and 
laborious  processes,  succeeded,  in  the  order  of  their  simplicity  and 
in  due  time,  hand  mills,  band  mills,  horse  mills,  and  last  water 
mills.t 

From  1788  to  1795,  Gov.  St.  Glair  and  the  Judges  of  the  north 
western  territory,  in  their  legislative  capacity,  adopted  04  stat 
utes,  38  at  Cincinnati  in  the  last  named  year/  In  April,  1798, 11 
more  were  adopted.*  Four-fifths  of  these  laws  were  imported 
from  Penuslvania,  and  a  few  from  Massachusetts  and  Virginia. 
This  gave  to  the  country  a  complete  system  of  statute  law,  which 
was  perhaps  but  little  inferior  to  that  of  any  of  the  States  at  that 
early  period.  Among  them  was  the  common  law  of  England  and 
statutes  of  Parliament  in  aid  thereof, of  a  general  nature  and  not  local 
to  that  Kingdom, down  to  the  4th  year  of  the  reign  of  James  I;  which 
is  the  law  in  Illinois  to  this  day,  except  as  varied  by  statute.  From 
it  we  derive  all  those  fundamental  principles  of  the  British  Consti 
tution  which  secure  to  the  citizen  personal  liberty  and  protection 
to  life  and  property — the  habeas  corpus,  trial  by  jury,  &c.  This 
was  imported  from  Virgin i a ;  but  the  bill  of  rights  is  also  in  the 
ordinance  of  1787.  In  1795  the  Governor  also  divided  St.  Glair 
county  in  Illinois  by  running  aline  through  the  New  Design  settle 
ment  in  the  present  Monroe  county,  due  east  to  the  Wabash — all 
that  country  lying  south  of  it  being  established  into  the  county  of 
Randolph,  named  in  honor  of  Edmund  Randolph,  of  Virginia. 

Before  the  close  of  the  year  1796,  the  white  population  of  Ohio 
alone  was  ascertained  to  exceed  5,000.  By  the  ordinance  of  1787, 
the  country  was  entitled  to  the  2d  grade  of  territorial  government 
so  soon  as  it  should  contain  5,000  white  inhabitants.  There  being 
no  longer  any  doubt  regarding  this,  Gov.  St.  Glair,  October  29, 
1798,  issued  his  proclamation  directing  the  qualified  voters  to 
hold  elections  for  territorial  representatives  on  the  3d  Monday  of 
December,  1798.  From  Illinois,  Shadrach  Bond,  subsequently  the 
first  governor  of  this  State,  was  elected.  The  representatives 
elect  were  convened  January  22d,  1799,  at  Cincinnati.  In  accord 
ance  with  the  provision  of  the  ordinance  of  1787,  they  nominated  10 
men  to  the  President  of  the  IT.  S.  (Adams)  to  select  5  from,  who 
were  to  constitute  the  legislative  council.  These  were  confirmed 
by  the  Senate  of  the  U.  S.,  March  22,  1799.  The  assembly,  after 
making  the  nominations  for  the  council,  immediately  adjourned  to 
September  16th  following,  at  which  time  both  houses  met,  though 
they  did  not  perfect  their  organization  till  the  24th.  This  was  the 
first  time  that  the  people  of  this  country,  through  their  representa 
tives,  enacted  their  own  laws  for  their  own  local  government.  The 
Legislature  confirmed  many  of  the  laws  enacted  by  the  governor 
and  judges,  and  passed  48  new  ones,  the  governor  vetoing  11. 
They  were  prorogued  December  19,  1799.t 

^Reynold's  Pioneer  History. 

*Dillon's  Ind.  I.    Chase's  Statute  1790,  1795. 

tSee  Dillons's  Ind,,  Vol.  11. 


228  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 


NOTABLE  WOMEN  OF  THE  OLDEN  TIME. 

Mrs.  LeCompt. — Among  the  ladies  of  Illinois  at  the  close  of  the 
last  and  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  presenting  such 
marked  characteristics  as  to  leave  their  impress  upon  the  period 
of  their  existence,  we  cannot  in  justice  forbear  to  mention  a  few. 
The  first  which  we  notice  was  the  well  known  Mrs.  LeCompt. 
She  was  born  in  1734,  of  French  parents,  on  the  eastern  shore  of 
Lake  Michigan,  at  the  old  station  on  the  St.  Joseph.  This  was  the 
country  of  the  warlike  Pottawatomie  tribe  of  Indians.  Throughout 
her  long  life  Mrs.  LeCompt  had  ever  the  western  savage  for  a 
neighbor.  She  early  became  proficient  in  the  dialect  of  the 
Indians  and  gained  a  deep  insight  into  their  character.  She  was 
married  at  Mackinaw,  settled  with  her  husband,  whose  name  was 
St.  Ange,  or  Pelate,  at  Chicago,  but  subsequently  removed  to  Ca- 
hokia,  and,  her  husband  dying,  she  here  married  Mr.  LeCompt,  a 
Canadian.  From  this  marriage  sprung  one  of  the  largest  French 
families  in  Illinois.  Later  in  life,  after  the  death  of  LeCompt,  she 
married  again,  this  time  that  Thomas  Brady  who  conducted  an  un 
fortunate  marauding  expedition  against  the  Fort  St.  Joseph  in 
1778.  Of  this  union  no  issue  resulted.  This  extraordinary  woman 
was  possessed  of  an  iron  constitution,  a  strong  mind  and  dauntless 
courage.  Her  person  was  attractive  and  her  manner  winning. 
She  traveled  much,  took  many  long  trips,  and  underwent  much 
exposure  to  the  inclemencies  of  the  weather,  yet  she  was  seldom 
sick.  She  lived  a  hardy  and  frugal  life.  By  her  knowledge  of  the 
Indian  language,  and  a  thorough  appreciation  of  his  character,  she 
acquired  a  wonderful  influence  over  the  tribes,with  which  she  was 
brought  into  contact.  And  this  was  turned  to  a  blessed  account 
for  the  benefit  of  the  settlement  where  she  lived.  From  the  con 
quest  of  Clark,  the  French,  as  we  have  seen,  sided  with  the 
Americans,  while  the  Indians  adhered  to  the  British.  From  that 
time  down  to  the  peace  of  Greenville,  in  1795,  the  old  kindly 
feeling  between  the  French  and  Indians  was  more  or  less  inter 
rupted,  and  many  a  meditated  attack  upon  Cahokia  did  Mrs. 
LeCompt  frustrate  by  her  rare  sagacity  and  friendly  counsel  with 
the  savages.  It  is  said,  that  such  was  the  infatuated  friendship  of 
the  savages  for  her,  that  they  would  invariably  advise  her  in 
advance  of  their  meditated  attack  upon  the  village.  It  was  upon 
such  occasions  that  the  heroine  within  her  would  become  manifest. 
In  the  dead  hour  of  night  she  would  go  forth  from  the  village  to 
meet  the  warrior  hosts,  often  camped  near  the  foot  of  the  Quentin 
mound,  at  the  foot  of  the  bluffs,  or  wherever  they  might  be ;  in 
their  vicinity,  dismiss  her  attendants,  and  solitary  and  alone  pro 
ceed  on  foot  amid  the  savage  horde.  Such  devotion  to  her  people 
and  such  courage  in  a  woman,  joined  by  her  ready  wit,  would 
awaken  a  chord  of  sympathy  in  the  warrior's  breast.  At  times  she 
would  remain  among  them  for  days,  pleading  for  the  delivery  of 
her  village,  counseling  peace,  and  appeasing  tire  anger  of  the 
savages.  Her  efforts  were  not  intermitted  until  she  was  well  con 
vinced  that  the  storm  was  allayed  and  bloodshed  averted.  At 
such  times  the  young  men  of  the  village  were  mostly  away  on  the 
chase,  or  as  boatmen  down  the  river,  while  the  remaining  inhabi 
tants,  terror  stricken,  would  arm  themselves  for  such  defence  as 


NORTHWESTERN  TERRITORY.  229 

'•hey  were  capable  of.  What  would  be  their  joy  to  see  this  extraor 
dinary  woman  escorting  a  swarthy  band  of  warriors  to  the  village, 
changed  from  foes  to  friends  !  (The  Indians,  upon  such  occasion, 
would  paint  themselves  black  to  manifest  their  sorrow  for  their 
infernal  murderous  intent  upon  ttteir  friends.)  After  a  thorough 
feasting  of  the  savages,  sometimes  for  days,  their  reconciliation 
would  "usually  last  some  time.  Mrs.  LeCompt,  as  she  was  still 
called  after  Brady's  death,  lived  to  the  extreme  age  of  109  years. 
She  died  in  1843,  at  Cahokia.  Ex-Gov.  Eeynolds,  from  whose 
pioneer  history  we  are  in  great  part  indebted  for  the  above 
account,  says  he  knew  her  well  for  30  years. 

Mrs.  John  Edgar. — This  accomplished  woman,  the  center  of 
fashion  for  remote  Illinois  in  the  olden  time,  presided  for  many 
years  with  equal  grace  and  dignity  over  her  husband's  splendid 
mansion  at  Kaskaskia,  the  abode  of  hospitality  and  resort  of  the 
elite  for  near  a  half  century.  It  was  in  the  spacious  and  elegantly 
furnished  parlors  of  this  house  that  La  Fayette,  on  his  visit  to 
Illinois  in  1825,  was  sumptuously  entertained,  by  a  banquet  and 
ball.  Mrs.  Edgar's  name  merits  high  rank  on  the  scroll  of  revolu 
tionary  heroines.  By  birth,  education,  and  sympathy,  she  was 
American,  but  her  husband,  John  Edgar,  was  an  officer  in  the 
British  navy,  fighting  against  the  colonies  in  their  struggle  for 
liberty  and  independence.  By  her  talent,  shrewdness,  and  above 
all,  her  patriotic  devotion  to  her  country,  she  won  over  not  only 
the  heart  of  her  husband  to  the  American  cause,  but  was  the  pro 
jector  of  many  plans  by  which  soldiers  in  the  British  army  were 
induced  to  quit  and  join  the  ranks  of  the  patriots.  She  had,  upon, 
one  occasion,  arranged  a  plan  of  escape  for  three  soldiers  and  was 
to  furnish  them  guns,  American  uniforms,  etc.,  and  all  needful  in 
formation  to  enable  them  to  reach  the  patriot  camp.  When  they 
came  she  was  absent  from  home,  but  her  husband,  a  confidante  of 
all  her  operations,  notwithstanding  his  position  in  the  enemy's 
navy,  supplied  them  with  the  outfit  prepared  for  them  by  her. 
But  the  deserters  were  apprehended,  returned  to  the  British  camp, 
and  compelled  to  divulge  the  names  of  their  abettors.  This  impli 
cated  Edgar  and  he  fled-,  remaining  a  while  in  the  American  army 
he  deemed  it  safer  for  his  life  to  seek  greater  seclusion  and  came 
to  Kaskaskia.  His  property  was  confiscated ;  but  the  rare  sagacity 
of  his  patriotic  and  devoted  wife,  who  remained  back,  enabled  her 
to  save  from  the  wreck  some  $12,000,  with  which  she  joined  her 
husband  two  years  afterwards  in  his  western  home.*  Their  union 
was  childless;  but  they  were  for  many  years  the  most  wealthy 
family  in  Illinois.  Edgar  was  a  large,  portly  man.  A  county  of 
the  State  perpetuates  his  name. 

Mrs.  Robert  Morrison. — This  talented  lady  was  a  rare  acquisition 
to  the  society  of  Kaskaskia.  Reared  and  educated  in  the  monu 
mental  city,  she,  in  1805,  accompanied  her  brother,  Col.  Donaldson, 
to  St.  Louis,  in  the  far  off  wilds  of  the  west,  whither  he  was  sent 
as  a  commissioner  to  investigate  the  land  titles.  But  the  west 
became  her  permanent  home.  She  was  married  the  following  year 
to  llobert  Morrison,  of  Kaskaskia,  which  place  became  her  resi 
dence  thenceforth.  Well  educated,  sprightly  and  energetic,  her 
mind  was  gifted  with  originality  and  romance.  uHer  delight  was 

*8ee  Hist.  Sketch  of  Randolph  &  Co.  and  Reynold's  Pioneer  Hist. 
^Reynold's  Pioneer  Hist,  of  Ills. 


230  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS 

in  the  rosy  fields  of  poetry."t  Her  pen  was  seldom  idle.  She  com 
posed  with  a  ready  facility  and  her  writings  possessed  a  high 
degree  of  merit.  Her  contributions  to  the  scientific  publications 
of  W.  Walsh,  of  Philadelphia,  and  other  periodicals  of  the  time, 
both  verse  and  prose,  were  m^ch  admired.  Nor  did  the  political 
questions  of  the  day  escape  her  ready  pen.  The  discussion  of 
these  topics  in  our  newspapers  were  eagerly  read  by  the  politicians 
of  Illinois.  A  feat  of  much  ingenuity  was  her  work  of  remoddliug 
and  converting  into  verse  the  Psalms  of  David.  The  volume  was 
presented  to  the  Philadelphia  Presbytery  and  met  with  high  com 
mendation  for  many  of  its  excellencies,  though  it  was  not  adopted. 
Later  in  life,  she  gave  a  thorough  investigation  to  the  doctrines  of 
religious  sects,  and  after  much  reflection  united  with  the  Catholic 
church.  Possessed  of  great  force  of  character,  and  zealous  and 
ardent  in  whatever  she  espoused,  her  example  and  precepts  con 
tributed  greatly  toward  proselyting  members  to  that  faith.  She 
became  the  mother  of  an  interesting  family.  Some  of  her  sons 
have  been  quite  conspicious  in  the  affairs  of  this  State.  Mrs. 
Morrison  lived  to  an  advanced  age,  and  died  at  Belleville  in 
1843. 

VOUDOUISM  OR  WITCHCRAFT  IN  ILLINOIS. 

It  is  recorded}:  that  at  least  two  human  lives  have  fallen  a  sacri 
fice  to  the  miserable  superstition  of  witchcraft  in  Illinois  in  early 
times.  An  African  slave  by  the  name  of  Moreau  was,  about  the 
year  1790,.  hung  on  a  tree  a  little  ways  southeast  of  Cahokia, 
charged  with  and  convicted  of  this  imaginary  crime.  He  had  ac 
knowledged,  it  is  said,  that  by  his  power  of  devilish  incantation 
"he  had  poisoned  his  master,  but  that  his  mistress  had  proved  too 
powerful  lor  his  necromancy,"*  and  this  it  seems  was  fully  believed, 
and  he  was  executed.  The  case  was  murder  j  but  there  was  at  this 
period  a  very  imperfect  administration  of  the  laws  in  Illinois,  lu 
the  same  village,  ignorant!  y  inspired  by  a  belief  in  the  existence 
of  this  dread  power  of  diabolism,  another  negro's  life  was  offered 
up  to  the  Moloch  of  superstition,  by  being  shot  down  in  the  public 
streets.  An  old  negress  of  that  .vicinity,  named  Janette,  commonly 
reputed  to  possess  the  supernatural  power  of  destroying  life  and 
property  by  the  potency  of  her  incantations,  inspired  such  terror 
by  her  appearance  that  adults  as  well  as  children  would  flee  at 
her  approach.  It  was  a  very  common  feeling  among  the  French 
to  dread  to  incur  in  any  way  the  displeasure  of  certain  old  colored 
people,  under  the  vague  belief  and  fear  that  they  possessed  a 
clandestine  power  by  which  to  invoke  the  aid  of  the  evil  one  to 
work  mischief  or  injury  to  person  or  property.  Nor  was  this  belief 
solely  confined  to  the  French,  or  this  power  ascribed  only  to  the 
colored  people.  An  old  woman  living  on  Silver  Creek  was  almost 
generally  accredited  with  the  power  of  witchcraft,  which,  it  was 
believed,  she  exercised  in  taking  milk  from  her  neighbor's  cows  at 
pleasure,  without  the  aid  of  any  physical  agency.  The  African's 
belief  in  fetishes,  and  the  power  of  their  divination,  is  well-known. 
Many  superstitious  blacks  in  this  country  have  claimed  the  descent 
to  them  of  fetish  power;  the  infatuation  regarding  voudouism, 
formerly  so  wide  spread,  is  not  yet  extinct  among  many  ignorant 

^Reynold's  Pioneer  Hist. 


NORTHWESTERN  TERRITORY.  231 

blacks  of  Louisiana,  as  we  read  occasionally  from  New  Orleans 
papers.  Renault,. agent  of  the  "Company  of  the  West,"  bought 
in  1720,  at  San  Domingo,  500  slaves  which  he  brought  to  Illinois, 
many  of  whom  were  direct  from  Africa,  and  thus  was  imported 
the  claim  to  this  occult  power,  which,  perhaps,  had  no  difficulty  in 
finding  lodgement  in  the  minds  of  the  superstitious  French  of 
Illinois.  Mankind  have  ever  been  prone  to  superstitious  beliefs; 
there  are  very  many  persons  now  who  are  daily  governed  in  the 
multiplied  aftairs  of  life  by  some  sign,  omen,  or  augery. 

Nor  were  the  red  children  of  the  forest  in  American  free  from 
superstition.  The  brother  of  the  Shawanee  warrior,  Tecumseh, 
named  Lawlelueskaw,  the  loud  voiced,  better  known  as  the  one 
eyed  Prophet,  who  commanded  the  Indians  at  the  battle  of  Tippe- 
canoe,  seeking  to  reform  his  people,  earnestly  declaimed  against 
the  vice  of  witchcraft,  as  well  as  drunkenness,  intermarrying  with 
white  men,  etc.  In  obedience  to  the  commands  of  the  maniteau, 
the  Great  Spirit,  he  fulminated  the  penalty  of  death  against  those 
who  practiced  the  black  art  of  witchcraft  and  magic.  His  vehe 
ment  harrangues  evoked  among  his  followers  a  paroxysm  of 
superstitious  infatuation.  An  old  Delaware  chief,  named  Tate- 
bockoshe,  was  accused  of  witchcraft,  tried,  condemned,  tomahawked 
and  consumed  on  a  pyre.  This  was  enacted  on  the  present  site  of 
Yorktown,  Delaware  county,  Indiana.*  The  chiefs  wife,  his 
nephew,  Billy  Patterson,  and  an  aged  Indian  named  Joshua,  were 
next  accused  of  witchcraft  and  the  two  latter  convicted,  sentenced 
and  burned  to  the  stake;  but  a  brother  of  the  chief's  wife  boldly 
stepped  forward,  seized  his  sister  and  led  her  from,  the  council 
house,  without  opposition  from  those  present,  and  immediately  re 
turned,  and  in  aloud  tone  harangued  the  savages,  exclaiming : 
"Maniteau,  the  evil  spirit  has  come  in  our  midst  and  we  are 
murdering  one  another."  This,  together  with  the  earnest  letter  of 
Gov.  Harrison,  sent  by  special  messenger  in  the  spring  of  180CJ, 
exhorting  the  Indians  to  spurn  the  pretended  prophet,  checked  the 
horrid  delusion.  See  Drake's  Tecuuiseh,  88. 

*He  had  also  offended  by  his  influence  in  bringing  about  the  treaty  of  Aug.  1804,  by 
which  the  chiefs  and  head  men  of  the  Delaware's  ceded  to  the  U.  S.  that  large  tract  of 
land  in  southern  Indiana,  since  known  as  the  "pocket." 


CHAPTER  XX. 

1800-1809— ILLINOIS  AS  PAET  OF  THE  INDIANA  TEEEI- 

TOEY. 

Its  Organization— '-Extinguishing  Indian  Titles  to  Lands — Gov.  Har 
rison's  Facility  in  This — Land  Speculations  and  Frauds  in 
u Improvement-rights"  and  "Head-rights" — Meeting  of  the  Legisla- 
at  Vincennes  in  1805— Statutes  0/1807. 


By  act  of  Congress,  approved  May  7,  1800,  the  large  and 
unwieldy  territory  of  tlie  Northwest  was  divided  ;  all  that  part  of 
it  lying  westward  of  a  line  beginning  oil  the  Ohio  river  opposite 
the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky,  running  thence  north  via  Fort  Eecov- 
ery  to  the  British  possessions,  was  constituted  a  separate  territory 
and  called  Indiana.  It  enclosed  the  present  States  of  Illinois, 
Wisconsin,  Michigan,  and  Indiana  except  a  little  strip  011  the 
eastern  side  between  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky  and  Great  Miami. 
The  white  population  of  the  country  was  estimated  at  4,875,  and 
negro  slaves  135,  while  the  aggregate  number  of  Indians  within 
the  extreme  limits  of  the  territory  was  fairly  reckoned  at  100,000. 
The  seat  of  Government  was  fixed  at  Vincennes,  and  the  ordinance 
of  1787  was  applied  to  the  territory  in  a  modified  form  :  that  clause 
requiring  5,000  free  white  male  inhabitants  of  the  age  of  21  years 
and  upwards,  before  a  general  assembly  could  be  organized,  Avas 
changed  to  the  wish  of  a  simple  majority  of  the  freeholders.  The 
law  was  to  go  into  effect  on  the  4th  of  July  following. 

A  chief  reason  for  making  this  division  was  the  large  extent  of 
the  northwestern  territory,  which  rendered  the  ordinary  operations 
of  government  uncertain  and  the  prompt  and  efficient  administra 
tion  of  justice  almost  impossible.  In  the  three  western  counties — 
Knox,  St.  Clair  and  Randolph,  the  latter  two  in  Illinois,  there  had 
heen  but  one  term  of  court,  having  cognizance  of  crimes,  held  in 
five  years.  Such  immunity  to  offenders  offered  a  safe  asylum  to 
the  vilest  and  most  abandoned  scoundrels.  The  law  of  1791,  con 
firming  titles  and  granting  lands  to  certain  persons  for  military 
services,  and  the  laying  out  thereof,  remained  imexcuted,  causing 
great  discontent  ;*  and  the  unpopularity  of  Governor  St.  Clair  was 
constantly  on  the  increase.  His  unfortunate  campaign  against  the 
Maumee  towns,  which  had  greatly  shaken  the  confidence  of  the 
people,  had  but  rendered  his  conduct  of  civil  affairs  more  arbitra 
ry  and  defiant.  He  vetoed  nearly  every  act  of  the  legislature 
establishing  new  counties,  to  the  great  inconvenience  of  the  people 

'See  report  of  Committee  in  Congress— Am.  State  Pap.  XX,  306. 

232 


INDIANA  TERRITORY.  233 

in  tlieir  transactions  with  clerks  and  recorders,  and  to  the  vexation 
of  suitors  at  law. 

The  territorial  legislature  sitting  a*  Cincinnati,  elected,  on  the 
3d  of  October,  1799,  William  Henry  Harrison,  then  secretary  of 
the  territory,  a  delegate  to  congress,  over  Arthur  St.  Clair,  jun.,  by 
a  vote  of  11  to  10.  The  contest  elicited  wide  and  unusual  interest, 
and  was  not  unattended  by  much  acrimony  and  ill  blood.  The 
St.  Clairs  were  federalists,  and  party  feeling  ran  extremely  high 
in  those  days.  Harrison  was  largely  instrumental  in  Congress  in 
obtaining  the  passage  of  the  act  of  division.  Up  to  this  time  the 
smallest  tract  of  public  lands  which  could  be  entered  was  400 
acres,  except  fractional  pieces  cut  by  important  streams.  This 
was  a  great  hindrance  to  settlement,  and  to  the  poor  our  land  sys 
tem  was  a  curse  rather  than  a  blessing.  Harrison,  fully 
appreciating  this  grievance,  urged  through  Congress  a  law 
authorizing  the  sale  of  the  public  lands  in  tracts  of  320  acres,  with 
a  cash  payment  of  only  one-fourth  and  the  balance  in  one^.  two  and 
three  years.  The  passage  of  this  law  was  regarded  in  the  west  as 
a  public  service  of  the  greatest  importance,  rendering  Harrison  ex 
tremely  popular.  He  was,  May  13,  1800,  appointed  Governor  for 
the  Indiana  territory.  John  Gibson  (he  to  whom  in  1774,  Logan, 
the  great  Indian  chief  had  delivered  his  celebrated  speech),  was 
appointed  secretary :  and  William  Clark,  John  GritMii  and  Henry 
Vauderburgh,  territorial  judges.  In  the  absence  of  the  governor, 
secretary  Gibson  proceeded  in  July  to  put  the  machinery  of  terri 
torial  government  in  motion  by  appointing  the  necessary  local 
officers  for  the  administration  of  the  laws,  &c.  In  January,  1801, 
Governor  Harrison,  having  arrived  at  his  post  of  duty,  immediate 
ly  convened  the  judges  with  himself  at  the  seat  of  government,  for 
the  adoption  of  "such  laws  as  the  exigency  of  the  times"  required, 
and  to  the  discharge  of  such  other  duty  for  the  government  of  the 
territory  as  congress  had  by  law  imposed  upon  them.  They 
remained  in  session  two  weeks,  passing  several  resolutions  provi 
ding  payment  for  various  services,  and  adopted  a  number  of  laws, 
one  providing  for  the  establishment  of  courts  of  quarter  sessions 
of  the  peace  in  the  counties  of  St.  Clair,  Randolph  and  Knox.  A 
term  of  the  general  court  for  the  territory  at  large,  was  commenced 
by  the  three  judges  on  the  3d  of  March,  1801.  Thus  the  first 
grade  of  territorial  government  was  put  in  full  working  order. 

The  purchase  of  Louisana  from  France  having  been  consumma 
ted  in  1803,  that  vast  domain  lying  west  of  the  Mississippi,  was  by 
act  of  Congress,  March  26,  1804,  annexed  to  the  Indiana  territory. 
Gov.  Harrison  and  the  judges,  in  October,  1804,  adopted  the 
necessary  laws  for  the  government  of  the  district  of  Lousiana. 
The  union  was,  however,  of  short  duration ;  March  3,  1 805,  Louis 
iana  was  detached  and  erected  into  a  separate  territory.  Shortly 
after  this  Aaron  Burr  entered  upon  his  treasonable  effort  to  wrest 
from  the  United  States  this  large  domain  and  to  found  his  south 
western  empire.  To  organize  an  expedition  for  his  enterprise,  he 
visited,  among  other  places  in  the  west,  Vincennes  and  Kankaskia, 
and  induced  a  few  men  of  the  territory  to  enroll  their  names  on  the 
list  of  his  followers ;  but  the  scheme  came  speedily  to  naught — his 
men  abandoned  it,  and  he  was  arrested  in  Mississippi  in  the  spring 
of  1807.  After  the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  it  became  desirable  to 
learn  Something  respecting  the  vast  region  lying  between  the  Mis- 


234  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

sissippi  ami  the  Pacific.  Congress  therefore  authorized  an 
overland  exploring  expedition,  to  the  command  of  which  the 
President  appointed  Captains  Merri weather  Lewis  and  William 
Clark,  the  latter  a  brother  of  Gen.  George  Eogers  Clark.  The 
party,  consisting  of  34  men,  encamped  during  the  winter  of 
1803-4  in  the  American  bottom,  near  the  month  of  Wood  river, 
below  Alton — then  the  ultaina  thnlo  of  the  white  settlements  in  Illi 
nois — and  started  thence  upon  their  toilsome  and  perilous  journey, 
May  14th,  reaching  the  Pacific  November  17,  1805.  The  explorers 
returned  in  safety  to  St.  Louis  about  a  year  the  re' after.  The 
peninsula  of  Michigan  was  also,  by  act  of  Congress,  January  11, 
1805,  detached  from  Indiana  and  erected  into  a  separate  territory, 
the  act  to  take  effect  June  30,  1805. 

The  main  topics  of  interest  during  the  9  years  that  Illinois  con 
stituted  a  part  of  the  Indiana  territory,  were  :  the  acquisition  of 
land  titles  from  the  resident  Indian  tribes,  land  speculations,  and 
the  adjustment  of  land  titles;  negro  slavery;  organization  of  the 
territorial  legislature,  extension  of  the  right  of  suffrage  and  the 
detachment  of  Illinois  from  the  Indiana  territory.*  Captain  Wil 
liam  Henry  Harrison,  besides  his  appointment  as  governor,  was 
also  constituted  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs,  and  vested 
with  plenary  powers  to  negotiate  treaties  between  the  United 
States  and  the  several  tribes  of  Indians  residing  within  his  official 
jurisdiction,  for  the  cession  of  lands.  As  the  rapidly  advancing 
settlements  of  the  whites  penetrated  farther  daily,  and  crowded 
upon  the  domain  of  the  red  man,  it  became  desirable  on  the  part 
of  the  general  government  to  enlarge  the  area  of  its  landed  acqui 
sitions  beyond  the  stipulations  of  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  by 
which  17,724,489  acres  of  land  were  obtained.  By  an  active  exer 
cise  of  .these  powers,  in  which  his  Excellency  discovered  a 
remarkable  aptitude,  no  less  than  ten  treaties  were  concluded  with 
various  tribes  by  the  close  of  the  year  1805,  extinguishing  the  In 
dian  titles  to  about  30,000,000  acres  more  of  land.  We  cite  in 
brief  the  treaties  of  that  period,  by  which  lands  lying  either  wholly 
or  in  part  within  Illinois,  were  relinquished  : 

Treaty  of  Fort  Wayne,  concluded  June  7,  1803,  with  certain 
chiefs  and  head  men  of  the  Delawares,  Shawanese,  Pottawatomies, 
Eel  liiver,  Wea,  Kickapoo,  Piankeshaw,  and  Kaskaskia  tribes — 
ratified  at  Vincennes  August  7,  1803,  by  three  of  the  tribes  and 
the  Wyandots,  by  which  there  were  ceded  to  the  United  States, 
1,634,000  acres  of  land,  330,128  of  which  were  situated  within 
Illinois. 

Treaty  of  Vincennes,  concluded  August  13,  1803,  with  certain 
chiefs  and  warriors  of  the  Kaskaskias,  in  consideration  of  the  pro 
tecting  care  of  the  government,  of  $580  in  cash,  of  an  increase  of 
their  annuity  under  the  treaty  of  Greenville  to  $1000,  of  $300 
toward  building  a  church,  and  an  annual  payment  for  seven  years 
of  $100  to  a  Catholic  priest  stationed  among  them,  the  tribe  of 
Kaskaskias,  reduced  to  a  few  hundred  individuals,  but  still  repre 
senting  the  once  powerful  confederacy  of  the  Illinois,  ceded  to  the 
United  States,  except  a  small  reservation,  all  that  tract  included 
within  a  line  beginning  beloAV  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois,  descend 
ing  the  Mississippi  to  its  junction  with  the  Ohio,  ascending  the 
latter  to  the  Wabash,  and  from  a  point  up  the  Wabash  west  to 

"The  subject  of  slavery  is  deferred  toGov.  Cole's  administration, 


INDIANA   TERRITORY.  235 

the   Mississippi,  embracing  the   greater  part  of  southern  Illinois, 
some  8,008,167  acres,  a  magnificient  grant. 

Treaty  of  St.  Louis,  concluded  November  3d,  1804,  by  which  the 
chiefs  and  head  men  of  the  united  Sac  and  Fox  nations  ceded  to 
the  United  States,  a  gfeat  tract  on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi, 
extending  on  the  east  bank  from  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  to  the 
head  of  that  river  and  thence  to  the  Wisconsin,  and  including  on 
tlie  west  considerable  portions  of  Iowa  and  Missouri,  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Gasconade  northward.  (In  1810  the  government 
granted  baclt  to  the  united  tribes  about  5,000,090  acres  in  Iowa). 
Out  of  this  treaty,  as  we  shall  see,  subsequently  grew  the  Black 
Hawk  war. 

Treaty  of  Vincennes,  concluded  December  30th,  1805,  by  which 
the  chiefs  and  warriors  of  the  Piankeshaw  tribe  ceded  to  the  United 
States  their  claim  to  a  tract  of  country  in  Illinois,  bordering  on' 
the  Wabash  river  opposite  Yincennes,  extending  north  and  south 
for  a  considerable  distance,  and  comprising  2,G'1(J,924  acres. 

Thus  by  successive  treaties  all  the  southern  third  of  Illinois  and 
a  broad  belt  of  land  between  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  rivers, 
bordering  on  both  streams  and  running  northward  to  the  Wiscon 
sin,  was  divested  of  the  Indian  title  as  earn-  as  1805;  but  while 
much  of  the  country  was  thus  lawfully  thrown  open  to  the  advance 
of  the  enterprising  pioneer,  the  children  of  the  forest  still  lingered 
around  their  ancient  hunting  grounds,  reluctant  to  abandon  the 
scenes  of  their  youth  and  the  graves  of  their  ancestors,  notwith 
standing  the  solemn  cession  of  their  native  land  to  the  powerful 
government  of  the  pale  faces,  the  receipt  of  payment,  and  their 
promises  to  retire.  Nor  did  they  abstain  from  occasional  maraud 
ing  excursions  into  tlie  frontier  settlements  of  the  whites.'  The 
remoteness  of  Illinois  from  the  Atlantic  sea-board,  its  destitution 
of  many  of  the  comforts  of  civilized  society,  and  exposure  to  the 
precarious  amity  of  the  savages,  to  a  great  extent  deterred  emi 
grants  from  coming  hither.  They  found,  aside  from  the  quality  of 
the  soil,  equal  opportunities  in  Kentucky,  Ohio,  and  southern 
Indiana,  with  greater  security  from  danger  and  more  convenience 
of  access  in  their  slow  and  toilsome  mode  of  travel.  Hence,  at  this 
time  the  settlements  on  the  Wabash,  the  Illinois,  and  the  Upper 
Mississippi,  increased  slowly,  compared  with  the  regions  above 
mentioned. 

Virginia,  by  her  deed  of  cession,  had  stipulated  that  "tlie  French 
and  Canadian  inhabitants,  and  all  other  settlers  of  the  Kaskas- 
kias,  St.  Vincents,  and  the  neighboring  villages,  who  professed 
themselves  citizens  of  Virginia,  shall  have  their  possessions  and 
titles  confirmed  to  them,  and  be  protected  in  the  enjoyments  of 
their  rights  and  liberties."  The  congress  of  the  old  confederation, 
by  resolutions  of  June  20th  and  August  29,  1788,  ordained  that 
steps  be  immediately  taken  for  confirming  in  their  possessions  and 
titles  to  lands  the  French  and  Canadian  inhabitants,  and  other 
settlers,  who,  on  or  before  1783,  had  professed  themselves  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  or  of  any  State;  and  that  a  donation  should 
be  given  each  of  the  families  then  living  at  either  of  the  villages 
of  Kaskaskia,  Prairie  du  liocher,  Cahokia,  Fort  Chartres,  or  St. 
Phillips.  Out  of  this  grew  the  old  "head-right"  claims,  of  which 
it  seems  there  were  only  a  total  of  244  in  all  the  country.  We 
have  seen  that  in  1790  the  French,  in  their  impoverished  condition, 


236  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

objected  strenuously  to  paying-  the  expense  of  surveys.  Congress 
passed  a  law  March  3, 1791,  providing  further,  that  where  lauds  had 
been  actually  improved  and  cultivated,  under  n  supposed  grant  of 
the  same  by  any  commandant  or  court  claiming  authority  to  make 
such  grant,  the  Governor  of  the  territory  was  empowered  and 
charged  with  the  duty  to  confirm  to  the  persons  entitled  thereto, 
as  above,  their  heirs  or  assigns,  the  land  supposed  to  have  been 
granted  to  them,  or  such  share  of  it  as  might  be  adjudged  upon  the 
proof  to  be  reasonable,  not  exceeding  400  acres  to  any  one  person 
however.  The  benefits  of  this  act  were  extended  to  'persons  enti 
tled  under  it,  but  who  had  removed  out  of  the  country,  provided 
they  or  their  heirs  should  return  and  occupy  their  lands  within  5 
years.  By  the  6th  section  of  the  same  act,  in  the  same  manner,  a 
grant  of  land  not  exceeding  100  acres  was  provided  to  each  person 
who  had  not  already  obtained  a  donation  as  above  from  the  United 
States,  and  who,  on  the  first  day  of  August,  1790,  had  been  en 
rolled  in  the  militia  and  done  militia  duty. 

Governor  StOlair  had  made  many  confirmations  of  these  grants, 
but  still  a  large  number  of  claims  remained  unadjusted.  The 
abeyance  of  these  confirmations  was  a  great  hindrance  to  the  set 
tlement  of  that  portion  of  the  country  where  they  were  located. 
No  one  cared  to  invest  a  fair  price  in  lands,  the  title  whereof  was 
not  established  by  survey  and  record.  There  was  naturally  much 
anxiety  on  the  part  of  claimants,  and  those  AV!IO  desired  to  see  the 
country  fill  up  and  prosper,  to  have  these  obstacles  cleared  away. 
As  a  remedy,  a  law  was  passed  by  congress,  March  15,  1804,  estab 
lishing  land  offices  at  Kaskaskia,  Vincennes  and  Detroit,  for  the 
sale  of  the  public  lands,  and  constituting  the  registers  and  receivers 
a  board  of  commissioners,  upon  which  was  devolved,  for  the 
respective  districts  at  each  place,  the  former  powers  and  duties  of 
the  governor  to  examine  the  validity  of  land  claims,  decide  thereon 
according  to  justice  and  equity,  and  not  confirm,  but  report  their 
decisions  to  congress.  The  land  office  at  Kaskaskia  Avas  author 
ized  to  sell  such  of  the  lands  included  in  the  cession  of  the  Kas 
kaskia  tribe  of  Indians,  by  treaty  of  August  13,  1803,  as  Avere  not 
claimed  by  any  other  tribes. 

Michael  Jones  and  E.  Backus  Avere  appointed  register  and  re 
ceiver,  respectlA'ely,  of  the  land  office  at  Kaskaskia.  These 
gentlemen,  in  entering  upon  their  duties  as  commissioners,  soon 
learned  that  it  Avould  be  necessary  to  proceed  with  great  circum 
spection,  as  many  of  the  land  claims  presented  discovered 
eAridences  of  fraud,  and  hence  their  labor  of  im^estigation  became 
immense,  and  they  made  but  S!OAAT  progress.  They  made  an  elabo 
rate  report  in  1810,  AA'hich  may  be  seen  in  Vol.  II,  American  State 
Papers — Public  Lands,  to  which  we  are  indebted  for  our  facts  in 
great  part.  See  page  102. 

From  a  A^ery  early  time  these  land  claims  of  ancient  grants,  both 
French  and  English — of  donations  to  heads  of  families,  "head 
rights,"  of  improA^ement  rights,  and  militia  rights,  became  a  rare 
field  for  the  operation  of  speculators.  The  French  claims,  owing 
to  the  poverty  of  this  people,  were  in  great  part  unconfirmed, 
and  this  circumstance,  \vitn  others,  contributed  to  force  many  of 
them  into  market.  We  have  seen,  also,  Avitli  what  facility  the 
British  commandant,  Wilkins,  made  extensive  grants  to  numerous 
favorites  in  various  portions  of  the  country,  and  these  being 


INDIANA  TERRITORY.  237 

apparently  in  contravention  of  the  King's  proclamation  of  October 
7th,  1703,  were  purchased  for  a  trifle;  and  as  for  the  militia  rights 
of  100  acre  tracts,  while  valid,  they  sold  freely  at  30  cents  per 
acre,  in  high  priced  and  trifling  merchandise.  From  the  passage 
of  the  law  of  1701  to  the  time  that  the  commissioners  took  up  the 
investigation  of  these  claims,  speculation  in  them  was  rife,  and  very 
few  of  them  remained  in  the  hands  of  original  claimants.  The 
greed  of  speculators  caused  numerous  claims  to  pass  current  with 
out  close  scrutiny  as  to  the  proofs  upon  which  they  rested,  a 
circumstance  which  at  the  same  time  tended  all  the  more  to  stimu 
late  the  production  of  fraudulent  claims.  The  number  of 
fraudulent  claims  was  comparatively  great,  but  by  purchase  and 
assignment  they,  more  than  the  genuine,  became  concentrated  in 
the  hands  of  a,  few  speculators.  The  official  report  of  the  commis 
sioners  for  the  district  of  Kaskaskia,  made  in  1810  to  the  secretary 
of  the  treasury,  shows  that  they  rejected  890  land  claims  as  either 
illegal  or  fraudulent,  370  being  supported  bj~  perjury,  and  a 
considerable  number  forged.  The  report  further  shows  that  the 
assignees  were  privy  to  both  these  attempted  frauds ;  the  perjured 
depositions  appeared  in  the  handwriting  of  claimant  speculators 
not  unfrequently  without  a  word  changed  by  the  sworn  signers. 
There  are  14  names  given,  both  English  and  French,  who  made  it 
a  regular  business  to  furnish  sworn  certificates,  professing  an  in 
timate  knowledge,  in  every  case,  of  the  settlers  who  had  made 
certain  improvements,  and  when  and  where  they  were  located, 
upon  which  claims  were  predicated.  In  some  cases  these  names 
were  assumed  and  the  deponent  would  never  appear;  in  some  they 
were  real  and  well  known  ;  while  still  in  others,  purporting  to  come 
from  a  distance,  well  known  names  would  be  forged.  In  one  case 
several  hundred  depositions  poured  in  upon  the  commissioners 
from  St.  Charles,  Missouri,  in  the  names  of  gentlemen  formerly 
well  known  in  Kaskaskia.  The  commissioners,  having  their 
suspicions  aroused  that  they  were  forgeries,  summoned  them  to 
appear  before  them,  which  they  readily  did,  though  they  could  not 
have  been  compelled  to,  and  with  tears  in  their  eyes  declared  on 
oath  that  they  lived  in  Upper  Louisiana,  that  they  had  never  been 
in  St.  Charles  in  their  lives,  and  that  the  depositions  were  despic 
able  forgeries.  A  Frenchman,  clerk  of  the  Parish  of  Prairie  du 
Eocher,  "without  property  and  fond  of  liquor,"  after  having  given 
some  200  depositions  in  favor  of  three  certain  land  claimant  spec 
ulators,  whose  names  would  be  familiarly  recognized  to-day,  "was 
induced  either  by  compensation,  fear,  or  the  impossibility  of 
obtaining  absolution  on  any  other  terms,  to  declare  on  oatli  that 
the  said  despositions  were  false,  and  that  in  giving  them  in,  he 
had  a  regard  to  something  beyond  the  truth.'7* 

It  is  not  pleasant  for  an  Illinoisan  to  read  in  the  public  archives 
of  our  country,  noted  after  the  honored  names  of  the  first  promi 
nent  settlers  of  our  State,  whose  descendents  have  become 
conspicuous  in  its  subsequent  history,  by  sworn  and  intelligent 
officials  the  damaging  words  of  "perjury,"  "deed  forged,"  "fraud 
and  perjury,"  time  and  again,  in  support  of  land  claims;  but  such 

[NOTE.— The  forged  and  perjured  depositions  were  mostly  adduced  to  support  claims 
presented  by  Robert  Morrison,  John  Edg-ar,  Robert  Reynolds,  Wm.  Morrison,  Kichard 
Lord,  Wm.  Kelley,  and  others.  Am.  State  Papers,  vol.  ii,  104— Pub.  Lands,  2,  ib.  115— 
130.  J 


238  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

is  the  fact.  Well  might  a  cotemporary,  young-  at  the  time,  subse 
quently  exclaim,  that  "parties  were  branded  with  perjury  and 
forgery  to  an  alarming'  extent."!  But  when  he  further  says  that 
"the  best  citizens  in  the  country  were  stigmatized  with  the  above 
crimes,  without  cause,"  the  facts  appear  against  him.  Much 
rancor  and  partisan  feeling  was  engendered  against  the  commis 
sioners  by  the  influential  claimant  speculators,  who  were  thus 
thwarted  to  a  great  extent  in  their  rascally  schemes.  The  com 
missioners  close  their  report  with  these  words: 

"We  close  this  melancholy  picture  of  human  depravity,  by  ren 
dering  our  devout  acknowledgements  that,  in  the  awful  alternative 
in  which  we  have  been  placed,  of  either  admitting  peijured  testi 
mony  in  support  of  the  claims  before  us,  or  having  it  turned 
against  our  characters  and  lives,  it  lias,  as  yet,  pleased  Divine 
Providence  which  rules  over  the  affairs  of  men,  to  preserve  us  both 
from  legal  murder  and  private  assassination." 

The  claimants,  particularly  those  who  held  by  assignment,  had 
met  with  little  trouble  in  having  their  claims  confirmed  and  patents 
issued  to  them  by  Gov.  St.  Glair,  while  Illinois  was  part  of  the  north 
western  territory.  On  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  Illinois,  in  1700, 
while  the  impoverished  French  were  unable  to  bear  the  expense 
of  the  government  surveys,  the  rich  and  influential  speculators 
readily  met  this  difficulty  and  obtained  their  patents.  It  seems 
that  many  of  the  governor's  confirmations  were  made  by  the 
bundle.  As  but  a  single  instance,  out  of  many,  we  will  cite  his 
confirmation,  in  one  bulk,  of  HO  donation  rights  to  heads  of  fam 
ilies,  of  400  acres  each,  amounting  to  30,000  acres  of  land,  in  the 
hands  of  John  Edgar  as  assignee.  We  have  already  noted  his 
confirmation  of  an  English  grant  described  as  containing 
•13,000,  acres  but  which  really  contained  30,000,  a  moiety  of  which 
had  been  previously  conveyed  to  his  son.  While  this  was  the 
largest,  there  were  many  others  in  which  his  son  shared,  that 
readily  received  his  confirmation.  Evident  fraud  and  imposition 
were  also  practiced  upon  Governor  Harrison  in  procuring  his  con 
firmation  to  land  claims. 

As  the  report  of  the  commissioners  raised  manifest  doubts  re 
specting  the  validity  or  propriety  of  a  number  of  confirmations  by 
the  governors,  and  as  there  was  much  dissatisfaction  on  the  part 
of  the  claimants,  congress,  Feb.  20,  1812,  passed  an  act  for  the 
revision  of  these  land  claims  in  the  district  of  Kaskaskia.  The 
commissioners  under  this  law  were  Michael  Jones,  John  Caldwell, 
and  Thomas  Sloo.  Their  investigations  resulted  in  unearthing 
more  facts  and  confirming  many  previous  ones,  damaging  to  the 
good  name  of  gentlemen  high  in  official  life.  Regarding  the 
English  grant  of  30,000  acres,  which  Governor  St.  Clair  confirmed 
to  his  son,  John  Murray  and  John  Edgar,  they  declared  that  the 
patent  was  issued  after  the  governor's  powers  had  ceased  to  exist 
and  the  Indiana  Territory  was  stricken  oft;  which  rendered  it  a 
nullity,  and  that  the  claim  was  founded  neither  in  laAv  nor  equity, 
and  ought  not  to  be  confirmed.  It  was,  however,  confirmed  by 
congress.  Governor  St.  Clair  was  empowered  to  make  absolute 
confirmations  and  issue  patents  for  the  lands ;  but  the  land  com 
missioners  under  the  act  of  1804  were  not  vested  with  the  power 
of  confirmation — they  were  only  an  examining  board  for  the  in- 

tReynold's  Pioneer  History. 


INDIANA   TERRITORY.  239 


vestigatiou  of  the  rights  of  claimants  to   ancient  grants,  head, 
improvement  and  militia  rights. 

A  vote,  taken  September  11,  1804,  showed  a  majority  of  138 
freeholders  of  the  territory  in  favor  of  the  second  grade  of  terri 
torial  government,  and  in  obedience  to  the  will. of  the  people,  Gov 
ernor  Harrison  ordered  an  election  for  representatives  to  the 
territorial  general  assembly,  for  January  3,  1805,  which  was  to 
meet  at  Viiicennes,  February  7th  following,  and  nominate  ten  men 
for  the  legislative  council.  The  members  elect  from  Illinois  were 
Sliadrach  Bond  and  William  Biggs,  of  St.  Glair,  and  George  Fisher, 
of  Randolph.  The  names  presented  from  Illinois  for  councilors, 
were  Jean  Francis  Perrey  and  John  Hay,  of  St.  Glair,  and  Pierre 
Menard,  of  Randolph.  President  Jefferson  waived  his  right  of 
selection  in  favor  of  Governor  Harrison,  asking  only  that  he  reject 
"land  jobbers,  dishonest  men,  and  those  who,  though  honest, 
might  suffer  themselves  to  be  warped  by  party  prejudice."  Perrey 
and  Menard  were  selected  for  Illinois.  On  the  7th  of  June  follow 
ing,  the  governor  issued  his  proclamation  con  veiling  the  legislature 
for  the  29th  of  July,  1805.  This  was  the  second  time  that  the 
people  of  this  country,  through  their  representatives,  exercised 
the  law  making  power  for  their  own  local  government. 

In  his  message,  delivered  the  following  day,  the  governor  re 
commended  the  passage  of  laws  to  prevent  the  sale  of  intoxicating 
liquors  to  the  Indians,  saying :  "  You  have  seen  our  towns  crowded 
with  drunken  savages;  our  streets  flowing  with  blood  ;  their  arms 
and  clothing  bartered  for  the  liquop  that  destroys  them ;  and  their 
miserable  women  and  children  enduring  all  the  extremities  of  cold 
and  hunger;  whole  villages  have  been  swept  away.  A  miserable 
remnant  is  all  that  remains  to  mark  the  situation  of  many  warlike 
tribes."  He  recommended,  also,  a  remodeling  of  the  inferior 
courts,  so  as  to  insure  a  more  efficient  administration  of  justice ; 
an  improved  militia  system;  more  efficient  punishment  for  horse 
stealing;  and  ways  and  means  for  raising  a  revenue,  saying,  that 
this  latter  would  be  their  most  difficult  and  delicate  duty;  that  while 
few  were  the  objects  of  taxation  in  a  new  country,  it  must  still  be  a 
burthen,  and  the  commencement  of  our  financial  operations  must 
be  expected  to  be  attended  by  some  trifling,  though  he  trusted, 
temporary  embarrassments.  The  legislature,  by  joint  ballot, 
elected  Benjamin  Parke,  of  Indiana,  territorial  delegate  to  con 
gress.  The  levying  of  taxes,  as  was  anticipated,  created  consid- 
able  dissatisfaction  among  some  of  the  people.  The  poll  tax  was 
particularly  obnoxious  to  the  French  residents.  Their  indignation 
found  vent  at  a  public  meeting,  held  at  Yincennes,  Sunday,  Au 
gust  16, 1807,  where  it  was  "  resolved"  that  they  would  "withdraw 
their  confidence  and  support  forever  from  those  men  whoadvocated, 
or  iii  any  manner  promoted,  the  second  grade  of  government."* 

The  legislature  re-enacted  many  of  the  general  laws  selected  and 
adopted  by  the  governors  and  judges  of  both  the  Northwestern 
and  Indiana  territories,  under  the  first  grade  of  their  respective 
governments.  Provision  was  made  for  a  collection  and  thorough 
revision  of  the  laws,  by  a  commission.  Accordingly,  a  volume  was, 
two  years  later,  produced,  bearing  the  following  title:  "  Laws  of 
the  Indiana  Territory,  comprising  those  acts  formerly  in  force,  and 
as  revised  by  Messrs.  John  Rice  Jones  and  John  Johnson,  and 

*Dillon's  Indiana. 


240  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

passed  (after  amendments)  by  tlie  legislature ;  and  the  original 
acts  passed  at  the  first  session  of  the  second  general  assembly  of 
the  said  territory — began  and  held  at  the  borough  of  Vincennes, 
on  the  Ifcth  day  of  August,  A.  I).  1807."  Messrs.  Stout  and 
Smoot,  "printers  for  the  territory,"  were  the  publishers  ;  the  paper, 
on  which  it  was  printed,  was  brought  on  horseback  from  George 
town,  Kentucky. 

This  collection  of  old  statutes  relates  principally  "to  the  organ 
ization  of  superior  and  inferior  courts  of  justice,  the  appoint 
ment  and  duties  of  territorial  and  county  officers,  prison  and 
prison  bounds,  real  estate,  interest  and  money,  marriages, 
divorces,  licenses,  ferries,  grist-mills,  elections,  militia,  roads  and 
highways,  estrays,  trespassing,  animals,  inclosure  and  cultivation 
of  common  fields,  relief  of  poor,  taverns,  improving  the  breed  of 
horses,  taxes  and  revenues,  negroes  and  niulattoes  under  inden 
tures  as  servants,  fees  of  officers,  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors, 
relief  of  persons  imprisoned  for  debt,  killing  wolves,  prohibiting 
the  sale  of  arms  and  ammunition  to  Indians  and  other  persons, 
the  standard  of  weights  and  measures,  vagrants,  authorizing  aliens 
to  purchase  and  hold  real  estate  in  the  territory,"*  etc.  The  pen 
alties  provided  for  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  were,  death  for 
treason,  murder,  arson  and  horse-stealing  ;  manslaughter,  punish 
able  as  provided  at  common  law;  burglary  and  robbery,  each  by 
whipping,  fine  and,  in  some  cases  imprisonment  not  exceeding  40 
years;  riotous  conduct,  by  fine  and  imprisonment;  larceny,  by 
fine  or  whipping,  and  in  certain  cases,  bound  out  to  labor  not 
exceeding  7  years  ;  forgery,  by  fine,  disfranchisement  and  stand 
ing  in  the  pillory ;  assault  and  battery,  as  a  crime,  by  tine  not 
exceeding  $100;  hog-stealing,  by  fine  and  whipping;  gambling, 
profane  swearing  and  Sabbath-breaking,  each  by  fine ;  bigamy,  by 
fine,  whipping  and  disfranchisement.  The  disobedience  of  ser 
vants  and  children,  a  justice  of  the  peace  was  entitled  to  punish 
by  imprisonment  in  the  jail  until  the  culprit  was  "  humbled,"  and 
if  the  offense  was  accompanied  by  assault,  he  might  be  whipped, 
not  exceeding  10  stripes. 

'Dillon'slndiana. 

The  laws,  relating  to  indentured  slaves,  are  treated  under  Governor  Cole's  adminis 
tration. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
1809— ILLINOIS  TEEEITOEY. 

Opposition  to  Division — Jesse  B.  Thomas—  Gov.  Edicards — Nathaniel 
Pope — Territorial  FederalJudyes — The  Governor  avoids  the  meshes 
of  the  Separationists  and  Anti- Separationists — Condition  and  Pop 
ulation  of  the  Territory. 


By  act  of  congress,  approved  February  3,  1809,  all  that  part 
of  the  Indiana  Territory  lying  "west  of  the  Wabash  river,  and  a 
direct  line  drawn  from  the  said  Wabash  river  and  Post  Vincenues, 
dne  north  to  the  territorial  line  between  the  United  States  and 
Canada,"  should,  after  the  first  of  March  following,  constitute  a 
separate  territory,  and  be  called  Illinois.  This,  it  will  be  perceived, 
included  the  present  State  of  Wisconsin.  The  population  of  the 
newly  organized  territory  was  estimatecj  at  about  9,000,  leaving 
in  Indiana  about  double  that  number. 

There  are  many  things  which  usually  influence  any  American 
community  in  the  desire  to  be  independent.  The  main  reasons 
advanced  by  Illinois  in  favor  of  a  separation  from  Indiana  were, 
the  "wide  extent  of  wilderness  country"  which  intervened  between 
the  civilized  settlements  of  the  country  on  the  Mississippi,  about 
the  only  ones  in  Illinois,  and  the  seat  of  government  on  the 
Wabash,  rendering  the  ordinary  protection  of  government  to  life 
and  property  almost  nugatory;  the  inconvenience,  expense  and 
dangers  of  long  journeys  whose  routes  led  through  sections  wholly 
inhabited  by  savages,  which  litigants  in  the  superior  courts  of  the 
territory  were  compelled  to  incur  for  themselves  and  witnesses ; 
and  the  almost  total  obstruction  to  an  efficient  administration  of 
the  laws  in  counties  so  distant  from  the  seat  of  government  as 
those  of  Illinois.  Notwithstanding  the  remoteness  and  isolation 
of  this  country  from  the  centers  of  population  in  the  United 
States  at  that  early  day,  the  tide  of  emigration  pressed  westward 
with  a  gradual  but  ever  increasing  flow.  In  1805  Michigan  was 
erected  into  a  separate  territory,  and  by  this  time  Illinois  contained 
a  white  population  fully  as  great  as  that  of  the  whole  territory  of 
Indiana  when  detached  from  Ohio  five  years  before.  The  question 
of  separation  in  Illinois  grew  apace  from  this  time  on;  it  was  re 
peatedly  pressed  upon  the  attention  of  congress  by  legislative 
memorials  in  1806, 1807  and  1808,  until  that  body  finally  disposed 
of  the  subject  as  above  stated.  But  while  the  people  of  Vincennes 
and  neighboring  villages  east  of  the  Wabash  opposed  the  separa 
tion  from  interested  motives,  for  a  division  would  before  many 
years  elapsed  take  from  them  the  seat  of  government  and  remove 
it  to  a  more  central  locality,  and  would  also  increase  the  rates  of 
1C 


242  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

taxation,  wliat  may  appear  difficult  of  solution  was  tlie  fact  tliat 
in  Illinois  there  was  anything  but  unanimity  in  favor  of  division  and 
independence.  A  violent  anti-separation  party  sprung  up  here, 
which,  though  greatly  overborne  by  numbers,  by  its  activity 
aroused  a  deep  and  angry  feeling  which  ultimately  resulted  in 
bloodshed.  By  the  machinations  of  the  opposers  to  a  division 
"one  of  the  warmest  friends  and  ablest  advocates  of  the  measure 
was  assassinated  at  Kaskaskia  in  consequence/'*  The  question 
of  separation  turned  upon  the  ability  of  the  Illinois  members  of 
the.  Legislature,  in  session  at  Vincemies  in  October  1808,  to  elect 
a  delegate  to  congress  in  place  of  Benjamin  Parke,  resigned,  who 
should  be  favorable  to  the  division.  The  Illinoisans  found  a  suit 
able  candidate  in  an  Indiana  member  of  the  House,  who  was  also 
Speaker,  by  the  name  of  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  who,  for  the  sake  of 
going  to  congress,  was  ready  to  violate  the  sentiments  of  his  con 
stituents  upon  this  question.  But  the  Illinois  members,  with  a 
due  appreciation  of  the  promises  of  politicians,  even  at  that  early 
day,  required  of  this  gentleman,  before  they  would  vote  for  him, 
to  support  his  pledges  by  his  bond,  conditioned  that  he  would 
procure  from  congress  a  division,  AY  hereupon  he  was  triumphantly 
elected  by  a  bare  majority  with  the  aid  of  his  own  vote.t  He  was 
hung  in  effigy  at  Yinceniiesby  the  aiiti-separationists;  but  he  dis 
charged  his  pledges  and  his  bond,  by  procuring  the  division  from 
congress;  and,  as  it  was  doubtless  desirable  to  change  his  residence, 
he  came  home  with  a  commission  for  a  federal  judge  ship  of  the 
new  territory  in  his  pocket  and  removed  to  Illinois. 

By  the  act  of  separation,  the  people  of  Illinois  were  also  entitled 
to  all  and  singular  the  rights,  privileges  and  advantages  granted 
and  secured  to  the  people  under  the  ordinance  of  1787,  which  was 
applied  to  the  territory — fair  words  enough,  but  the  ordinance  con 
ferred  little  political  power;  the  previous  duties  were  imposed  upon 
the  new  officers,  rand  the  President  was  empowered  to  make 
appointments  during  the  recess  of  congress ;  provision  was  made 
for  the  organization  of  the  second  grade  of  territorial  government, 
whenever  the  governor  should  at  any  time  be  satisfied  that  a  ma 
jority  of  the  freeholders  of  the  territory  desired  the  same, 
notwithstanding  there  were  less  than  5,000  inhabitants,  fixing  the 
number  of  representatives,  in  such  case,  at  not  less  than  seven  nor 
more  than  nine,  to  be  apportioned  among  the  counties  by  the  gov 
ernor;  the  legislative  council  and  delegates  to  congress  were  made 
elective  by  the  people;  the  old  officers  were  continued  in  the  exer 
cise  of  their  duties  in  Indiana,  but  prohibited  in  Illinois ;  provision 
was  made  for  the  final  disposition  of  all  suits  from  Illinois  pending 
in  the  court  at  Yincennes,  for  the  collection  of  taxes  levied  and 
due ;  and  the  seat  of  government  was  fixed  at  Kaskaskia,  until 
otherwise  ordered  by  the  legislature. 

'See  address  of  citizens  to  Gov.  Edwards,  at  Kaskaskia,  June,  1809, 

•teee  Ford's  Illinois,  p.  30. 

[NOTE  — A  curious  state  of  affairs  obtained  with  regard  to  Indiana  after  the  separa 
tion  of  Illinois.  On  the  26th  of  October,  1808,  the  governor  had  dissolved  the  legisla 
ture  :  by  act  of  congress,  February  3,  1809,  Illinois  Avas  detached,  taking  with  it  five 
members,  which  would  have  dissolved  the  legislature  had  it  not  already  been  dissolved; 
later  in  the  same  month,  on  the  27th,  congress  passed  a  law  extending  the  right  ot 
suffrage  and  prescribing  the  number  of  representatives  for  the  territory,  and  further, 
directed  the  legislature  to  apportion  the  representatives  ;  but  there  was  no  legislature 
in  existence  to  make  the  apportionment.  Indiana  was  in  political  chaos — something 
was  required  of  a  body  that  she  did  not  possess,  and  which  it  was  impossible  for  her  to 
legally  create.  But  Governor  Harrison  cut  the  gordean  knot,  and,  legally  or  otherwise, 
apportioned  the  territory,  issued  writs  of  election  for  a  new  legislature,  and  in  October 


ILLINOIS   TEEKITORY.  243 

Xinian  Edwards,  at  the  time  chief  justice  of  the  Conrtof  Appeals 
in  Kentucky,  became  governor  of  the  newly  organized  territory 
of  Illinois.  John  Boyle,  of  the  same  State,  at  first  received  the 
appointment  of  Governor,  but  declined  the  office  and  accepted 
that  of  associate  justice  of  the  same  court  whereof  Edwards  was 
Chief  Justice.  Edwards  was  desirous  of  tilling  the  vacancy,  and  at 
the  recommendation  of  Henry  Clay,  received  the  appointment  from 
President  Madison,  his  commission  bearing  date  April  24,  1809. 

In  his  letter  to  the  president,  Henry  Clay  spoke  of  Judge  Ed 
wards  as  follows :  a  The  honorable  appointments  which  this 
gentleman  has  held  (first  as  a  judge  of  our  Superior  Court,  and 
then  promoted  to  his  present  station),  evince  how  highly  he  is  esti 
mated  among  us."  And  in  a  letter  of  the  same  date  to  the  Hon.  Eobt. 
Smith,  he  said:  "His  political  principles  accord  Avith  those  of  the 
Republican  party.  His  good  understanding,  weight  of  character 
and  conciliatory  manners,  give  him  very  fair  pretentious  to  the 
office  alluded  to.  *  *  *  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  whole  repre 
sentation  from  the  State,  when  consulted,  woidd  concur  in  ascrib 
ing  to  him  every  qualification  for  the  office  in  question." 

Xinian  Edwards  was  born  in  Montgomery  county,  Md.,  in  1775, 
and  at  the  time  of  his  appointment  as  governor  was  about  34  years 
old.  He  obtained  his  early  education  in  company  with  and  partly 
under  the  tuition  of  William  Wirt,  his  senior  by  two  years,  and  life 
long  friend.  After  a  collegiate  course  at  Carlyle,  Pa.,  he  com 
menced  the  study  of  law,  but  before  finishing  it  was  sent  to 
Kentucky  to  select  lands  for  his  brothers  and  sisters  and  open  a 
farm.  He  located  in  Xelson  county,  and  being  furnished  with 
ample  means  in  a  new  country  where  the  character  of  society  was 
as  yet  unformed,  and  surrounded  by  companions  whose  pleasures 
and  pursuits  were  in  sensual  indulgences,  he  fell  into  indiscretions 
and  excesses  for  two  or  three  years.*  But  in  the  then  standard  of 
society,  this  did  not  prevent  his  election  to  the  Kentucky  Legisla 
ture.  Subsequently  he  broke  away  from  his  dissolute  companions 
and  habits,  removed  to  Russelville,  and  devoted  himself  to  labori 
ous  study.  He  soon  attained  eminence  in  his  profession.  Before 
he  was  32  years  old  he  had  filled  in  succession  the  offices  of  pre 
siding  judge  ot  the  general  court,  circuit  judge,  4th  judge  of  the 
court  of  appeals,  and  chief  justice  of  the  State,  which  last  he  held 
when  his  associate  justice,  Boyle,  received  the  appointment  of 
territorial  governor  for  Illinois.  The  two,  to  suit  their  respective 
inclinations,  exchanged  offices,  Edwards,  through  the  patronage 
of  Mr.  Clay,  becoming  governor,  and  Boyle  chief  justice.  Governor 
Edwards  was  a  large,  fine  looking  man,  with  a  distinguished  air  and 
courtly  manners,  who  wielded  a  ready  pen  and  was  fluent  of  speech. 

The  territorial  judges  appointed,  besides  Thomas,  were  Alex 
ander  Stuart  and  William  Sprigg.  The  former  was  a  Virginian,  a 
man  of  fine  education  and  polished  manners,  who,f  however,  re- 

fol lowing  convened  it  for  business.  But  that  body,  entertaining1  doubts  whether  it  was 
really  a  legislature  or  not,  prepared  a  statement  to  congress,  petitioning  that  power  to 
constitue  it  a  legal  body,  and  adjourned  temporarily  to  await  action  upon  the  case. 
Such  are  some  of  the  inconveniences  of  government  where  original  sovereignty  does 
not  reside  in  the  people,  but  is  derived  from  a  power  superior  to  them — an  apparent 
anomoly  in  the  theory  of  American  government.— See  Dillon's  Ind.j 

*Gov.  Edward's  Life,  by  his  son. 

•Kludge  Breese,  in  the  address  of  laying  the  corner  stone  of  the  new  State  House  bv 
Judge  Caton,  says  :  "And  withall  a  good  liver,  of  whom  it  is  said  he  esteemed  the 
turkey  the  most  inconvenient  of  the  poultry  tribe,  as  it  Avas  too  large  for  one  and  not 
large  enough  for  two." 


244  HISTORY  OF   ILLINOIS. 

maiued  on  the  bench  in  Illinois  but  a  short  time,  being  changed 
to  Missouri.  His  successor  was  Stanley  Griswold,  a  good  lawyer 
and  an  honest  man,  who,  as  Gov.  Eeynolds  says  in  his  Pioneer 
History,  "paid  his  debts  and  sung  David's  Psalms."  He  was  after 
wards  transferred  to  Michigan,  and  Thomas  Towles  became  his 
successor.  William  Sprigg  was  born  and  reared  in  Maryland,  where 
his  brother  attained  to  the  high  office  of  governor.  His  education 
was  classical  and  he  was  deeply  read  in  the  law.  He  was  a  man 
of  singular  purity  of  heart  and  simplicity  of  manner — lacking 
totally  in  all  the  arts  of  the  politician.* 

Nathaniel  Pope,  a  relative  of  the  governor,  was  appointed  secre 
tary  of  the  territory.  He  was  born  in  Kentucky,  at  the  Falls  of  the 
Ohio,  in  1784.  His  education  was  collegiate,  being  one  of  the  early 
graduates  of  Transylvania  University,  at  Lexington.  His  natural 
endowments  of  head  and  heart,  were  very  superior.  To  a  fine 
analytical  mind,  he  added  a  genial  and  benevolent  disposition, 
and  great  dignity  of  character.  He  selected  the  law  for  a  profes 
sion,  and  soon  mastered  its  intricacies.  At  the  age  of  21,  he  emi 
grated  to  St.  Genevieve,  then  Upper  Louisiana,  where  he  learned 
to  speak  French  quite  fluently.  Five  years  later,  he  was  appointed 
secretary  of  the  Illinois  territory.  As  such,  in  the  absence  of  the 
governor,  he  was  empowered,  under  the  ordinance  of  1787,  to  dis 
charge  the  duties  of  the  latter's  office.  On  the  25th  of  April, 
1809,  at  St.  Genevieve,  before  Judge  Shrader,  he  took  the  oath  of 
office,  and  coming  to  Illinois,  inaugurated  the  new  government  on 
the  28th  instant,  by  issuing  his  proclamation  to  that  effect.  The 
counties  of  St.  Glair  and  Randolph  were  reinstated  as  the  tAvo  coun 
ties  of  the  Illinois  territory.  On  the  3d  of  May,  he  appointed  and 
commissioned  Elias  liector  attorney-general,  John  Hay  sheriff, 
Enoch  Moore  coroner,  and  17  justices  of  the  peace. 

On  the  llth  of  Junefollowing,  Governor  Edwards  assumed  the 
duties  of  his  office.  He  had  taken  the  oath  of  office  in  Kentucky, 
before  his  departure.  Upon  his  arrival  at  Kaskaskia,  his  Excel 
lency  was  tendered  a  nattering  public  address  by  the  citizens,  in 
which  he  was  asked  to  espouse  the  side  of  the  "virtuous  majority'7 
by  whose  patriotic  exertions  the  territory  had  been  divided 
and  his  Excellency  attained  his  high  station,  and  to  whom  ought 
to  be  distributed  the  offices  in  his  gift,  rather  than  to  those  who 
never  ceased  to  oppose  the  measure  and  heap  calumnies  and  indig 
nities  upon  its  friends.  The  governor,  unwilling  to  become  a  part 
isan  on  either  side,  made  a  felicitous  but  non-committal  reply.  He 
•re-appointed  John  Hay  clerk  of  St.  Glair  county,'  and,  as  a  curious 
instance  of  official  self-succession  to  office  in  this  country,  we  will 
mention  that  he  held  that  public  trust  from  thence  on,  until  his 
decease,  in  1845.  In  place  of  Kector,  Benjamin  H.  Doyle  had 
been  appointed  attorney-general,  and  he  resigning,  John  J.  Grit- 
ten  den,  of  Kentucky, was  appointed;  but  the  latter,  after  holding 
the  office  a  few  months,  also  resigned,  when  his  brother,  Thomas 
L.,  succeeded  him. 

On  thelGth  of  June,  1809,  the  governor,  joined  by  Judges  Stuart 
and  Sprigg  (Thomas  being  still  absent  in  Washington),  constitut- 

*Reynolds,  in  his  Pioneer  History,  says  that  Sprig1"-  accompanied  Governor  Edwards  in 
his  campaign  against  the  Indians  o'n  PeoriaLake,  in  1812,  unencumbered  by  gun  or  other 
weapon  indicating-  belligerency.  "His  pacific  and  sickly  appearance,  together  with  his 
perfect  philosophic  indifference  as  to  Avar  or  peace,  lite  or  death  made  him  the  subject 
of  much  discussion  among  the  troops.  He  was  the  only  savant  in  the  army." 


ILLINOIS   TERRITORY.  245 

ing  a  legislative  body  in  the  first  grade  of  territorial  government, 
under  the  5th  section  of  the  ordinance  of  1787,  met  and  re-enacted 
such  of  the  laws  of  the  Indiana  territory,  with  which  the  people, 
who  for  nine  years  had  formed  apart  thereof,  were  familiar,  and 
as  were  suitable  and  applicable  to  Illinois,  and  not  local  or  special 
to  Indiana.  Many  of  these  laws  were  those  which,  without  change 
of  phraseology,  had  either  been  originally  imported  or  enacted  by 
the  authorities  of  the  old  Northwestern  territory. 

Thus  was  put  into  operation  the  machinery  of  civil  government 
in  the  Territory  of  Illinois  ;  but  Governor  Edwards,  owing  to  the 
local  political  dissensions,  growing  out  of  the  question  of  territor 
ial  division,  which  had  degenerated  into  personal  animosities,  met 
with  no  inconsiderable  difficulties  in  avoiding  the  meshes  of  these 
factions,  straggling  fiercely  for  respective  ascendancy.  He  re 
solved  not  to  be  caught  in  the  toils  of  either  party,  and  for  the 
interests  and  prosperity  of  the  country,  sought  to  ignore  the  entire 
question  that  it  might  pass  into  oblivion.  At  that  day,  the  militia 
system,  which  lia-cl  received  the  earnest  recommendation  of  Gover 
nor  Harrison,  and  which  was  also  a  necessity  of  the  times,  was  in 
full  and  effective  operation.  With  the  dissolution  of  the  Indiana 
territory,  it  became  the  duty  of  Governor  Edwards  to  re-organize 
the  militia  for  the  new  territory  of  Illinois.  The  separatioiiists 
urged  his  Excellency  to  appoint  none  to  office  in  the  militia  who 
had  ever  opposed  the  division  of  the  territory;  but  this  would 
have  committed  him  contrary  to  his  judgment.  The  anti-separa- 
tionists  pressed  him  to  re-appoint  all  the  old  officers ;  but  as  a  new 
commission  would  have  voided  all  offenses  for  which  any  officer 
might  have  been  tried  and  punished  by  dismissal,  he  refused  to 
accede  to  that  also.  To  steer  clear  of  both  Scylla  and  Charibdis, 
he  referred  the  question  to  the  people,  by  directing  the  militia 
companies  to  elect  the  company  officers,  and  the  latter  to  choose 
the  field  officers.  With  these  orders,  his  Excellency  retired  from 
the  field  of  contention  to  Kentucky,  to  wind  up  some  unfinished 
court  business,  and  upon  his  return,  late  in  the  fall,  he  issued  an 
address  tothe  people,  explanatory  of  his  course,  and  commissioned 
the  militia  officers  returned  to  him  as  elected. 

The  population  of  the  territory,  at  the  time  of  its  organization, 
•was  estimated  at  9000 ;  the  census  of  1810  returned  it  at  a  total  of 
12,282—11,501  whites,  168  slaves,  613  of  all  others,  except  Indians 
— being  an  increase  of  some  400  percent  during  the  preceding 
decade.  The  frontiers  had  been  steadily  advanced  by  the  adven 
turous  pioneers.  To  the  north,  the  settlements  had  extended 
to  the  Wood  river  country,  in  the  present  Madison  county;  east 
ward,  on  Silver  creek  and  up  the  Kaskaskia  river;  south  and  east, 
from  Kaskaskia,  some  15  miles  out  on  the  Fort  Massac  road;  the 
Birds  had  located  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio;  at  old  Massac  and 
the  Ohio  salines,  there  had  been  nuclei  of  settlements  for 
some  time  ;  Shawneetown,*  the  nearest  point  on  the  Ohio  to  the 
salt  wells,  12  miles  west,  had  contained  a  few  straggling  houses 

*Shawneetown.  which  derives  its  name  from  a  dissatisfied  band  of  that  tribe  of  Ind 
ians  located  there  from  1735  to  about  1760,  was  laid  out  by  the  direction  of  the  United 
States  goverment,  in  1813-14,  and  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  was  the  principal  town  in 
the  State.  The  site,  chosen  with  reference  to  its  contiguity  to  the  United  States  salines, 
was  an  unfortunate  one,  being  subject  to  repeated  inundations.  In  1813,  a  flood  rose  to 
the  ridge  poles  on  the  roofs  of  many  of  the  log  houses,  and  swept  40  of  them  away,  be- 
Biden  other  damage  to  stock,  fencing,  etc,  Petitions  to  change  the  location  tothe 
mouth  of  the  Saline  creek,  8  miles  below,  were  disregarded. 


246  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

since  1805;  along  the  west  side  of  the  Wabash,  opposite  Yin- 
ceniies,  were  scattered  a  few  families,  one  McOawley  having  pen 
etrated  inland  to  the  crossing-  of  the  Little  Wabash  by  the  Vin- 
ceunes  road,  but  the  latter  were  mostly  abandoned  during  the  war 
of  1812.  Indeed,  the  new  settlements  were  very  sparse  and  all 
feeble,  and  from  1810,  until  the  close  of  the  war,  4  years  later, 
immigration  was  almost  at  a  stand.  Nine-tenths  of  the  territory 
was  a  howling  wilderness,  over  which  red  savages  held  domin 
ion  and  roamed  at  will,  outnumbering  the  whites  at  least  three  to 
one. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

IXDIAX  TKOUBLES  IX  ILLIXOIS  PEECEDIXG  THE  WAK 

OF  1812 

The  Country  put  in  a  State  of  Defence  by  the  Organization  of  Rang- 
ing  Companies  and  the  Building  of  Block-house  and  Stockade 
Forts — Governor  Edwards  Sends  an  Envoy  to  Gomo's  Village — 
Battle  of  Tippecanoe — Indian  Council  at  Caholda. 


The  British,  after  the  war  of  Independence,  relinquished  with 
great  reluctance,  as  we  have  seen,  their  hold  upon  the  northwest 
ern  territory.  The  confederated  tribes  of  the  northwest  only 
ceased  their  warfare  when  they  found  their  last  hope  of  British 
aid  cut  off  by  Jay's  treaty  at  London,  Xovember,  1794;  but  this 
treaty  did  not  cover  all  the  outrageous  pretensions  of  Great  Brit 
ain.  In  her  desperate  war  with  France,  later,  she  boldly  boarded 
American  vessels  on  the  high  seas,  searching  for  English-born 
seamen,  impressing  them  into  her  marine  service  upon  the  ground 
of  "  once  an  Englishman,  always  an  Englishman,"  and  denying 
expatriation  and  American  citizenship  by  naturalization.  Xor  did 
she  scrutinize  very  closely  as  to  the  nationality  of  the  seamen 
impressed,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Chesapeake,  boarded  off  the 
coast  of  Virginia,  where,  of  four  of  the  crew  taken  as  deserters, 
three  were  of  American  birth.  In  the  retaliatory  measures 
between  France  and  England,  to  prevent  trade  and  commerce 
^'ith  either  power,  our  vessels,  as  neutrals,  became  the  prey  of  both 
hostile  nations.  The  affair  of  the  Chesapeake  intensified  the  feel 
ing  already  deep ;  Jefferson  ordered  all  British  ships-of-war  out 
of  the  waters  of  the  United  States,  and  congress  laid  an  embargo 
on  American  vessels,  forbidding  them  to  leave  port,  to  the  great 
injury  of  American  commerce. 

In  the  West,  British  emissaries  were  busy  arousing  the  north 
western  savages  to  war  against  the  United  States.  Harrison's 
zeal  and  activity  in  divesting  the  Indian  titles  to  western  lands, 
was  no  inconsiderable  provocative.  In  September,  1800,  he  had 
held  a  treaty  at  Fort  Wayne  with  the  Delawares,  Potawattomies, 
Miamis,  Kickapoos,  Weas  and  Eel  River  Indians,  who,  in  consid 
eration  of  $2,350  as  annuities,  and  $8,200  of  presents  in  hand, 
ceded  to  the  United  States  a  targe  tract  of  country,  comprising 
near  three  million  acres  of  land  in  Indiana,  extending  up  the  Wa- 
bash  above  Terre  Haute,  and  interiorly  to  include  the  middle 
waters  of  White  river,  and  trenching  upon  the  home  and  hunting 
ground  of  the  great  Shawnee  warrior,  Tecumseh,  whose  nation 

247 


248  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

was  not  a  party  to  the  treaty,  and  who  denounced  it  as  unjust  and 
illegal. 

At  a  council,  invited  by  Governor  Harrison  and  held  at  Vin- 
cennes,  August  12,  1810,  Tecumseh,  followed  by  400  warriors, 
maintained  that  all  the  northwestern  tribes  were  one  nation,  hold 
ing  their  lands  in  common,  and  that  without  the  consent  of  all 
the  tribes  concerned,  no  treaty  of  purchase  and  cession  was  valid; 
that  his  purpose  was  to  wrest  power  from  the  village  chiefs 
and  put  it  in  the  bands  of  the  war  chiefs.  Nor  did  he  deny  having 
threatened  to  kill  the  chiefs  who  had  treacherously  signed  the 
treaty.  An  angry  discussion  arose  between  Harrison  and  Tecum 
seh,  the  latter  boldly  avowing  his  purpose  to  hold  the  lands  con 
veyed  by  the  treaty,  and  resist  the  further  intrusion  of  the 
wliites.  He  made  an  impassioned  and  bitter  recital  of  the  wrongs 
and  aggressions  of  the  whites  upon  the  Indians,  declaring  they 
had  been  driven  back  from  the  sea  coast  now  to  be  pushed  into 
the  lakes.  Harrison  ridiculed  his  pretensions  and  the  wrongs  of 
his  people,  whereupon  Tecumseh  sprang  to  his  feet,  and  excitedly 
charged  his  Excellency  with  cheating  and  imposing  upon  the  Ind 
ians.  His  red  warriors,  inliamed  by  his  vehement  manner,  sim 
ultaneously  siezed  their  tomahawks  and  brandished  their  war 
clubs,  as  if  ready  for  the  work  of  massacre.  A  moment  of  silent 
but  awful  suspense  to  the  whites,  who  were  unarmed,  followed. 
No  further  demonstration  Avas  however  made,  and  Tecumseh, 
spurned  by  Harrison,  retired,  determined  to  adhere  to  the  old 
boundary. 

The  ill-feeling,  steadily  on  the  increase,  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  was  early  apprehended  by  the  savages 
through  the  machinations  of  British  agents  and  traders  on  the  north 
western  "frontier.  Nicholas  Jarrott,  of  Cahokia,  having  just 
returned  from  a  trip  to  Prairie  du  Ohien,  made  affidavit,  June  28, 
1809,  that  British  agents  and  traders  at  that  post,  and  on  the  fron 
tiers  of  Canada,  were  inciting  the  Indians  to  hostility,  and  fitting 
them  out  with  guns  and  ammunition  for  demonstrations  against 
the  western  settlers.*  The  savages  were  greatly  emboldened  by 
these  friendly  offers  to  commit  depredations  upon  the  American 
settlements.  In  July,  1810,  a  band  of  Potawattomies,  from  Illinois, 
made  a  raid  upon  a  settlement  in  Missouri,  opposite  the  mouth  of 
the  Gasconade,  stealing  horses  and  other  property.  The  owners, 
with  their  friends  to  the  number  of  six,  made  pursuit.  The  Ind 
ians,  who  were  discovered  at  the  distance  of  a  few  miles,  to  baffle 
their  pursuers,  changed  their  course.  The  whites,  after  a  fatiguing 
march,  went  into  camp,  and  neglecting  to  post  a  guard,  fell  soundly 
asleep.  In  the  night,  the  Indians,  with  demoniac  yells,  pounced 
upon  the  sleepers  and  tomahawked  all  but  two.  The  survivors 
speedily  spread  the  dreadful  tidings,  which  created  great  excite 
ment  at  the  time.  The  proof  from  various  circumstances  being 
clear  that  the  murderers  were  Potawattomies,  the  governor  of 
Missouri  made  a  requisition  upon  the  governor  of  Illinois  for  them. 
During  the  same  year,  hostile  demonstrations  were  made  by  the 
Sac  and  Fox  nations,  from  Illinois,  against  Fort  Madison,  situate 
011  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  above  the  DesMoines  Rapids. 
Hostilities  also  existed  between  the  lowas  and  Osages,  both  resid- 

*Annals  of  the  West,— Appendix.  This  was,  however,  denied  by  a  communication 
from  Messrs.  Bleakly  and  Portier,the  parties  implicated,  of  Prairie  du  Chien. 


ILLINOIS   TERRITORY.  249 

ing  west  ot  the  Mississippi.  In  1811,  the  Indians  committed 
many  murders  upon  the  whites  in  Illinois.  Near  the  forks  of  Shoal 
creek,  on  the  2d  of  June,  the  family  of  Mr.  Cox  being  absent, 
except  a  young  man  and  woman,  a  party  of  savages  killed  the 
former,  mangling  his  body  horribly,  stole  the  horses,  and  carried 
off  the  girl  a  prisoner.  The  Coxes  and  neighbors,  to  the  number 
of  eight  or  ten,  made  pursuit,  and  some  50  miles  north  of  the  pres 
ent  Springfield,  overtook  the  Indians,  re-captured  their  property, 
and  during  the  rambling  fight,  the  girl,  after  being  wounded  by  a 
tomahawk  in  the  hip,  made  her  escape  and  joined  her  friends.  In 
the  same  mouth,  at  the  lower  part  of  the  present  city  of  Alton, 
where  a  Mr.  Price  and  another  named  Ellis,  were  plowing  corn, 
a  party  of  Indians  were  observed  approaching  the  spring  in  the 
vicinity,  where  there  was  a  cabin.  The  whites  unhitched  their 
horses  and  seized  their  guns;  but  the  Indians  declared  themselves 
friendly,  and  one  of  them,  a  tall,  stout  fellow,  laid  down  his  gnu 
and  gaA7e  Price  his  hand,  but  in  so  doing,  held  him  fast  while  the 
others  tomahawked  him  to  death.  At  this,  his  companion  bounded 
on  his  horse  and  made  good  his  escape,  with  a  wounded  thigh.* 
But  we  will  not  further  detail  these  horrid  Indian  butcheries. 
The  people  saw  their  imminence,  and  began  to  make  preparations 
for  defence.  Forts  and  stockades  began  to  be  built,  and  in  July 
of  the  same  year,  a  company  of  "  rangers,"  or  mounted  riflemen, 
was  raised  and  organized  in  the  Goshen  settement  of  Illinois. 

Congress,  in  1811,  passed  an  act  for  the  organization  of  10  com 
panies  of  mounted  rangers,  to  protect  the  frontiers  of  the  West. 
These  companies  constituted  the  17th  United  States  regiment, 
and  Colonel  William  Eussel,  an  old  Indian  fighter  of  Kentucky, 
was  assigned  to  its  command.  The  companies  were  generally 
made  up  of  frontier  citizens,  who  had  the  additional  stimulus  in 
their  duties  of  immediately  defending  their  homes,  kindred  and 
neighbors.  Each  ranger  had  to  furnish  his  own  horse,  provisions 
and  equipments  all  complete,  and  the  recompense  from  the  govern 
ment  was  one  dollar  per  day.  They  appointed  their  own  company 
officers,  and  were  enlisted  for  one  year.  Four  companies  were 
allotted  to  the  defence  of  Illinois,  whose  respective  captains  were, 
Samuel  and  William  B.  Whitesides,  James  B.  Moore,  and  Jacob 
Short.  Independent  cavalry  companies  were  also  organized  for 
the  protection  of  the  remote  settlements  in  the  lower  Wabash 
country,  of  which  Willis  Hargrave,  William  McHenry,  Nathaniel 
Journey,  Captain  Craig,  at  Shawneetown,  and  William  Boon,  on 
the  Big  Muddy,  were,  respectively,  commanders,  ready  on  short 
notice  of  Indian  outrages,  to  make  pursuit  of  the  depredators. 
These  ranging  companies  performed  most  efficient  service  in  the 
protection  of  the  settlements  in  Illinois  against  the  savage  foe. 
The  rangers  ami  mounted  militia,  in  times  of  supposed  peril,  con 
stantly  scoured  the  country  a  considerable  distance  in  advance  of 
the  frontier  settlers  ;  and  yet  the  savages  would  often  prowl 
through  the  settlements,  commit  outrages,  and  elude  successful 
pursuit. 

Great  numbers  of  block-house  forts,  or  stations  for  the  security 
of  families,  were  built,  extending  from  the  Illinois  river  to  the 
Kaskaskia,  thence  to  the  United  Stated  salines,  near  the  present 
town  of  Equality,  up  the  Ohio  and  Wabash,  and  nearly  to  all  set- 

•Beynold's  Pioneer  History. 


250  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

tlements  in  Illinois.  Some  of  these  forts  were  situated  as  follows  : 
One' on  the  present  site  of  the  town  of  Carlyle;  one  a  small  dis 
tance  above  the  present  town  of  A  vision,  known  as  Journey's 
fort;  two  on  the  east  side  of  Shoal  creek,  known  as  Hill's  and 
Jones'  forts ;  one  a  few  miles  southeast  of  the  present  town  of 
Lebanon,  on.  the  west  side  of  Looking-glass  prairie,  known  as 
Chambers'  fort;  on  the  Kaskaskia  river  wvre  Middleton's  and 
Going's  forts;  one  on  Doza  creek,  a  few  miles  from  its  mouth, 
known  as  Xat.  Hill's;  two  in  the  Jourdan  settlement,  eastern 
part  of  Franklin  county,  on  the  road  to  the  salt  works;  one  at 
the  month  of  the  Illinois  river,  and  later,  John  Campbell,  a  United 
States  officer,  erected  a  small  block-house  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Illinois  (Prairie  Marcot),  19  miles  above  its  month.  More  preten 
tious  military  stations  were  established  on  the  Mississippi,  oppo 
site  the  month  of  the  Missouri,  to  guard  the  river  ;  and  on  Silver 
creek,  near  Troy.  But  the  main  military  depot  was  established 
about  a  mite  and  a  half  northwest  of  the  present  town  of  Edwards- 
ville,  called  Camp  Kussell,  in  honor  of  the  colonel  commanding 
the  10  ranging  companies. 

The  simplest  form  of  block-house  forts  consisted  of  a  single 
house  built  of  logs,  compactly  laid  up  a  story  and  a  half  or  two 
stories  high,  with  the  corners  closely  trimmed,  to  prevent  scaling. 
The  walls  of  the  lower  story  were  provided  with  port-holes  ;  the  door 
was  made  of  thick  puncheons,  and  was  strongly  barred  on  the 
inside.  The  upper  story  projected  over  the  lower  three  or  four 
feet,  with  port-holes  through  the  floor  of  the  projecting"  part, 
which  commanded  the  walls  and  space  below  against  any  Indian 
attempts  to  force  an  entrance.  They  afforded  entire  security 
against  the  rude  arts  of  savage  war,  but  were  only  single 
family  fttrts.  A  stockade  fort  consisted  of  four  block-houses, 
as  described  above,  or  larger,  placed  one  at  each  corner  of  a 
square  piece  of  ground,  of  dimensions  ample  enough  to  accommo 
date  the  number  of  people  seeking  shelter  therein.  The  interven 
ing  space  was  filled  up  with  timbers  or  logs,  firmly  set  on  end  in 
the  ground,  and  extending  upwards  12  or  15  feet.  This  was  the 
stockade  into  whose  sides  port-holes  were  cut,  high  enough  to  be 
above  the  head,  and  to  which  platforms  were  raised,  from  which 
to  fire  upon  the  enemy.  There  were  also  port-holes  in  the  project 
ing  walls  of  the  corner  block-houses,  which  thus  commanded  the 
whole  of  the  stockade  walls  on  the  outside.  With  in  the  stockade, 
cabins  were  built  for  the  families  to  live  in.  AY  ells  were  dug  for 
water,  or,  possibly,  the  site  was  selected  over  a  spring'.  There 
were  usually  two  heavy  entrance  gates  in  the  stockade  walls, 
securely  barred  on  the  inside,  and  large  enough  to  admit  teams. 
In  times  of  extra  peril,  horses,  and  sometimes  other  valuable  do 
mestic  animals,  were  taken  into  the  stockade  over  night  for  safety. 
If  the  fort  was  not  built  out  on  the  prairie,  the  woods  was  invaria 
bly  cleared  back  some  distance,  so  as  to  afford  no  place  of  con 
cealment  to  the  stealthy  enemy.  It  was  often  hazardous  to  first 
open  the  gates  of  a  morning.  Milking  parties,  upon  their  errands, 
were  not  unfrequently  attacked  by  the  skulking  red  foe.  At 
times,  sentinels  were  often  posted  during  the  night,  as  in  the  case 
of  regular  garrisons. 

The  most  notable,  as  also  the  largest,  strongest,  and  best 
appointed  in  every  respect  of  the  stockade  forts,  was  Fort  Russell, 


ILLINOIS  TERRITORY.  251 

established  by  Governor  Edwards  early  in  1812,  about  1£  miles 
northwest  of  the  present  Edwardsville,  then  on  the  extreme  north 
ern  frontier.  The  cannon  of  Louis  XIV,  which  had  done  service 
for  many  years  in  the  ancient  Fort  Chartres,  were  removed  thither 
and  placed  in  position,  where,  if  they  served  no  other  purpose, 
their  thunder  tones  reverberated  over  the  broad  expanse  of  wilder 
ness  prairie,  and  upon  days  of  festivity,  dress  parade,  and  other 
displays,  added  eclat  to  the  occasions.  This  stockade  was  made  the 
main  depot  for  military  stores,  and  became  also  the  general  ren 
dezvous  for  the  militia  volunteers,  rangers  and  regulars,  as  well  as 
the  great  point  tfappul  for  the  organization  of  expeditions  into 
the  country  of  savages  on  the  Peoria  lake.  The  only  United  States 
regulars,  however,  which  camped  at  this  fort  during  the  Avar,  was 
a  small  company,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Ramsey,  early 
in  the  spring  of  1812. 

When  Governor  Edwards,  during  the  perilous  times  of  1812,  with 
Indian  hostilities  threatening  on  every  hand,  assumed  command 
of  the  Illinois  forces,  it  was  here  that  he  established  his  head 
quarters.  Here  was  gathered  about  him  the  beauty  and  chivalry 
of  those  days.  TVithin  the  protecting  walls  of  this  stockade, 
defended  without  and  within  by  brave,  stout  hearts,  were  attracted 
and  found  shelter,  much  of  the  talent,  fashion  and  wealth  of  the 
country ;  and  here,  his  Excellency,  not  devoid  of  a  natural  love  for 
display  and  parade,  presided  with  a  courtly  grace  and  stately  dig 
nity  well  befitting  his  fine  personal  appearance  and  his  many 
accomplishments. 

Early  in  the  year  1811,  numerous  were  the  complaints  of  horses 
being  stolen,  houses  plundered,  and  alleged  murders  committed 
by  the  savages.  Governor  Clark,  of  Missouri,  after  the  murder  of 
the  four  citizens  near  the  mouth  of  the  Gasconade,  in  August,  1810. 
made  a  requisition  upon  Governor  Edwards  for  the  authors  of 
the  crime.  Governor  Edwards  also  wanted  the  tribes  on  the  Illi 
nois  to  surrender  the  murderers  of  the  Cox  boy  and  Price,  before 
noticed,  and  to  deliver  up  the  property  stolen  by  the  Indians  for 
two  years  past.  To  effect  these  objects,  he  commissioned  Captain 
Samuel  Levering,  an  intelligent  and  discreet  officer,  Avho  was  fit 
ted  out  with  a  boat  by  Governor  Clark,  duly  provisioned,  manned 
and  equipped.  Levering  was  accompanied  by  Captain  Herbert 
Henry  Swearingen,  a  Potawattomie  named  AVish-ha,  and  eight 
oarsmen,  who  signed  articles  to  act  as  boatmen  and  soldiers,  each 
armed  with  a  gun.  They  started  from  Cahokia  for  Peoria,  July 
25,  1811.  Before  leaving  the  Mississippi,  they  met  Captain. 
\Vhitesides  with  his  rangers  from  the  block-house,  near  the  mouth 
of  the  .Illinois,  who  informed  them  of  firing  on  a  party  of  Sacs 
ascending  the  Illinois,  but  that  their  "summons"  was  disregarded. 
At  Prairie  Marcot,  they  found  Lt.  Campbell  and  his  force  of  17 
men.  On  the  3d  of  August  they  arrived  at  Peoria,  and  met 
Mr.  Eorsythe,  the  government  Indian  agent,  who.  by  his  long  res 
idence  among  the  Indians,  was  thoroughly  versed  in  their  tongue. 
The  principal  chief  of  the  Potawattoinies  there  was  Masseno, 
better  known  as  Gomo.  To  him  Mr.  Forsythe  had  previously 
delivered  a  letter  from  Governor  Clark,  demanding  a  surrender 
of  the  Gasconade  murderers.  Gomo  was  thought  to  be  not  unfa 
vorable  to  the  surrender,  but  claimed  to  not  have  power  to  enforce 
his  sole  will  against  so  many.  Here  Captain  Levering  learned, 


252  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

from  a  Frenchman,  named  Jacques  Mettle,  the  whereabouts  of  the 
murderers  on  Shoal  creek,  who  were  Potawattomies.  A  French 
man,  named  Founder,  was  sent  forward  to  apprise  Goino  of  the 
arrival  of  Captain  Levering1  with  a  letter  for  him  from  Governor 
Edwards ;  but  an  Indian  had  preceded  him,  and  reported  that 
Levering  was  accompanied  by  a  force  of  50  men,  and  Gomo  was 
unwilling  to  meet  him  without  an  armed  escort  of  14  warriors. 
On  the  morning  of  the  5th,  however,  the  chief  raised  the  Ameri 
can  nag,  and  in  answer  to  a  message,  called  and  received  the 
governor's  letter  from  the  hands  of  Levering.  He  immediately 
sent  out  his  young  men  to  call  together  in  council  all  his  chiefs, 
who  were  mostly  absent  on  distant  journeys.  Gorno  professed 
his  readiness  to  do  justice  to  the  Americans,  so  far  as  his  power 
extended.  Levering  gave  Gomo  tobacco  to  be  sent  as  a  present 
with  a  message  to  the  chiefs,  and  retired.  The  murderers  of  Price 
were  found  to  be  five  brothers,  Polsawines. 

In  the  meantime,  Capt.  Levering  and  Mr.  Fournier  made  a  visit 
to  the  Indian  towns  some  20  miles  up  the  Illinois  river.  Gomo's 
town  was  still  some  4  miles  farther  on  and  back  of  the  river 
bottom,  where  they  arrived  late  one  night.  They  were  hospitably 
entertained  in  the  wigwam  of  the  chief,  which  was  built  of  bark 
and  afforded  lodging  room  for  30  or  more  persons.  It  was  25  by 
50  feet  on  the  inside ;  sleeping  bunks,  G  by  7,  and  5  feet  high  were 
arranged  around  the  lodge,  upon  which  the  Indians  slept  or 
lounged,  with  their  heads  pointing  toward  the  centre  of  the  room 
and  their  feet  toward  the  walls.  Captain  Leveling  and  his 
companions  were  honored  with  one  next  to  that  of  the  chief  and 
his  family.  Although  it  was  late  when  the  visitors  arrived,  a 
dish  of  new  corn  was  set  before  them  by  the  chief's  squaw,  and 
while  they  were  partaking  of  it,  the  chief  smoked  his  pipe,  as 
also  the  men,  who  generally  quitted  their  sleeping  places  and 
squatted  around  the  lodge  fires  in  the  centre,  "in  all  the  solemnity 
of  profound  smoking,"  as  a  mark  of  etiquette  due  to  strangers.* 

In  his  frequent  informal  communications  with  the  Indians, 
Captain  Levering  learned  much  of  their  internal  polity  and  their 
feelings  toward  the  Americans,  whom  they  regarded  as  their  ene 
mies,  notwithstanding  their  professions  of  peace  and  friendship 
for  them.  Their  adroitness  in  diplomacy  is  well  disclosed  in  the 
replies  of  the  chiefs  to  Captain  Levering ;  their  most  customary 
evasions  to  deliver  up  any  of  their  braves,  charged  with  crime, 
being,  that  they  had  departed  with  such  and  such  chiefs  on  an 
expedition |  that  they  had  no  control  over  them;  that  it  Avas  not 
their  business,  and  did  not  concern  them,  etc.  The  ambition  of 
the  young  braves  to  be  able  to  exclaim,  during  their  orgies,  "I  am 
a  man:  who  can  gainsay  it  ?  I  have  killed  an  Osage!  I  have  killed 
a  white!"  stimulated  them  to  the  commission  of  outrages ;  while 
their  frequent  immunity  from  punishment,  led  them  to  infer  inac 
tivity,  if  not  fear,  on  the  part  of  the  whites.  Gomo  was  anxious 
the  chiefs  should  attend  at  the  delivery  of  the  governor's  address, 
and  hear  for  themselves,  so  that  they  could  not  afterwards  charge 
him  with  fear  or  treachery,  and  denounce  him  as  "sugar  mouth." 
In  a  conversation,  Gomo  spoke  of  seeing  Washington  at  Phila 
delphia,  in  1793,  and  his  elder  brother  remembered  the  time  when 
the  British  put  the  Indians  in  the  front  of  battle. 

*M.  W.  Edwards'  Life  of  his  Father. 


ILLINOIS   TERRITORY.  253 


A  number  of  chiefs  and  warriors  having  arrived,  in  obedience  to 
Goino's  summons,  they  indulged  their  contempt  in  a  little  act  of 
offeusiveness  by  displaying  the  American  flag  union  down.  Cap 
tain  Levering,  inclining  to  attribute  this  to  their  ignorance, 
attempted  to  explain  its  meaning,  to  which  they  replied  that 
they  knew  it.  But  on  the  morning  following,  the  flag  was  dis 
played  union  up.  The  Indians  in  council  differed  as  to  the  policy 
to  be  adopted,  regarding  the  demand  of  the  Americans  for  the 
surrender  of  the  murderers  and  the  stolen  property.  The  offend 
ers  were  greatly  scattered,  receiving  the  protection  of  chiefs  hun 
dreds  of  miles  away.  Gomo  favored  the  sending  of  an  Indian 
commission  for  them,  but  foresaw  that  it  would  be  said  to  him 
that  he  belonged  011  the  Illinois,  and  that  he  better  attend  to 
his  own  tribe ;  and  he  disliked  the  cowardly  appearance  of  hav 
ing  made  the  attempt  and  failed.  Others  opposed  the  surrender 
of  anything  but  the  stolen  property.  Meanwhile,  the  British 
inspired  the  policy  of  sending  Little  Chief,  who  was  a  "talkative 
fellow,"  to  give  the  Americans  any  amount  of  assurance  to 
answer  present  purposes,  with  which  these,  like  many  previous 
outrages,  soon  to  be  covered  by  passing  events,  would  likewise 
directly  blow  over.  Little  Chief,  in  a  preliminary  conversation 
with  Captain  Levering,  indicated  his  displeasure  by  saying  that 
he  hoped  the  letter  of  the  governor  would  be  fully  told  them 
as  it  was  written,  at  which  insinuation  Mr.  Forsythe,  the 
interpreter,  became  not  a  little  incensed. 

On  the  morning  of  the  16th  of  August,  1811,  Captain  Levering 
being  informed  that  the  Indians  were  ready  to  proceed  to  the 
council  chamber,  promptly  repaired  thither,  accompanied  by  his 
leading  men.  and  the  inhabitants  of  Peoria  whom  he  had  invited. 
After  a  preliminary  "talk"  on  the  part  of  Captain  Levering,  and 
smoking  the  pipe,  the  address  of  Governor  Edwards,  dated  Kas- 
kaskia,  July  21st,  was  slowly  delivered  to  them  and  carefully 
interpreted.  It  was  addressed  "to  the  chiefs  and  warriors  of 
the  tribes  of  Potawattomies,  residing  on  the  Illinois  river  and 
its  waters,  in  the  territory  of  Illinois."  The  governor  explained 
to  them  how  faithfully  the  president  had  carried  out  all  treaty 
obligations  with  the  Indians,  and  that  it  was  his  great  desire  to 
have  his  red  and  white  children  live  in  peace  and  friendship ;  that 
the  tomahaAvk  and  scalping-knife  had  been  for  a  long  time  buried, 
but  that  a  storm  seemed  now  to  be  gathering;  that  the  whites 
were  being  plundered  and  murdered ;  citing  a  number  of  acts  of 
hostility  and  giving  the  names  of  Indians  who  had  committed 
them ;  that  the  relatives  and  friends  of  these  victims  cried  aloud  to 
the  Great  Spirit,  their  hearts  aflame  with  revenge,  and  who  could 
onl>  be  repressed  from  instant  war  by  showing  them  that  these 
acts  of  barbarity  were  not  approved  by  the  nations  of  the  authors 
of  them,  whom  he  demanded  to  be  surrendered  for  trial.  Allusion 
was  also  made  to  the  British  emissaries  among  them,  who  flat 
tered,  deceived  and  instigated  them  to  the  commission  of  these 
horrible  acts  ;  concluding  with  a  full  explanation  of  the  power  and 
resources  of  the  American  nation. 

After  the  reading  of  the  address  the  council  dispersed,  and  on 
the  following  day  Gomo  made  the  subjoined  reply,  which  was 
interpreted  and  written  down  on  the  spot,  and  is  not  only  very 
interesting  to  peruse  but  shows  this  chief  to  have  been  the  pos- 


254  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

sessor  of  a  high  order  of  intellect.  After  inviting  attention  to 
his  words,  and  expressing  gladness  for  the  opportunity,  Gomo 
spoke  as  follows : 

"  You  see  the  color  of  our  skin.  The  Great  Spirit,  when  he  made 
and  disposed  of  man,  placed  the  red-skins  in  this  land,  and  those  who 
wore  hats,  on  the  other  side  of  the  big  waters.  When  the  Great  Spirit 
placed  us  on  this  ground,  we  knew  nothing  but  what  was  fur 
nished  to  us  by  nature.  We  made  use  of  our  stone  axes,  stone  knives 
and  earthen  vessels,  and  clothed  ourselves  from  the  skins  of  the  beasts 
of  the  forest.  Yet,  we  were  contented!  When  the  French  first  made 
large  canoes,  they  crossed  the  wide  waters  to  this  country,  and  on  first 
seeing  the  red  people,  they  were  rejoiced.  They  told  us  that  we  must 
consider  ourselves  as  the  children  of  the  French,  and  they  would  be 
our  father  ;  the  country  was  a  good  one,  and  they  would  change  goods 
for  skins. 

"Formerly,  we  all  lived  in  one  large  village.  In  that  village  there  was 
only  one  chief,  and  all  things  went  on  well  ;  but  since  our  intercourse 
with  the  whites,  there  are  almost  as  many  chiefs  as  we  have  young 
men. 

"  At  the  the  time  of  the  taking  of  Canada,  when  the  British  and  the 
French  were  fighting  for  the  same  country,  the  Indians  were  solicited 
to  take  part  in  that  war — since  which  time  there  have  been  among  us  a 
number  of  foolish  young  men.  The  whites  ought  to  have  staid  011  the 
other  side  of  the  waters,  and  not  have  troubled  us  on  this  side.  If  we 
are  fools,  the  whites  are  the  cause  of  it.  From  the  commencement  of 
their  wars,  they  used  many  persuasions  with  the  Indians;  they  made 
them  presents  of  merchandise  in  order  to  get  them  to  join  and  assist  in 
their  battles — since  which  time  there  have  always  been  fools  among  us, 
and  the  whites  are  blameable  for  it. 

"  The  British  asked  the  Indians  to  assist  them  in  their  wars  with  the 
Americans,  telling  them  that  if  we  allowed  the  Americans  to  remain 
upon  our  lands,  they  would  in  time  take  the  whole  country,  and  we  would 
then  have  no  place  to  go  to.  Some  of  the  Indians  did  join  the  British,  but 
all  did  not;  some  of  .this  nation,  in  particular,  did  not  join  them. 
The  British  persisted  in  urging  upon  us  that  if  we  did  not  assist  them  in 
driving  the  Americans  from  our  lauds,  our  wives  and  children  would 
be  miserable  for  the  remainder  of  our  days.  In  the  course  of  that  war, 
the  American  general,  Clark,  came  to  Kaskaskia,  and  sent  for  the 
chiefs  on  this  river  to  meet  him  there.  We  attended,  and  he  desired  us 
to  remain  still  and  quiet  in  our  own  villages,  saying  that  the  Americans 
were  able  of  themselves  to  fight  the  British.  You  Americans  generally 
speak  sensibly  and  plainly.  At  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  General  W^ayne 
spoke  to  us  in  the  same  sensible  and  clear  manner.  I  have  listened  with 
attention  to  you  both.  At  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  General  Wayne  told 
us  that  the  tomahawk  must  be  buried,  and  even  thrown  into  the  great 
lake  ;  and  should  any  white  man  murder  an  Indian,  he  should  be 
delivered  up  to  the  Indians;  and  we  on  our  part,  should  deliver  up 
the  red  men  who  murdered  a  white  person  to  the  Americans.  [Mis 
take]. 

"A  Potawattomie  Indian,  by  the  name  of  Turkey  Foot,  killed  an 
American,  for  which  he  was  demanded  of  us  ;  and  although  he  was  a 
great  warrior,  we  killed  him  ourselves  in  satisfaction  for  his  murders. 
Some  of  the  Kickapoos  killed  an  American.  They  were  demanded, 
were  given  up,  and  were  tied  up  with  ropes  around  their  necks  for 
the  murders.  This  was  not  what  the  chief,  who  made  the  demand, 
promised,  as  they  were  put  to  death  in  another  manner.  Our  custom  is 
to  tie  up  a  dog  that  way  when  we  make  a  sacrifice.  Now,  listen  to  me 
well  in  what  1  have  to  say  to  you.  - 

"Some  time  ago,  one  of  our  young  men  was  drunk  at  St.  Louis,  and 
was  killed  by  an  American.  At  another  time,  some  person  stole  a  horse 
near  Cahokia.  The  citizens  of  the  village  followed  the  trail,  met  ail 
innocent  Kickapoo,  on  his  way  to  Kaskaskia,  and  killed  him.  Last 
fall,  on  the  other  side,  and  not  far  from  Fort  Wayne,  a  Wyandot  Indian 
set  fire  to  the  prairie  ;  a  settler  came  out  and  asked  him  how  he  came 
to  set  fire.  The  Indian  answered  'iat  he  was  out  hunting.  The  set- 


ILLINOIS   TERRITORY.  255 

tier  struck  the  Indian  and  continued  to  beat  him  till  they  were  parted, 
when  another  settler  shot  the  Indian.  This  summer,  a  Chippewa  Ind 
ian,  at  Detroit,  was  looking  at  a  gun,  when  it  went  off  accidentally  and 
shot  an  American.  The  Chippewa  was  demanded,  delivered  up  and 
executed.  Is  this  the  way  General  Wayne  exhibits  his  charity  to  the 
red-skins?  Whenever  an  instance  of  this  kind  happens,  it  is  usual  for 
the  red-skins  to  regard  it  as  an  accident.  You  Americans  think  that  all 
the  mischiefs  that  are  committed  are  known  to  the  chiefs,  and  immedi 
ately  call  on  them  for  the  surrender  of  the  offenders.  We  know  noth 
ing  of  them  ;  our  business  is  to  hunt,  in  order  to  feed  our  women  and 
children.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  we  red-skins  are  always  in  the 
wrong.  If  we  kill  a  hog,  we  are  called  fools  or  bad  men  ;  the  same,  or 
worse,  is  said  of  us  if  we  kill  an  horned  animal ;  yet  you  do  not  take 
into  consideration  that,  while  the  whites  are  hunting  along  our  rivers, 
killing  our  deer  and  bears,  we  do  not  speak  ill  of  them.  When  the 
French  came  to  Niagara,  Detroit,  Mackinaw  and  Chicago,  they  built  no 
forts  or  garrisons,  nor  did  the  English,  who  came  after  them  ;  but  when 
the  Americans  came,  all  \\  as  changed.  They  build  forts,  and  garrisons 
and  blockades  wherever  they  go.  From  these  facts,  we  infer  that  they 
intend  to  make  war  upon  us.  Whenever  the  United  States  make  the 
Indians  presents,  they  afterwards  say  that  we  must  give  them  such  a 
tract  of  land ;  and  after  a  good  many  presents,  they  ask  for  a  larger 
piece.  This  is  the  way  we  have  been  served.  This  is  the  way  of  extend 
ing  to  us  charity.  Formerly,  when  the  French  were  here,  they  made 
us  large  presents  ;  so  have  the  English ;  but  the  Americans,  in  giving 
their  presents,  have  asked  a  piece  of  land  in  return.  Such  has  been  the 
treatment  of  the  Americans. 

u  If  the  whites  had  kept  on  the  other  side  of  the  waters,  these  acci 
dents  would  not  have  happened ;  we  could  not  have  crossed  the  wide 
waters  to  have  killed  them  there  ;  but  they  came  here  and  turned  the 
Indians  into  confusion.  If  an  Indian  goes  into  their  village,  like  a  dog  he 
is  hunted  and  threatened  with  death.  The  ideas  of  the  Potawattomies, 
Ottawas  and  Chippewas  are,  that  we  wish  to  live  peaceable  with  all  man 
kind,  and  attend  to  our  hunting  and  other  pursuits,  that  we  may  be 
able  to  provide  for  the  wants  of  our  women  and  children.  But  there 
remains  a  lurking  dissatisfaction  in  the  breasts  and  minds  of  some  of 
our  young  men.  This  has  occasioned  the  late  mischiefs  which,  at  the 
time,  were  unknown  to  the  chiefs  and  warriors  of  the  nation.  I  am  sur 
prised  at  such  threateiiings  to  the  chiefs  and  warriors  (old  people),  who 
are  inclined  entirely  for  peace.  The  desires  of  the  chiefs  and  warriors 
are  to  plant  corn  and  pursue  the  deer.  Do  you  think  it  possible  for  us  to 
deliver  the  murderers  here  to-day  ?  Think  you,  my  friends,  what  would 
be  the  consequence  of  a  war  between  the  Americans  and  Indians.  In 
times  passed,  when  some  of  us  were  engaged  in  it,  many  women  were 
left  in  a  distressful  condition.  Should  war  now  take  place,  the  distress 
would  be,  in  comparison,  much  more  general.  This  is  all  I  have  to  say 
on  the  part  of  myself  and  warriors  of  my  village.  I  thank  you  for  your 
patient  attention  to  my  words.  "* 

Captain  Levering  replied  to  them,  giving  a  resume  of  the  his 
tory  of  the  white  settlers  on  this  continent,  and  their  contact  with 
the  red  men.  He  denied  that  the  forts  at  Chicago,  Fort  Wayne, 
or  the  one  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  were  established  to 
threaten  or  make  war  on  the  Indians,  but  that  they  were  built  to 
afford  protection  to  their  friends;  that  the  Americans,  unlike  the 
British,  had  never  taught  nor  employed  the  red  men  to  join  in  wars 
and  outrages  upon  the  whites;  that  even  in  the  revolutionary 
struggle  they  had  advised  the  Indians  to  lie  on  their  skins  at 
home,  raise  corn  and  kill  deer,  but  not  to  engage  on  ei their  side; 
he  showed  them  their  mistake  regarding  the  treaty  of  Greenville, 
that  all  murderers1,  on  either  side,  should  be  delivered  up  to  the  oppo 
site  party;  that  the  government  at  Washington  would  not  have 

*See  Edwards'  Life  of  Edwards. 


256  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

permitted  Wayne  to  do  this,  but  that  all  offenders  against  our 
laws  must  be  tried  under  the  laws  by  a  jury  of  12  men,  and  that 
justice  would  be  meted  out  to  Indians  the  same  as  the  whites. 

At  the  conclusion,  Little  Chief  said :  "I  request  you  now  to  take 
the  names  of  the  chiefs  and  warriors,  that  you  may  show  to  your 
father  in  Kaskaskia,  how  ready  we  have  been  to  attend  his  words." 
Gomo,  the  day  following,  upon  the  final  adjournment  of  the  coun 
cil,  said:  "We  have  listened  with  patient  attention,  and  I  hope 
that  the  great  Master  of  Light  was  noticing  it,  When  the  Mas 
ter  of  Light  made  man,  he  endowed  those  who  wear  hats  with 
every  gift,  art  and  knowledge.  The  red-skins,  as  you  see,  live  in 
lodges  and  on  the  wilds  of  nature.7'  This  sentiment  evinced  a 
high  appreciation  of  the  relative  status  of  the  two  races. 

Two  horses  only  were  delivered  up,  Little  Chief  promising  to 
return  two  more  to  Captain  Heald,  at  Chicago,  and  Gomo  prom 
ised  to  try  and  return  all,  as  soon  as  they  could  be  found.  The 
murderers  of  the  Coles  party  in  Missouri,  were  revealed  to  be  in  a 
village  about  20  miles  west  of  the  Prophet's  town — Tippecanoe; 
that  by  inviting  them  to  Fort  Wayne  with  others  they  might  there 
be  seized  in  the  fall.  But  it  is  said  that  some  of  them  were,  in 
point  of  fact,  with  them  then.  So  ended  Levering's  mission.  By 
the  exposure  incurred  on  the  Illinois,  this  clear  headed  soldier  con 
tracted  disease  and  died  soon  after  his  return  to  Kaskaskia. 

A  mission,  in  charge  of  Joseph  Trotier,  a  sagacious  French 
Creole  of  Cahokia,  was/ilso  sent  to  the  Kickapoos,  \vho  inhabited 
the  country  along  Sugar  Creek  in  the  northern  part  of  the  present 
county  of  Logan.  The  usual  "talks,"  or  speeches,  with  many  fair 
promises  from  this  rather  shrewd  but  treacherous  and  implacable 
nation,  were  had,  which  were  also  written  down  as  interpreted. 

But  throughout  the  west  English  emissaries  kept  up  the  dastardly 
work  of  ^setting  the  red  men  like  dogs  upon  the  whites,"  in  the 
energetic  language  of  Tecninseh  to  Harrison.  That  great  warrior, 
the  fit  successor  of  Pontiac,  having  conceived  the  plan  of  bring 
ing  the  southern  tribes,  the  Creeks,  Choctaws,  and  Chicasaws, 
into  a  league  with  the  tribes  of  the  north,  to  make  war  against  the 
United  States  till  their  lands  were  restored  to  them,  started  thither 
on  his  errand  in  the  spring  of  1811.  The  purposes  of  this  chief 
tain  and  his  brother,  the  one-eyed  Prophet,  being  well  understood 
by  Gov.  Harrison,  he  determined,  during  the  former's  absence,  to 
strike  and  disperse  the  hostile  forces  collected  under  the  latter  at 
Tippecanoe.  He  started  from  Vincennes  in  the  fall  of  1811  and 
arrived  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Prophet's  town  on  the  6th  of  Xov., 
with  an  effective  force  of  something  over  700  men.  Here  he  was 
met  by  ambassadors  from  the  Prophet,  and  a  suspension  of  hostili 
ties  was  arranged  until  an  interview  on  the  following  day  could  be 
had.  The  governor,  desiring  a  good  piece  of  ground  to  camp 
upon,  allowed  the  treacherous  foe  to  point  it  out;  but  the  site  was 
not  selected  without  examination  and  approval  by  his  officers. 
Upon  this  spot,  before  the  dawn  of  the  following  morning,  the 
stealthy  foe,  with  a  superior  force,  attempted  to  re-enact  the  defeat 
of  St.  Clair  21  years  before.  Under  cover  of  darkness  he  crept 
upon  the  American  camp,  and  began  a  murderous  attack  with 
savage  fury  uncommon  even  to  him,  and  maintained  it  with  great 
obstinacy;  but  the  surprise  was  not  complete,  and  he  was  ulti 
mately  repulsed  and  put  to  flight,  with  a  loss  equaling  that  of  the 


ILLINOIS   TERRITORY. 


Americans.  The  loss  of  the  latter  was,  in  killed,  37 ;  mortally 
wounded,  25;  wounded,  120.  The  loss  in  officers  was  particularly 
heavy.  Of  the  Illinoisans  who  fell  here  we  may  mention  Isaac 
White,  for  some  years  the  government  agent  of  the  Ohio  salines, 
who,  having  received  the  appointment  of  captain  of  a  militia  com 
pany  from  Gov.  Edwards,  in  1810,  joined  the  expedition  of  Gov. 
Harrison.  His  death  was  much  regretted,  and  the  Territorial  Leg 
islature,  in  1815,  to  perpetuate  his  memory,  named  the  county  of 
White  in  honor  of  him.  Here,  too,  fell  the  gifted  and  brilliant 
young  Major  Joe  Daviess,  whose  deeds  of  valor  have  also  been 
commemorated  in  Illinois  by  naming  a  county  after  him.  The 
intelligence  of  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe  was  peculiarly  alarming 
to  the  settlements  of  Illinois,  so  contiguous  to  these  hordes  of 
savages,  and  additional  measures  were  concocted  as  speedily  as 
circumstances  permitted,  to  meet  the  exigency  of  the  times. 

During  the  winter  of  1811-12,  the  Indians  on  the  Upper  Missis 
sippi  were  very  hostile  and  committed  many  murders.  In  antici 
pation  of  an  early  war  with  the  United  States,  the  British  agent  at 
Prairie  dti  Chien,  Col.  Dixon,  it  was  reported  by  Indian  traders, 
had  engaged  all  the  warriors  of  that  region  to  descend  the  Missis 
sippi  and  exterminate  the  settlements  on  both  sides  of  the  river;* 
but  upon  the  breaking  out  of  actual  hostilities  in  June  of  that 
year  there  was  more  pressing  need  for  savage  recruits  in  Canada, 
which  doubtless  saved  the  effusion  of  much  blood  in  the  denser 
settlements  of  Illinois;  still  many  murders  were  committed.  The 
Louwinna  Gazette,  March  21st,  1812,  reports  9  murders  in  the  dis 
trict  of  St.  Charles;  1  at  Fort  Madison;  2  at  the  lend  mines  in 
Illinois,  and  a  party  of  men  who  left  the  Fort  in  February  for  the 
mines,  not  having  been  heard  from,  were  supposed  to  have  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  the  savages.  Two  hundred  Winnebagoes  from 
Illinois  made  a  plundering  raid  upon  a  "factory  store"  of  the 
United  States,  situated  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  the 
present  site  of  Bellevue.  Lieutenants  Hamilton  and  Vasques,  with 
a  small  force  of  regulars,  made  a  gallant  defence  and  repulsed  the 
savages. 

A  few  marauding  parties  penetrated  far  down  into  Illinois. 
Andrew  Moore  and  his  son,  on  their  way  home  from  the  Jourdan 
blockhouse,  made  camp  near  the  middle  fork  of  the  Big  Muddy, 
not  far  from  the  crossing  of  the  old  Massac  road.  Here  they  Avere 
attacked  by  the  savages,  and  after  a  bloody  encounter  both 
father  and  son  were  killed  and  their  horses  stolen.  Moore's 
Prairie  in  the  present  county  of  Jefferson,  perpetuates  their  names. 
At  Tom  Jourdan's  fort,  on  the  road  to  Equality,  three  men  ven 
tured  out  after  dark  to  gather  firewood,  when  they  were  fired 
on  by  Indians  concealed  in  the  brush,  killing  Barbara,  wound 
ing  James  Jourdan,  but  missing  Walker.  A  marauding  band  of 
Winuebagos  attacked  Lee's  settlement  at  Hardscrabble,  about  4 
miles  from  Fort  Dearbon,  near  the  present  junction  of  the  canal 
with  the  Chicago  river,  and  killed  a  Mr.  White  and  a  Canadian  in 
his  employ.  Two  other  men  escaped. 

At  Hill's  Fort,  later  in  the  same  year,  a  band  of  warriors  ap 
peared.  They  removed  the  mud  from  between  the  logs  of  a 
chimney  of  one  of  the  blockhouses,  inserted  a  gun,  and  shot  a  man 
sitting  inside  by  the  fire.  A  soldier  by  the  name  of  Lindley,  in 

"Reynolds'  Own  Times. 


258  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

carrying  feed  out  to  Ids  horses,  left  the  stockade  gate  open,  for 
which  the  skulking  foe  made  an  instant  rush,  but  the  occupants 
quickly  slammed  the  gate  shut,  leaving  the  soldier  outside  with 
the  savages.  He  sheltered  himself  from  their  missiles  among  the 
cattle,  which  directly  stampeding,  he  managed  by  feats  of  great 
dexterity  to  ride  on  and  under  an  ox,  thus  escaping  the  savages 
and  saving  his  lite.  The  Indians  were  meanwhile  engaged  in  a 
fight  at  the  fort  over  the  pickets,  and  were  repulsed  with  loss,  as 
indicated  by  the  trails  of  blood,  they,  as  usual,  carrying  away  the 
wounded  or  dead.* 

In  March,  1812,  Governor  Edwards  sent  Capt.  Edward  Hubert 
with  another  friendly  message  to  the  Indians  residing  on  the  Illinois, 
inviting  them  to  a  council,  and  requesting  traders  of  every  descrip 
tion  to  withdraw  till  the  Indian  affairs  became  more  settled,  and  if 
the  latter  did  not  instantly  comply  they  need  expect  no  further 
indulgence. 

On  the  ICth  of  April.  1812,  His  Excellency  met  in  protracted 
council  at  Cahokia,  with  the  chiefs  and  warriors  of  the  following 
nations :  Of  the  Pottawatomies — Gomo,  Pepper,  White  Hair, 
Little  Sank,  Great  Speaker,  Yellow  Son,  Snake,  Maukia,  Bull, 
leman,  Xeckkeenesskeesheck,  Ignance,  Pottawatomie  Prophet, 
Pamousa,  Ishkeebee,  Toad,  Manwess,  Pipe  Bird,  Cut  Branch,  The 
South  Wind,  and  the  Black  Bird ;  of  the  Kickapoos — Little  Deer, 
Blue  Eyes  (representative  of  Pamawattau),  Sun  Fish,  Blind  of  an 
Eye,  Otter,  Makkak,  Yellow  Lips,  Dog  Bird,  and  Black  Seed.  Of 
the  Ottawas — Mittitasse  (representative  of  the  Blackbird),  Kees- 
kagon,  and  Malshwashewii.  Of  the  Chippewas— the  White 
Dog.t 

The  Governor  delivered  in  person  a  forcible  address  to  them. 
He  spoke  of  the  ardent  desire  of  the  general  government  to  main 
tain  peace  and  harmony  with  all  the  Indian  nations ;  defended  the 
United  States  against  the  charge  of  rapacity  for  their  lands  5 
warned  them  against  the  arts  and  deceptions  of  the  Shawanee 
Prophet  and  other  "bad  birds,"  or  evil  counselors,  whom  the 
British  had  sent  among  them  ;  portrayed  the  power  and  resources 
of  the  American  nation,  which  desired  not  war  but  peace;  insisted 
that  the  murderers,  whom  they  had  harbored  all  the  time,  notwith 
standing  their  denial  to  Levering,  must  be  surrendered ;  that  he 
understood  well  their  unfriendly  disposition  and  the  efforts  at  com 
binations  attempted  to  be  formed  among  the  tribes;  Avarned  them 
that  their  depredations  could  not  be  laid  to  the  Winnebagos,  who 
were  at  open  hostility;  that  he  was  prepared  with  energetic  meas 
ures  to  protect  the  whites  and  punish  the  Indians,  &c. 

The  leading  chiefs  of  the  different  tribes  represented  all  deferred 
to  Gomo  as  the  one  who  was  to  answer  the  Governor's  speech, 
which  he  did  011  the  following  day :  He  professed  that  the  words 
of  the  Governor  had  sunk  deep  into  his  heart;  that  he  spoke  the 
sentiments  of  all  the  chiefs  according  to  their. instruction.  He 
declared  the  Great  Spirit  to  be  angry  with  the  red  men  for  selling 
their  lands,  which  he  had  given  them  to  live  upon,  and  denied  the 
power  of  a  chief  to  sell  lands ;  they  wanted  to  live  in  peace ;  if 
there  was  a  chief  among  them  of  inuueuce  enough  to  deliver  up  a 

'Reynolds'  Own  Times. 

+Ed wards' Life  of  his  Father. 


ILLINOIS   TEKRITORY.  259 

murderer  lie  would  like  to  see  him;  if  he  attempted  to  secure  the 
murderers  without  the  consent  of  all  the  chiefs  he  would  be  killed, 
and  that  the  Missouri  murderers  were  Kickapoos;  he  denied  being 
himself  a  great  chief,  and  said  he  could  not  control  his  young  men 
who  were  so  scattered  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  bring  them 
together;  they  had  no  laws  among  them  like  the  whites  to  punish 
offenders;  denied  listening  to  evil  birds  or  interfering  between  the 
British  and  Americans.  They  would  not  join  the  British,  for  in 
the  last  war  they  had  left  them  in  the  lurch  and  would  do  so  again. 
When  he  wanted  a  blanket  he  bought  it.  The  British  had  invited 
them  to  aid  them,  but  they  had  sent  them  word  to  fight  their  own 
battles,  that  they  wanted  to  live  in  peace.  He  complained  that 
the  Americans  did  not  live  up  to  their  promises  in  supplying  their 
wants,  and  that  they  had  been  fired  upon  by  whites  in  coming 
down  to  the  council.  Promised  good  behavior,  which  they  hoped 
the  Good  Spirit  would  help  them  to  perform,  and  professed  great 
humility.* 

The  Indians  had  brought  their  women  and  children  along  to 
show  his  Excellency,  as  Gomo  naively  said,  how  ragged  and  needy 
they  were.  This,  together  with  their  fair  promises  of  good  be 
havior  and  peaceable  intentions,  had  the  desired  effect.  They 
came  away  loaded  with  substantial  presents.  An  early  writer 
says :  "The  wild  men  exercised  the  most  diplomacy,  and  made  the 
governor  believe  the  Indians  were  for  peace,  and  that  the  whites 
need  dread  nothing  from  them.  They  promised  enough  to  obtain 
presents,  and  went  off*  laughing  at  the  credulity  of  the  whites."t 
Some  of  them  were  in  August  following  concerned  in  the  horrible 
massacre  at  Chicago. 

The  savages  of  the  northwest,  however,  were  thoroughly  stirred 
up  and  did  not  desire  peace;  in  this  the  reports  of  travelers, 
traders,  and  spies  all  concurred ;  the  red  wampum  was  constantly, 
passing  between  the  different  tribes  in  all  parts  of  the  country, 
from  the  Sioux  of  the  St.  Peters  to  the  tribes  at  the  head  of  the 
Wabash,  and  a  general  combination  was  fast  ripening.  The 
British  agents  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  Fort  Maiden,  and  other  points, 
in  anticipation  of  a  war  with  the  United  States,  sought  to  enlist 
the  favor  of  the  savages  by  the  distribution  of  large  supplies  of 
goods,  arms  and  ammunition  to  them.  The  English  continued  their 
insults  to  our  flag  upon  the  high  seas,  and  their  government  refus 
ing  to  relinquish  its  offensive  course,  all  hope  of  a  peaceful  issue 
was  abandoned,  and  congress,  on  the  19th  of  June,  1812,  formally 
declared  war  against  Great  Britain.  In  Illinois  the  threatened 
Indian  troubles  had  already  caused  a  more  thorough  organization 
of  the  militia  along  the  frontiers,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois 
down  the  Mississippi  to  the  Ohio,  thence  up  that  stream  and  the 
Wabash  above  Yiucennes.  Additional  forts  were  also  built,  one 
towards  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Wabash,  and  at  the  mouth  of  La 
Motte  Creek. 

*Ed wards'  Life  of  Edwards. 
^Reynolds1  Own  Times. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE   MASSACBE   AT    CHICAGO— EAELY    HISTOEY    OF 

THE  PLACE. 


The  greatest,  as  well  the  most  revolting,  massacre  of  whites 
that  ever  occurred  in  Illinois,  was  perpetrated  by  the  Potawat- 
tomie  tribe  of  Indians,  on  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Chi 
cago. 

From  early  Indian  tradition,  it  has  been  gathered  that  the 
month  of  the  Chicago  river  was  a  favorite  resort  of  the  Illinois 
tribes  in  very  remote  times.  Besides  its  fishing  facilities,  it  was 
the  only  deep  inlet  from  the  lake  on  its  southwesterly  bend.  The 
portage  between  the  Chicago  and  the  headwaters  of  the  Illinois, 
offered  but  a  narrow  interruption  to  canoe  travel  from  the  great 
lakes  on  the  north  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  It  is  said,  that  the 
Tainaroas  gave  name  to  the  river,  derived  from  Checaqua,  the 
title  of  a  long  succession  of  governing  chiefs,  which,  by  an  easy 
transition,  attached  to  the  place.  It  was  said  also  to  mean  thun 
der,  the  voice  of  Mauitou,  and  "skunk,"  an  appellation  but  too 
suggestive  during  a  few  years  preceding  the  deepening  of  the 
canal,  by  which  its  current  was  reversed  with  the  pure  waters  of 
the  lake.  But  its  most  commonly  accepted  definition  is  "wild 
onion,"  from  that  rather  odorous  vegetable  growing  abundantly 
on  its  banks  in  early  times.* 

A  small  French  trading  post  was  established  there  in  the  period 
of  the  French  explorations.  For  the  better  possession  of  their 
western  empire,  the  French  built  forts  at  various  points,  from 
Canada,  via  Peoria,  to  New  Orleans,  including  one  at  Chicago. 
On  the  earliest  known  map  of  this  region,  dated  Quebec,  1C88,  a 
correct  outline  of  the  lake  is  given,  and  the  river  accurately  loca 
ted,  with  "Fort  Chicago"  marked  at  its  mouth.  Subsequently,  the 
Americans  found  no  vestige  of  the  early  French  settlers  there. 
By  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  to  which  the  Potawattomies  from  this 
region,  with  many  others,  were  parties,  "one  piece  of  land  6  miles 
square,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Chekajo  river,  emptying  into  the 
south-west  end  of  Lake  Michigan,  where  a  fort  formerly  siood^ 
was  relinquished.  The  tide  of  emigration  setting  into  Indiana 
and  Michigan  after  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  1795,  concentrated 
the  Indians  in  greater  numbers  about  this  point,  and  largely  in 
creased  the  Indian  trade,  for  which  a  number  of  traders  were  here 
located ;  John  Kinzie  being  one  whose  descendants  are  residents 
of  Chicago  down  to  the  present  time.  The  general  government, 
in  1804,  built,  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  Fort  Dearborn, 

*  Chicago  and  its  great  conflagration. 

260 


ILLINOIS   TERRITORY.  261 

named  after  a  general  of  the  army,  and  garrisoned  it  with  50  men 
and  3  pieees  of  artillery.  The  fort  consisted  of  2  block-houses, 
with  a  parade  ground  and  sally-port,  or  subterranean  passage  to 
the  river,  the  whole  surrounded  by  a  stockade.  With  this  pre 
carious  protection,  the  number  of  traders  increased  and  a  few  set 
tlers  gathered  around  the  post. 

For  eight  years,  this  isolated  garrison  and  community  furnished 
scarcely  an  incident  worthy  of  record.  Friendly  intercourse 
between  the  garrison  and  neighboring  Indians  grew  apace.  The 
attachment  of  the  Indians  for  the  traders  was  particularly  cordial. 
While  nenrly  all  the  chiefs  visited  Fort  Maiden  yearly,  and 
received  large  amounts  of  presents,  and  many  Potawattomies, 
Winnebagos  anil  Ottawas  were  in  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe  with 
the  Shawanese,  the  principal  chiefs  of  the  neighborhood  were  yet 
on  amicable  terms  herewith  the  Americans.  Then  our  trouble 
with  Great  Britain  threatened  an  open  rupture ;  but  the  Indians, 
long  before  the  declaration  of  hostilities,  took  the  war-path,  as  we 
have  seen.  We  have  alreadj7  noticed  their  attack  011  an  outpost 
of  this  place  called  Hardscrabble. 

On  the  7th  of  August,  arrived  the  order  of  Governor  Hull, 
Commander-in-chief  of  the  northwest,  by  the  hand  of  a  trusty 
chief  of  the  Potawattomies,  called  Winnemeg,  or  Cat-fish,  "to 
evacuate  the  post  if  practicable,  and  in  that  event,  to  distribute 
the  property  belonging  to  the  United  States,  in  the  fort  and  in 
the.  factory  or  agency,  to  the  Indians  in  the  neighborhood."  The 
dispatches  further  announced,  that  the  British  had  taken  Mack 
inaw,  and  that  General  Hull,  with  his  army,  was  proceeding  from 
Fort  Wayne  to  Detroit. 

The  garrison,  at  the  time,  consisted  of  75  men,  few  of  whom 
were  effective  soldiers.  The  officers  were,  Captain  Heald,  the 
commander,  Lieutenant  Helm  and  Ensign Konan  (both  very  young 
men),  and  Doctor  Yoorhees,  the  surgeon.  John  Kinzie  ^yas  the 
principal  trader.  He  and  the  first  two  named  officers  had  families 
there.  So  also  some  of  the  soldiers  and  other  traders.  Consider 
able  coolness  existed  between  Ensign  lloiian,  a  brave  and  gallant 
soldier,  but  overbearing  in  his  disposition,  and  Captain  Heald. 

Winnemeg,  the  bearer  of  the  dispatches,  well  apprised  of  the 
hostile  disposition  of  the  treacherous  savages,  advised  strongly 
against  the  evacuation,  which  was  discretionary.  The  fort  was 
well  supplied  with  ammunition  and  provisions  for  six  months,  and 
in  the  meantime  succor  might  come.  He  sought  to  learn  the 
intention  of  the  commander,  and  further  urged,  that  if  it  should 
be  decided  to  evacute,  then  let  it  be  done  immediately,  and  by 
forced  marches  elude  the  concentration  of  the  savages  before  the 
news,  of  which  they  were  yet  ignorant,  should  circulate  among 
them.  To  this  most  excellent  advice,  Captain  Heald  gave  no  heed; 
he  decided  not  only  to  evacuate,  but  deemed  it  obedience  to  orders 
to  collect  the  neighboring  Indians  and  make  an  equitable  distribu 
tion  of  the  property  among  them.  Again  the  sagacious  Indian  chief, 
strongly  seconded  by  Mr.  Kinzie,  who  had  much  at  stake,  sug 
gested  the  expediency  of  promptly  inarching  out,  leaving  all 
things  standing,  and  Avhile  the  Indians  should  be  engaged  in  divid 
ing  the  spoils,  to  effect  an  unmolested  retreat.  But  the  com 
mander,  not  apprehending  the  murderous  intent  of  the  savages  to 
the  extent  the  advisers  did,  and  impressed  with  the  duty  of  obedi- 


262  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

ence  to  orders,  disregared  this  also,  notwithstanding  the  discretion 
allowed  him.  On  the  following  morning,  without  consultation  with 
the  subordinate  officers — with  whom  he  was  estranged — he  pub 
lished  on  parade  the  order  for  evacuating  the  post.  The  officers 
whose  council  had  been  thus  ignored  in  so  important  an  emergency, 
remonstrated  against  this  step,  and  pointed  out  the  improbability 
of  their  party  reaching  Fort  Wayne  without  molestation  ;  how 
they  would  be  retarded  in  their  inarches  by  the  women  and  chil 
dren,  and  invalid  and  superanuated  soldiers;  how  the  few  friendly 
chiefs,  Avho  had  from  motives  of  private  regard  for  the  family  of 
Mr.  Kinzie,  opposed  successfully  an  attack  upon  the  fort  the  pre 
ceding  autumn,  were  now,  when  the  country  Avas  at  war  with 
Great  Britain,  powerless  to  restrain  their  tribes.  They  advised 
remaining  and  fortifying  themselves  till  succor  came  ;  at  any  rate, 
it  was  better  to  tali  into  the  hands  of  the  British,  as  prisoners, 
than  a  sacrifice  to  the  brutal  ferocity  of  the  savages.  Captain 
Heald,  however,  dreading  censure,  stood  upon  his  idea  of  obedi 
ence  to  orders,  and  expressed  confidence  in  the  friendly  profess 
ions  of  the  Indians.  With  this,  the  officers,  who  regarded  the 
project  as  little  short  of  madness,  held  themselves  aloof  from  their 
commander,  and  dissatisfaction  and  insubordination  spread  among 
the  soldiers.  The  Indians,  too,  became  daily  more  unruly.  They 
entered  the  fort  in  defiance  of  the  sentinels,  and  made  their  way 
without  ceremony  into  the  quarters  of  the  officers.  On  one  occa 
sion,  an  Indian  fired  a  ride  in  the  parlor  of  the  commanding  offi 
cer.  This  was  by  some  construed  as  a  signal  to  the  young  braves 
for  an  attack.  The  old  chiefs  were  passing  to  and  fro  among  the 
assembled  groups  with  much  agitation,  while  the  squaws  were 
rushing  hither  and  hither,  as  if  looking  for  a  fearful  scene.  Still 
Captain  Heald  clung  to  his  conviction  of  having  created  a  feeling 
so  amicable  among  them,  as  would  en  sure  the  safe  passage  of  the 
party  to  Fort  Wayne.  In  the  meantime,  a  runner  had  arrived 
with  a*  message  from  Tecumseh,  who  had  joined  the  British  with 
a  large  force,  conveying  the  news  to  the  Indians  ot  the  capture  of 
Fort  Mackinaw  in  July,  the  defeat  of  Major  Van  Home  at  Browns- 
town,  and  the  inglorious  retreat  of  General  Hull  from  Canada, 
saying  further,  that  lie  had  no  doubt  but  that  Hull  would,  in  a 
short  time,  be  compelled  to  surrender;  and  urged  them  to  arm 
immediately. 

The  Indians  from  the  neighboring  villages  having  at  length 
collected,  a  council  was  held  on  the  12th  of  August.  Of  the  offi 
cers  of  the  garrison,  though  requested,  none  attended  beside  the 
commander;  the  others,  in  anticipation  of  intended,  mischief, 
opened  the  port-holes  of  the  blockhouses  and  witli  loaded  cannons 
commanded  the  council.  This  action,  it  was  supposed,  prevented 
a  massacre  at  the  time.  Capt.  Heald  promised  the  Indians  to  dis 
tribute  among  them  all  the  goods  in  the  United  States  factory,  and 
the  ammunition  and  provisions  in  the  fort,  desiring  an  escort  of 
the  Pottawatomies  to  Fort  Wayne  in  return,  and  promising  them 
a  further  liberal  reward  upon  arrival  there.  The  Indians,  with 
many  professions  of  friendship,  assented  to  all  he  proposed  and 
promised  all  he  required. 

No  sooner  had  the  commander  made  these  indiscreet  promises 
than  he  allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded  to  violate  them.  Mr. 
Kinzie,  well  knowing  the  treachery  of  the  Indian  character,  repre- 


ILLINOIS   TERRITORY.  263 

sented  to  him  the  danger  to  their  party  of  furnishing-  the  savages 
with  arms  and  ammunition,  and  liquor  to  lire  their  brains.  This 
argument,  true  and  excellent  in  itself,  was  now  certainly  inoppor 
tune,  and,  if  acted  upon  could  only  incense  the  treacherous  foe. 
But  Capt.  Heald,  struck  with  the  impolicy  of  his  conduct  and 
falling  in  with  tlie  advice,  now  resolved  to  break  his  indiscreet 
promise.  Accordingly,  on  the  13th,  all  the  goods  in  the  factory 
store  were  duly  distributed;  but  in  the  night  time  the  arms  were 
broken,  the  ammunition  secretly  thrown  in  a  well,  and  the  barrels 
of  whisky,  of  which  there  was  a  large  quantity,  mostly  belonging 
to  traders,  were  rolled  quietly  through  the  sally-port,  their  heads 
knocked  in  and  their  contents  emptied  into  the  river.  But  the 
lurking  redskins  witnessed  the  breaking  of  the  casks,  and  quickly 
apprehending  how  faith  had  been  broken  with  them  by  the  whites, 
were  greatly  exasperated  at  the  loss  of  their  fond  "fire  water," 
which  they  asserted  was  destroyed  in  such  abundance  as  to  make 
the  river  taste  "groggy."  At  a  second  council  held  on  the  14th, 
they  expressed  their  indignation  at  this  conduct,  and  their  murmurs 
and  threats  were  loud  and  deep.  Black  Hawk,  who  lived  many 
years  after,  always  maintained  that  this  violation  of  promises  on 
the  part  of  the  whites  precipitated  the  massacre  oil  the  following 
day. 

While  nearly  all  the  Indians  in  alliance  with  the  British  partook 
of  the  hostility  of  their  people  against  the  Americans,  there  were 
still  several  chiefs  and  braves  who  retained  a  pers&nal  regard  for 
the  inhabitants  of  this  place.  Among  these  was  Black  Partridge, 
a  chief  of  some  renown.  He  now  entered  the  quarters  of  Capt. 
Heald  and  spoke  as  follows :  "Father,  I  come  to  deliver  up  to  you 
the  medal  I  wear.  It  was  given  me  by  the  Americans,  and  I  have 
long  worn  it  in  token  of  our  mutual  friendship.  But  our  young 
men  are  resolved  to  imbrue  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  the 
whites.  I  cannot  restrain  them,  and  I  will  not  wear  a  token  of 
peace  while  I  am  compelled  to  act  as  an  enemy.'7 

On  the  same  day,  the  14th,  the  despondency  of  the  garrison  was 
for  a  time  dispelled  by  the  arrival  of  Capt.  Wells  from  Ft.  Wayne, 
with  15  friendly  Miamis.  Capt.  Wells  was  the  son  of  Gen.  Wells, 
of  Kentucky,  and  either  a  brother  or  uncle  to  Mrs.  Capt.  Heald. 
When  a  child,  he  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Miamis  and  reared 
and  adopted  in  the  family  of  Little  Turtle,  who  commanded  the 
Indians  in  the  defeat  of  St.  Clair,  in  1790,  Wells  leading  300  of  the 
warriors  in  the  very  front  of  that  battle.  He  subsequently  joined 
the  army  of  Gen.  Wayne,  and  by  his  knowledge  of  the  country, 
proved  a  powerful  auxiliary.  Later  he  rejoined  his  foster  father. 
He  was  a  brave  and  fearless  warrior.  Having  learned  the  order 
of  evacuation,  and  knowing  well  the  hostile  disposition  of  the 
Pottawatomies,  he  made  a  rapid  march  through  the  wilderness  to 
save,  if  possible,  his  sister  and  the  garrison  at  Chicago,  from. their 
impending  doom.  But  he  came  too  late.  The  ammunition  was 
destroyed  and  the  savages  were  rioting  on  the  provisions.  Pre 
parations  were  therefore  made  to  march  on  the  morrow.  The 
reserved  ammunition,  25  rounds  to  the  man,  was  now  distributed. 
The  baggage  wagons  for  the  sick,  the  women  and  the  children,  con 
taining  also  a  box  of  cartridges,  were  got  ready,  am]  amid  the 
pervading  gloom,  a  fatiguing  march  through  the  wilderness  in 
prospect,  and  the  fears  of  disaster  on  the  route,  the  whole  party 


264  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


except  the  faithful  sentinels  retired  for  a  little  repose.  The  morn 
ing  of  the  fatal  15th  of  August,  1812,  arrived.  The  sun  shone 
with  its  wonted  splendor,  and  Lake  Michigan  "was  a  sheet  of  burn 
ished  gold."  Early  in  the  morning'  Mr.  Kinzie  received  a  message 
from  Topeneebe,  a  friendly  chief  of  the  St.  Joseph  band  of  Potta- 
watomies,  warning  him  that  his  people,  notwithstanding  their 
promise  of  safe  conduct,  designed  mischief.  Mr.  Kinzie  with  his 
eldest  son,  who  had  agreed  to  accompany  the  garrison,  was  urged 
to  go  with  his  family,  for  which  a  boat  had  been  fitted  out  to 
coast  around  the  southerly  end  of  the  lake  to  the  St.  Joseph. 

At  9  a.  ru.  the  party  quitted  the  fort  amidst  martial  music  and  in 
military  array.  Oapt.  Wells,  at  the  head  of  his  band  of  Miamis, 
led  the  van,  his  face  blackened  after  the  manner  of  the  Indians. 
The  troops  with  loaded  arms  came  next,  followed  by  the  wagons 
containing  the  women  and  children,  the  sick  and  the  lame  and  the 
baggage.  A  little  distance  in  the  rear  followed  the  escort  of  about 
500  Pottawatoiiiies.  The  party  took  the  beach  road  south  ward  wi  th 
the  lake  upon  their  left.  On  reaching  the  range  of  sand  hills  sepa 
rating  the  beach  from  the  prairie,  the  Indians  denied  to  the  right, 
bringing  these  shore  elevations  between  them  and  the  whites  down 
on  the  beach.  They  had  marched  about  a  mile  and  half  from  the 
fort,  when  Capt.  Wells  rode  furiously  back,  shouting:  "They  are 
about  to  attack  us;  form  instantly  and  charge  upon  them."  The 
words  were  scarcely  uttered  Avhen  the  savages  poured  a  volley  of 
musketry  front  behind  the  hills  upon  the  party.  The  troops  were 
hastily  formed  into  line  and  they  charged  up  the  bank.  One 
veteran  of  70  years  fell  as  they  ascended.  The  action  became 
general.  The  Miamis  tied  at  the  outset;  their  chief  rode  up  to  the 
Pottawatomies,  charged  them  with  treachery,  and  branishing  his 
tomahaAvk,  declared  "he  would  be  the  first  to  head  a  party  to 
return  and  punish  them."  He  then  turned  his  horse  and  galloped 
after  his  cowardly  companions.  The  troops  behaved  gallantly, 
but  were  overwhelmed  by  numbers.  The  savages  flanked  them, 
and  "in  about  15  minutes  got  possession  of  the  horses,  provisions, 
and  baggage  of  every  description."*  Here  the  murderous  work 
upon  the  helpless  women  and  children  was  commenced. 

Mrs.  Helm,  wife  of  Lieutenant  Helm,  was  in  the  action,  and 
furnished  Mr.  Kinzie,  her  step-father,  many  thrilling  incidents.! 
Dr.  Yoorhees,  who  had  been  wounded  at  the  first  fire,  was,  while 
in  a  paroxysm  of  fear,  cut  down  by  her  side.  Ensign  lion  an,  a 
little  ways  off,  though  mortally  wounded,  Avas  straggling  with  a 
powerful  savage,  but  sank  under  his  tomahawk.  A  young  brave 
with  uplifted  tomahawk  sought  to  cleave  her  skull ;"  she  sprang 
aside  and  the  blow  grazed  her  shoulder;  she  seized  him  around 
the  neck  and  while  grappling  for  his  scalping  knife,  was  forcibly 
borne  away  by  another  and  plunged  into  the  lake  and  held  down  in 
the  water.  She  soon  found,  however,  that  her  captor  did  not  design 
to  drown  her,  and  now  for  the  first  time  recognized,  through  his 
disguise  of  paint  and  feathers,  the  friendly  chief,  Black  Partridge. 
When  the  firing  had  somewhat  subsided  her  preserver  bore  her 
safely  to  the  shore,  A  soldier's  wife,  under  the  conviction  that 
prisoners  taken  by  Indians  were  subjected  to  tortures  worse  than 
death,  though  assured  of  immunity,  fought  a  party  of  savages, 
who  attempted  to  take  her,  with  such  desperation^ that  she  was 

•Heald's  Report.    tSee  J.  H.  Kiiizie's  Narative. 


ILLINOIS   TERRITORY.  2G5 

litterally  cut  to  pieces  and  her  mangled  remains  left  on  the  field. 
''Mrs.  Heald,  too,  fought  life  a  perfect  heroine  and  received  several 
wounds.  After  she  was  in  the  boat,  a  savage  assailed  her  with, 
his  tomahawk,  when  her  life  was  saved  by  the  interposition  of  a 
friendly  chief." 

The  troops  having  fought  gallantly  till  over  half  of  their  number 
were  slain,  the  remainder,  but  27  out  of  66,  surrendered.  And 
now  the  most  heart-rendering  and  sickening  butchery  of  this 
calamitous  day  was  committed  by  a  young  brutal  savage,  who 
assailed  one  of  the  baggage  wagons  containing  12  children,  every 
one  of  whom  fell  beneath  his  murderous  tomahawk.  When  Capt. 
Wells,  who  with  the  others  had  become  a  prisoner,  beheld  this 
scene  at  a  distance,  he  exclaimed  in  a  tone  loud  enough  to  be  heard 
by  the  savages  around  him:  "If  this  be  your  game, I  can  kill  too  !" 
and  turning  his  horse,  started  in  full  gallop  for  the  Pottawatomie 
camp,  located  about  what  is  now  State  street,  near  the  crossing  of 
Lake,  where  the  squaws  and  pappooses  had  been  left.  The  Indians 

imrsued,  and  he  avoided  the  deadly  aim  of  their  rifles  for  a  time  by 
ay  ing  flat  on  his  horse's  neck,  but  the  animal  was  directly  killed  and 
he  wounded.  He  again  became  a  prisoner;  Winnemeg  and  Waban- 
see,  both  friends  of  the  whites,  interceded  to  save  him,  but 
Peesotum,  a  Pottawatomie,  while  he  was  being  supported  along, 
gave  him  his  death  blow  by  a  stab  in  the  back.  Thus  fell  Win. 
Wayne  Wells,  a  white  man  of  excellent  parentage  and  descent, 
reared  among  the  Indians,  and  of  as  brave  and  generous  a  nature 
as  man  ever  possessed,  a  sacrifice  to  his  own  rash  impulse  inspired 
by  a  deed  of  most  savage  ferocity.  His  remains  were  terribly 
multilated  ;  the  heart  was  cut  in  pieces  and  distributed  among  the 
tribes,  as  was  their  wont,  for  a  token  of  bravery.  Billy  C  aid  well, 
a  half-breed  Wyandot.  long  well-known  in  Chicago  afterward, 
arriving  next  day,  gathered  up  the  several  portions  of  the  body 
and  buried  them  in  the  sand.  Wells  street,  in  the  present  city  of 
Chicago,  perpetuates  the  memory  of  his  name. 

The  following  is  copied  from  the  official  report  of  Captain 
Heald: 

"We  proceeded  about  a  mile  and  a  half,  when  it  was  discovered  the 
Indians  were  prepared  to  attack  us  from  behind  the  bank.  I  immediately 
marched  the  company  up  to  the  top  of  the  bank,  when  the  action  com 
menced;  after  firing  one  round,  recharged,  and  the  Indians  gave  way  in 
front  and  joined  those  on  our  flanks.  In  about  15  minutes, .they  got  pos 
session  of  all  our  horses,  provision  and  baggage  of  every  description,  and 
finding  the  Miamis  did  not  assist  us,  I  drew  off  the  few  men  I  had  left, 
and  took  possession  of  a  small  elevation  in  the  open  prairie  out  of  shot 
of  the  bank  or  any  other  cover.  The  Indians  did  not  follow  me,  but 
assembled  in  a  body  on  the  top  of  the  bank,  and,  after  some  consultation 
among  themselves,  made  signs  for  me  to  approach  them.  I  advanced 
towards  them  alone,  and  was  met  by  one  of  the  Pottawatomie  chiefs, 
called  the  Blackbird,  with  an  interpreter.  After  shaking  hands,  he  re 
quested  me  to  surrender,  promising  to  spare  the  lives  of  all  the  prisoners. 
On  a  few  moments  consideration  I  concluded  it  would  be  the  most  pru 
dent  to  comply  with  his  request,  although  I  did  not  put  entire  confidence 
in  his  promise.  After  delivering  up  our  arms,  we  were  taken  back  to 
their  encampment  near  the  fort  and  distributed  among  the  different 
tribes.  The  next  morning  they  set  fire  to  the  fort,  and  left  the  place, 
taking  the  prisoners  with  them.  Their  number  of  warriors  was  between 
400  and  500,  mostly  of  the  Pottawatomie  nation,  and  their  loss,  from  the 


266  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

and  Dr.  Isaac  V.  Vau  Voorhees,  of  my  company,  with  Captain  Wells, 
of  Fort  Wayne,  are  to  my  great  sorrow,  numbered  among  the  dead. 
Lieut.  L.  T.  Helm,  with  25  non-commissioned  officers  and  privates,  and  11 
women  and  children,  were  prisoners,  when  we  separated.  Mrs.  Heald 
and  myself  were  taken  to  the  mouth  of  the  river  St.  Joseph,  and  being 
both  badly  wounded,  were  permitted  to  reside  with  Mr.  Burnet,  an  In 
dian  trader.  In  a  few  days  after  our  arrival  there,  the  Indians  all  went 
off  to  take  Fort  Wayne,  and  in  their  absence  I  engaged  a  Frenchman  to 
take  us  to  Mackinaw,  by  water,  where  I  gave  myself  up  as  a  prisoner 
of  war,  with  one  of  my  sergeants. 

In  the  surrender,  Captain  Heald  had  stipulated  for  the  safety  of, 
the  renmaut  of  his  force  and  the  remaining  women  and  children. 
The  wounded  prisoners,  in  the  hurry  of  the  moment,  were  unfor 
tunately  omitted,  or  rather,  not  particularly  mentioned.  These 
helpless  sufferers,  on  reaching-  the  Potawattomie  camp,  were  there 
fore  regarded  as  proper  subjects  upon  to  wreak  their  savage 
and  cowardly  brutality  A  distinguishing  trait  of  civilized 
humanity  is,  protection  for  the  helpless ;  with  the  savage,  these 
become  the  objects  of  vengeance.  Mrs.  Helm  writes:  "An  old 
squaw,  infuriated  by  the  loss  of  friends  or  excited  by  the  sangui 
nary  scenes  around  her,  seemed  possessed  of  demoniac  fury.  She 
seized  a  stable  fork  and  assaulted  one  miserable  victim,  who  lay 
groaning  and  writhing  in  the  agony  of  his  wounds,  aggravated  by 
the  scorching  beams  of  the  sun.  With  a  delicacy  of  feeling 
scarcely  to  have  been  expected  under  such  circircum stances,  Wan- 
bee -nee-\vau  stretched  a  mat  across  two  poles  between  me  and  this 
dreadful  s,cene.  I  was  thus  spared,  in  some  degree,  a  view  of  its 
horrors,  although  I  could  not  entirely  close  my  ears  to  the  cries  of 
the  sufferer.  The  following  night  live  more  of  the  wounded  pris 
oners  were  tomahawked."* 

When  the  Indians  about  the  fort  first  learned  of  the  intended 
evacuation,  they  dispatched  runners  to  all  the  villages  of  the 
nation,  apprising  them  of  the  news  and  their  purpose  to  overpower 
the  garrison.  Eager  to  share  in  the  act  of  bloodshed  and  plun 
der,  many  warriors  hastened  forward,  only  to  be  too  late. 

A  band  of  Potawattoinies,  from  the  Wabasli,  were  met  at  the  Aux 
Plains  by  a  party  from  Chicago,  bearing  home  a  wounded  chief. 
Being  informed  that  the  battle  had  been  fought  and  won,  the 
prisoners  slain  and  scalped,  and  the  spoils  divided,  their  disap 
pointment  and  rage  knew  no  bounds.  They  accelerated  their 
march,  and  reaching  Chicago,  determined  to  glut  their  taste  for 
blood  on  new  victims.  They  blackened  their  faces,  and  without 
ceremony  entered  the  parlor  of  Mr.  Kinzie  and  sullenly  squatted 
upon  the  floor  amidst  the  assembled  family,  who  had  been 
kindly  restored  to  their  home  on  the  north  side  of  the  river 
by  Black  Patridge,  Wabansee  and  others,  and  who  now  guarded 
them.  Black  Patridge,  interpreting  their  looks  and  intent  cor 
rectly,  observed  to  Wabansee  in  an  undertone,  that  their  white 
friends  were  lost.  But  at  this  moment  the  whoop  of  another  band 
of  Indians  was  heard  on  the  opposite  shore.  Black  Patridge  hast 
ily  advanced  and  met  their  chief  in  the  darkness,  011  the  river's 
bank.  "Who,"  said  he,  "are  youf  "A  man,"  answered  the 
chief,  "who  are  youf  "A  man,  like  yourself,"  replied  Black 
Patridge;  "but  tell  in e,  who  are  you  for?"  "I  am,"  said  the 

*Brown,  Hist.  Ills.,  page  316,  note  5,  says :  "Mrs.  Heald  and  Mrs.  Helm  ha\  ing- 
eclipsed  the  most  visionary  taste  of  romance,  with  which  modern  literature  abounds, 
lived  for  many  years  thereafter,  highly  respected." 


ILLINOIS   TERRITORY.  267 

chief,  "the  Sau-ga-nafih"  (that  is,  the  Englishman).  "Then  make 
all  speed  to  the  house,"  was  the  reply ;  "your  friends  are  in  dan 
ger,  and  you  alone  can  save  them." 

It  was  Billy  Caldwell,  the  half-breed  Wyandot,  to  whom  we 
have  referred  as  burying  the  remains  of  Captain  Wells.  He  hur 
ried  forward,  entered  the  house  with  a  resolute  step,  deliberately 
removed  his  accoutrements,  placed  his  rifle  behind  the  door  and 
saluted  the  Potawattomies  :  "How  now,  my  Mends,  a  good  day  to 
you.  I  was  told  there  were  enemies  here  ;  but  I  am  glad  to  find 
only  friends.  Why  have  you  blacked  your  faces  "?  Are  you  mourn 
ing  for  friends  lost  in  the  battle?  (adroitly  mistaking  the  token 
of  their  evil  intent),  or,  are  you  fasting  ?  If  so,  ask  our  friend 
and  he  will  give  you  food.  He  is  the  Indian's  friend,  and  never 
refused  them  in  their  need." 

Diverted  by  the  coolness  of  his  manner,  they  were  asham-ed  to 
avow  their  murderous  purpose,  and  simply  asked  for  some  cotton 
goods  to  wrap  their  dead,  preparatory  to  burial.  This,  with  other 
presents,  was  given  them,  and  they  quietly  departed.  Thus,  by 
his  presence  of  mind,  Caldwell  averted  the  murder  of  the  Kinzie 
family. 

The  prisoners,  with  their  wives  and  children,  were  dispersed 
among  the  Potawattomie  tribes  on  the  Illinois,  Eock  river,  the 
Wabash,  and  some  to  Milwaukee,  The  most  of  them  were  ran 
somed  at  Detroit  thefollowing  spring.  A  part  of  them  remained 
in  captivity,  however,  another  year,  but  were  more  kindly  treated 
than  they  expected.  Lieutenant  Helm  was  taken  to  the  AuSable, 
thence  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  was  liberated  through  the  interven 
tion  of  Thomas  Forsythe,  long  the  government  Indian  agent  at 
Peoria.* 

•Brown's Hist.  Ills. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

ILLINOIS  IN  THE  WAR  OF  1812.— GOVERNOR  EDWARDS' 
MILITARY  CAMPAIGN  TO  PEORIA  LAKE. 

Gen.  Hopkins  icith  2QQQ  Mounted  Kentucky  Riflemen  Marches  over  the 
Prairies  of  Illinois — H-is  Force  Mutinies  and  Marches  back — Capt. 
Craiy  Burns  Peoria  and  takes  all  its  Inhabitants  Prisoners. — Sec 
ond  Expedition  to  Peoria  Lake — Indian  Murders — Illinois  and 
Missouri  send  two  Expeditions  up  the  Mississippi  in  1814 — Their 
Battles  and  Disasters. 


After  liis  ignominious  retreat  from  Canada,  Gen.  Hull,  in  a  most 
unaccountable  manner,  on  tlie  16th  of  August,  the  day  after  the 
Chicago  massacre,  at  Detroit  surrendered  his  army  all  the  mili 
tary  stores,  and  the  whole  of  Michigan,  without  a  struggle,  while 
his  men,  it  is  said,  wept  at  the  disgrace.  Thus  by  the  middle  of 
August  the  British  and  their  red  allies  were  in  possession  of  the 
whole  northwest,  with  the  exception  of  Forts  Wayne  and  Harrison. 
This  activity  and  success  of  the  enemy  aroused  the  people  of  this 
region  to  a  realization  of  their  imminence.  To  the  impulse  of  self- 
preservation  was  added  the  patriotic  desire  to  wipe  out  the  dis 
grace  with  which  our  arms  were  stained,  stay  the  tide  of  savage 
desolation  which  menaced  the  frontiers,  and  retrieve  our  losses. 

The  savages  grew  bolder  and  penetrated  deeper  into  the  settle 
ments.  Early  in  September  a  large  force  from  the  Prophet's  town 
made  anight  attack  on  Fort  Harrison,  located  a  few  miles  above 
the  present  city  of  Terre  Haute,  in  command  of  Capt.  Zachary 
Taylor,  afterwards  president.  They  ingeniously  tired  one  of  the 
blockhouses,  killed  during  the  engagement  three  men  and  wounded 
several  more.  By  the  coolness  of  the  commander  and  the  energy  of 
the  garrison, though  greatly  reduced  by  sickness,  the  buildings  were 
mostly  saved,  and  the  Indians  at  daylight  repulsed.  They,  how 
ever,  shot,  killed,  or  drove  away,  nearly  all  the  hogs,  cattle  and 
work  oxen  belonging  to  the  fort. 

Gov.  Harrison  superseded  Gen.  Hull,  and  was  also  appointed 
major-general  by  brevet  in  the  Kentucky  militia,  This  young 
State,  in  the  course  of  a  few  weeks,  by  the  aid  of  Richard  M.  John 
son  and  others,  had  raised  a  force  of  7, 000  men,  a  portion  of  which 
was  directed  to  the  aid  of  Indiana  and  Illinois,  Vinceimes  being- 
designated  as  the  rendezvous*  The  British  had  descended  the 
Mississippi  to  Rock  Island,  and  wore  distributing  loads  of  goods 
as  presents  to  the  Indians,  through  one  Girty. 

In  the  meantime  Governor  Edwards  was  "active  in  making  pre 
parations  for  an  expedition  against  the  Kickapoos  and  Potawat- 

*Lanman  Bio.  Sketches. 

2G8 


ILLINOIS   TERRITORY. 


tomies  on  the  Illinois  river.  His  excellency,  "before  congress  had 
adopted  any  measures  on  the  subject  of  volunteer  rangers,  organ 
ized  companies,  supplied  them  with  arms,  built  stockade  forts, 
and  established  a  line  of  posts  from  the  month  of  the  Missouri  to 
the  Wabash."  His  commission  had  at  this  time  expired  and  liis 
'appointment  had  not  been  renewed,  rendering  him  legally  liable 
for  the  expenses  of  the  expedition,  a  responsibility  which,  relying 
upon  the  justice  of  hiscountry,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  assume.*  Col. 
William  Russell,  of  the  17th  regiment,  on  the  llth  of  October, 
started  from  the  neighborhood  of  Vincennes  with  two  small  com 
panies  of  IT.  S.  Rangers,  commanded  by  Captains  Perry  and 
Modrell  to  join  the  expedition  of  Governor  Edwards.t  The  place 
of  rendezvous  for  these  forces  was  Camp  Russell,  already  described. 

General  Samuel  Hopkins,  a  veteran  officer  of  the  Revolution, 
had  been  invested  with  the  command  of  the  Kentucky  mounted 
volunteers,  some  2,000  in  number,  at  Vincennes.  His  instructions 
were  to  break  up  the  villages  and  disperse  the  Indians  residing  on 
the  Wabash  and  Illinois  rivers. 

The  plan  was  now  suggested  that  the  expedition  of  Edwards, 
then  in  preparation,  act  in  concert  with  that  of  Hopkins ;  that 
the  latter,  consisting  of  mounted  Kentucky  riflemen,  should 
move  up  the  Wabash  to  Fort  Harrison,  destroy  the  villages  in  its 
course,  pass  over  into  Illinois,  march  across  the  prairies  via.  the 
head  Avatersof  theSangamon  and  Vermilion  rivers  to  the  Illinois, 
effect  a  junction  with  the  Illinois  forces  under  Edwards  and  Rus 
sell,  and  sweep  all  the  villages  along  the  Illinois  river.:}  The  plan 
thus  arranged  was  sent  by  the  hand  of  Col.  Russell  and  readily  ac 
ceded  to  by  the  Governor.  But  it  was  destined  to  meet  with  failure 
and  disgrace  on  the  part  of  the  Kentuckians.  In  that  ill-compacted 
and  undisciplined  crowd  of  horsemen  there  had  already  been  dis 
content  and  murmurs  against  proceeding  further,  at  Vincennes 
and  Bosseron.  At  Fort  Harrison  a  number  of  the  men  and  one 
officer  "  broke  off  and  returned."  About  the  middle  of  October, 
however,  the  Wabash  was  crossed  at  this  point,  and  great  harmony 
prevailing  the  expedition  bore  promise  of  success.  At  the  request 
of  Gen.  Hopkins,  a  council  of  the  officers  was  now  held,  and  the 
object  and  destination  of  the  expedition  considered,  which  were 
highly  favored.  In  his  letter  to  Gov.  Shelbv,  of  Kentucky,  dated 
October  26,  1812,  Gen.  Hopkins  writes: 

"  Thinking  myself  secure  in  the  confidence  of  my  brother  officers  and 
the  army,  we  proceeded  on  our  march  early  on  the  loth,  and  continued 
it  four  days-^our  course  lay  north  on  the  prairie — until  we  came  to  an 
Indian  house  where  some  corn,  &c.,  had  been  cultivated.  The  last  day 
of  the  march  to  this  place  I  had  been  made  acquainted  with  a  return  of 
that  spirit  of  [discontent]  that  had,  as  I  had  hoped,  subsided;  and  when 
I  ordered  a  halt  near  sunset  (for  the  first  time  that  day),  in  a  fine  piece 
of  grass  in  the  prairie,  to  aid  our  horses,  I  was  addressed  in  the  most 
rude  and  dictatorial  manner,  requiring  me  immediately  to  resume  my 
march,  or  his  battalion  would  break  from  the  army  and  return.  This 
was  a  Major  *  *  *  I  mention  him  in  justice  to  the  other  officers  of  that 
grade ;  but,  from  every  information,  I  began  to  fear  that  the  army  waited 
but  for  a  pretext  to  return.  This  was  afforded  the  next  day  by  our  guides, 
who  thought  they  had  discovered  an  Indian  village  at  the  site  of  a 
grove,  about  ten  miles  from  where  we  had  encamped  on  the  fourth  night 
of  our  march,  and  turned  us  six  or  eight  miles  out  of  our  way.  An  almost 

'Edwards'  Life  of  of  Edwards 
tDillon'sInd.  1. 
$Aunals  of  the  West. 


270  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

universal  discontent  seemed  to  prevail,  and  we  took  our  course  in  such  a 
direction  as  we  supposed  would  atone  for  the  error  in  the  morning.  About 
or  after  sunset,  we  came  to  a  thin  grove  affording  water.  Here  we  took 
our  camp  ;  and  about  this  time  arose  one  of  the  most  violent  gusts  I  ever 
remember  to  have  seen,  not  proceeding  from  clouds.  The  Indians  had 
set  tire  to  the  prairie,  which  drove  on  us  so  furiously  that  we  were  com 
pelled  to  fire  around  our  camp  to  protect  ourselves.  This  seems  to  have 
decided  the  army  to  return.  I  was  informed  of  it  in  so  many  ways,  that, 
early  the  next  morning,  Oct.  20th,  I  requested  the  attendance  of  the 
general  and  field  officers  and  stated  to  them  my  apprehensions — the  ex 
pectations  of  our  country — the  disgrace  attending  the  measure — the  ap 
probation  of  our  own  consciences.  Against  this  I  stated  the  weary 
situation  of  our  horses  and  the  want  of  provisions — which  to  me  seemed 
only  partial — six  days  only  having  passed  since  every  part  of  the  army 
was  furnished  with  ten  days'  rations  in  bacon,  beef,  or  breadstuff.  The 
reasons  given  for  returning,  I  requested  the  commandants  of  each  regi 
ment,  with  the  whole  of  the  officers  belonging  to  it,  to  take  fully  the 
sense  of  the  army  on  this  measure*  *  *and  to  report  to  me  in  writing — 
adding  that  if  500  volunteers  would  turn  out,  I  would  put  myself  at  their 
head,  and  proceed  in  quest  of  the  towns  ;  and  the  balance  of  the  army 
might  retreat,  under  the  conduct  of  the  officers,  in  safety,  to  Fort  Har 
rison.  In  less  than  a  hour  the  report  was  made,  almost  unanimously, 
to  return.  I  then  requested  that  I  might  dictate  the  course  to  be  pur 
sued  that  day  only,  which,  I  pledged,  should  not  put  them  more  than  six 
miles  out  of  their  way— my  object  being  to  cover  the  reconuoitering 
parties  I  wished  to  send  out  for  the  discovery  of  the  Indian  towns.  About 
this  time — the  troops  being  paraded — I  put  myself  in  front,  took  my 
course,  and  directed  them  to  follow  me.  The  columns  moving  off  quite 
a  contrary  way,  I  sent  Captain  [Zachary]  Taylor  and  Major  Lee  to  apply 
to  the  officers  to  turn  them.  They  were  told  that  it  was  not  in  their 
power — the  army  had  taken  their  own  course,  and  would  pursue  it.  Dis 
covering  great  confusion  and  disorder  in  their  inarch,  I  threw  myself  in 
the  rear,  fearing  an  attack  on  those  who  were  there  from  necessity,  and 
continued  in  that  position  the  whole  day.  The  exhausted  state  of  the 
horses,  nor  the  hunger  of  the  men,  retarded  that  day's  march.  *  *  *  The 
generals — Ray,  Ramsey  and  Allen — lent  all  their  aid  and  authority  in 
restoring  our  march  to  order  ;  and  so  far  succeeded  as  to  bring  on  the 
whole  with  much  less  loss  than  1  had  feared."  They  were  not  followed 
or  menaced  by  an  enemy.  They  had  "  marched  at  least  80  or  90  miles 
into  the  heart  of  the  enemy's  country."  A  Major  Dubois  commanded 
the  corps  of  spies  and  guides.  Messrs.  Barren,  Lasselie  and  Laplante 
were  the  interpreters.  Gen.  Hopkins  was  certain  they  "were  not  20 
miles  from  the  Indian  village  when  [they]  were  forced  to  retire."  The 
exact  point  at  which  they  commenced  "their  retrograde  march  is  not 
known. 

Governor  Edwards  had  collected  and  was  organizing  all  the 
disposable  forces  of  Illinois,  amounting  to  about  350  men,  at  Camp 
Russell,  by  the  time  Captain  Russell  arrived  trom  Yiuceimes  with 
a  part  of  two  companies,  consisting  of  50  privates.  The  volun 
teers  were  divided  into  two  small  regiments,  commanded  by 
Colonels  Elias  Hector  and  Benjamin  Stephenson,  respectively. 
Col.  Russell  commanded  the  IT.  S.  Rangers.  Col.  Deshaof  the  U. 
S.  army,  Major  John  Moredock  and  others,  were  the  field  officers. 
The  companies  were  commanded  respectively  by  Captains  Samuel 
and  William  B.  Whitesides,  James  B.  Moore,  Jacob  Short,  Willis 
Hargrove  from  the  Ohio  Salina,  McIIenry  afterwards  of  "White 
.County,  Janney,  and  Lieut.  Roakson  with  a  small  independent 
company.  Captain  Samuel  Judy  had  also  organized  an  inde 
pendent  corps  of  spies,  consisting  of  21  men.  The  staff  of 
Governor  Edwards,  who  was  in  chief  command,  were  Secretary 
Nathaniel  Pope,  Nelson  Rector,  and  Lieut.  Robert  K.  McLaughliu, 
of  the  IT.  S.  Army.  Col.  Biis'-ell,  an  unpretending  but  very 


ILLINOIS   TERRITORY.  271 

efficient  officer,  was  next  in  command  to  his  Excellency,  but  he 
neither  had  nor  wanted  aids.  Bag-gage  wagons  for  the  army  were 
not  provided  in  this  short  campaign.  The  men  were  ordered  to 
pack  each  on  his  horse  20  days'  rations.  The  horses  were  to 
sustain  themselves  on  prairie  grass.  Some  of  the  officers  employed 
extra  pack-horses. 

Captain  Craig,  of  Shawneetown,  was  detached  with  a  sufficient 
force  to  man  two  boats,  one  laden  with  provisions  and  the  neces 
sary  tools  to  build  a  fort,  and  the  other  armed  with  blunderbusses 
and  a  swivel,  both  so  fortified  that  the  enemy's  bullets  could  not 
penetrate  their  sides.  He  was  dispatched  in  advance  up  the  Illinois 
river,  with  orders  to  wait  at  Peoria  until  further  word  from  the 
army.  He  was  also  to  make  offensive  Avar  upon  the  French 
inhabitants  of  .Peoria,  who  were  suspected  of  inciting  the  savages 
to  their  murderous  raids,  and  he  possessed  besides  large  discre 
tionary  powers.  On  the  18th  of  October,  the  defenses  of  the 
frontiers  having  been  duly  provided  for,  this  crude  army  of  about 
400  mounted  men,  took  up  its  line  of  march  from  Camp  Russell. 
The  privates,  it  seems,  looked  upon  the  expedition  as  affordimg 
them  rare  sport,  not  caring  whether  they  were  "  marched  into 
danger  or  frolic."  The  route  pursued  was  upon  the  west  side  of 
Oahokia  creek,  thence  to  the  Magoupin,  which  was  crossed  near 
the  present  site  of  Carlinville ;  thence  northeasterly,  crossing  the 
Sangamon  below  the  junction  of  the  north  and  south  forks,  east 
of  the  present  capital  of  the  State;  passing  thence  east  of  Elkh art 
grove,  crossing  Salt  creek  not  far  from  the  present  city  of  Lincoln, 
and  thence  in  a  northward  direction  striking  an  old  deserted 
Kickapoo  village  on  Sugar  creek.  These  tenant  less  bark  wigwams, 
which  were  painted  up  here  and  there  with  rude  savage  devices, 
mostly  representing  the  red-skins  scalping  whites,  provoked  the  war 
like  indignation  of  the  army.  The  town  was  assaulted,  set  on  fire  and 
reduced  to  ashes  !  After  this,  fearing  that  their  nightly  camp-fires 
would  reveal  their  approach  to  the  Indians,  the  marches  were  mostly 
continued  after  dark  till  midnight.  The  course  was  now  directed 
towards  the  upper  end  of  Lake  Peoria,  where  Avas  located  the 
Black  Portridge  village  of  the  Potawattoinies,  on  the  eastern  bluff 
of  the  river.  A  small  party  in  charge  of  Lieut.  Peyton  Avas  dis 
patched  to  Peoria  on  a  direct  Avest  course,  which,  howeA^er,  made 
no  discoveries,  and  Capt.  Craig  had  not  yet  arrived  thither.  The 
army  moved  rapidly  but  cautiously  forward,  and  late  in  the  night 
preceding  the  attack  encamped  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
Arillage.  It  was  now  desirable  to  reconnoitre  the  position  of  the 
enemy,  or  rather  the  Indian  toAvn.  Four  men,  namelv  Thomas 
Carlin  (subsequently  governor),  and  three  of  the  Whitesides — 
Robert,  Stephen  and  Davis — volunteered  for  this  perilous  sendee, 
and  were  entrusted  by  the  governor  Avith  its  delicate  execution. 
They  proceeded  to  the  village,  explored  it  and  the  approaches  to 
it,  thoroughly,  without  starting  an  Indian  or  provoking  the  bark 
of  a  dog.  The  position  of  the  town  was  ascertained  to  be  about 
5  miles  distant,  situated  on  a  bluff  separated  in  great  part  from 
the  high  lands  by  a  swampy  glade,  through  which  meandered  a 
miry  branch  or  creek,  Avhose  low  banks  were  covered  by  a  rank 
growth  of  tall  grass  and  clumps  of  brush,  so  high  and  dense  as  to 
readily  conceal  an  Indian  on  horseback  until  within  a  feAv  feet  of 


272  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS 


Irim.  The  ground  had  become  additionally  yielding  by  recent 
rains,  rendering  it  almost  impassable  to  mounted  men. 

In  the  tireless  and  cheerless  camp  all  was  silent  as  the  grave. 
A  deep  gloom,  with  many  misgivings,  had  settled  upon  the  men. 
The  fatiguing  marches  had  ceased  to  be  frolicsome.  The  troops 
felt  jaded  and  sulky,  and  they  were  within  the  enemy's  country. 
They  reposed  upon  their  arms,  with  their  horses  tethered  near  at 
hand,  ready  saddled  to  be  instantly  mounted  for  action.  During 
the  night  a  gun  in  the  hands  of  a  trooper  was  carelessly  discharged, 
which  caused  great  consternation  in  the  camp.  The  stealthy  foe, 
with  gleaming  tomahawk  raised  over  his  victim,  was  momentarily 
expected.  All  the  horrors  of  the  night  attack  at  Tippecanoe,  then 
fresh  in  the  minds  of  every  one,  presented  themselves  to  the  active 
imaginations  of  the  men.  Every  white  coated  soldier  at  that 
battle,  it  was  said,  Tiad  been  singled  out  in  the  dusky  morning  and 
killed  by  the  savages.  In  a  moment  no\v  not  a  white  coat 
remained  in  sight.  But  directly  the  assuring  voice  of  his  Excel 
lency  cried  out  that  the  firing  was  an  accident,  and  all  became 
quiet  again. 

Early  on  the  following  morning,  with  a  dense  fog  prevailing,  the 
army  took  up  its  line  of  march  for  the  Indian  town,  Captain 
Judy  with  his  corps  of  spies  in  advance.  On  the  route  iu  the  tall  grass 
they  came  up  with  an  Indian  and  his  squaw,  both  mounted.  The 
Indian  wanted  to  surrender,  but  Capt.  Judy  observed  that  he  "  did 
not  leave  home  to  take  prisoners,"  and  instantly  shot  one  of  them. 
With  the  blood  streaming  from  his  mouth  and  nose,  and  in  his 
agony  "  singing  the  death  song,"  prompted  by  the  instinctive 
emotion  of  self-defense  which  even  a  trodden  worm  will  exercise, 
the  dying  Indian  raised  his  gun,  shot  and  mortally  wounded  in 
the  groin  a  Mr.  Wright,  and  in  a  few  minutes  expired.  Wright 
was  from  the  Wood  river  settlement,  and  died  after  he  was 
brought  home.  The  rest  of  those  who  had  incautiously  approached 
the  wounded  Indian,  when  they  saw  him  seize  his  gun,  quickly 
dismounted  011  the  far  sides  of  their  horses,  making  of  them,  as 
it  were,  a  breast- work.  Many  guns  were  immediately  discharged 
at  the  other  Indian,  not  then  known  to  be  a  squaw,  all  of  which, 
in  the  trepidation  of  the  occasion,  missed  her.  Badly  scared,  and 
her  husband  killed  by  her  side,  the  agonizing  wails  of  the  squaw 
were  heart-rending.  She  was  taken  prisoner,  and  subsequently 
restored  to  her  nation. 

Owing  to  the  fog,  the  army  was  misled  into  the  spongy  bottom, 
some  three-fourths  of  a  mile  below  the  town,  with  the  miry  creek 
to  cross,  which  deranged  the  plan  of  attack.  The  village  thus 
escaped  a  surprise;  and  while  a  halt  was  made,  preparatory  to 
crossing,  the  Indians  were  observed  running  from  the  town, 
bounding  through  the  tall  grass  on  their  horses,  almost  hid  from 
view.  An  attack  was  every  moment  expected  while  crossing  the 
treacherous  stream,  and  the  advanced  corps,  under  Judy,  sat 
lightly  in  their  saddles,  expecting  to  draw  the  fire  of  the  hidden 
foe.  To  their  great  s  atisfactioii,  no  attack  was  made  or  meant ; 
the  Indians  were  fleeing  from  their  village  and  impending  death, 
pell-mell,  women  and  children,  some  on  horse-back  and  some  on 
foot,  into  the  swamp  among  the  tall  grass,  and  toward  a  point  of 
timber,  in  which  the  governor,  disappointed  in  his  charge  upon 
the  town,  judged  they  intended  to  make  a  stand  for  battle.  u  I 


ILLINOIS   TERRITORY.  273 

immediately  changed  my  course,"  he  writes,  "ordered  and  led  on  a 
general  charge  upon  them,"  but  "owing  to  the  unsoundness  of  the 
ground,"  the  pursuers,  horses,  riders,  arms  and  baggage,  from 
his  Excellency  so  valiantly  leading  the  charge  to  the  shouting 
subciltern  and  private,  all  shared  in  the  common  catastrophe  alike, 
and  wore  unhorsed  and  overwhelmed  in  the  morass.  It  was  called 
a  democratic  overthrow,  in  which  all  were  literally  "swamped." 

Upon  this  yielding  ground,  into  which  a  horse  would  sink  and 
plunge  without  avail,  a  mounted  force  could  not  be  moved.  A 
pursuit  on  foot  was  ordered,  which  was  both  difficult  and  extremely 
dangerous  on  account  of  the  tall  grass  in  which  the  Indians  were 
lurking.  Several  parties  on  foot  trailed  in  pursuit  of  the  Indians, 
however,  two  or  three  miles  across  the  saturated  bottom  to  the 
river,  killing  some  of  the  enemy  while  attempting  to  cross  to  the 
farther  shore.  To  such  a  pitch  of  excitement  were  some  of  the 
men  wrought,  that  Charles  Kitchen,  John  Howard  and  Pierre  St. 
Jean,  finding  some  Indian  canoes,  in  the  fury  of  the  chase,  crossed 
the  river  alone  in  full  view  of  the  retreating  foe,  but  without  moles- 
talon. 

A  Potawattomie  town,  called  by  the  governor,  Chequeneboc, 
after  a  chief,  was  here  burned.  The  Indians  fled  toward  the  inte 
rior  wilderness.  Another  party  made  pursuit  of  the  fugitives  in  a 
different  direction;  but  the  Indians  making  a  stand  in  considerable 
force,  these  were  compelled  to  retreat.  Reinforcements  were  sent, 
when  the  savages  entirely  dispersed.  Some  of  the  troops  wrere 
wounded  in  this  action  it  is "  reported,  but  none  killed.  In  the 
meantime,  the  village  was  pillaged  and  burned  by  the  main  body 
of  the  troops.  The  Indians,  in  their  precipitate  flight,  had  left 
behind  all  of  their  winter's  store  of  provisions,  which  was  de 
stroyed  or  taken  away.  Hiding  about  the  burning  embers  of  the 
ruins,  were  found  some  Indian  children,  left  by  the  frightened 
fugitives  ;  also,  some  disabled  adults,  one  of  whom  was  in  a  starv 
ing  condition,  and  partook  of  the  bread  given  him  with  a  vora 
cious  appetite.  He  is  said  to  have  been  killed  by  a  cowardly 
trooper  straggling  behind,  after  the  main  army  had  resumed  its 
retrograde  march,  who  wanted  to  be  able  to  assert  or  boast  that 
he  had  killed  an  Indian.  Governor  Edwards  reports  that  four 
prisoners  were  taken  away,  and  some  eighty  head  of  horses  ;  of 
the  Indian  losses,  gathered  from  their  own  account,  between  24 
and  30  were  killed;  our  loss  being  one  wounded.  The  Indian 
losses,  based  entirely  upon  their  own  reports,  made  by  the  few 
prisoners  taken,  to  please  the  vanity  of  the  whites,  were,  doubt 
less,  apochryphal.  To  show  the  reckless  daring  of  the  Indian 
character,  it  is  mentioned  that  a  warrior  walked  calmly  down  the 
bin  ft"  some  200  yards  distant,  deliberately  raised  his  gun  and  fired 
upon  the  troops  in  the  town,  then  turned  and  strode  slowly  away 
amid  a  shower  of  bullets. 

Nothing  having  been  heard  from  General  Hopkins  and  his  2000 
mounted  Kentucky  riflemen,  and  apprehensive  that  a  large  force 
of  warriors  would  be  speedily  collected,  it  was  deemed  prudent 
not  to  protract  their  stay,  and  accordingly,  the  retrograde  march 
of  the  army  was  commenced  that  very  day.  A  heavy  and  con 
tinuous  rain  prevailed  at  the  time,  but  the  dread  of  pursuit  caused 
them  not  to  intermit  their  travels  till  darkness  overtook  them, 
when,  greatly  exhausted  and  wet.  without  fire  to  dry  their  clothes, 
18 


274  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

or  food  to  nourish  their  bodies,  they  sank  into  sleep  on  the  wet 
ground,  their  clothing  covered  with  the  mud  of  the  morass.  The 
dread  warrior  did  not  appear.  a  Our  army  returned  home 
with  all  convenient  speed,"  writes  Governor  lieynolds,  who-  in  the 
campaign  earned  the  soubriquet  of  "  Old  Hanger,"  and  to  whose 
account  we  are  largely  indebted  for  this. 

On  the  morrow,  a  detachment  in  charge  of  Lieutenant  Peyton, 
was  again  sent  over  to  Peoria  with  a  message  to  Captain  Craig 
in  charge  of  the  provision  boats,  to  return  as  speedily  as  possible. 
This  party  on  their  way  burnt  a  Miami  village  within  a  hall-mile 
of  Peoria. 

The  force  of  Captain  Craig,  in  charge  of  the  provision  boats 
for  the  armies  of  Hopkins  and  Edwards,  and  under  instruction 
from  his  Excellency  to  proceed  to  Peoria  "and  take  prisoners  those 
persons  who  were  there  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  the  savages  to 
murder  the  frontier  settlers,"  was  not  idle.  His  armed  boat,  by 
force  of  a  gale  having  broken  its  cable  and  drifted  ashore,  it  was 
in  the  night  time  fired  upon  by  ten  Indians,  who  immediately  fled. 
Discovering  at  daylight  their  tracks  leading  up  into  the  town, 
Captain  Craig  inquired  of  the  French  their  whereabouts.  These 
denying  all  knowledge  of  them,  said  '"they  had  heard  or  seen  noth 
ing,"  but  he  took  the  whole  of  them  prisoners,  burned  and  de 
stroyed  Peoria,  and  bore  the  captured  inhabitants  away  on 
his  boats  to  a  point  below  the  present  Alton,  where  he  landed 
and  left  them  in  the  woods — men  women  and  children — in  the  in 
clement  month  of  November,  without  shelter,  and  without  food 
other  than  the  slender  stores  they  had  themselves  hurriedly  gath 
ered  up  before  their  departure.  They  found  their  way  to  St.  Louis 
it  is  said,  in  almost  a  starving  condition.  They  numbered  perhaps 
75,  the  names  of  the  heads  of  families  given  exceeding  a  dozen.* 
Thomas*  Forsythe,  the  government  Indian  agent  stationed  at 
Peoria,  was  included  among  the  number.  This  was  owing  to  his 
true  relation  to  the  government  not  being  disclosed  to  the  Indians 
or  others,  that  he  might  have  more  influence  with  them  in  releas 
ing  or  ransoming  the  prisoners  captured  in  the  recent  Chicago 
massacre.  From  his  long  residence  among  the  Indians,  he  was 
very  popular  with  them.  The  burning  of  Peoria  and  taking  pris 
oners  its  inhabitants,  upon  the  mere  suspicion  that  they  sympa 
thized  with  the  Indians,  was  generally  regarded  as  a  needless,  if 
not  wanton,  act  of  military  power.t 

After  an  absence  of  13  days  the  gallant  army  of  Governor 
Edwards  returned  to  Camp  Eussell  without  loss.  It  was  received 
with  the  honors  of  war,  amidst  the  booming  of  the  old  but  royal 
cannon  which  had  done  duty  for  many  years  at  Fort  Chartres, 
and  the  rattle  of  small  arms.  The  troops  were  mostly  dis 
charged  ;  the  governor,  in  a  letter  to  the  secretary  of  war,  be 
speaks  for  them  a  speedy  payment  as  i4  the  reward  due  to  their 

*See  life  of  Governor  Edwards,  by  his  son. 

t After  the  building-  of  Fort  Crevecoeur,  in  1680,  Peoria  lake  was  ever  familiar  to  wes 
tern  travel  and  history  ;  but  there  is  no  authentic  account  of  a  permanent  European 
settlement  there  until  1778,  when  Laville  de  Meillet,  named  after  its  founder,  was 
started .  On  account  of  the  quality  of  the  water  and  its  greater  salubrity,  the  location 
was  changed  further  down  the  lake  to  the  present  site  of  Peoria,  and  by  179(5,  the  old 
had  been  entirely  abandoned  for  the  new  villag'e.  After  itsdestruction,  in  J812,  it  was 
not  settled  again  until  1819.  and  then  by  American  pioneers,  though  in  1813,  Fort  Clark 
was  built  there,  which  gave  a  name  to  the  pface  tor  several  years  In  1818.  the  fort 
was  destroyed  by  fire.  In  1825,  the  county  of  Peoria  was  established  and  the  county 
seat  located. 


ILLINOIS   TEKEITORY.  275 

services."  In  his  address,  to  the  St.  Clair  county  militia,  the  gov 
ernor  said :  "Your  bravery  has  enabled  me  to  repel  hostile  invas 
ion  and  to  wage  war  upon  the  enemy  in  their  own  country.  *  * 
Your  intrepidity  and  patriotism  have  been  equally  honorable  to 
yourselves,  and  useful  to  your  country."  Xot  to  be  outdone  in 
such  flattering  testimonials,  the  militia,  through  their  officers, 
replied  in  as  felicitous  a  vein,  that  his  Excellency  had  "greatly 
increased  his  claims  upon  the  gratitude  of  the  country  for  his  wise 
measures,"  and  that  they  had  "witnessed  his  coolness,  deliberation 
and  promptitude  in  the  hour  of  peril."  It  seems,  however,  that 
his  Excellency  was  not  without  rivals  for  the  laurels  of  this 
campaign.  With  much  concern,  he  writes,  under  date  of  Decem 
ber  25th,  1812 :  UI  discover  that  some  pitiful  attempts  are  making 
to  deprive  me  of  the  credit  I  am  entitled  to,  by  giving  it  to  Colonel 
Russell,  who  happened  to  join  me  (about  three  days  before  I  com 
menced  my  march)  with  50  rangers.  The  injustice  of  this  is  known 
and  attested  by  the  whole  of  my  little  army,"  etc.* 

1813. — Early  in  this  year,  the  country  was  put  in  such  state  of 
defense  against  the  hostile  Indians  as  its  sparse  population  admit 
ted  of.  Block  house  stations  and  stockade  forts  were  repaired  and 
strengthened  along  the  entire  frontier,  and  the  remote  settlers 
and  feeble  garrisons  were  removed  to  the  denser  settlenfents. 
Kew  ranging  companies  were  formed  and  so  stationed  as  to  easily 
range  through  the  settlements.  From  the  present  Alton  to  Kas- 
kaskia,  twenty-two  family  forts  were  scattered  along.  In  spite  of 
these  precautions,  the  extent  of  the  frontier  was  so  great  that  no 
diligence  in  ranging  afforded  entire  immunity  from  savage  attacks. 
Numerous  depredations  and  murders  were  committed  by  maraud 
ing  bands  of  the  red  foe.  Of  these,  only  a  few  will  be  men 
tioned. 

The  savages  fell  upon  the  family  of  Mr.  Lively,  four  miles  south 
east  of  Covington,  in  the  present  Washington  county,  and  four 
were  slain.  The  bodies  of  two  women  were  shockingly  mangled  ; 
a  little  boy  of  seven  years  was  borne  away  from  the  house,  his 
head  severed  from  his  body,  his  entrails  torn  out,  and  both 
carried  away,  it  was  thought,  for  purposes  of  cannibalism.  Mr. 
Lively's  body  was  indecently  mutilated.  A  son  and  a  stranger 
stopping  there,  were  out  in  quest  of  their  horses,  and  from  a  dis 
tance  saw  the  house  attacked.  These  in  their  retreat  to  the 
settlements,  bivouaced  in  a  grove  6  miles  southeast  of  Fayette- 
ville  on  the  Kaskaskia  river,  which  perpetuates  the  name  of  the 
murdered  family.  The  Indians,  supposed  to  be  Kickapoos,  were 
pursued  by  Captain  Boon's  company,  but  having  4  days  the  start, 
made  good  their  escape.  That  a  pursuing  force  should  be  4  days 
behind,  shows  how  incautiously  remote  from  the  denser  settle 
ments  some  families  must  have  located.  On  the  banks  of  Kas 
kaskia,  near  the  present  Carlyle,  a  Mr.  Young  and  a  minister  by 
the  name  of  McLean,  had  a  desparate  struggle  with  a  party  of 
savages.  The  former  having  been  killed,  as  also  both  horses,  a 
single  but  powerful  savage  pursued.  McLean,  who  was  unarmed 
and  on  foot.  McLean  would  come  to  a  stand  at  times  and  in  a 
menacing  manner  defy  the  savage  to  approach  with  his  tomahawk. 
The  Indian  seeking  the  advantage,  would  hestitate.  At  such 
times,  McLean  would  divest  himself  of  a  portion  of  his  surplus 

*Ed  wards'  Life  of  Edwards. 


276  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 


clothing,  and  finally,  the  attention  of  the  Indian  having  been 
arrested  by  his  cast  off  garments,  McLean  plunged  into  the  river, 
swam  to  the  further  shore,  and  effected  his  escape.*  Some  murders 
were  also  committed  on  Cache  river  in  the  present  Alexander  county. 
On  the  Wabash,  30  miles  above  Vincennes,  near  Fort  Lamotte,  the 
wife  of  a  Mr.  Houston  and  four  children  were  killed.  In  a  small 
prairie  2  or  3  miles  from  the  present  Albion,  in  Ed  wards  county,  a 
farmer  by  the  name  of  Boltenhouse  was  killed,  the  prairie  perpet 
uating  his  name. 

Considering  the  frequent  murders  and  the  fact  that  the  general 
government  had  made  no  provision  to  sustain  the  militia  and 
volunteers,  which  caused  those  of  Illinois  to  be  discharged  from 
the  service  on  the  8th  of  June,  by  the  governor,  it  may  be  said 
that  the  year  1813  presented  but  a  gloomy  prospect  for  the  exposed 
settlements  in  the  west. 

Second  Expedition  to  Peoria. — Large  numbers  of  hostile  Indians 
were  known  to  have  collected  among  the  Potawattomies  and 
Kickapoos  on  Lake  Peoria,  Avhence  marauding  parties,  which 
harrassed  the  frontiers  of  both  Illinois  and  Missouri,  were  sent 
out.  It  became  again  an  object  therefore  to  penetrate  their  country 
with  a  military  force,  disperse  them  from  their  convenient  location, 
and  "drive  them  far  into  the  interior.  In  the  latter  part  of  the 
summer  a  joint  expedition  from  Illinois  and  Missouri,  was  projected 
for  this  purpose.  An  army  of  some  900  men  was  collected  and 
Gen.  Howard,  who  had  resigned  the  office  of  Governor  of  Missouri 
to  accept  a  Brigader  General's  commission  in  the  United  States 
Army,  was  placed  in  command.  The  Illinois  troops  were  ordered 
to  rendezvous  at  Camp  Russell;  one  company  was  ordered  to  the 
Mississippi  at  a  point  called  the  Piasa,  opposite  the  Portage  des 
Sioux,  where  it  remained  several  weeks  and  became  quite  sickly. 
The  Illinois  troops  were  formed  into  the  second  regiment,  and 
Benjamin  Stephen  son,  of  Randolph  county,  was  appointed  colonel; 
W.  B.  Whitesides  and  John  Moredock  were  majors;  and  Joseph 
Phillips,  Samuel  Judy,  ^Nathaniel  Journey,  and  Samuel  AYhite- 
sides,  captains.  There  was  some  delay  on  account  of  the  Missou- 
rians,  who  were  being  collected  at  St.  Louis. 

Finally  the  order  for  a  forward  movement  arrived,  and  the 
Illinoisans  marched  up  the  Mississippi  by  companies  to  the  Illinois, 
which  was  crossed  2  or  3  miles  above  its  mouth.  The  movement 
was  slow ;  in  Calhoun  County,  where  the  bee-trees  were  very 
numerous,  a  few  rangers,  who  rambled  from  the  main  body,  got 
into  a  skirmish  with  some  Indians,  but  no  loss  was  sustained 
except  that  a  gun-stock  was  shivered  by  an  Indian  bullet.  The 
Missourians  marched  100  miles  north,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Mississippi  to  Fort  Mason,  where  they  swam  the  river  mounted 
naked  on  their  horses,  while  their  garments  were  crossed  on  a 
platform,  borne  up  by  2  canoes,  and  joined  the  Illinoisans.  They 
were  commanded  by  Col.  McXair,  afterward  governor  of  Missouri. 
The  whole  force  was  re-organized  into  a  brigade,  of  which  General 
Howard  was  in  chief  command.  The  march  was  continued  up  the 
Mississippi.  On  the  present  site  of  Quincy  they  passed  a  recently 
deserted  camp  and  village,  supposed  to  have  contained  1,000  Sa^ 
warriors.  At  a  point  called  the  "  Two  rivers,'7  they  struck  out  east 
ward  and  across  the  high  prairies  to  the  Illinois,  which  was  reached 

*Missouri  Gazette,  March  1813. 


ILLINOIS   TERRITORY.  277 

near  the  mouth  of  Spoon  river.  Here  their  provision  boats  arrived 
and  took  on  board  the  sick.  The  march  was  continued  up  the 
Illinois  to  Peoria,  where  there  was  a  small  stockade  in  charge  of 
Captain  Nicholas  of  the  U.  S.  Army.  Two  days  before,  the 
Indians  had  made  an  attack  on  the  fort,  but  were  repulsed.  On 
the  line  of  march  from  the  Mississippi,  numerous  fresh  trails  indi 
cated  tli tit  the  Indians,  gaining  knowledge  of  the  invading  force, 
were  fleeing  northward. 

Being  in  the  enemy's  country,  knowing  his  stealthy  habits  and 
the  troops  at  no  time  observing  a  high  degree  of  discipline,  many 
unnecessary  night  alarms  occurred-,  they  were  paraded,  frequently 
ordered  to  arms,  and  under  the  general  excitement  incident  to  a 
constant  dread  of  momentary  attack,  guns  were  incautiously  tired, 
and  one  tine  young  Kentucky  trooper,  was  shot  dead  by  a  fear 
smitten  sentinel.  All  this  time  the  dread  savages  were  far  away. 

The  army  was  marched  up  the  lake  to  Gomo's  village,  the 
present  site  of  Chilicothe,  and  finding  that  the  enemy  had  ascended 
the  Illinois,  two  deserted  villages  were  demolished  under  the  shock 
of  its  onset,  and  burned,  when  it  took  up  its  retrograde  march. 
At  the  outlet  of  the  lake,  the  present  site  of  Peoria,  the  troops 
remained  in  camp  several  weeks,  building  Fort  Clark,  named  in 
memory  of  Gen.  George  Rogers  Clark.  Major  Christy,  in  the 
meantime,  was  dispatched  with  a  force  in  charge  of  two  fortified 
keel-boats  up  the  river  to  the  foot  of  the  rapids,  to  chastise  and 
rout  suck  of  the  enemy  as  might  have  lodged  in  that  region. 
Major  Boone  was  sent  with  a  force  to  scour  the  Spoon  river 
country,  towards  Hock  river.  Both  expeditions  returned  without 
other  discoveries  than  signs  of  alarm  on  the  part  of  the  enemy, 
and  his  retreat  into  the  interior.  The  army  returned  by  a  direct 
route  to  Camp  Russell,  where  the  volunteers  and  militia  were  dis 
banded,  October  22(1,  1813. 

The  campaign,  though  no  battle  was  fought  or  enemy  seen,  was 
still  fraught  with  great  benefit  in  affording  the  frontiers  immunity 
from  the  murderous  incursions  of  the  savages  for  the  entire  suc 
ceeding  winter.  To  the  foe  was  unfolded  the  power  and  resources 
lie  had  to  contend  with,  and  shaking  his  head  he  muttered,  "  pale 
faces  like  the  leaves  in  the  forest — like  the  grass  on  the  prairies — 
they  grow  everywhere \" 

1814. — The  year  1814,  was,  however,  also  prolific  with  horrible 
deeds  of  savage  butchery.  Those  fiends,  with  a  natural  aptitude 
for  such  work,  received  additional  incentives  from  their  British 
allies.  Our  naval  victories  on  Lake  Erie,  the  recovery  of  Detroit, 
and  the  defeat  of  the  British  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  where 
Tecumseh  fell,  which  was  fought  before  the  close  of  1813,  had  the 
effect  to  cause  the  savages  to  retreat  from  Canada,  and  concentrate 
in  .meat  numbers  on  the  banks  of  the  upper  Mississippi;  and 
marauding  bands  again  visited  the  settlements  of  Illinois  and 
Missouri,  committing  many  depredations  and  murders.  We  do 
not  pretend  to  cite  all. 

In  July,  a  band  of  Indians  raiding  in  the  Wood  river  settle 
ment,  (J  miles  east  of  the  present  Alton,  massacred  a  Mrs.  Reagan 
and  her  (5  children.  The  husband  and  father,  absent  at  the  time, 
was  the  first  to  discover  the  dreadful  slaughter.  On  arriving 
home  after  night-fall,  and  opening  the  door  of  his  cabin,  he 

*Annals  of  the  West — Appendix. 


278  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


stepped  into  the  gore  of  liis  loved  family,  and  beheld  their  stark 
and  "mangled  remains.  Captain  Samuel  Whitesides  with  his 
company  of  rangers  pursued  the  savages  to  the  San  gam  on,  where, 
in  a  thicket,  all  escaped  except  the  leader  of  the  baud,  who  was 
shot  out  of  a  tree-top.  In  his  belt  he  had  dangling  the  scalp  of 
Mrs.  Keagan. 

In  the  western  part  of  Clinton  county,  near  the  crossing  of  the 
present  O.  &  M.  K.  R.  over  a  stream,  Jesse  Bailes  and  wife  were 
looking  for  their  hogs  on  a  Sunday  evening  in  the  creek  bottom, 
and  the  dogs  baying  at  a  thicket,  it  was  supposed  they  were  found  ; 
but  on  approaching  the  thicket,  the  Indians,  concealed  within, 
tired  upon  both,  the  lady  only  being  hit.  She  was  taken  to  her 
father's  house,  Mr.  Bradley,  and  died  in  a  short  time. 

In  August,  while  a  company  of  Captain  Short's  rangers  were 
encamped  at  the  Lively  cabins,  a  trail  was  discovered  which  led 
directly  to  the  starting  of  7  Indians  with  14  stolen  horses.  When 
overtaken  a  skirmish  ensued,  in  which  the  rangers  were  rather 
worsted  $  one  was  wounded,  a  horse  killed,  and  another,  Moses 
Short,  received  a  bullet  which  lodged  in  a  twist  of  tobacco  in  his 
pocket.  William  Stout,  with  great  speed,  went  to  camp  for  rein 
forcements.  Captain  Short  with  30  men  now  followed  the  trail  all 
night,  and  next  morning  overtook  the  marauders  on  a  fork  of  the 
Little  Wabash.  A  lagging  Indian  here  shot  a  turkey,  and  the 
report  of  his  gi  n  apprised  the  pursuers  of  their  proximity.  On 
discovering  the  whites,  the. rear  Indian  ran  in  great  haste  forward, 
and  all  prepared  for  battle,  in  ignorance  probably  of  the  number 
of  the  pursuing  force,  and  assured  doubtless  by  their  previous 
success,  for  they  might  have  easily  made  their  escape.  They  were 
directly  surrounded,  and  when  they  realized  their  situation,  sang 
the  death  .song,  shouted  defiance,  and  fought  bravely  to  the  last. 
All  were  killed.  The  pursuers  lost  one  man,  William  O'Xeal, 
who,  while  taking  deliberate  aim,  met  an  adversary  quicker  than 
himself,  and  was  shot. 

[NOTE. — The  most  desparate  single-handed  combat  with  Indians. ever  foughtonthe 
soil  of  Illinois,  was  that  of  Tom  Higgins,  August  21,  1814.  Higgins  was  #>  years  old,  of 
a  muscular  and  compact  build,  not  tall,  but  strong- and  active.'  Jn  danger  he  possessed 
a  quick  and  discerning  judgment,  and  was  without  fear.  He  was  a  member  of  Journey's 
rangers,  consisting  of  11  men,  stationed  at  Hills  Fort,  8  miles  southwest  of  the  present 
Greenville.  Discovering  Indian  i-igns  near  the  fort,  the  company  early  the  following- 
morning  started  on  the  trail.  They  had  not  gone  far  before  they  were  in  an  ambus 
cade  of  a  larger  party.  At  the  first  fire,  their  commander  Journey  and  3  men  fell.  Six 
retreatea  to  the  fort  in  flight,  but  Higgins  stopped  "  to  have  another  pull  at  the  red 
skins,"  and  taking  deliberate  aim  at  a  straggling  savage,  shot  him  down.  Hig'gin's  horse 
had  been  wounded  at  the  first  tire,  as  he  suppose'!,  mortally,  but  coming  to,  he  was 
about  to  efiect  his  escape,  when  the  familiar  voice  of  Burgess  hailed  him  from  the  long- 
grass,  "  Tom  don't  leave  me."  Higgins  told  him  to  come  along,  but  Burgess  replied  that 
his  leg  was  smashed.  Higgins  attempted  to  raise  him  on  his  horse,  but  the  animal  took 
fright  and  ran  away  Higgins  then  directed  Burgess  to  limp  off  as  best  he  could,  and 
by  crawling- through  the  grass  he  reached  the  fort,  while  the  former  loaded  his  gun 
and  remained  behind  to  protect  him  against  the. pursuing  enemy.  When  Burgess  was 
well  out  of  the  way,  to  throw  any  wandering  enemy  off  the  trail,  Higgins  took  another 
route  which  led  by  a  small  thicket.  Here  he  was  unexpectedly  confronted  by  !5  savages 
approaching.  He  ran  to  a  little  ravine  near  at  hand  for  shelter,  but  in  the  effort  dis 
covered  for  the  first  time  that  he  was  badly  wounded  in  the  leg.  He  was  closely  pressed 
by  the  largest,  a  powerful  Endian,  who  lodged  a  bail  in  his  thigh.  He  fell,  but  instantly 
rose  again,  only  to  draw  the  fire  of  the  other  two  and  again  fell  wounded.  The 
Indians  now  advanced  upon  him  Avith  their  tomahawks  and  scalping  knives,  but  as  he 
presented  his  gun  first  at  one,  then  at  another,  from  his  place  in  the  ravine,  each 
wavered  in  his  purpose.  Neither  party  had  time  to  load,  and  the  large  Indian,  suppos 
ing  finally  that  Higgins1  gun  was  empty,  rushed  forward  with  uplifted  tomahawk  and  a 
yell,  but  as  he  came  near  enough,  was  shot  down.  At  this,  the  others  raised  the  war- 
whoop  and  rushed  upon  the  wounded  Higgins,  and  now  a  hand  to  hand  conflict  ensued. 
They  darted  at  him  with  theirknifestimeandauain, inflicting  many  ghastly  flesh  wounds 
which  bled  profusely,  One  of  the  assailents  threw  his  tomahawk  at  him  with  such 
precision  as  to  sever  his  ear  and  lay  bare  his  skull,  knocking  him  down.  They  now 
rushed  in  on  him,  but  he  kicked  them  off,  and  grasping  one  of  their  spears  thrust  at 


ILLINOIS   TERRITORY. 


The  military  expeditions  of  1814,  In  which  Illinois  participated, 
were  by  water  on  the  Mississippi.  The  first  projected  in  the  west 
was  that  of  Governor  Clark  (in  the  absence  of  General  Howard), 
which  left  St.  Louis  about  the  1st  of  May.  It  comprised  a  force 
of  some  200  men  in  five  armed  barges,  its  destination  being 
Prairie  du  Chien.  The  notorious  Dickson,  British  agent  and  In 
dian  trader,  a  man  of  pleasing  manner  and  captivating  address, 
had  but  a  few  days  before  recruited  for  the  British  army  300 
Sioux,  Winnebagoes  and  Folsavoisns,  whom  he  was  conducting  to 
Canada.  A  small  garrison  of  "Mackinac  fencibles  ",  in  command 
of  a  British  officer,  was  left  in  charge  of  the  place,  but  being  greatly 
outnumbered  by  Clark's  forces,  they  joined  the  fleeing  inhabitants. 
Clark's  unopposed  troops  were  quartered  in  the  house  of  the 
Mackinaw  Fur  Company,  and  a  fort,  calledShelby,' was  built.  In 
June  Gov.  Clark  returned  to  St.  Louis,  where  the  people  tendered 
him  a  public  ovation  in  honor  of  his  conquest.  Thus  easily  did  he 
win  military  glory.  But  in  July  a  large  force  of  British  and  Indians 
under  Col.  Mackey,  came  by  water  from  Mackinaw,  via  Green 
Bay  and  the  Wisconsin,  and  after  a  short  seige,Gov.  Clark's  entire 
garrison  capitulated  and  was  paroled,  leaving  the  British  with  the 
new  fort  in  much  better  condition  than  two  months  before.  Such 
are  the  fortunes  of  Avar. 

In  the  meantime,  Gen.  Howard,  having  returned  to  his  post, 
deemed  it  advisable  to  strengthen  so  remote  a  post  as  Prairie  du 
Chien,  and  to  that  end  sent  reinforcements  to  the  number  of  108 
men,  in  charge  of  Lieut.  Campbell  of  the  regular  army,  in  three 
keel  boats  tip  the  river.  Of  this  force  O'G  men  were  Illinois  Rang 
ers,  under  Captains  Stephen  Rector,  and  Biggs,  who  occupied  two 
boats.  The  remainder  were  with  Campbell  in  the  other  boat. 
Hock  Island,  where  they  laid  up  for  a  night,  was  passed  without 
molestation,  but  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids  great  numbers  of  the 
Sacs  and  Fox  Indians  visited  the  boats  with  professions  of  friend 
ship.  Some  of  the  French  boatmen  were  known  to  the  Indians, 
and  very  much  liked  by  them.  They  would  squeeze  their  hands 
with  a  pull  down  the  river,  indicating  that  it  would  be  Avell  for 
them  to  leave.  It  was  rightly  judged  by  them  that  the  treacherous 
savages  meditated  an  Attack,  of  which  Lieut.  Campbell  was  duly 
informed.  He,  however,  disregarded  these  hints.  The  sutler's 
and  contractor's  boats,  and  two  barges  with  the  Illinois  rangers, 
had  passed  the  rapids,  and  had  got  some  two  miles  ahead,  when 
Campbell's  barge  was  struck  by  a  gale  from  the  west  so  strong  as 
to  force  her  against  a  small  island,  next  to  the  Illinois  shore. 
Thinking  it  advisable  to  lie  to  till  the  wind  abated,  sentinels  were 
immediately  stationed,  while  the  men  went  ashore  to  cook  break- 

him,  was  raised  up  by  it.  He  quickly  seized  his  gun,  and  by  a  powerful  blow  crushed 
in  the  skull  of  one,  but  broke  his  rifle.  His  remaining1  antagonist  still  kept  up  the 
contest,  making  thrusts  with  his  knife  at  the  bleeding  and  exhausted  Hiugins,  which  he 
parried  with  his  broken  gun  as  best  he  could.  Must  of  this  desperate  engagement  was 
in  plain  view  of  the  Fort,  but  the  rangers,  having  been  in  one  ambuscade,  saw  in  this 
fight  only  a  ruse  to  draw  out  the  balance  of  the  garrison.  But  a  Mrs.  Pursely,  residing 
at  the  Fort,  no  longer  able  to  see  so  brave  a  man  contend  unaided  for  his  lile,  seized  a 
gun,  and  mounting  a  horse,  started  to  his  rescue.  At  this  the  men  took  courage  and 
hastened  along.  The  Indian  seeing  aid  coming,  fled.  Higgins  being  nearly  hacked  to 
pieces,  fainted  from  loss  of  blood.  He  was  carried  to  the  Fort.  There  being  no  sur 
geon,  his  comrades  cut  two  balls  from  his  flesh  ;  others  remained  in  For  days  his  life 
was  despaired  of,  but  by  tender  nursing,  he  ultimately  recovered  his  health,  badly 
crippled.  He  resided  in  Fayette  County  for  many  years  after,  where  he  raised  a  large 
family,  and  died  in  1829.  He  received  "a  pension,  pursued  farming,  and  at  onetime 
was  door-keeper  of  one  of  the  houses  of  the  General  Assembly  at  Vandalia .  Reynold's 
Pio.  Hist.— p.  321. 


280  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

fast.  At  this  time  a  large  force  of  Indians  on  the  main  shore, 
under  the  command  of  Black  Hawk,  commenced  an  attack.  The 
savages,  in  canoes,  passed  rapidly  to  the  island,  and  with  a  war 
whoop  rushed  upon  the  men,  who  retreated  and  sought  refuge  in 
the  barge.  A  battle  of  brisk  musketry  now  ensued  between  the 
few  regulars  aboard  the  stranded  barge  and  the  hordes  of  Indians 
under  cover  of  trees  on  the  island,  with  severe  loss  to  the  former. 
Meanwhile,  Captains  Rector  and  Riggs,  ahead  with  their  barges, 
seing  the  smoke  of  battle,  essayed  to  return,  but  in  the  strong- 
gale  Riggs'  boat  became  unmanageable  and  was  stranded  on  the 
rapids.  Rector,  to  avoid  a  similar  disaster,  let  go  his  anchor.  The 
rangers,  however,  opened  with  good  aim  and  telling  effect  on  the 
savages. 

The  unequal'combat  having  raged  for  some  time,  the  command 
er's  barge,  with  many  wounded  and  several  dead  on  board,  among 
the  former  of  whom,  very  badly,  was  Campbell  himself,  had  almost 
ceased  lighting  when  she  was  discovered  to  be  on  tire.  And  now 
Stephen  Rector,  and  his  brave  crew  of  Illinois  rangers,  compre 
hending  the  horrid  situation,  performed,  without  delay,  as  cool 
and  heroic  a  deed,  and  did  it  well,  as  ever  imperiled  the  lite  of 
mortal  man.  In  the  howling  gale,  in  full  view  of  hundreds  of  the 
infuriate  savages,  and  within  range  of  their  rifles,  they  deliberately 
raised  anchor,  lightened  their  barge  by  casting  overboard  quan 
tities  of  provisions,  and  guided  it  with  the  utmost  labor  down  the 
swift  current,  to  the  windward  of  the  burning  barge,  and,  in  the 
galling  fire  of  the  enemy,  rescued  the  survivors,  removed  the 
wounded,  the  dying  and  all,  to  their  vessel.  This  was  as  heroic  a 
deed  of  noble  daring  as  was  performed  during  the  war  in  the 
west.  The  island,  in  memory  of  the  struggle,  was  named  after 
Campbell,  but  with  Rector  and  his  crew  of  Illinois  rangers  remains 
the  glory  of  the  action. 

The  manner  of  effecting  the  rescue  displays  the  resource  of 
courageous  minds  in  the  crisis  of  imminent  peril.  Rector's  barge 
was  first  quickly  lightened  by  casting  overboard  the  provisions, 
the  crew  (mostly  experienced  French  boatmen,)  got  into  the  water 
on  the  windward  side  of  the  barge,  which  brought  it  between 
them  and  the  fire  of  the  enemy.  In  this  manner  it  was  guided  in 
clo^se  proximity  to  the  disabled  barge,  and*  held  there  till  the  re 
moval  was  effected,  when,  after  being  hauled  against  the  wind  far 
out  into  the  stream,  it  glided  safely  away.  The  loss  was  25 ;  9 
killed — 4  rangers,  3  regulars,  1  woman,  1  child  ;  wounded  16, 
among  whom  were  Lieut  Campbell  and  Dr.  Stewart,  severely.* 
Rector's  barge  was  uncomfortably  crowded  for  the  wounded,  but 
as  the  force  was  large  they  rowed  night  and  day  until  St.  Louis  was 
reached.  The  Indians,  after  the  abandonment  of  Campbell's 
barge,  feasted  upon  the  contents  of  their  prize. 

It  was  now  feared  that  Riggs  and  his  company  were  captured 
and  sacrificed  by  the  savages.  His  vessel,  which  was  strong  and  well 
armed,  was  for  a  time  surrounded  by  the  Indians,  but  the  whites 
on  the  inside  were  well  sheltered.  The  wind  becoming  allayed  in 
the  evening,  the  boat,  under  cover  of  the  night,  glided  safely  down 
the  river  without  the  loss  of  a  single  man.  At  St.  Louis  there  was 
great  rejoicing  011  the  arrival  of  Riggs  and  crew,  all  safe.  Many 
fervent  prayers  had  gone  up,  many  anxious  eyes  had  eagerly 

*Mo.  Gazette,  July  30, 18U 


ILLINOIS   TERRITORY.  281 

watched  the  river,  and  many  a  patriot  heart  was  made  glad  by  the 
final  tidings  of  their  safety. 

Still  another  expedition,  for  the  Upper  Mississippi  was  projected 
this  season  after  the  two  fore-going  disasters.  It  was  fitted  out  at 
Cape  an  Gris,  and  old  French  hamlet  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  a  few  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois.  It  consisted 
of  334  effective  men,  40  regulars  and  the  rest  rangers  and  volun 
teers,  in  command  of  Major  Zackary  Taylor  (afterwards  president.) 
Xelson  Hector,  and  Samuel  Whitesides,  with  the  Illinoisans,  were 
in  command  of  boats.  It  was  generally  regarded  as  of  material 
importance  to  have  a  strong  fort  with  a  garrison  well  up  the  Mis 
sissippi  in  the  heart  of  the  Indian  country.  The  plan  was  to 
proceed  above  the  rapids,  and  in  descending  sweep  both  banks  of 
the  river  of  the  Indian  villages,  destroy  their  corn  down  to 
Rock  Island,  and  there  build  the  fort.  The  expedition  departed 
its  place  of  rendezvous,  August  23,  1814,  and  passed  Rock  Island 
and  the  Rapids  unmolested.  It  was  now  learned  that  the  country 
was  not  only  swarming  with  Indians,  but  that  the  English  were 
there  in  command,  with  a  detachment  of  regulars  and  artillery. 
The  advanced  boats  in  command  of  Rector,  Whitesides,  and 
Hempstead,  turned  about  and  began  to  descend  the  Rapids,  fight 
ing  with  great  gallantry  the  hoardes  of  the  enemy  pouring  their  fire 
into  them  from  the  shore  at  every  step.  A  little  way  above  the 
mouth  of  Rock  river,  not  far  from  some  willow  islands,  Major 
Taylor  anchored  his  fleet  out  in  the  Mississippi.  During  the  night 
the  English  planted  a  battery  of  six  pieces  down  at  the  water's 
edge  to  sink  or  disable  the  boats,  and  filled  the  islands  with 
redskins  to  butcher  our  men,  who  might,  unarmed,  seek  refuge 
there.  But  in  this  scheme  they  were  frustrated.  In  the  morning 
Taylor  ordered  all  the  force,  except  20  boatmen  on  each  vessel,  to 
the  upper, island  to  dislodge  the  enemy.  The  order  was  executed 
with  great  gallantry,  the  island  scoured  and  the  savages,  many  of 
whom  were  killed,  driven  to  the  lower  one.  In  the  meantime  the 
British  cannon  told  with  effect  upon  the  fleet,  piercing  many  of  the 
boats.  The  men  rushed  back  and  the  boats  were  dropped  down 
the  stream  out  of  range  of  the  cannon.  Captain  Rector  was 
now  ordered  with  his  company  to  make  a  sortie  on  the  lower  island, 
which  he  did,  driving  the  Indians  back  among  the  willows,  but 
they  being  reinforced,  in  turn  hurled  Rector  back  upon  the  sand 
beach.  A  council  of  officers  called  by  Taylor  had  \)y  this  time 
decided  that  their  force  was  insufficient  to  contend  with  the  enemy, 
who  outnumbered  them  three  to  one,  and  the  boats  were  in  full 
retreat  down  the  river.  As  Rector  attempted  to  get  under  way, 
his  boat  grounded,  and  the  savages,  with  demoniac  yells,  sur 
rounded  it,  when  a  most  desperate  hand  to  hand  engagement 
ensued.  The  gallant  ranger,  Samuel  Whitesides,  observing  the 
imminent  peril  of  his  brave  Illinois  comrade,  went  immediately 
to  his  rescue,  who,  but  for  his  timely  aid,  would  undoubtedly  have 
been  overpowered  with  all  his  force  and  murdered.  Taylor's  loss 
was  11  men  badlj  wounded,  3  of  whom  had  died  at  the  date  of 
his  re  port  to  Gen.  Howard,  Sept.  C,  1814. 

Opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Des  Moines,  on  the  site  of  the  present 
town  of  Warsaw,  a  fort  was  built  by  Taylor's  men,  called  Edwards, 
which  consisted  of  a  rough  stockade  and  blockhouses  of  unhewn 
logs.  Fort  Madison,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  and  farther 


282  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

up,  after  being  repeatedly  attacked  by  the  enemy,  was  evacuted  and 
burnt.  A  few  weeks  later  (in  October)  Fort  Edwards  shared  a 
similar  fate;  the  troops  got  out  of  provisions,  and  unable  to  sustain 
their  position,  retreated  down  the  river  to  Cape  au  Gris.  The 
people  of  Illinois  aiid  Missouri  were  astonished  at  this  extraordi 
nary  evacuation  and  destruction  of  the  fort  by  our  own  troops. 
The  rangers  and  volunteers  were  discharged  October  18th, 
1814.* 

Thus  ended  the  last,  like  the  two  previous  expeditions  up  the 
Mississippi  during  the  war  of  1812,  in  defeat  and  disaster.  The 
enemy  was  in  undisputed  possession  of  all  the  country  north  of  the 
Illinois  river,  and  the  prospect  respecting  these  territories  boded 
nothing  but  gloom.  With  the  approach  of  winter,  however, 
Indian  depredations  ceased  to  be  committed,  and  the  peace  of 
Ghent,  Dec.  24,  1814,  closed  the  war. 

*The  account  of  these  expeditions  has   been  in  great  part  gathered  from  Reynolds' 
Own  Times. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

fCIV!L    AFFAIRS    OF  THE  ILLINOIS  TERRITORY  FROM 

TO  1818. 


Meeting  of  the  Legislature  —  The  Members  —  Laws  —  Conflict  'between 
the  Legislature  and  Judiciary  —  Curious  Acts  —  Territorial  Banks 
—  Cait;o  Bank  —  Commerce  —  First  Steamboats  —  Pursuits  of  the 
People. 


For  nearly  four  years  after  the  organization  of  the  territorial 
government  no  legislature  existed  in  Illinois.  The  governor  was 
both  executive  and,  in  great  part,  the  law-making  power.  These  ex 
traordinary  powers,  authorized  by  the  ordinance  of  1787,  viewed  at 
this  day,  seem,  strangely  inconsistent  with  our  republican  notions  of 
the  necessity  of  co-ordinate  branches  of  government.  Under  that 
celebrated  ordinance,  the  political  privileges  of  the  citizen  were 
few  or  none,  -lie  could  not  exercise  the  elective  franchise  unless 
lie  was  a  freeholder  of  50  acres,  nor  aspire  to  a  seat  in  the  territo 
rial  legislature  unless  he  was  a  freeholder  of  from  200  to  500  acres. 
Those  of  the  territorial  officers  whom  the  president  did  not  appoint, 
were  appointed  by  the  governor.  The  people  could  not  elect  jus 
tices  of  the  peace,  county  surveyors,  treasurers,  coroners,  sheriffs, 
clerks,  judges  of  the  inferior  courts,  nor  even  choose  the  officers  of 
the  territorial  militia  ;  all  this  power  and  much  more  was  vested 
in  the  governor.  By  the  act  establishing  the  Illinois  territory,  it 
was  provided  that  whenever  his  Excellency  was  satisfied  that  a 
majority  of  the  freeholders  desired  it,  then  he  might  authorize  a 
legislature.  While  none  of  these  extraordinary  powers  were  per 
haps  ever  arbitrarily  exercised  by  any  of  the  governors,  unless  it 
was  St.  Glair,  the  people  were  all  the  time  clamorous  for  an  exten 
sion  of  suffrage.  Congress  (not  the  governor)  finally,  by  act 
of  May  21,  1812,  raised  Illinois  to  the  second  grade  of  territorial 
government,  and  further  extended  the  right  of  suffrage  to  any 
white  male  person  21  years  old,  who  had  paid  a  territorial  tax  and 
resided  one  year  in  the  territory  next  preceding  any  election,  author 
izing  such  elector  to  vote  for  representative,  member  of  the  legis 
lative  council  and  delegate  to  congress.  The  property  qualification, 
under  the  ordinance  of  1787,  was  abolished.  This  was  a  very 
great  concession  to  the  people.  The  governor  was  required  to 
apportion  the  territory.  On  the  14th  of  February,  1812,  accordingly, 
he  issued  his  proclamation,  ordering  an  election  to  take  the  sense 
of  the  people  for  or  against  entering  upon  the  second  grade  of 
territorial  government.  The  election  was  to  beheld  for  three  suc 
cessive  days  in  each  county,  commencing  on  the  second  Monday 
in  April.  The  question  was  decided  in.  the  affirmative  by  a  large 

283 


284  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

majority.  On  September  10th,  following,  the  governor  and  judges 
having  organized  the  new  counties  of  Madison,  G  alia  tin  and  John 
son,  making  now,  with  the  two  old  counties  of  St.  Clair  and  Ran 
dolph,  a  total  of  five,  a  proclamation  was  issued,  publishing  their 
establishment.  By  another  proclamation  of  the  same  date,  an 
election  for  5  members  of  the  legislative  council,  7  representatives 
and  a  delegate  to  congress,  was  ordered  to  be  held  in  each  county 
on  the  8th,  9th  and  10th  days  of  October  following.  At  this  elec 
tion,  Shadrach  Bond  was  elected  to  congress.  The  members  elect 
of  the  legislative  council  were,  Pierre  Menard,  of  Randolph—- 
chosen  to  preside  ;  William  Biggs,  of  St.  Clair  ;  Samuel  Judy,  of 
Madison;.  Thomas  Ferguson,  of  Johnson,  and  Benjamin  Talbot, 
of  Gallatin. 

The  members  elect  of  the  house  of  representatives  were,  George 
Fisher,  of  Randolph;  Joshua  Oglesby  and  Jacob  Short,  of  St. 
Clair;  William  Jones,  of  Madison;  Phillip  Trammel  and  Alexan 
der  Wilson,  of  Gallatin,  and  John  Grammar,  of  Johnson. 

We  subjoin  brief  sketches  of  the  members  constituting  the  first 
general  assembly  of  Illinois.  Pierre  Menard^  a  Canadian  French 
man,  settled  at  Kaskaskia  in  1790.  He  was  a  merchant  and 
enjoyed  an  extensive  trade  with  the  Indians,  over  whom  he  ex 
erted  a  great  influence  and  was  for  many  years  the  government  agent 
for  them.  He  was  Avell  informed,  energetic,  frank  and  honest, 
and  was  very  popular  with  all  classes.  William  I>iyf/s  was  an 
intelligent  and  respectable  member,  who  had  been  a  soldier  in 
Clark's  expedition,  and  ten  years  afterward  had  been  a  prisoner 
for  several  years  among  the  Kickapoos!  He  wrote  and  published  a. 
complete  narrative  of  his  Indian  captivity,  and  in  1820,  congress 
voted  him  three  sections  of  land.  He  was  for  many  years  county 
judge.  ^  Samuel  Judy — the  same  who,  in  the  fall  preceding,  com 
manded*  the  corps  of  spies  in  Governor  Edwards'  military  cam 
paign  to  Peoria  lake — was  a  man  of  "energy,  fortitude  and 
enterprise."  Some  of  his  descendants  now  reside  in  Madison 
county.  Joshua  Oglesby  was  a  local  Methodist  preacher  of  ordinary 
education,  who  lived  on  a  farm  and  was  greatly  respected  by  his 
neighbors.  Jacob  tihort,  the  colleague  of  Oglesby,  removed  to 
Illinois  with  his  father,  Moses,  in  1790,  and  pursued  farming.  Dur 
ing  the  war  of  1812,  he  distinguished  himself  as  a  ranger.  George 
Fisher  possessed  a  fair  education,  and  was  by  profession  a  physi 
cian.  He  removed  from  Virginia  to  Kaskaskia  in  1800,  and  en 
gaged  in  merchandizing,  but  at  this  time  he  resided  on  a  farm.  He 
was  afterward  in  public  life.  Phillip  Trammel  was  a  man  of  dis 
criminating  mind,  inclined  to  the  profession  of  arms.  He  Avas  the 
lessee  of  the  United  States  saline  in  Gallatin  county.  His  col 
league,  Alexander  Wilson,  was  a  popular  tavern  keeper  at  Shaw- 
neetown,  of  fair  abilities.  William  Jones  was  a  Baptist  preacher, 
grave  in  his  deportment,  and  possessed  of  moderate  abilities.  He 
was  born  in  North  Carolina,  removed  to  Illinois  in  1800,  and  set 
tled  in  the  Rattan  prairie,  east  of  Alton  *  This  was  the  first 
appearance  in  public  life  of  John  Grammar.  He  afterwards  rep 
resented  Union  county  frequently  during  a  period  of  20  years. 
He  had  no  education,  yet  was  a  man  of  shrewdness.  After  his 
election,  it  is  related  that  to  procure  the  necessary  apparel  to 
appear  at  the  seat  of  government,  he  and  the  family  gathered  a 

*Annals  of  the  West. 


ILLINOIS   TERRITORY.  285 

large  quantity  of  hickory  nuts,  which  were  taken  to  the  Ohio 
saline  and  traded  for  blue  strouding,  such  as  the  Indians  wore  for 
breech -cloth.  When  the  neighboring  women  assembled  to  make 
up  the  garments,  it  was  found  that  he  had  not  invested  quite 
enough  nuts.  The  pattern  was  measured  in  every  way  possible, 
but  was  unmistakably  scant.  Whereupon  it  was  decided  to  make 
a  "bob-tailed  coat  and  a  long  pair  of  leggings.7'  Arrayed  in  these, 
he  duly  appeared  at  the  seat  of  government,  where  he  continued 
to  wear  his  primitive  suit  for  the  greater  part  of  the  session. 
Notwithstanding  his  illiteracy,  he  had  the  honor  of  originating  the 
practice  much  followed  by  public  men  since,  of  voting  against  all 
new  measures — it  being  easier  to  conciliate  public  opinion  for 
being  remiss  in  voting  for  a  good  measure,  than  to  suffer  arraign 
ment  for  aiding  in  the  passage  of  an  unpopular  one.* 

On  the  10th  of  November,  the  governor,  by  proclamation,  or 
dered  the  members  elect  to  convene,  on  the  25th  instant,  at  Kas- 
kia,  the  seat  of  government.  The  two  bodies  met  in  a  large, 
rough  old  building  of  uncut  limestone,  with  steep  roof  and  gables 
of  unpainted  boards,  situated  in  the  centre  of  a  square,  which, 
after  the  ruin  and  abandonment  of  Fort  Chartres,  had  served  the 
French  as  the  headquarters  of  the  military  commandant.  The 
first  floor,  a  large,  low,  cheerless  room,  was  fitted  up  for  the  house, 
and  a  small  chamber  above  for  the  council  chamber.  The  latter 
body  chose  John  Thomas  their  secretary,  and  the  former  elected  for 
clerk  William  C.  Greenup.  The  two  houses  had  a  door-keeper  in 
common.  All  the  12  members  boarded  with  one  family,  and  lodged, 
it  is  said,  in  one  room.  How  unlike  the  present  times!  The 
members  addressed  themselves  to  the  business  in  hand,  without 
delay  or  circumlocution.  Windy  speeches  or  contention  were 
unheard  of,  and  parliamentary  tacticians,  if  any  there  were,  met 
with  no  indulgence.  It  has  been  naively  remarked  that  not  a. 
lawyer  appears  on  the  roll  of  names. 

The  assembly  effected  a  peaceful  revolution  of  the  civil  polity 
of  the  territory,  at  a  time  when  actual  war  was  the  all-absorbing 
public  question.  By  act  of  December  13,  1812,  all  the  laws 
passed  by  the  Indiana  legislature,  and  in  force  March  1,  1801), 
general  in  their  nature  and  not  local  to  Indiana,  which  stood 
unrepealed  by  the  governor  and  judges  of  Illinois,  and  all  laws 
originally  adopted  for  Illinois  under  the  first  grade  of  territorial 
government,  remaining  unrepealed,  were  by  them  re-enacted. 
The  idea  manifestly  was,  that  by  the  assembling  of  the  legislature, 
the  territory  stood  forth  in  utter  nakedness,  divested  of  all  law 
until  re-iii vested  by  them.  The  enacting  clause  of  the  territorial 
laws  was :  "Be  it  enacted  by  the  legislative  council  and  house  of 
representatives,  and  it  is  hereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the 
same."  To  the  courts  of  common  pleas  was  given  the  same  juris 
diction  previously  had  under  the  Indiana  territory.  The  general 
court,  established  at  the  seat  of  government,  besides  being  a  trib 
unal  of  oyer  and  terminer  for  jail  delivery  on  indictments  found  by 
the  grand  juries  of  the  common  pleas  court,  was  also  constituted 
a  court  of  original  jurisdiction,  of  appeals,  to  correct  errors  of 
inferior  courts,  and  to  punish  the  contempts,  neglects,  favors  or 
corruptions  of  the  justices  of  the  peace,  clerks,  sheriffs,  etc.,  its 
process  running  to  any  county,  to  the  great  inconvenience  of  the 

*Forcfs  Illinois. 


286  HISTORY   OV  ILLINOIS. 


people.  Such  other  laws  as  it  was  deemed  the  country  required, 
were  passed,  and  after  a  brief  session,  the  first  legislature  ad 
journed. 

The  laws  of  the  territory  were  afterward  revised  and  digested, 
under  the  authority  of  the  legislatue,  by  Nathaniel  Pope,  and. 
printed  in  one  volume  by  Matthew  Duncan,  printer  of  the  terri 
tory,  -which  bears  the  date  June  2,  1815.  There  are  besides,  two 
small  volumes,  by  the  same  printer,  of  the  session  laws  of  1815-16 
and  181-718.  While  the  laws  are  faithfully  rendered,  the  mechan 
ical  appearance  of  these  books,  owing  to  the  great  coarseness  of 
the  paper  and  the  use  of  clumsy  type,  illy  compares  with  work  of 
the  present  time.  Many  of  the  laws  imported,  revised  and 
adopted  by  the  governor  and  judges,  were  well  drawn  but  the 
great  body  of  those  originated  in  the  legislature  present  much 
crudity,  both  in  composition  and  grasp  of  the  subjects  intended  to 
be  subserved.  We  will  allude  to  some  features  of  the  territorial 
code,  now  happily  obsolete,  which  give,  by  contrast  with  the  pres 
ent,  an  idea  to  the  reader  of  the  progress  and  amelioration 
attained  in  criminal  jurisprudence  and  the  punishment  for  debt. 
Thus,  in  the  punishment  of  crimes,  both  felonies  and  misdemean 
ors,  the  barbarous  practices  of  whipping  on  the  bare  back,  con 
finement  in  stocks,  standing  in  the  pillory,  and  branding  with  hot 
irons,  were  the  penalties  frequently  prescribed;  besides  fines, 
imprisonment,  and  loss  of  citizenship.  These  summary  modes  of 
chastisement  grew,  in  part,  out  of  the  condition  of  the  country. 
It  was  but  sparsely  settled,  the  people  were  poor,  they  had  no  gen 
eral  prison  or  penitentiary,  and  the  few  jails  were  so  insecure  as  to 
present  scarcely  any  barrier  to  the  escape  of  prisoners.  Whip 
ping  upon  the  bare  back,  besides  other  punishments  at  the  option 
of  the  court,  was  prescribed  in  burglary  or  robbery,  39  stripes ; 
in  peijury,  larceny,  the  receiving  of  stolen  goods,  and  obtaining 
goods  by  fraudulent  pretenses,  31  stripes:  horse-stealing,  first 
offence,  from  50  to  100  lashes  ;  hog-stealing,  from  25  to  39  lushes  ; 
altering  and  defacing  marks  or  brands  on  domestic  animals  at 
large,  40  lashes  "well  laid  on;"  bigamy,  punished  with  from  100 
to  300  stripes  ;  for  sodomy,  from  100  to  500  lashes  were  prescribed; 
forcibly  taking  away  a  female  to  marry  against  her  consent,  was 
declared  a  felony  and  might  be  punished  by  whipping  ;  children 
or  servants  for  disobedience,  might,  upon  complaint  and  conviction 
before  a  justice,  be  whipped  not  exceeding  10  stripes.  In  all  these 
offences  there  were  other  penalties  provided,  alternatively  or  addi 
tionally,  at  the  option  of  the  court — such  as  fines,  imprisonment, 
restitution,  etc.  Fines  were  collected  from  those  unable  to  pay, 
by  the  sheriff  hiring  or  selling  them  to  any  one  who  would  pay 'the 
fine  or  costs,  for  such  terms  as  the  court  might  deem  reasonable, 
and  if  the  delinquent  should  abscond,  the  penalty  was  double  the 
term  of  servitude  and  39  stripes.  Standing  in  pillory  Avas  pre 
scribed,  in  addition  to  other  penalties,  in  perjury,  forgery,  and  the 
altering  or  defacing  of  brands  or  marks  on  domestic  animals.  For 
this  last  offence,  on  second  conviction,  the  culprit  was  to  have  the 
letter  T  branded  in  the  left  hand  with  a  red-hot  iron.  To  prevent 
the  common  crime  of  killing  stock  running  on  the  range,  every  one, 
including  the  owners,  was  required  to  exhibit  the  ears  of  hogs,  or 
hides  of  cattle,  killed,  to  a  magistrate  or  two  freeholders  within 
three  days,  under  a  penalty  of  *10.  For  aiding  the  escape  of  a 


ILLINOIS   TERRITORY.  287 

convict,  the  punishment  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  culprit,  ex 
cept  in  capital  cases,  when  stripes,  standing  in  pillory,  or  sitting 
on  the  gallows  with  the  rope  adjusted  about  the  neck,  at  the  option 
of  the  court,  was  the  penalty.  Besides  in  treason  and  murder, 
the  penalty  of  death  by  hanging  was  denounced  against  arson 
and  rape,  and  horse-stealing  on  second  conviction.  For  selling 
intoxicating  liquors  to  Indians,  slaves,  apprentices  and  minors, 
severe  penalties  were  enacted.  For  reveling,  quarreling,  fighting, 
profanely  cursing,  disorderly  behavior  at  divine  worship,  and 
hunting  on  the  Sabbath,  penalties  by  flues  were  prescribed.  Cock- 
fighting,  horse-racing  on  the  highways,  gambling,  keeping  E.  O. 
tables,  sending  challenge  to  fight  or  box  at  fisticuffs,  lotteries,  etc., 
were  punished  by  fines.  In  1810,  a  law  was  adopted  to  suppress 
dueling,  which  made  the  fatal  result  of  a  duel  murder,  including 
the  aiders,  abettors  or  counselors  as  principals  in  the  crime. 

In  regard  to  the  collection  of  debts,  the  principles  of  the  com 
mon  law  obtained,  which  wholly  favored  the  creditor.  All  the  pro 
perty  of  the  judgement  debtor,  both  real  and  personal  without  any 
of  the  present  humane  features  as  to  exemption,  might  be  levied 
upon  and  sold  under  execution.  The  sale  was  absolute — no  time 
of  redemption,  as  at  present,  was  allowed  in  the  case  of  realty. 
If  the  land  failed  to  sell  for  want  of  bidders,  it  was  the  judgment 
creditor's  right,  at  his  option,  to  take  it  absolutely  at  the  appraised 
value  made  by  12  jurors.  But  this  was  not  all.  If  the  property 
was  insufficient  to  pay  the  judgment,  the  body  of  the  debtor  might 
be  seized  and  cast  into  prison.  Here  he  would  be  allowed  the  prison 
bounds,  extending  200  yards  from  the  jail  in  any  direction,  on  con 
dition  only  of  giving  bonds  in  double  the  sum  of  the  debt,  not 
to  depart  therefrom. 

The  territorial  revenue  was  raised  by  a  tax  upon  lands.  Those 
situated  in  the  river  bottoms  of  the  Mississippi,  Ohio  and  the 
Wabash  were  taxed  at  the  rate  of  $1  on  every  100  acres.  The 
uplands  were  classed  as  second  rate,  and  were  taxed  at  the  rate 
of  75  cents  per  100  acres.  Unlocated,  but  confirmed  land  claims, 
were  taxed  at  the  rate  of  37  J  cents  per  100  acres.  The  county 
revenue  was  raised  chiefly  by  a  tax  upon  personal  property,  in 
cluding  slaves  or  indentured  servants  between  the  ages  of  10  and 
40,  not  to  exceed  $1  each.  The  only  real  property  taxed  was  lots 
and  houses  in  towns,  and  mansion  houses  in  the  country,  worth 
$200  and  upwards.  There  was  levied  also  a  capitation  tax  of  $1 
on  every  able-bodied  single  man,  having  attained  his  majority 
and  owning  $200  worth  of  taxable  property.  This  ought  to  have 
induced  marriage.  Two  men  Avere  appointed  to  appraise  the  prop 
erty  required  to  be  assessed.  Merchants  and  ferries  were  licensed 
at  $15  and  $10  respectively.  Horses  and  cattle  were  taxed  by 
the  head,  not  exceeding  50  and  10  cents,  respectively — not  accord 
ing  to  value,  as  at  present. 

The  entire  territorial  revenue,  between  the  1st  of  November, 
1811,  and  the  8th  of  November,  1814  (3  years),  was  reported  by 
the  legislative  committee  on  finance,  in  1814,  to  be  $4,875  45. 
But  of  this  amount,  only  $2,516  89  had  actually  been  paid  into  the 
treasury  ;  the  balance — nearly  half — $2,  378  47  remained  in  the 
hands  of  delinquent  sheriffs.  The  delinquencies  of  sheriffs,  in 
their  capacity  as  collectors  of  the  revenues,  remained  a  curse  to 


288  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Illinois  not  only  during  its  territorial  existence,  but  for  many 
years  after  it  became  a  State. 

In  1814  the  legislature  attempted  to  reorganize  the  judiciary  by 
establishing  the  supreme  court  of  the  territory.  The  United  States 
judges  for  the  territory  were  assigned  to  circuit  duty,  each  having 
a  circuit  composed  of  two  counties  in  each  of  which  two  terms  of 
court  were  to  be  held  annually.  The  courts  possessed  common 
law  and  chancery  jurisdiction,  and  suits  were  to  be  tried  in  the 
counties  in  which  they  originated.  Once  a  year  the  judges  were 
to  convene  in  bane  at  the  seat  of  government,  to  hear  appeals  and 
revise  erroneous  decisions  from  the  courts  below.  This  arrange 
ment  was  well  calculated  to  give  to  the  people  in  their 
counties  a  more  thorough  administration  of  the  laws  than  the 
courts  of  common  pleas  afforded  j  but  the  idea  of  circuit  duty  was 
manifestly  distasteful  to  the  judges.  In  the  legislature  much 
discussion  arose  as  to  its  power  to  prescribe  the  duties  of  the 
appointees  of  the  general  government.  The  judges  were  requested 
to  give  a  written  opinion  upon  the  merits  and  legality  of  the  pro 
posed  act.  These  gentlemen — Spriggs  and  Thomas,  Griswold 
being  absent — wanted  no  better  opportunity  to  assail  it,  which 
they  did  in  a  very  emphatic  manner,  arguing  at  length  the  inva 
lidity  of  the  act;  that  "the  court  established  by  the  ordinance  of 
1787  cannot  be  subjected  to  the  revision  or  control  of  any  tribunal 
established  by  the  Territorial  Legislature;  and  that  an  appeal  from 
the  same  court  to  the  same  was  a  solicism."  The  governor,  at  the 
instance  of  the  legislature,  in  his  message  approving  the  bill,  took 
up  the  question,  elaborately  argued  the  power  of  the  legislature  in 
the  premises,  and  apparently  demolished  the  position  of  the  judges. 
The  bill  without  tin  ally  becoming  a  law  was  by  the  legislature  re 
ferred  to  congress,  together  with  the  olvjections  of  the  judges  and 
the  reply  of  the  governor,  with  an  address  "requesting  the  passage  of 
a  law  declaring  the  aforesaid  act  valid,  or  to  pass  some  law  more 
explanatory  of  the  relative  duties  and  powers  of  the  judges  aforesaid 
and  of  this  legislature."  Congress,  by  act  of  March  3,  1815, 
passed  "an  act  regulating  and  defining  the  duties  of  the  United 
States  judges  for  the  Territory  of  Illinois,"  which  substantially 
embodied  the  provisions  required  by  the  legislature.  The  judges 
were  required  to  do  circuit  duties  and  reside  in  their  respective 
circuits,  and  to  meet  in  bane  twice  a  year  at  the  seat  of  govern 
ment,  as  a  court  of  appeals.  They  were  also  subjected  to  the 
regulations  of  the  legislature  as  to  the  times  of  holding  their 
terms.  The  governor  appointed  the  clerks 

In  the  meantime  by  a  suplemental  act  the  legislature  at  the  same 
session  had  abolished  the  general  court,  whose  jurisdiction  was  to 
be  superseded  by  the  supreme  corut ;  and  by  another  act  the  court 
of  common  pleas  was  abolished,  and  county  courts  (the  germ  of 
our  present  county  system)  which  had  no  jurisdiction  for  the  trial 
of  ordinary  cases,  substituted.  Until  congress  therefore  acted, 
a  period  of  some  two  months  and  a  half,  Illinois  presented  the 
anomalous  condition  of  being  without  a  judicial  tribunal  higher 
than  that  of  a  justice's  court,  whose  civil  jurisdiction,  by  another 
act  of  the  same  session,  was  enlarged  to  $20  in  debt.  Sitting  as 
an  examining  tribunal,  to  what  court  could  a  justice  of  the  peace 
have  validly  bound  over  a  culprit  during  this  period  of  partial 
judicial  vacuum?  HoAvever,  we  have  nothing  showing  to  the  con- 


ILLINOIS   TERRITORY.  289 

trary,  but  that  the  people  got  along  just  as  well  as  before  and  after. 
By  act  of  Jan.  9,  1810,  the  duties  of  the  judges  of  the  court  of 
appeals  were  more  clearly  defined,  and  a  law  relating  to  this  court 
was  amended  in  1817  and  the  circuits  reorganized;  next  by  an  act 
of  June  1_{,  1818,  a  radical  change  was  made.  There  being  some 
obscurity  in  the  county  court  act  passed  in  1814,  its  duties  were 
more  clearly  defined  by  a  supplemental  act  of  the  same  session. 
The  civil  jurisdiction  of  the  justice's  court  was  in  1817  extended  to 
$40. 

Thus  it  will  be  observed  that  at  a  very  early  period  the  Legis 
lature  of  Illinois  fell  into  the  habit,  which  became  chronic,  of 
changing  and  reorganizing  the  courts  and  modifying  their  jurisdic 
tion  at  almost  every  session,  down  to  the  adoption  of  the  constitu 
tion  of  1848.  Since  then  this  species  of  legislation  seems  to  have 
expended  itself  in  the  frequent  changes  of  the  terms  of  court  in 
the  various  circuits.  Next  to  changing  and  shifting  the  well 
settled  principles  of  the  law  in  its  relation  to  the  rights  of  property 
and  the  multifarious  transactions  of  business,  nothing  is  so  per 
nicious  as  the  varying  of  the  means  and  modes  of  obtaining 
redress  in  our  courts.  Both  ought  to  be  permanent. 

During  the  territorial  existence  of  Illinois  three  general  assem 
blies  were  elected  by  the  people — the  council  holding  over  the 
second  term.  In  1814  Col.  Benjamin  Stephenson,  father  of  the 
late  gallant  James  W.  Stephenson,  of  Gelena,  was  elected  delegate 
to  congress,  and  in  1816  Nathaniel  Pope,  who  took  his  seat  in 
congress  December  1817.  The  legislature  met  every  year  at  Kas- 
knskia,  but  the  sessions  were  short.  New  counties  were  established 
from  time  to  time;  in  1815,  the  first  formed  by  the  legislature, 
was  named  Edwards,  in  honor  of  the  governor.  In  1815,  White 
county  was  organized,  named  in  honor  of  Capt.  Isaac  White,  who 
fell  at  Tippecanoe;  in  1816,  Monroe,  Crawford,  Jackson,  and 
Pope,  the  latter  in  honor  of  the  newly  elected  delegate  to  congress; 
in  1816,  Bond,  in  honor  of  Shadrack  Bond,  first  Governor  of  the 
State  afterward ;  and  in  1818,  Union,  Franklin,  and  Washington 
counties  were  organized. 

We  subjoin  a  few  specimens  of  curious  legislation  during  terri 
torial  times.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  Solons  of  that  period 
thundered  considerably  in  the  preamble.  By  a  law  of  September 
17, 1809,  to  regulate  the  elections,  all  commissioned  officers,  either 
federal  or  territorial,  except  justices  of  the  peace  and  militia 
officers,  were  made  ineligible  to  a  seat  in  either  branch  of  the 
general  assembly.  The  object  of  this  law  is  not  so  clear,  unless  it 
was  to  avoid  a  monopoly  of  official  dignity  and  importance;  but 
such  proscription  could  not  be  brooked,  and  accordingly  it  fell  by 
act  of  December  14,  1814,  the  preamble  of  which,  consisting  of  3 
whereases,  is  as  huge  a  specimen  of  gaseous  buncomb  to  conceal  a 
true  intent,  and  make  it  appear  that  the  law  of  1809  was  immensely 
oppressive  to  the  people,  as  can  be  reclaimed  from  the  early  annals 
of  political  demagoguery  in  Illinois : 

"WHEREAS,  The  free  people  of  this  Territory  are  as  competent  as  their 
public  servants  to  decide  on  whom  it  is  their  interest  to  elect  to  represent 
them  in  the  general  a  sembly ;  and  are  too  enlightened  and  independent 
to  recognize  the  odious  andaristocratical  doctrine  that  they  are  their  own 
worst  enemies,  or  to  admit  that  it  is  the  duty  of  their  representatives  to 
save  the  people  from  themselves;  and 

19 


290  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

"WHEREAS,  This  legislature,  being  composed  of  the  servants,  not  the 
masters  of  the  people,  cannot  without  an  arbitrary  assumption  of  power 
impose  restrictions  upon  the  latter  as  to  the  choice  of  their  representa 
tives,  which  are  not  warranted  by  the  express  words  or  necessary 
implications  of  the  ordinance  from  which  the  legislature  derives  its 
powers ;  and 

"WHEREAS,  The  duties  of  the  judges  of  the  county  court  established 
by  law  are  such  as  have  heretofore  been  performed  in  the  territory  by 
justices  of  the  peace,  by  whom  they  are  also  usually  performed  in  many 
of  the  States,  and  there  being  nothing  in  the  ordinance,  nor  any  reason 
to  exclude  from  a  seat  in  the  legislature  those  judges  of  the  county,  or 
surveyors,  or  prosecuting  attorneys,  that  do  not  apply  with  equal  force 
to  military  officers  and  justices  of  the  peace,  and  the  duties  of  the  former 
being  no  more  incompatible  with  a  seat  in  the  legislature  than  those 
of  the  latter,  therefore,"  &c.  By  one  short  section  of  two  or  three  lines, 
laws  inconsistent  with  the  above  sentiments  were  abolished. 

Another  specimen,  whose  object  is  disclosed  iuthe  preamble,  we 
cannot  forbear  to  give  : 

"WHERE AS,  Voters  have  hitherto  been  obliged  to  vote  by  ballot,  and 
the  ignorant  as  well  as  those  in  embarassed  circumstances  are  thereby 
subject  to  be  imposed  upon  by  electioneering  zealots;  and 

"WHEREAS,  It  is  consistent  with  the  spiritof  representative  republican 
government,  since  the  opening  for  bribery  is  so  manifest  which  should 
ever  be  suppressed  in  such  a  government,  for  remedy  whereof, "  &c., 
when  follow  the  sections  abolisbiug  the  ballot.  These  reasons  would 
hardly  be  tenable  at  the  present  time,  and  were  doubtless  false  then. 

"By  an  act  of  December  24,  1814,  "To  promote  retaliation  upon 
hostile  Indians,"  we  find  evidences  of  the  extreme  measures  of 
defence  to  which  the  pioneers  bad  to  resort.  This  may  be  difficult- 
for  us  at  this  time,  with  a  population  exceeding  2,500,000,  and  the 
Indians  many  hundreds  of  miles  away,  to  appreciate.  The  pre 
amble  refers  to  thts  "hostile  incursions  of  savages,  their  indiscrim 
inate  slaughter  of  men,  women  and  children.  Experience  shows 
that  nothing  so  much  tends  to  check  those  blood-thirsty  monsters 
as  retaliation,"  and  "to  encourage  the  bravery  and  enterprises  of 
our  fellow  citizens  and  other  persons  hereafter  engaged  in  frontier 
defences,"  it  is  enacted  :  1.  That  when  in  such  incursions  into 
the  settlements,  the  commission  of  murder  or  other  depredations 
by  Indians,  citizens,  rangers,  or  other  persons  who  shall  make 
prisoners  of,  or  kill  such  Indians,  shall  receive  a  reward  for  each 
Indian  taken  or  killed,  of  $50— if  done  by  rangers  or  others 
enlisted  in  the  defence  of  the  country,  $25  only.  2.  That  any 
person,  having  obtained  permission  from  a  commanding  officer  on 
the  frontier  to  go  into  the  territory  of  hostile  Indians,  Avho  shall 
kill  a  warrior,  or  take  prisoner  a  squaw  or  child,  is  entitled  to  a 
reward  of  $100  for  each  warrior  killed,  or  squawr  or  child  taken 
prisoner.  3.  That  any  party  of  rangers,  not  exceeding  15,  who 
on  leave  granted  make  incursions  into  the  country  of  hostile 
Indians,  shall  receive  a  reward  of  $50  for  each  warrior  killed,  or 
squaw  or  child  taken  prisoner. 

In  181G  a  retaliatory  act  was  passed  to  prevent  attorneys  at  law 
from  Indiana  practicing  in  any  of  the  courts  of  Illinois,  for  the 
reason  stated  in  the  x>reamble,  "Whereas,  by  a  law  now  in  force  in 
the  State  of  Indiana,  persons  who  do  not  reside  therein  are  not 
permitted  to  practice  in  the  courts  of  the  said  State;  and  whereas, 
that  restriction  is  illiberal,  unjust, and  contrary  to  those  principles 
of  liberality  and  reciprocity  by  which  each  and  every  State  or 
territory  should  be  governed,  therefore,"  &c.  The  young  Hoosier 


ILLINOIS    TERRITORY.  201 

State  ought  not  to  liave  put  on  such  exalted  airs;  but,  perhaps, 
she  was  right  after  all,  as  we  find  that  by  act  of  January  9,  1818, 
Illinois  offered  the  following  premiums  for  sustained  indict 
ments.  In  section  4,  fixing  the  salary  of  prosecuting  attorneys  at 
$100,  it  is  provided  that  in  addition  to  his  salary  he  shall  receive 
4"  iu  each  and  every  case  of  felony  where  his  indictment  is  sus 
tained  the  sum  of  $15;w  and  for  other  "  presentments  in  cases  less 
than  felony,  "if  the  indictment  was  sustained,"  he  was  to  receive 
a  perquisite  of  $5.  But  the  most  unaccountable  feature  of  this 
law  remains  to  be  told.  In  section  6  it  was  provided  that  if  the 
indictment  was  sustained,  notwithstanding  the  accused  should  be 
acquitted  by  the  traverse  jury,  the  fee  of  the  prosecuting  attorney 
was  to  be  paid  by  the  prosecuting  witness.  What  person,  though 
never  so  good  a  citizen,  in  view  of  the  quirks  of  the  law,  the  finesse 
and  the  ability  of  counsel,  and  the  notorious  uncertainty  of  how 
any  jury  will  decide,  would,  with  the  prospect  of  having  such  fee  to 
pay,  care  to  engage  in  an  attempt  to  bring  an  offender  to  justice. 
A  singular  provision  was  contained  in  an  act  of  Dec.  22,  1814, 
which  did  away  with  prosecution  by  an  attorney,  in  cases  of  treason, 
murder,  or  other  felony. 

By  an  act  of  Dec.  31,  1817,  the  territory  of  Illinois  was  in  a 
manner  turned  over  to  and  parceled  out  between  the  medical 
doctors.  It  was  divided  into  the  east  and  west  districts,  the  head 
quarters  of  the  doctors  being  located  at  Carmi  and  Kasksakia, 
respectively.  The  incorporators  comprised  about  all  the  doctors 
in  the  territory,  and  they  proposed  and  were  empowered  to  hold 
these  extensive  fields  of  practice  for  their  exclusive  use  and  benefit, 
unless  every  new  coiner,  proposing  to  practice  the  healing  art, 
should  first  be  examined  by  their  board  and  procure  from  them  per 
mission  to  do  so,  for  the  sum  of  $10,  failing  to  do  which,  he  was 
disqualified  from  collecting  his  fees  in  any  court  or  before  any 
magistrate.  The  act  was  repealed  by  the  first  legislature  under 
the  State  government. 

With  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812,  and  the  cessation  of  Indian 
hostilities,  the  tide  of  emigration  set  into  Illinois  with  a  volume 
nil  equaled  and  strength  unabated.  To  this  prosperity  contributed, 
in  no  small  degree,  the  act  of  congress  passed  in  1813,  granting  the 
right  of  pre-emption  to  settle  upon  the  public  domain.  This  was  the 
first  great  lever  to  move  Illinois  forward  in  the  path  of  empire.  Prior 
to  this,  emigrants  in  four  cases  out  of  five  "  squatted"  011  the 
public  lands,  without  right  or  title  to  what  they  were  improving 
by  their  labor,  and  with  the  ever  harrassing  doubt  that  some 
speculator  might  spy  out  and  buy  their  homes  before  they  could  do  it 
themselves.  Small  and  inferior  improvements  were  of  course  the 
result,  and  prosperity  lagged.  To  stimulate  a  man  to  industry 
and  enterprise,  let  him  be  assured  that  his  labor  is  not  misapplied 
and  his  title  is  indisputable.  Shadrach  Bond,  our  delegate  in 
congress  at  the  time,  contributed  largely  by  his  inliuence  in  pro 
curing  the  passage  of  the  act  of  pre-emption. 

Prior  to  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812,  money  was  very  scarce  in 
the  west.  The  pelts  of  the  deer,  raccoon,  &c.,  for  which  there  was 
a  ready  market,  were  to  a  certain  extent  a  standard  of  exchange, 
and  supplied  in  a  manner  the  circulating  medium.  This  condition 
of  the  country  was  greatly  improved  by  the  money  distributed  in 
the  payment  of  the  rangers  and  militia  for  their  services  during 


292  HISTOKY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

the  war,  and  by  the  increased  immigration  after  its  close.  Besides, 
tlie  territorial  legislature,  emulating  the  financial  aspirations  of 
Ohio  and  Kentucky,  which  had  each  authorized  a  number  of  banks, 
incorporated  at  its  session  of  1810,  the  Bank  of  Illinois,  located  at 
Shawneetown,  and  at  the  succeeding  session,  the  banks  of 
Edwardsville  and  Kaskaskia.  They  were  banks  of  issue.  And 
the  legislature,  not  satisfied  with  this,  very  unjustly  lent  its  aid  in 
forcing  the  issue  of  these  banks  upon  the  people;  not  only  these, 
but  the  issues  of  the  banks  of  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and 
Missouri,  by  the  enactment  of  laws  postponing  the  collection  of 
debts  unless  the  creditor  would  receive  the  notes  of  these  banks, 
were  thus  likewise  forced  upon  the  people.  Both  became  banks 
of  deposit  for  the  United  States  funds,  arising  from  the  sales  of 
public  lands,  which  they  used  as  their  own.  The  government  lost 
by  the  Edwardsville  bank,  $54,000,  for  which  judgment  was 
obtained,  but  never  collected  ;  the  Shawneetown  bank  eventually 
accounted  to  the  government  in  full. 

This  made  money,  such  as  it  was,  abundant,  times  flush,  and 
rendered  a  spirit  of  speculation  rife,  which  Avas  apparently  a 
desirable  state  of  affairs,  if  it  had  been  all.  The  circulation  of 
bank  notes  among  a  people  largely  ignorant  and  unused'  to  them, 
afforded  to  the  vicious  a  rare  opportunity  to  set  afloat  quantities  of 
counterfeit  money.  This  evil  became  so  great  that,  to  restrain  it, 
many  of  the  best  citizens  of  St.  Clair  county— did  what  no  good 
citizen  should  ever  do — organized  themselves  into  "Regulating  com 
panies,"  as  they  designated  themselves,  to  visit  swift  judgment 
and  condign  punishment  in  the  forum  of  Judge  Lynch,  upon  such 
offenders  as  were  to  their  secret  cabal  proven  guilty.  A  Dr.  Estes? 
of  Belleville,  was  chosen  as  their  captain.  Many  makers  or 
utterers  of  the  base  currency,  and  for  other  crimes,  fell  under  their 
ban  and  were  punished.  It  created  great  excitement  in  the  country. 
Public  opinion  soon  withdrew  its  countenance  and  condemned  the 
order.  After  a  few  months  time  its  organization  ceased  to  exist. 

The  visionary  schemes  of  banking  operations  during  territorial 
times  culminated  in  the  Cairo  City  charter,  granted  at  the  session 
of  1817-18.  The  low  tongue  of  land  between  the  Ohio  and  Mis 
sissippi  rivers  at  their  confluence,  was  at  a  very  early  period  re 
garded  as  the  best  position  in  the  west  for  a  great  and  important 
city,  u  as  it  respects  commercial  advantages  and  local  supply,'7  as 
the  preamble  had  it.  Such  a  city,  it  was  argued,  must  become  of 
vast  consequence  to  the  prosperity  of  the  territory.  But  this  low 
point  of  land  was  frequently  inundated  5  in  answer  to  which  it 
was  further  argued,  that  as  the  ordinary  inundations  of  the 
two  great  rivers  rarely  happened  simultaneously,  an  embankment 
might  be  constructed  to  effectually  obviate  the  injurious  conse 
quences  of  floods.  The  proprietors  and  iucorporators  of  the  city 
and  bank  of  Cairo  were  John  G.  Comyges,  Thomas  H.  Harris, 
Charles  Slade  (afterwards  member  of  Congress),  Shadrach  Bond 
(afterwards  Governor),  Michael  Jones,  Warren  Brown,  Edward 
Humphries,  and  Charles  W.  Hunter.  These  gentlemen  proposed 
the  following  self-executing  scheme  to  build  up  a  large  city  there, 
pour  wealth  into  their  coffers,  and  at  the  same  time  render  them 
selves  public  benefactors.  The  basis  or  capital  of  the  banking  in 
stitution  was  2000  Cairo  city  lots,  66  by  120  feet,  valued  and  lim 
ited  at  $150  each.  The  streets  were  to  be  80  feet  in  width.  As  fast 


ILLINOIS   TERRITORY.  293 


as  the  lots  were  sold  $50  of  the  proceeds  of  each  was  to  be  devoted 
to  the.  construction  of  a  levee  to  secure  them  against  the  floods, 
and  to  the  improvement  of  the  city  by  the  building  of  public  edi 
fices.  The  residue — being  $100  per  lot — was  to  constitute  the  cap 
ital  of  the  bank,  amounting  to  $200,000.  Thus  was  a  great  city 
to  be  founded  !  Could  Utopia  go  further  !  Of  course  the  scheme 
proved  a  failure.  Cairo  languished  for  many  years,  but  at  the 
present,  with  actual  capital,  the  power  of  nerve  and  muscle,  and 
the  concentration  of  railroads,  she  is  making  rapid  strides  toward 
the  realization  of  her  early  dreams.  During  the  internal  improve 
ment  mania  of  1837  this  Cairo  Bank  was  galvanized  into  life,  but 
after  flourishing  a  short  period  expired. 

Another  Utopia  was  the  incorporation  of  a  company,  at  the  same 
session,  for  the  cutting  ot  a  canal  a  few  miles  north  of  Cairo  to 
unite  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  with  the  Ohio,  via  the  town  of 
America,  then  in  Johnson  county,  owned  by  the  company.  Tolls, 
wharfage  charges,  etc.,  under  certain  restrictions,  were  permitted 
to  this  company  ;  but  nothing  came  of  it.  The  scheme  was  some 
15  or  18  years  since  revived,  in  connection  with  the  present 
Mound  City. 

Commerce  throughout  the  early  and  territorial  period  of  Illinois, 
and  to  no  inconsiderable  extent  for  some  time  afterward,  was  in  its 
helpless  infancy.  All  foreign  products  consumed  here,  either  nat 
ural  or  manufactured,  were  brought  to  Illinois  via  New  Orleans, 
in  keel-boats,  pushed  at  great  labor,  with  long  poles,  and  towed  at 
points  with  long  ropes,  a  process  called  "cordelling,"  against  the 
strong  current  of  the  Mississippi,  by  the  hardy  boatmen  of  that 
day;  or  wagoned  over  the  Alleghany  mountains  from  Philadelphia 
to  Pittsburg,  or  from  Baltimore  to  Wheeling,  thence  in  flat-boats 
floated  down  the  Ohio  and  landed  at  convenient  points,  whence  it 
was  again  taken  by  wagons  to  the  fin.il  points  of  destination.  A 
trip  from  St.  Louis  to  Xew  Orleans  and  back,  with  keel-boats, 
was  a  six  months  voyage.  But  a  revolution  in  the  carrying  busi 
ness  of  the  world,  was  at  hand.  The  power  of  steam  had  been 
utilized,  and  by  Fulton  successfully  applied  to  the  propulsion 
of  vessels,  which  produced  a  wonderful  effect  upon  the  western 
country  in  contrast  between  steam  as  a  motor  for  conveyance  and 
the  ordinary  mode  by  keel  or  flat-boat,  which  inaugurated  a  new  era. 

The  first  steamboat  to  ascend  the  Upper  Mississippi,  reached 
St.  Louis  August  2,  1817.  It  was  named  the  "  General  Pike,"  and 
was  commanded  by  Captain  Jacob  Reed. 

[Of  the  first  steamboat  on  the  Ohio,  the  "New  Orleans,"  which  was  launched  at 
Pittsburgh  in  the  summer  of  1811,  it  is  related  that,  "'The  novel  appearance  of  the 
vessel,  and  the  I  earful  rapidity  with  which  the  passage  was  made  over  the  broad 
reaches  of  the  river,  excited  a  mixture  of  terror  and  surprise  among-  many  of  the 
settlers  on  the  banks,  whom  the  rumor  of  such  an  invention  had  never  reached  :  and 
it  is  related  that  on  the  unexpected  arrival  of  the  boat  before  Louisville,  in  the  course 
of  a  tine,  still  moonlight  night,  the  extraordinary  sound  which  filled  the  air  as  the  pent 
up  steam  was  allowed  to  escape  from  the  valves,  on  rounding  to,  produced  a  general 
alarm,  and  multitudes  in  the  town  rose  from  their  beds  to  ascertain  the  cause.  *  * 
The  general  impression  among  the  good  Kentuckians  was,  that  the  comet  [of  1811,  visi 
ble  at  the  time  with  its  immense  fiery  tail,  and  by  the  superstitious  believed  to  be  the 
harbinger  of  war  and  all  sorts  of  dire  evil!,'  had  fallen  into  the  Ohio." 
''She  walked  the  waters  like  a  thing  of  life, 
And  seemed  to  dare  the  elements  of  strife." 

At  Louisville,  owing  to  the  small  depth  of  water  on  the  falls,  the  boat  was  detained  3 
weeks,  during  which  time  several  trips  were  made  by  her  between  that  place  and  Cin 
cinnati.  The  waters  finally  rose,  and  the  trip  to  New  Orleans  was  resumed.  On  reach 
ing  the  Lower  Mississippi,  the  boat  was  nearly  overwhelmed  by  the  earthquakes  which 
rocked  the  waters  of  the  great  river  to  and  fro,  and  which  continued  for  several  days, 


294  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

The  pursuits  of  the  people  during  territorial  times,  were  mainly 
agricultural,  varied  by  hunting  and  trapping.  Few  merchants 
were  required  to  supply  the  ordinary  articles  of  consumption  not 
produced  or  manufactured  at  home.  Coffee,  tea,  and  sugar  did 
not  then  generally  enter  into  the  daily  meals  of  the  family.  Ma 
terials  for  personal  wear  were  either,  grown,  or  taken  in  the 
chase,  and  manufactured  into  garments  by  Avife  or  daughter,  the 
merchant  supplying  only  some  of  the  dye  stuff  to  color  the  wool, 
flax  or  cotton.  Foreign  manufactured  boots  and  shoes,  or  hats 
and  caps,  were  worn  but  by  few — home-made  moccasins  and  rac 
coon  caps  supplying  the  place.  Mechanics  in  pursuit  of  their 
trades,  are  seldom  pioneers,  and  every  settler  was  his  own  carpen 
ter.  The  houses,  mostly  log  cabins,  A\7ere  built  without  glass, 
nails,  hinges  or  locks  ;  the  furniture,  too,  modeled  in  the  same 
rude  fashion,  was  made  by  the  same  hand.  Yokes  for  oxen,  and 
harness  for  horses,  the  carts  and  wagons  in  daily  use — without 
tires,  boxes  or  iron — whose  woeful  creakings,  for  the  want  of  tar, 
which  was  not  imported,  might  be  heard  at  a  great  distance,  all 
were  manufactured  as  occason  required  by  self-taught  artifi 
cers.* 

commencing  on  the  morning  of  the  16th  of  December,  1811.  They  were  severest  in  the 
neighborhood  of  New  Madrid,  where,  on  the  Tennessee  side,  a  few  miles  back  o  f  the 
river,  the  earth  sunk  in  many  places  50  and  60  feet,  carrying  with  it  great  trees  left 
standing  erect,  producing  what  is  known  as  the  Reel-foot  Jake  — Hainbler  in  North 
America.  • 

*As  an  instance  of  the  ready  ingenuity  of  the  times,it  is  related  of  James  Lemon,  a 
well  known  pioneer  of  Monroe  county,  an  old  style  Baptist  preacher,  and  a  farmer  by 
occupation,  who  manufactured  the  harness  for  his  teams  as  occasion  required,  that 
being  employed  plowing  a  piece  of  stubble  ground  one  day,  on  turning  out  tor  dinner 
he  left  the  harness  on  the  beam  of  the  plough,  as  was  his  wont.  His  son.  not  differing 
from  the  pi-overbial  minister's  boys  perhaps,  who  haa  assisted  him  by  removing  the 
straw  from  the  clogging  plow  with  a  pitchfork,  remained  behind  long  enough  to 
conceal  one  of  the  collars,  that  he  might  have  a  playing  spell  while  his  father  was 
occupied  in  making  another.  But  his  plot  failed;  on  returning  after  dinner  and  miss 
ing  the  collar,  his  father,  reflecting  for  a  few  minutes,  promptly  divested  himself  of 
his  leather  oreeches,  stuffed  the  legs  with  fetubble,  straddled  them  acrvjss  the  neck  of 
the  horse  for  a  collar,  and  plowed  the  remainder  of  the  day  bare-legged  requiring 
the  assistance  of  the  truantly  inclined  boy  allthotime.  At  this  day,  to  provide  for 
such  a  mispap,  half  day  would  have  been  spent  in  going  to  town  after  another  col 
lar,  and  the  boy  would  probaby  have  gained  his  point. — From  Ford's  History  of  Illi 
nois. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

ORGANIZATION    OF    THE    STATE    GOVERNMENT—  AD 
MINISTRATION    OF    GOVERNOR  BOND. 

Our  Northern  Boundary — First  Constitutional  Convention  and  Some 
thing  of  the  Instrument  Framed — Governor  Bond — Lieutenant- 
governor  Menard — Meeting  of  the  Legislature  and  Election  of 
&ate  Officers — First  Supreme  Court — Hard  Times  and  First  State 
Bank — Organization  of  Counties. 


By  the  year  1818,  owing  to  her  rapid  increase  of  population, 
Illinois  aspired  to  a  position  among  the  sisterhood  of  sovereign 
States.  Accordingly,  the  territorial  legislature,  in  session  at  Kas- 
kaskia  in  January  of  that  year,  prepared  and  sent  to  Nathaniel 
Pope,  oar  delegate  in  conngress,  their  petition  praying  for  the 
admission  of  Illinois  into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the 
original  States.  The  petition  was  promptly  presented,  and  the 
committee  on  territories  in  due  time  reported  a  bill  for  the  admission 
of  Illinois  with  a  population  of  40,000.  The  ordinance  of  1787 
required  00,000.  Mr.  Pope,  looking  to  the  future  of  this  State, 
succeeding  in  amending  the  bill  as  it  came  from  the  hands  of  the 
committee,  in  several  essential  features.  One  of  these  was  to  ex 
tend  the  northern  boundary  of  the  State  to  the  parallel  of  40 
degrees  30  minutes  north  latitude.  The  5th  section  of  the  ordi 
nance  of  1787,  required  that  at  least  three  States  be  formed  out 
of  the  Northwest  territory — denning  the  boundary  of  the  western 
State  by  the  Mississippi,  the  Ohio  and  the  Wabash  rivers,  and  a 
line  running  due  north  from  Post  Vincennes,  on  the  last  named 
stream,  to  Canada.  This  included  the  present  States  of  Illinois 
and  Wisconsin.  But,  by  a  proviso,  it  was  reserved  "that  if  con 
gress  shall  hereafter  find  it  expedient,  they  shall  have  authority 
to  form  one  or  two  States  in  that  part  of  said  territory  which  lies 
north  of  an  east  and  west  line  drawn  through  the  southerly  bend  of 
Lake  Michigan."  The  line  of  40  deg..'iO  min.  extended  the  boundary 
50  miles  farther  north.  To  the  vigilance  of  Nathaniel  Rope, 
therefore,  are  AVC  indebted  for  a  coast  on  Lake  Michigan  to  this 
extent:  for  the  site  occupied  by  the  present  mighty  city  of  Chi 
cago  ;  for  the  northern  terminus  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan 
canal,  and  for  the  lead  mines  of  Galena — all  of  which  come 
within  that  extension.  It  was  upon  the  above  quoted  language 
of  the  ordinance  of  1787.  which  was  declared  a  compact  to  remain 

295 


29G  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


forever  unalterable,  that  Wisconsin  subsequently  based  her  claim 
to  the  14  northern  counties  of  this  State. 

While  the  foregoing'  were  paramount  considerations  with  the 
people  of  Illinois,  others  were  urged  with  much  force  and  entire 
effectiveness  upon  congress,  acting  for  the  nation  at  large.  Even 
at  that  day  statesmen  had  not  failed  to  mark  the  inherent  weak 
ness,  and  consequent  easy  dissolution,  of  confederated  republics. 
The  late  civil  war  had  not  then  demonstrated  the  strength  and 
unity  of  the  American  confederation  through  the  loyalty  of  the 
people.  European  statesmen  had  entertained  no  other  thought 
than  that  at  the  first  internal  hostile  trouble,  the  bonds  of  the 
Union  would  be  broken  and  scattered  to  the  winds.  It  was  easily 
shown  that  the  geographical  position  of  Illinois  made  her  the  key 
in  the  Avestern  arch  of  (States.  The  southern  extremity  of  Illinois 
penetrated  far  between  the  slaves  States  down  to  the  main  Mis 
sissippi,  affording  an  outlet  to  the  Gulf  the  year  round,  and 
skirted  with  hundreds  of  miles  of  navigable  rivers  on  either  side  ; 
to  give  her,  therefore,  a  fair  coast  on  the  lake  would  also  unite 
her  interests  through  the  strong  bonds  of  trade  and  commerce 
with  the  north  and  east.  Linking  thus  the  north  and  the  south 
by  her  geographical  position  and  the  ties  of  intercourse,  her  in 
terests  must  be  conservative,  and  she  would  ever  exert  a  controll 
ing  influence  upon  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union.  This  view  has 
been  amply  verified  in  the  late  war  by  the  prompt  occupation  of 
Cairo,  and  the  rally  of  her  near  liOO,00()  sons  to  the  national 
standard. 

Another  amendment  was,  that  the  three-fifths  of  tlie  5  per  cent 
fund  from  the  sale  of  public  lands,  applied  to  the  construction  of 
public  works  in  other  States  carved  out  of  the  northwest  territory, 
should  instead  be  devoted  by  the  legislature  to  the  encouragement 
of  education  ;  one-sixth  of  which  to  be  exclusively  bestowed  on  a 
college  or  university.  These  important  amendments  were  sug 
gested  and  urged  by  Mr.  Pope  without  instruction,  but  they  re 
ceived  the  ready  sanction  of  the  people,  and  to-day  we  are 
realizing  the  full  fruition  of  his  foresight.*  The  bill  became  a  law 
April  18, 1818. 

*Nathaniel  Pope  was  an  able  lawyer,  and  in  his  official  relations  was  ever  faithful  to 
his  trusts.  His  first  appearance  in  Illinois,  as  we  have  seen,  was  as  secretary  of  the 
territory.  In  1816,  he  was  elected  delegate  to  congress  and  procured  the  enabling 
act  for  the  admission  of  Illinois  as  a  State  Subsequently  he  was  appointed  United 
States  district  judge,  in  which  capacity  heserved  for  many  years,  residing  in  Spring 
field.  He  died  in  1850, 

[NOTE  —The  question  of  our  northern  boundary  agitated  the  people  of  the  section 
concerned  for  many  years,  entering  into  their  political  conflicts  and  exercising  an 
important  influence  upon  their  local  affairs.  Many  of  the  old  settlers  down  to  a 
late  date,  condemned  this  striking- departure  from  the  ordinance  of  1787,  which  fixed 
the  present  line  50  miK  s  further  north.  Boundary  meetings  at  various  places  in  the 
14  northern  counties  continued  to  be  held  from  time  to  time,  showing  the  feeling  to 
be  deepand  wide  spread.  We  note  the  proceedings  of  a  large  meeting  held  at  Ore 
gon  City,  January  22,  1842,  as  showing  the  grounds  of  complaint,  and  the  purpose  of 
the  people  to  either  belong  to  Wisconsin  or  set  up  for  themselves: 

"  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting,  that  part  of  the  northwest  territory, 
which  lies  north  of  an  'east  and  west  line  through  the  southerly  bond  or  extreme  of  Lake 
Michfgan,'  belongs  to  and  of  right  ought  to  be  a  part  of  the  State  or  States  which 
have  been  or  may  be  formed  north  of  said  line." 

Wisconsin  was  yet  a  territory.  They  resolved  further  that  the  ordinance  of  1787 
could  not  be  altered  or  changed  without  the  consent  of  the  people  of  the  original 
States  and  of  the  northwest  territory  ;  that  as  part  of  the  people  of  said  territory, 
they  would  not  so  consent ;  that  the  lines  designated  in  the .ordinance  were  better 
suited  to  the  geographical  situation  and  local  interests  of  their  region ;  that  they 
were  decidedly  opposed  to  place  any  of  the  territory  north  of  said  line  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  a  State  south  of  it :  that  they  recommended  the  legislature  of  Wis 
consin  to  apply  for  admission  into  the  Union,  claiming  the  line  of  the  ordinance  as 


BOND'S  ADMINISTRATION.  297 


In  pursuance  of  the  enabling  act  a  convention  was  called  to  draft 
the  first  constitution  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  which  assembled  at 
Kaskaskia  in  July,  1818,  and  completed  its  labors  by  signing  the 
constitution  on  the  20th  of  August  following.  We  subjoin  the 
names  of  the  delegates,  and  the  counties  which  they  represented, 
in  the  order  of  their  organization  : 

St.  Clair  county — Jesse  B.  Thomas,  John  Messiuger,  James 
Lemon,  jr. 

Randolph — George  Fisher,  Elias  Kent  Kane. 

Madison — Benjamin  Stephenson,  Joseph  Borough,  Abraham 
Prickett. 

Gal  latin — Michael  Jones,  Leonard  White,  Adolphus  Frederick 
Hubbard. 

Johnson — Hezekiah  West,  Win.  McFatridge. 

Edwards — Seth  Gard,  Levi  Compton. 

White— Willis  Hargrave,  Wm.  McHenry. 

Monroe — Oaldwell  Cams,  Enoch  Moore. 

Pope — Samuel  O'Melveny,  Hamlet  Ferguson. 

Jackson — Conrad  Will,  James  Hall,  jr. 

Crawford — Joseph  Kitchell,  Edward  IS".  Culloin. 

Bond — Thomas  Kilpatrick,  Samuel  G.  Morse. 

Union — Win.  Echols,  John  Whi taker. 

Washi ngton — Andrew  Bankson.* 

Franklin — Isham  Harrison,  Thomas  Roberts. 

Jesse  B.  Thomas  was  chosen  president,  and  Win.  C.  Greenup 
secretary  of  the  convention. 

The  constitution  was  not  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people  for 
their  approval  or  rejection;  nor  did  the  people  have  much  to  do 
with  the  choice  or  election  of  officers  generally  under  it,  other  than 
that  of  governors,  the  general  assemblies,  sheriffs  and  coroners. 
Notwithstanding  the  elective  franchise  was  in  a  blazon  manner 
extended  to  all  white  male  inhabitants  above  the  age  of  21,  having 
a  residence  in  the  State  of  G  months  next  preceding  any  election, 
Avhich  it  will  be  perceived  included  aliens  and  possibly  invited 
immigration,  there  was  scarcely  an  office  left  to  be  filled  by  its 
exercise. 

The  electors  or  people  were  not  trusted  with  the  choice  of  State 
officers,  other  than  mentioned;  nor  of  their  judges,  either  supreme, 
circuit,  or  probate;  nor  of  their  prosecuting  attorneys,  county  or 
circuit  clerks,  recorders,  or  justices  of  the  peace;  the  appointment 
of  nearly  all  these  being  vested  in  the  general  assembly,  which 
body  was  not  slow  to  avail  itself  of  the  powers  thus  conferred  to 
their  full  extent.  The  language  of  the  schedule  was,  "an  auditor 
of  public  accounts,  an  attorney  general,  and  such  other  officers  of 
the  State  as  may  be  necessary,  may  be  appointed  by  the  general 
assembly,  whose  duties  may  be  regulated  by  law."  It  is  said  to 
have  been  a  question  for  many  years,  in  view  of  this  language, 

their  southern  boundary  :  that  they  disclaimed  any  intention  to  absolve  themselves 
from  any  pecuniary  responsibility  created  by  the  legislature  of  Illinois  on  account  of 
the  inter nal improvement  system,  etc.  The  resolutions  were  adopted  unanimously. 
A  committee  of  9  was  appointed  lo  proceed  to  Madison,  with  full  power  to  consult 
with  the  governor  and  the  legislature  of  Wisconsin  territory.  Governor  Doty  and  the 
legislature  gave  them  their  assurances  of  earnest  co-operation  in  petitioiiingcongress 
toward  the  end  in  view.  Rut  nothin.tr  over  came  of  all  the  clamor.  The  essential 

goint  was,  whether  the  acts  of  the  congress  of  the  confederated  States  are  of  such 
inding   force   that   a  congress  of  the    United  States  cannot  annul  or  amend  them 
— whether  tho  former  possessed  a  higher  power  than  the  hitter. 
*Bankson's  colleague  died  during  the  session  of  the  convention. 


298  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


what  was  "an  officer  of  the  State."  The  governors  were  for  a  time 
allowed  to  appoint  State's  attorneys,  recorders,  State  commis 
sioners,  bank  directors,  &c.,  but  the  legislatures  afterward  vested 
by  law  the  appointment  of  all  these  and  many  more  in  themselves. 
Occasionally,  when  in  full  political  accord,  the  governor  would 
be  allowed!  the  appointing  power  pretty  freely,  to  perhaps  be 
shorn  of  by  a  succeeding  legislature.  In  the  administration  of 
Duncan,  who  had  forsaken  Jackson  and  incurred  the  displeasure 
of  the  dominant  party,  the  governor  was  finally  stripped  of  all 
patronage,  except  the  appointment  of  notaries  public  and  public- 
administrators.  It  was  a  bad  feature  of  the  constitution  ;  it  not 
only  deprived  the  people  of  their  just  rights  to  elect  the  various 
officers  as  at  present,  but  led  hordes  of  place  hunters  to  repair  to 
the  seat  of  government  at  every  session  of  the  legislature,  to 
besiege  and  torment  members  for  office.  Indeed,  this  was  the 
chief  occupation  of  many  ail  honorable  member.  Innumerable  in 
trigues  and  corruptions  for  place  and  power  were  thus  indulged. 

To  the  governor  was  denied  the  veto  power;  but  he,  jointly  with 
the  four  supreme  judges,  was  constituted  a  council  to  revise  all 
bills  passed,  before  they  should  become  laws.  For  this  purpose 
the  judges  were  required  to  attend  at  the  seat  of  government 
during  the  sessions  of  the  legislature,  without  compensation.  The 
validity  of  all  laws  was  thus  decided  in  advance.  If  the  council 
of  revision,  or  a  majority,  deemed  it  improper  for  any  bill  to  become 
a  law,  their  objections  were  to  be  noted  in  writing ;  but  the  bill 
might,  notwithstanding,  be  passed  over  their  objections  by  a  ma 
jority  and  become  a  law.  While  the  executive  is  commonly 
a  co-ordinate  branch  of  the  law-making  power,  here  he  was  entirely 
stripped;  and  while  the  judicial  department  is  never  thus  vested, 
here  it  was  clothed  with  a  quasi  legislative  prerogative. 

The  constitution  was  about  the  first  organic  law  of  any  State  in 
the  Union  to  abolish  imprisonment  for  debt.  It  did  not  prohibit 
the  legislature  from  granting  divorces;  and  this  was  a  fruitful 
source  of  legislation,  as  the  old  statutes  abundantly  testify.  But 
its  worst  feature,  perhaps,  was  the  want  of  a  limitation  against 
the  legislature  loaning  or  pledging1  the  faith  and  credit  of  the  State 
in  aid  of,'  or  to  the  undertaking  of,  any  public  or  private  enter 
prise;  or  to  the  aid  of  any  individuals,  associations,  or  corpora 
tions.  The  absence  of  such  most  necessary  limitations,  caused 
her  repeated  connections  afterward  with  banking  schemes,  and 
her  undertaking  the  vast  system  of  internal  improvement  in  1837, 
all  of  which  proved  detrimental  to  her  credit,  harrassing  and 
expensive  to  her  nuances,  and  came  near  bankrupting  and  com 
pleting  her  ruin.  Of  the  members  of  the  convention,  Elias  Kent 
Kane,  afterward  a  senator  in  congress,  is  mentioned  with  commenda 
tion  as  a  leading  spirit,  and  as  largely  stamping  the  constitution 
with  its  many  excellencies. 

["During  the  sitting-  of  the  convention  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wiley  and  congregation,  of  a  sect 
called  Covenanters,  in  Randolph  county,  sent  in  their  petition  asking  that  body  to 
declare  in  the  constitution,  that  "Jesus  Christ  was  the  head  of  the  government,  and  that 
the  Holy  Scriptures  were  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice."  The  petition  was  not 
treated  with  any  attention,  wherefore  the  Covenanters  have  never  fully  i-ecoani/ed 
the  State  government.  They  have  looked  upon  it  as  "an  heathen  and  unbapt-zed 
government,'1  which  denies  Christ;  for  which  reason  they  have  constantly  refused  to 
work  the  roads,  serve  on  juries,  hold  any  office,  or  do  any  other  act  showing  that  they 
recognized  the  government.  For  a  long  time  they  refused  to  vote,  and  never  did  until 
the  election  of  1824,  when  the  question  was,  whether  Illinois  should  be  made  a  slave 
State,  when  they  voted  for  the  first  time,  and  unanimously  against  slavery." — Governor 
Ford's  History.] 


299 

The  first  election  under  the  constitution,  for  governor,  lient. 
governor,  and  members  of  the  general  assembly,  was,  according 
to  the  appointment  of  the  convention,  held  on  the  third  Thursday, 
and  the  two  succeeding  days,  in  September,  1818.  All  white  male 
inhabitants  "21  years  old,  residing  in  the  State  at  the  adoption  of 
the  constitution  were  permitted  to  vote.  The  general  assembly  was 
to  meet  at  Kaskaskia  on  the  first  Monday  (being  the  5th)  of  Oct. 
following,  to  set  the  machinery  of  the  new  government  in  motion. 
After  that,  regular  sessions  were  to  commence  on  the  first  Mondays 
of  December.  Shadrach  Bond  was  elected  governor  and  Pierre 
Menard  lieutenant  governor,  as  had  been  expected  even  before 
the  formation  of  the  constitution;  they  had  no  opposition.  Their 
terms  of  service  were  till  181%  four  years. 

Governor  Bond  was  born  in  Frederick  county,  Maryland,  in  1773, 
and  was  raised  a  farmer  on  his  father's  plantation,  and  agriculture 
was  his  pursuit  in  Illinois,  whither  he  emigrated  in  1794.  He  had 
received  but  a  plain  English  education.  To  a  convivial,  benevolent 
disposition,  he  joined  a  naturally  shrewd  observation  of  men  and 
a  clear  appreciation  of  events.  His  person  was  erect,  standing  0 
feet  in  hight,  and  after  middle  life  he  became  portly,  weighing 
200  pounds.  His  features  were  strongly  masculine,  complexion 
dark,  hair  jet,  and  eyes  hazel.  He  was  a  favorite  with  the  ladies.t 
His  jovial  disposition,  thorough  honesty  and  unostentatious1  inter 
course  with  the  people,  made  him  the  most  popular  man  of  his 
day.  He  had  been  a  member  of  the  general  assembly  under  the 
Indiana  Territory,  a  delegate  to  congress  in  1812,  and  in  the  latter 
capacity  he  procured  the  right  of  pre-emption  on  the  public 
domain;  in  1814  he  was  appointed  receiver  of  the  public  moneys 
at  Kaskaskia.  After  his  gubernatorial  term  expired  he  ran  in 
1824,  for  congress  against  Daniel  P.  Cook,  but  was  beaten.  Sub 
sequently  he  was  appointed  register  of  the  land  office  at  Kas 
kaskia;  where  he  died,  ii^peaee  and  contentment,  April  11,  1830. 
The  county  of  Bond  was  named  in  honor  of  his  memory. 

Pierre  Menard  was  born  at  Quebec  in  1767.  At  the  age  of  19, 
inspired  by  adventure,  he  came  to  Vincennes  and  entered  the 
employ  of  Col.  Vigo,  a  merchant.  In  1790  he  removed  to  Kaskaskia 
and  engaged  in  merchandising  with  DuBois,  of  Vincennes.  By 
his  trade  with  the  Indians,  and  in  various  public  capacities,  he  soon 
became  well  known.  Xature  made  him  frank,  kind  and  honest; 
his  mind,  with  but  an  ordinary  education,  was  strong,  and  his 
judgment  quick  and  unerring.  His  industry  was  wonderful,  being 
never  idle.  For  many  years  he  was  government  agent  for  the 
Indians,  and  that  race  had  the  most  implicit  confidence  in  his  in 
tegrity.  As  a  merchant,  it  is  said,  he  could  buy  their  peltries 
at  half  the  price  a  " Long-Knife"  would  have  to  pay.  He 
had  been  a  member  of  the  lower  house  of  the  legislature  while 
Illinois  was  under  the  Indiana  regime,  and  a  member  of  the  Illinois 
legislative  council  from  1812  to  1818,  being  the  president  of  that 
body.  In  the  framing  of  the  constitution  the  qualifications  for 
lieutenant  governor  were  first  fixed  the  same  as  those  of  the  gov 
ernor — one  of  which  was  citizenship  of  the  United  States  for  30 
years ;  but  as  that  would  exclude  Col.  Menard,  who  had  been  natur 
alized  only  some  two  years,  the  convention  changed  this  provision 
in  the  shedule  as  a  special  favor  to  him,  he  being  generally  looked 

tlteynold's  Pioneer  History. 


300  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

forward  to  for  that  position.  After  the  expiration  of  his  term  of 
office  he  declined  all  farther  tenders  of  office,  accepting  only  that 
of  United  States  Commissioner  to  treat  with  the  Indians,  whose 
character  he  knew  so  well.  He  accumulated  quite  a  fortune,  but 
it  was  greatly  impaired  by  that  kindness  of  heart  which  allowed 
him  to  become  security  for  his  friends.  In  1839  the  legislature 
honored  his  name  by  establishing  the  county  of  Menard.  He  died 
in  1844  at  the  ripe  age  of  77  years. 

The  State  legislature  met  at  the  appointed  time,  October  5th, 
1818.  Ninian  Edwards,  the  retiring  executive  of  the  defunct 
territorial  government,  and  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  one  of  the  federal 
judges  for  the  territory,  who  had  also  been  president  of  the  con 
stitutional  convention,  both  looked  forward  to  the  United  States 
senatorship,  and  were  not  disappointed  in  their  aspirations.  Our 
member  to  the  lower  house  of  congress  at  the  time,  was  John 
McLean,  elected  in  the  September  previous,  in  one  of  the  most 
memorable  political  campaigns  ever  had  in  Illinois,  Daniel  P. 
Cook  being  his  opponent.  Elijah  0.  Berry  was  elected  auditor  of 
public  accounts,  John  Thomas,  State  treasurer,  Daniel  P.  Cook, 
attorney  general,  and  Messrs.  Blackwell  &  Berry  State  printers. 
Elias  Kent  Kane  was  appointed  Secretary  of  State.  The  supreme 
court,  the  judges  whereof  were  required  also  to  do  circuit  duty, 
was  to  consist  of  one  chief  justice  and  three  associate  justic.es. 
Both  houses  again  met  in  joint  session  on  the  8th,  and  on  the  first 
ballot  Joseph  Phillips  was  elected  chief  justice  by  34  out  of  40 
votes  cast;  Thomas  0.  Brown  receiving  4,  and  Henry  S.  Dodge  3. 
For  associate  justices.  Win.  P.  Foster  and  Thomas  C.  Brown  were 
chosen  on  the  first  ballot,  Henry  S.  Dodge  receiving  at  the  same 
time  18  votes,  William  Wilson  15,0.  II.  Matheny  9,  John  Wa'rnock 
1,  flames  W.  Whiting  1,  and  Joseph  Kitcheli  7.  On  balloting 
again,  a  new  candidate,  John  Reynolds,  afterwards  governor,  was 
brought  forward  and  on  the  second  ballot  elected  by  22  out  of  the 
40  votes  cast.  Phillips  was  a  lawyer  of  fine  intellectual  endow 
ment.  He  had  been  a  captain  in  the  regular  army,  and  during  the 
war  of  1812  had  seen  service  in  Illinois;  afterward  he  was  appointed 
secretary  of  the  territory  in  place  of  Nathaniel  Pope.  Being 
ambitious,  he  aspired  above  the  dull  routine  of  the  court  at  that 
day,  and  in  1822,  becoming  a  candidate  for  governor  against 
Coles,  resigning  his  place  upon  the  bench  on  the  4th  of  July,  but 
was  defeated.  This  was  more  than  his  high-strung  nature  would 
brook,  and  with  feelings  of  disgust  at  the  ingratitude  of  "the  people, 
afterward  quitted  the  State  and  removed  to  Tennessee.  On  tfie  31st 
of  August,  1822,  Thomas  Reynolds  was  appointed  in  his  place. 
Brown  was  a  large,  somewhat  stately  looking,  affable  man,  yielding 
in  his  disposition,  with  little  industry  for  study,  and  few  of  the 
higher  qualities  for  a  judge.  He  remained  on  the  bench  till  the 
constitution  of  1848  went  into  effect,  a  period  exceeding  thirty 
years. 

Reynolds,  in  his  "Own  Times,"  written  many  years  later,  tells 
how  he  came  to  be  chosen  a  member  of  that  exalted  tribunal,  the 
supreme  court.  At  the  time  he  resided  at  Cahokia  and  had  no 
intention  of  visiting  the  session  of  the  legislature,  which  was  dis 
pensing  so  many  fat  things  on  the  first  organization  of  the  State 
government.  He  cared  little  Avho  obtained  office,  and  certainly 
wanted  none  for  himself.  But  being-  urged  by  his  friends,  lie 


BOND'S   ADMINISTRATION.  301 

joined  them  in  a  visit  to  Kaskaskia.  Upon  arrival  they  found 
much  excitement  and  commotion  at  the  capital,  incident  to  the 
selection  of  State  officers.  In  a  few  days  he  was  urged  to  give 
his  assent  to  become  a  candidate  for  supreme  judge.  This  request, 
lie  says,  broke  upon  him  like  a  clap  of  thunder.  His  consent  was 
yielded,  he  was  elected.  His  experience  in  the  law  was  four  years 
practice  of  "  commerce  in  land."  *  "I  speculated,  sold  land  and 
bought  two  stores  of  dry  goods,  amounting  to  $10,000."  His  first 
term  of  court  was  to  him  a  "strange  and  novel  business."  This  was 
at  Covington,  Washington  county,  among  his  former  comrades 
of  Indian  rangers,  who  now  failed  to  draw  the  line  of  distinction  due 
him  as  a  supreme  judge.  The  sheriff,  unmindful  of  the  exalted 
position  of  his  old  comrade  in  arms,  on  opening  court,  made  proc 
lamation  of  the  fact,  without  rising  from  the  rude  bench  in  the 
court  room  which  he  occupied  astride,  saying,  in  a  familiar  tone, 
"Boys,  the  court  is  now  open,  John  is  on  the  bench."  These 
omissions  of  ceremony  Avere  not  distasteful  to  his  honor,  for  lie 
utterly  detested  any  kind  of  mock  dignity,  though  he  says  he  was 
not  regardless  of  the  "solemn,  serious  dignity  and  decorum"  proper 
in  the  proceedings  of  court.* 

Foster,  another  of  the  supreme  judges,  resigned  within  a 
year — June  ±>,  1819.  He  "  was  almost  a  total  st anger  in  the  coun 
try.  He  was  a  great  rascal,  but  no  one  knew  it  then,  he  having 
been  a  citizen  of  the  State  only  for  about  three  weeks  before  he 
was  elected.  He  was  no  lawyer,  never  having  either  studied  or 
practiced  law ;  but  a  man  of  winning,  polished  manners,  ami 
withal  a  gentlemanly  swindler,  from  some  part  of  Virginia.  *  * 
He  was  believed  to  be  a  clever  fellow,  in  the  American  sense  of 
that  phrase,  and  a  good  hearted  soul.  He  was  assigned  to  hold 
courts  in  the  circuit  on  the  Wabash  ;  but  being  fearful  of  expos 
ing  his  utter  incompetency,  he  never  Avent  near  any  of  them. 
In  the  course  of  one  year  he  resigned  his  high  office,  but  took  care 
first  to  pocket  his  salary,  and  then  removed  out  of  the  State.  He 

*Gov.  Ford  in  his  history,  writes:  "This  same  judge  presided  at  a  court  in  which  a 
man  named  Green  was  convicted  of  murder;  and  it  became  his  unpleasant  duty  to  pro 
nounce  sentence  of  death  upon  the  culprit.  Recalled  the  prisoner  before  him,  and 
said  to  him:  'Mr.  Green,  the  jury  in  their  verdict  say  you  are  guilty  of  murder,  and  the 
law  says  you  are  to  be  hung.  Now  I  want  you  and  all  your  friends  down  on  Indian  Creek, 
to  know  that  it  is  not  I  who  condemns  you,  but  it  is  the  jury  and  the  law.  Mr.  Green, 
the  law  allows  you  time  for  preparation,  and  so  the  court  wants  to  know  what  time  you 
would  like  to  be  hung.'  To  this  the  prisoner  replied,  'May  it  please  the  court,  I  am 
ready  at  any  time;  those  who  kill  the  body  have  no  power  to  kill  the  soul;  my  prepara 
tion  is  made,  and  I  am  ready  to  suffer  at  any  time  the  court  may  appoint.'  The  judge 
then  said,  'Mr.  trreen,  you  must  know  that  it  is  a  very  serious  matter  to  be  hung;  it 
can't  happen  to  a  man  more  than  once  in  his  life,  and  you  had  better  take  all  the  time 
you  can  get;  the  court  will  give  you  until  this  day  four  weeks.  Mr.  Clerk,  look  at  the 
almanac,  and  see  whether  this  day  four  weeks  comes  on  Sunday.'  The  clerk  looked 
at  the  almanac,  as  directed,  and  reported  that  'that  day  four  weeks  came  on  Thursday.' 
The  judge  then  said,  'Mr.  Green,  the  court  gives  you  until  this  day  four  weeks,  at 
which  time  you  are  to  be  hung.'  The  case  was  prosecuted  by  James  Turney,  Esq.,  the 
attorney  general  of  the  State,  who  here  interposed  and  said  :  "May  it  please  the  court, 
on  solemn  occasions  like  the  present,  when  the  life  of  a  human  being  is  to  be  sentenced 
away  for  crime,  by  an  earthly  tribunal,  it  is  usual  and  proper  for  courts  to  pronounce  a 
formal  sentence,  in  which  the  leading  features  of  the  crime  shall  be  brought  to  the  re 
collection  of  the  prisoner,  a  sense  of  his  guilt  impressed  upon  his  conscience,  and  in 
which  the  prisoner  should  be  duly  exhorted  to  repentance,  and  warned  against  the 
judgment  in  the  world  to  come.'  To  this  the  judge  replied.  'O!  Mr.  Turney,  Mr. 
Green  understands  the  whole  matter  as  well  as  if  I  had  preached  to  him  a  month.  He 
knows  he  has  got  to  be  hung  this  day  four  weeks.  You  understand  it  in  that  way,  Mr. 
Green,  don't  you?'  'Yes,'  said  the  prisoner;  upon  which  the  judge  remanded  him  to 
jail,  and  the  court  then  adjourned.  ' 

Reynolds,  in  his  work  entitled  "My  Own  Times,"  takes  pains  to  deny  the  "silly  fabri 
cation  recorded  in  history,"  and  says  :  ''I  may  not  have  acted  in  that  frigid,  unfeeling 
and  mechanical  manner  that  would  please  heartless  and  superficial  men,  who  gen 
erally  write  and  detail  these  tea-pot  slanders.  *  *  I  considered  them  both  [alluding- 
to  the  case  of  one  Bennet  also]  guilty,  and  the  judgment  of  the  court  was  so  under 
stood,  that  they  were  both  to  be  executed." 


302  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

afterwards  became  a  noted  swindler,  moving-  from  city  to  city, 
and  living  by  swindling  strangers,  and  prostituting  his  daughters, 
who  were  very  beautiful."* 

On  the  7th  of  August,  1810,  William  Wilson  was  appointed  to 
fill  the  vacancy  created  by  the  resignation  of  Foster.  Wilson, 
was  a  young  man,  scarcely  25  years  old,  of  spotless  character, 
good  education  (though  not  collegiate),  and  fair  attainments  as  a 
lawyer.  He  was  social  in  bis  disposition,  candid  and  artless. by 
nature,  with  a  manner  pleasant  and  winning.  He  proved  a  sound 
judge,  and  presided  Avith  a  dignity  which  inspired  the  utmost 
respect  in  the  bar  and  attendants.  Thus  organized,  and  with 
these  men  to  guide  her  helm  of  State,  was  Illinois  launched  on 
her  career  of  independence  among  the  sisterhood  of  sovereign 
States.  The  men  who,  a  little  over  a  half  century  ago,  assisted 
at  the  political  birth  of  this  now  great  State,  were,  many  of  them, 
the  equals  in  sturdy  virtues  of  the  heroes  of  the  Revolution, 
and  the  peers  in  commanding  intellect  of  the  founders  of  any 
the  States  ;  but,  without  exception,  they  have  passed  to  the  land 
of  shadows,  and  many  of  them  lie  buried  in  obscure  graves,  their 
deeds  of  greatness  unknown  to  the  great  majority  of  the  busy 
throng  of  to-day. 

But  Illinois  had  not  yet  been  declared  admitted  into  the  Union; 
congress  was  not  in  session.  At  the  October  meeting  of  the 
assembly  therefore,  no  legislation  or  business  other  than  the  elec 
tion  of  officers,  was  attempted,  for  obvious  reasons.  After  a 
session  of  eight  days  a  recess  was  taken  till  the  first  Monday  in 
January,  1S1D.  In  the  meantime  congress  met,  and  by  resolution 
of  December  3d,  1818,  declared  Illinois  to  be  u  one  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  and  admitted  into  the  Union  on  an  equal  foot 
ing  with  the  original  States  in  all  respects." 

Of  the*  1.5  counties  organized  at  the  adoption  of  the  constitution, 
the  farthest  north  was  Bond.  Only  about  one-fourth  of  the  terri 
tory  of  the  State  was  embraced  in  these  15  counties.  The  settled 
portions  of  the  State  were  all  south  of  a  line  drawn  from  Alton, 
via  Carlyle,  to  Palestine  on  the  Wabash :  but  within  this  area 
were  large  tracts  of  wilderness  country  of  several  days  journey  in 
extent ;  the  settlements  being  mostly  scattered  along  the  borders 
of  the  great  rivers.  All  the  vast  prairies  north  of  this  line,  coin- 
prising  the  most  fertile  lands  of  the  State,  and  nearly  every  acre 
of  which  was  susceptible  of  cultivation,  ready  cleared  and  pre 
pared,  as  it  were,  for  the  hand  of  the  husbandman,  was  a  howling 
wilderness,  uninhabited  save  bv  the  red  savage  and  the  prairie 
wolf. 

The  population  of  the  new  State  for  admission  into  the  Union 
was  required  to  be  40,000 ;  the  census  of  1820  showed  55,211. 
This  was  a  remarkable  ratio  of  increase — exceeding  300  per  cen 
tum  within  the  preceding  decade — the  greater  part  of  which  had 
come  hither  since  the  close  of  the  Avar  of  1812.  Of  this  population, 
scarcely  a  twentieth  part  were  the  descendants  of  the  old  French  or 
Canadian  settlers,  whose  blood,  by  their  long  isolation,  had  become 
freely  intermingled  with  that  of  the  Indians.  Nineteen-twentieths 
of  the  residue  were  Americans,  and  with  the  exception  of  some 
from  Pennsylvania,  were  almost  wholly  from  the  southern  States. 
The  latter  stamped  their  peculiar  characteristics  of  manners  and 

*Ford's  History  Illinois, 


ADMINISTRATION.  303 


customs,  in  business  and  social  relations,  upon  all  of  southern 
Illinois,  which  are  in  great  part  retained  to  this  day.  The  means 
of  education  were  extremely  limited,  and  with  the  exception  of 
one  school  for  surveying  and  book-keeping,  the  only  branches  of 
learning  taught  at  that  time  were  spelling,  reading,  writing  and 
arithmetic.  JSTor  were  the  latter  generally  taught,  or  without  price. 
Professional  men  came  almost  invariably  from  abroad,  unless  they 
were  ministers  of  the  gospel,  who,  at  that  day,  more  than  perhaps 
at  the  present,  in  obedience  to  the  voice  of  the  Lord,  entered  at 
once  upon  their  sacred  calling  without  other  preparations  than  a 
diligent  reading  of  the  scriptures  —  the  free  quotation  of  which, 
often  without  point  or  application,  and  their  vehement  exhorta 
tions  being  about  all  that  was  expected  of  them  by  the  people. 

In  his  message  to  the  general  assembly,  January,  1819,  Governor 
Bond  reported  the  treasury  of  the  new  State  in  an  embarrassed 
condition,  and  .advised  a  temporary  loan.  The  total  revenue  of 
the  State,  due  December  1st,  1818,  was  reported  by  the  auditor 
at  $7.510  44,  part  of  which  was  in  the  hands  of  delinquent  col 
lectors,  while  for  still  another  part,  the  sheriffs'  of  St.  (Jlair  and 
Gal  la  tin  counties  had  refused  to  receive  the  warrants.  A  tempo 
rary  loan  of  $25,000  was  therefore  authorized  by  the  legislature. 
The  governor  also  advised  a  revision  and  modification  of  the  ter 
ritorial  laws  for  the  punishment  of  crimes,  the  penalties  whereof 
were  unnecessarily  severe.  But  this  the  legislature  did  not  view 
in  the  same  light,  and  no  amelioration  in  the  barbarous  penalties 
of  the  territorial  code  was  made.  They  were  re-enacted  verbatim 
(the  enacting  clause  alone  being  changed  to  conform  to  the  new 
government),  with  all  the  whippings,  the  stocks  and  pillory,  and 
death  by  hanging  for  rape,  arson,  horse-stealing,  etc.,  left  intact. 
They  were,  however,  modified  at  the  session  of  1821  ;  and  not  only 
the  criminal  code,  but  all  the  standard  laws  were  regularly  altered 
at  every  session  down  to  the  revision  of  1827.* 

The  building  of  jails  and  a  penitenitary  was  also  recommended 
by  the  governor  ;  so  also  the  leasing  of  the  school  sections  —  the 
proceeds  to  be  expended  for  education,  and  those  from  the  town 
ship  of  seminary  lands,  to  be  reserved  for  subsequent  use.  The 
governor  also  recommended  at  that  early  day,  the  taking  of  some 
steps  toward  the  construction  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  canal, 
a  work  which  was  not  accomplished,  however,  for  thirty  years 
after,  but  through  which,  at  this  writing,  by  the  enterprise  of  Chi 
cago,  the  limpid  waters  of  Lake  Michigan  course  their  way  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico. 

The  legislature  fixed  the  salaries  of  the  State  officers  as  follows  : 
Governor  and  supreme  judges,  $1000  each  ;  auditor,  $700  ;  sec 
retary  of  State,  $000  ;  treasurer,  $500  ;  payable  quarterly  out  of 
the  State  treasury.  The  per  diem  compensation  allowed  to  mem 
bers  of  the  legislature,  and  also  to  the  delegates  who  framed  the 
constitution,  was  $4,  and  to  each  of  the  presiding  officers  $5. 

The  State  revenue  was  chiefly  raised  by  a  tax  upon  lands  owned 
by  non-residents,  which  at  an  early  day  fell  almost  wholly  upon 
the  military  tract  between  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  rivers,  while 

*"For  a  long-  time  the  rage  for  amending1  and  altering1  was  so  great,  that  it  was  said  to 
be  a  grood  thing1  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  did  not  have  to  come  before  the  legislature,  for 
that  body  would  be  certain  to  alter  or  amend  them,  so  that  no  one  could  tell  what  was 
or  was  not  the  word  of  God,  any  more  than  could  be  told  what  was  or  was  not.  the  law 
of  the  State.11—  Ford's  History  111. 


304  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


the  county  revenues  were  raised  by  a  tax  on  personal  property, 
including1  slaves  or  indentured  servants,  and  by  a  resident  land 
tax.  Unlike  as  at  present,  the  valuation  of  lands  were  then  tixed 
by  law,  in  three  classes,  of  $2,  $3  and  $4  per  acre,  respectively. 
The  levies  of  taxes  were  made  according  to  the  estimates  of  the 
sums  required  to  defray  accruing  expenses,  either  State  or  county. 
Non-residents  were  required  to  enter  their  lands  for  taxation 
directly  with  the  auditor,  under  oath  as  to  class  ;  and  the  taxes 
on  their  lands  were  payable  directly  to  this  officer.  The  collection 
of  the  State  revenue  on  delinquent  lands  was  enforced  by  sending 
lists  thereof  to  the  sheriffs  of  counties  where  situated  to  be  ex 
posed  at  public  sale.  The  penalty  for  failure  of  payment  was 
three  times  the  tax  imposed  and  costs. 

A  peculiar  feature  in  the  legislation  of  the  times  was  the  mak 
ing  of  important  public  improvements  bj  means  of  private  lot 
tery  schemes.  Tims,  the  navigation  of  the  Big  Wabash  at  the 
Grand  Eapids,  near  Palmyra,  by  the  digging  of  a  canal,  was 
to  be  accomplished  by  a  lottery.  Perhaps  a  superfluous  provision 
in  the  law  was,  that  the  overplus  of  any  moneys  arising  from  the 
scheme,  should,  at  the  discretion  of  the  managers,  be  laid  out  in 
further  improvements.  Other  like  schemes  had  for  their  object 
the  drainage  of  ponds  in  the  American  Bottom,  the  building  of 
levees,  and  the  reclamation  of  lands;  all  of  them  most  worthy 
objects,  but,  as  might  have  been  expected,  the  means  provided 
were  very  inadequate  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  ends.  The 
session  of  1819,  Avas  the  last  ever  held  at  the  ancient  village  of 
Kaskaskia. 

We  have  noted  the  fact  that  the  legislature,  during  the  latter 
years  of  territorial  existence,  granted  charters  to  several  banks. 
Prior  to  that,  Ohio  and  Kentucky  had  each  a  large  number  in  oper 
ation.  Missouri  also  authorized  two  at  St.  Louis.  The  result  was 
that  paper  money  became  very  abundant,  times  flush,  credit  un 
limited,  the  throng  of  immigrants,  all  with  more  or  less  means  to 
invest  large,  and  property  rose  rapidly  in  value.  A  spirit  of  spec 
ulation  became  rife.  Towns  were  numerously  platted,  lots  pur 
chased  on  credit,  houses  built  on  promises,  government  lands 
entered  in  large  quantities — the  price  at  the  time  being  $U  per 
acre,  one-fourth  cash  (the  paper  money  of  the  banks  being  re 
ceived  at  the  land  offices,  which  also  deposited  with  the  bank), 
and  three-fourths  on  5  years  time,  under  penalty  of  forfeiture  for 
non-payment  at  maturity  of  contracts.  Everybody  invested  to 
the  utmost  limit  of  his  credit,  with  the  confident  expectation  of 
realizing  a  handsome  advance  before  the  expiration  of  his  credit, 
from  the  coming  immigrant.  The  merchants,  ever  enterprising, 
bought  vast  quantities  of  goods  on  time,  transported  hither  by  the 
increased  facilities  of  steam  navigation,  while  the  read}'  credit 
obtained  at  the  stores,  begot  extravagance  among  the  people. 
Everybody  was  inextricably  in  debt  to  everybody. 

By  1819,  it  became  apparent  that  a  day  of  reckoning  would 
approach  before  their  dreams  of  fortune  could  be  realized.  Banks 
everywhere  began  to  waver,  paper  money  became  depreciated, 
while  gold  and  silver  were  driven  out  of  circulation  by  the  irre 
deemable  currency.  The  legislature,  at  its  session  of  1819,  sought 
to  bolster  up  the  times,  or  stem  the  tide  of  approaching  .disaster, 
by  incorporating  a  new  Bank  of  Illinois,  a  monster  concern,  with 


BOND'S   ADMINISTRATION.  305 

a  capital  of  $2,000,000;  stock  was  divided  into  shares  of  $100, 
which  might  be  subscribed  by  corporations  or  individuals,  the 
State  reserving-  the  right  to  take  part  or  all  that  should  remain,  as 
the  condition  of  the  treasury  might  warrant,  whenever  the  legisla 
ture  should  deem  it  proper  to  do  so.  The  charter  was  to  run  27 
years.  When  15  percent  of  the  stock  was  paid  in,  it  was  to  go 
into  operation.  The  total  amount  of  its  debts  was  never  to  exceed 
twice  the  amount  of  paid  up  stock,  beyond  which  officers  were  to 
become  liable  individually.  It  might  deal  in  specie,  exchange,  or 
paper  pledged  by  goods  sold,  or  goods  which  might  be  the  pro 
ceeds  of  its  lands.  This  last  was  a  very  objectionable  feature. 
Books  were  opened  for  subscription  in  divers  towns,  but  not  a  dol 
lar  of  stock  was  ever  taken,  and  it  utterly  failed  to  meet  the 
exigency  of  the  times. 

By  1820,  the  banks  of  neighboring  States  were  broken,  and  those 
of  Illinois  suspended ;  specie  had  tied  the  country ;  immigrants 
came  as  moneyless  as  were  those  who  had  looked  forward  to  their 
Avell  filled  purses;  paper  towns  failed  to  grow  into  flourishing  vil 
lages  ;  trade  flagged;  there  was  no  commerce  to  bring  money  into 
the  country ;  real  estate  was  unsaleable ;  while  contracts  wildly 
entered  into,  matured.  As  the  folly  of  the  people  became  appar 
ent,  ruin  stared  them  in  the  face.  Enormous  sacrifices  of  property 
under  prospective  executions  must  ensue,  unless  some  scheme  for 
relief  could  be  devised.  In  August,  1820,  a  new  legislature  was 
elected.  The  genius  of  this  body  was  invoked  on  the  behalf  of 
the  embarassed  people.  At  its  session  of  1820-21,  it  willingly 
addressed  itself  to  this  work,  and  evolved  the  "  Illinois  State 
Bank"  with  a  capital  of  half  a  million  dollars,  based  entirely  upon 
the  credit  of  the  State. 

The  bills  of  this  bank,  issued  in  from  $1  to  $20  notes,  were,  by 
section  12,  directed  to  be  loaned  to  the  people  in  sums  of  $100  on 
personal  security,  deemed  to  be,  in  the  opinion  of  the  board,  good 
and  sufficient ;  and  all  sums  over  $100 — not  to  exceed  $1,000  to 
any  one  borrower — on  real  estate  security  of  double  value.  In- 
teresf  was  six  per  cent.  To  bring  the  bank  nearer  to  the  people, 
a  mother  bank  was  located  at  Vandalia  with  branches  well  distrib 
uted — at  Edwardsville,  Brownsville,  Shawneetown  and  the  county 
seat  of  Edwards  county — the  State,  for  the  convenience  of  the 
public,  being  apportioned  into  4  bank  districts.  Each  county  was 
entitled  to  a  director,  who  with  the  bank  officers,  were  all  elected 
by  the  legislature.  The  notes  were  made  receivable  in  payment  of  all 
State  and  county  taxes,  costs  and  fees,  and  the  salaries  of  the  pub 
lic  officers  were  payable  in  them.  They  were  also  made  a  species 
of  legal  tender,  for  unless  an  execution  creditor  endorsed  his  exe 
cution  "The  bills  of  the  State  Bank  of  Illinois,  or  either  of  the 
branches,  will  be  received  in  discharge  of  this  execution,"  the  de 
fendant  was  entitled  to  three  years  stay  by  replevy  and  personal 
security,  a  most  unjust  feature.  Three  hundred  thousand  dollars 
were  ordered  to  be  issued  immediately,  to  be  distributed  among  the 
respective  districts  in  proportion  to  the  inhabitants  thereof.  When 
the  banks  commenced  operation,  every  one  who  was  able  to  fur 
nish  security,  borrowed  his  $100,  and  those  with  lands  unencum 
bered,  took  their  $1000  on  mortgages ;  and  as  both  officers  and 
directors  were  mostly  politicians  looking  forward  to  place  or  polit- 
cal  advancement,  few  applicants,  it  has  been  inferred,  were  denied 
20 


306  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

or  had  their  endorsers  closely  scrutinized  ;  thus  the  $300,000  were 
soon  absorbed  by  the  people,  and  little  of  it  was  ever  paid  back. 
Many  of  those  who  received  accommodations,  regarded  it  from  the 
start  as  "  so  much  clear  gain,"  and  neither  did  nor  intended  to  pay. 
although  at  the  subsequent  depreciation  of  the  currency  it  was 
not  difficult  to  do  so. 

The  issues  bore  2  per  cent  annual  interest,  and  were  redeemable 
by  the  State  in  10  years  time,  which  constituted  them  in  fact  bills 
of  credit,  whose  emission  is  inimical  to  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States.*  About  this  point,  no  trouble  was  made  however, 
other  than  that  the  council  of  revision  pointed  out  this  among 
other  objections  to  the  bill ;  but  it  was  promptly  passed  notwith 
standing,  Although  no  provision  was  made  for  the  conversion  of 
the  notes  into  specie  at  any  time,  it  was,  nevertheless,  confidently 
believed  that  the  bills  would  keep  at  par  with  gold  and  silver,  and 
our  delegation  in  congress  was  gravely  instructed  to  use  their 
utmost  exertion  to  procure  them  to  be  made  receivable  at  the  land 
offices  in  this  State.  "  When  this  resolution  was  put  to  a  vote  in 
the  senate,  the  old  French  lieutenant-governor,  Colonel  Menard, 
presiding  over  that  body,  did  up  the  business  as  follows:  Gentle 
men  of  de  senate,  it  is  moved  and  seconded  dat  de  notes  of  dis 
bank  be  made  land  office  money.  All  in  favor  of  dat  motion  say 
aye  ;  all  against  it,  say  no.  It  is  decided  in  de  affirmative.  And 
now,  gentlemen,  I  bet  you  $100  he  never  be  made  land  office  money. "j 
Such  proved  to  be  the  fact. 

The  legislature  were  not  unadvised  of  their  infatuation.  John 
McLean,  subsequently  a  senator  in  congress,  was  speaker  of 
the  house.  He  was  opposed  to  the  measure,  and  his  power  as 
a  forcible  debater  was  justly  dreaded  by  the  bank  men.  It  is 
rulable  to  debate  all  important  bills  in  committee  of  the  whole, 
that  tile  speaker  may  participate.  To  avoid  an  arraignment  of 
their  bantling  by  him,  the  bank  majority  resorted  to  the  trick  of 
refusing  to  go  into  committee  of  the  whole.  Burning  with  indig 
nation  at  such  treatment,  he  promptly  resigned  the  speakerslrip, 
and  taking  the  floor,  denounced  in  scathing  terms  the  expensive 
folly  of  the  scheme,  presaging  the  injurious  results  which  must 
inevitably  flow  from  its  passage,  involving  creditors  in  ruin  and 
the  State  in  bankruptcy.  But  it  was  pre-determined  to  pass  the 
bill,  which  was  done  over  the  veto  by  the  requisite  majority.  The 
issues  of  the  bank  did  not  long  remain  at  par ;  as  their  worthless- 
ness  became  apparent,  good  money  was  driven  out  of  circulation. 
This  was  particularly  so  with  small  coins,  and  it  became  so  diffi 
cult  to  make  change  that  bills  had  to  be  cut  in  two.  By  various 
steps,  they  depreciated  to  25  cents  on  the  dollar;  and  with  this 
worthless  State  currency  were  the  people  cursed  for  a  period  ex 
ceeding  four  years.  By  the  year  1824,  their  depreciation  had  the 
effect  to  almost  impede  the  wheels  of  government.  The  ordinary 
revenue  for  State  purposes,  amounting  to  some  $30,000  annually, 
was  raised  by  a  tax  on  lands  belonging  to  non-residents ;  the  expen 
ditures  in  good  money  equaled  the  revenue.  As  taxes  might  be 
paid  in  bills  of  the  State  bank,  non-residents,  as  well  as  residents, 
availed  themselves  of  the  depreciated  currency  for  this  purpose. 
Taxes  from  non-residents  Avere  collected  biennially — an  unfair  ad- 

*Crai°r  vs.  the  State  of  Missouri.— Supreme  court  of  the  U.  S. 
tForcfs  Illinois. 


BOND'S  ADMINISTRATION.  307 

vantage  over  residents  whose  tax  went  into  the  county  treasuries. 
But  the  latter,  in  many  instances,  resorted  to  the  artifice  of  listing 
their  lands  in  the  names  of  unknown  or  fictitious  persons  sup 
posed  to  be  non-residents,  gaining  thus  the  same  advantages, 
which  was  a  prolific  source  of  injury  to  many  counties.  While 
the  State  thus  nominally  received  its  full  revenue,  it  was  in  point 
of  fact  worth  only  one-fourth,  or  one-third,  as  much  as  good  money. 
Under  these  circumstances,  the  legislature,  the  department  of  the 
government  that  had  made  the  bills  a  quasi  legal-tender  which  an 
execution  creditor  was  compelled  to  take  or  wait  three  years  for 
his  pay — than  which  nothing  could  be  more  unjust— hesitated  not 
to  commit  the  enormity  of  voting  themselves,  the  State  officials, 
judges,  and  for  other  expenses,  their  per  diem  compensation,  sala 
ries,  etc.,  in  treble  the  amount  of  auditor's  warrants,  rated  with  the 
depreciated  stuff  to  equal  in  value  good  money.  Thus  while  the 
ordinary  expenses  of  the  State  government  were  $30,000  annually, 
by  these  practics  they  were  swollen  to  $90,000,  which  the  tax-pay 
ers  had  ultimately  to  foot,  ^ever  was  law  more  dishonorable. 
With  such  examples  from  their  law  makers,  what  would  have  been 
the  moral  effect  upon  the  people  had  they  been  influenced  by  them. 
A  crumb  was,  however,  thrown  to  the  latter.  It  was  enacted  for 
the  accommodation  of  the  debtors — the  larger  class,  but  again 
most  unjustly  to  the  creditors — authorizing  the  rendering  of  judg 
ments  against  them  for  only  one-third  of  their  debts,  and  exempting, 
by  another  act,  all  real  property,  other  than  mortgaged  lands,  "from 
liability  to  satisfy  judgments  for  said  debts." 

This  banking  folly,  not  to  characterize  it  worse,  is  said  to  have 
cost  the  State,  first  and  last,  during  the  ten  years  for  which  its 
charter  was  to  run,  the  full  amount  of  the  authorized  issue,  $500,- 
000,  though  $300,000  was  all  that  was  ever  actually  issued.  Its 
pernicious  influence  on  the  general  prosperity  of  the  State,  and 
its  damaging  effects  upon  the  revenue,  became  speedily  so  palpa 
ble  that  no  legislature  possessed  hardihood  enough  to  encounter 
the  public  resentment  by  proposing  that  the  State'  issue  the 
remaiming  $2000,000  provided  for  in  the  charter.  Still  issuing 
auditor's  warrants  and  paying  them  out  at  $3  for  $1  to  defray 
State  expenses  generally,  as  authorized  by  the  legislature,  was 
infinitely  worse.  In  1825,  the  State  thus  paid  out  $107,000  in  au 
ditor's  warrants  when  its  ordinary  annual  expenses  in  good  money 
would  not  at  the  uttermost  have  exceeded  $35,000.  This  was 
equivalent  to  borrowing  money  at  200  per  centum  interest — a  most 
ruinous  policy  if  well  followed. 

The  current  expenses  of  the  principal  bank  for  the  year  1824, 
exceeded  the  discounts  by  $2,403  90.  Without  ever  meeting  the 
fond  expectations  of  its  friends — unless  it  was  in  the  contrivance 
of  robbing  the  creditor  class  for  the  benefit  and  relief  of  the 
debtor  class — without  observing  any  of  its  promises,  the  old  bank, 
a  frightful  source  of  legislation  all  its  life,  lingered  out  the  allotted 
time  of  charter,  and  was  finally  wound  up  by  the  State  in  1831. 
This  was  done  by  means  of  the  "Wiggins  loan"  of  $100,000, 
which  gave  to  the  State  the  requisite  funds.  This  loan  was  for 
a  long  time,  unpopular  in  many  sections  of  the  State,  where  it 
was  currently  believed,  it  is  said,  that  the  State  was  sold  to  Wig 
gins.  It  has  been  asserted  that  if  the  State  had  originally 
assumed  directly  and  gratuitously  the  obligations  of  the  clamorous 


308  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

debtors,  it  would  have  proved  less  expensive  to  the  treasury  j  cer 
tainly  less  injurious  to  its  credit. 

At  the  session  of  1821,  the  counties  of  Greene,  Fayette,  Mont 
gomery,  Lawrence,  Hamilton,  Sangamon  and  Pike,  the  latter 
including  all  the  State  north  and  west  of  the  Illinois  river  and 
wh#t  is  now  Cook,  were  established.  Applications  for  the  author 
ity  to  form  new  counties  poured  in  so  rapidly  that  the  legislature 
provided  for  12  weeks  publication  of  their  intentions  before  the 
petitions  of  parties  would  in  future  be  entertained.  A  joint  reso 
lution  was  passed  requesting  of  Kentucky  concurrent  jurisdiction 
on  the  Ohio  river,  so  far  as  the  same  forms  a  common  boundary  to 
both  States,  which  has  been  conceded  by  that  State. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 
1822-1826— ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOVERNOR  COLES. 

A  resume  of  Slavery  in  Illinois  from  its  earliest  date — Indentured 
Slaves — Black  Laws — Kidnapping — Life  and  Character  of  Gov. 
Coles — The  effort  to  make  Illinois  a  Slave  State  in  1824. 


The  general  election  of  August,  1822,  resulted  in  the  choice  of 
Edward  Coles  as  governor,  by  a  plurality  of  votes  over  his  prin 
cipal  opponent,  Joseph  Phillips,  then  chief  justice  of  the  State. 
There  were  two  other  candidates  in  the  field,  Thomas  0.  Brown, 
associate  justice  of  the  supreme  court,  and  Major  General  James 
B.  Moore,  of  the  State  militia.  Adolphus  Frederick  Hubbard  was 
elected  lieutenant  governor.  The  other  candidates  for  lieutenant 
governor  were  James  Lemon,  jr.,  John  G.  Loften,  Win.  Pine,  and 
James  A.  Peacock. 

Into  this  election  the  question  of  slavery  entered  to  a  very  con 
siderable  extent,  Coles  and  Moore  being  anti,  and  Phillips  and 
Brown  pro-slavery.  The  country  had  but  just  emerged  from  the 
angry  contest  over  that  subject  as  connected  with  the  admission 
of  Missouri  into  the  Union,  in  which  our  senators  in  congress, 
Messrs.  Edwards  and  Thomas,  had  taken  a  leading  part,  being  the 
originators  of  the  compromise  line  of  30  degress  and  30  minutes, 
while  our  member  of  the  House,  Daniel  P.  Cook,  with  much  vigor 
had  opposed  the  admission  of  Missouri  as  a  slave  State.  Thomas' 
term  as  senator  would  expire  with,  the  existing  congress,  and  he 
looked  forward  to  an  approval  of  his  course  in  congress  and  a  re 
election.  Of  the  legislature  chosen  at  the  same  election,  a  majority 
was  against  the  governor  in  his  anti-slavery  views.  But  the  sub 
ject  of  principal  interest  during  his  administration  was  the 
convention  struggling  to  make  Illinois  a  slave  State.  To  give  the 
reader  a  more  connected  idea,  we  have  heretofore  purposely  omitted 
to  present  in  chronological  order  the  kindred  subjects  constituting 
the  heading  of  this  chapter,  and  now  group  them  together. 

African  slaves  were  first  brought  to  Illinois  in  1720  by  Renault, 
agent  and  business  manager  of  the  "Company  of  St.  Phillips." 
The  belief  obtained  in  France  at  that  time  that  the  wealth  of  the 
western  world  consisted  in  its  pearl  fisheries,  its  mines  of  gold  and 
silver,  and  the  wool  of  its  wild  cattle.*  A  monopoly  of  these 
resources  with  many  others,  was  first  granted  by  the  King  to  Crozat 
in  1812,  and  upon  Iris  resignation  in  1717,  to  the  great  "Company 
of  the  West,"  of  which  the  St.  Phillips  was  a  branch.  Renault 
left  France  in  1719  with  a  cargo  of  mechanics,  miners  and  laborers 

•Charlevoix,  iii,  389. 

309 


310  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

numbering  some  200,  and  on  his  way  hither  touched  with  his  vessels 
at  San  Domingo,  where  lie  purchased  500  slaves,  and  thus  pre 
pared  to  prosecute  the  objects  of  the  company,  he  arrived  in 
Illinois.  He  founded  the  village  of  "St.  Phillips,"  in  what  is  now 
the  southeast  corner  of  Monroe  county,  whence  he  sent  out  explor 
ing  parties  to  various  sections  in  Illinois  and  Missouri,  to  prospect 
for  the  precious  metals.  In  1744,  before  his  return  to  France, 
Renault  sold  these  slaves  to  the  French  colonists  of  Illinois. 
Vivier,  a  missionary  among  the  Illinois,  six  leagues  from  Fort 
Chartres,  under  date  of  June  8,  1750,  writes:  "We  have  here, 
whites,  negroes,  and  Indians,  to  say  nothing  of  the  cross  breeds. 
There  are  five  French  villages,  and  three  of  the  natives,  within  a 
space  of  21  leagues,  situated  between  the  Mississippi  and  another 
river  called  the  Kaskaskia.  In  the  five  French  villages  are, 
perhaps,  1,100  whites,  300  blacks,  and  some  GO  red  slaves  or 
savages.  The  three  Illinois  [Indian]  towns  do  not  contain  more 
than  800  souls,  all  told."  These  San  Domingo  slaves  thus  intro 
duced  became  the  progenitors  of  the  French  slaves  in 
Illinois. 

The  edict  of  Louis  the  XIII,  dated  April  23, 1615,  first  recognized 
slavery  in  the  French  possessions  of  America,  and  the  French 
settlers  of  Illinois  brought'  with  them  from  Canada  the  French 
laws  and  customs,  among  them  the  law  which  tolerated  slavery. 
In  March,  1724,  Louis  XV  published  an  ordinance  reenacting  the 
edict  of  XIII,  and  for  the  "regulation  of  the  government  and 
administration  of  justice,  police,  disciple,  and  traffic  in  negro  slaves 
in  the  province  of  Louisiana,77  which  included  Illinois.  It  provides 
that  the  slaves  be  baptized  and  instructed  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
religion  and  that  they  observe  the  Sabbath  ;  prohibits  the  inter 
marriage  of  whites  and  blacks,  under  penalties,  and  the  priests 
from  solemnizing  such  marriages;  provides  that  the  children  of 
slaves  shall  be  bondsmen,  or  if  one  parent  is  free  the  children  shall 
follow  the  condition  of  the  mother;  that  slaves  enfeebled  by  age  or 
infirmity  shall  be  maintained  by  the  master;  allows  the  master  to 
pursue  and  recapture  fugitives;  prohibits  their  severe  treatment, 
and  the  separate  sale  of  husband  or  wife,  or  children  under  age, 
of  a  family,  either  by  bill  or  execution  ;  provides  that  no  slave 
over  forty  years  old  attached  to  lands,  shall  be  sold  from  the  land, 
unless  for  the  debt  of  his  purchase;  enjoins  their  parental  treat 
ment  upon  the  masters,  &c.  The  edict  contains  55  articles,  and 
may  be  found  at  large  in  Dillon's  History  of  Indiana,  i,  31.  It 
was  more  just,  and  tempered  with  greater  mercy,  than  most  laws 
of  that  character. 

Thus  was  slavery  originally  established  in  Illinois.  By  the  peace 
concluded  at  Paris,  Feb.  10, 1763,  this  country,  as  a  dependency  of 
Canada,  was  ceded  to  Great  Britain,  and  when  General  Gage  took 
possession  of  Illinois,  he  promised  in  his  proclamation  of  Dec.  30, 
1764,  to  the  late  subjects  of  France,  "that  those  who  choose  to 
retain  their  lands  and  become  subjects  of  his  [Britanic]  majesty, 
shall  enjoy  the  same  rights  and  privileges,  the  same  security  for 
their  persons  and  effects,  and  liberty  of  trade,  as  the  old  subjects 
of  the  king."  At  this  period  England  recognized  slavery  in  all 
her  American  colonies,  and  the  acquisition  of  Canada  and  its 
dependencies  operated  to  extend  her  colonial  laws  and  customs  to 
these. 


COLES7  ADMINISTRATION.  311 

Next,  Virginia,  1778,  through  her  expedition  under  the  command 
of  George  Rogers  Clark,  made  the  conquest  of  Illinois,  and  as  soon, 
as  the  news  was  received,  her  house  of  burgesses  further  declared  as 
within  her  chartered  limits  the  whole  of  the  northwest  territory,  and 
proceeded  by  act  to  erect  it  into  a  county  which  was  called  Illinois, 
and  extended  over  this  country  her  laws  and  jurisdiction.  The 
preamble  of  the  act  recites,  "that  the  inhabitants  had  acknowledged 
themselves  citizens  of  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia,  and  had 
taken  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  State,"  wherefore  it  was  declared 
"that  they  should  enjoy  their  own  religion,  with  all  their  civil  rights 
and  property.'-'  Other  States  came  forward  with  charter  claims, 
but  that  of  Virginia  was  as  broad  as  these ;  added  to  which  was 
her  title  by  conquest,  going  back  to  the  first  principles  by  Avhich 
all  titles  are  originally  deduced,  and  her  actual  occupation  con 
stituting  the  best  of  tenures;  and  while  it  was  urged  that  the  latter 
could  not  operate  against  her  confederate  claimant  sister  States, 
engaged  in  a  common  war  jointly  with  her,  congress  did  not  deny 
the  right  of  her  separate  conquest.  After  some  hesitation,  Vir 
ginia  finally  authorized  her  delegates  in  congress  to  convey  all  of 
the  northwestern  territory  to  the  United  States.  The  deed 
of  cession  was  executed  March  1st,  1784,  the  same  day  accepted 
and  by  congress  ordered  to  be  enrolled  among  the  public  archives. 
In  the  meantime,  by  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Great  Britain,  in 
1783,  the  whole  of  this  country  was  ceded  to  the  United  States. 

The  following  stipulation  in  the  deed  of  cession  has  given  rise 
to  much  controversy  in  the  history  of  slavery  in  Illinois :  "  That 
the  French  and  Canadian  inhabitants  and  other  settlers  of  the 
Kaskaskias,  St.  Vincents,  and  the  neighboring  villages,  who  have 
professed  themselves  citizens  of  the  State  of  Virginia,  shall  have 
their  possessions  and  titles  confirmed  to  them,  and  be  protected  in 
the  enjoyment  of  their  rights  and  liberties." 

The  first  effort  made  by  congress  to  organize  the  northwestern 
territory  was  as  early  as  1784.  The  bill  contained  the  provision, 
"that  after  the  year  1800  there  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  invol 
untary  servitude  in  any  of  the  said  States,"  to  be  formed  out  of  the 
territory.  When  the  bill  came  up  for  action,  the  proviso,  on  a 
separate  vote,  failed,  although  6  States  voted  for  it  to  3  against ; 
but  under  the  articles  of  confederation  the  vote  of  9  States  was 
required  to  carry  a  measure. 

On  the  13th  of  July,  1787,  congress  adopted  the  ordinance  for 
the  government  of  the  territories  northwest  of  the  river  Ohio,  the 
6th  article  whereof  reads  as  follows:  "There  shall  be  neither 
slavery  iior  involuntary  servitude  in  the  said  territory,  otherwise 
than  in  punishment  of  crimes  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been 
duly  convicted."  The  ordinance  was  subsequently  approved  under 
the  constitution,  when  the  latter  went  into  operation.  The  acts  of 
congress  dividing  the  territory,  both  in  the  case  of  Indiana  and 
Illinois,  extended  to  the  inhabitants  of  each,  all  and  singular  the 
rights,  privileges,  and  advantages  granted  by  the  ordinance 
originally,  as  we  have  seen.  The  census  of  1800  gave  the  number 
of  slaves  in  the  Indiana  territory,  which  then  included  Illinois,  as 
133.  In  1810  Illinois  separately  had  168  slaves;  in  1820,917,  which 
probably  included  indentured  and  registered  servants,  and  in  1830, 
746. 


312  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

The  6th  article  of  the  ordinance  of  1787,  prohibiting  slavery, 
became  at  an  early  period  a  subject  of  repeated  complaints.  In 
17(J6  four  persons  in  Kaskaskia,  doubtless  picturing  to  themselves 
in  golden  colors  the  ease  and  affluence  incident  to  slave  labor, 
petitioned  congress  to  suspend  the  restriction  of  the  ordinance. 
November  22,  1802,  Gov.  Harrison,  in  compliance  with  the  Avishes 
of  a  number  of  inhabitants,  but  with  what  legal  right  it  is  difficult 
to  conceive,  issued  his  proclamation  directing  the  people  to  hold 
an  election  in  the  several  counties  of  the  territory  on  the  llth  of 
December  and  choose  delegates,  who  were  to  meet'in  convention  at 
Vincennes  on  the  20th  instant,  to  deliberate  on  "territorial  inter 
ests."  From  Illinois,  for  the  county  of  St.  Glair,  Shadrach  Bond, 
John  Moredock,  and  Jean  F.  Perry  were  returned,  and  for 
Randolph,  Robert  Morrison,  Pierre  Menard,  and  Robert  Reynolds; 
GOT.  Harrison  presided.  The  object  was  to  obtain  from  congress 
a  repeal  or  modification  of  the  6th  article  of  the  organic  act, 
prohibiting  the  introduction  of  slaves  into  this  territory. 

A  memorial  was  prepared  and  transmitted  to  congress,  declaring 
the  consent  of  the  people  to  a  suspension  of  the  prohibitory 
clause;  that  such  suspension  would  be  highly  advantageous  to  the 
territory  and  would  meet  the  approbation  of  nine-tenths  of  the 
good  citizens"  thereof;  that  ''inasmuch  as  the  number  of  slaves 
in  the  United  States  would  not  be  augmented  by  the  measure," 
the  abstract  question  of  liberty  and  slavery  was  not  involved; 
that  the  introduction  of  slaves  into  the  territory  where  labor  was 
scarce,  from  the  States  where  it  was  abundant,  would  prove  equally 
advantageous  to  both  sections;  that  slavery  was  prohibited  in  the 
territory  by  congress  when  "they  were  not  represented  in  that 
body — without  their  being  consulted  and  without  their  knowledge 
or  approbation;"  that  the  number  of  slaves  could  never  bear  such 
a  ratio  to  the  white  population  "as  to  endanger  the  internal  peace 
or  prosperity  of  the  country;  that  slaves  AV ere  tolerated  in  other 
territories;  that  among  their  small  farmers  they  would  be  "better 
fed  and  clothed  than  where  they  were  crowded  on  large  plantations 
by  hundreds,"  etc.* 

In  March,  1803,  Mr.  Randolph,  of  Virginia,  as  chairman  of  the 
special  committee,  reported  that  "the  rapidly  increasing  popula 
tion  of  the  State  of  Ohio  sufficiently  evinces,  in  the  opinion  of  your 
committee,  that  the  labor  of  slaves  is  not  necessary  to  promote 
the  growth  and  settlement  of  colonies  in  that  region.  That  this 
labor,  denionstrably  the  dearest  of  any,  can  only  be  employed  to 
advantage  in  the  cultivation  of  products  more  valuable  than  any 
known  to  that  quarter  of  the  United  States ;  that  the  committee 
deem  it  highly  dangerous  and  inexpedient  to  impair  a  provision 
wisely  calculated  to  promote  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the 
northwestern  country,  and  to  give  strength  and  security  to  that 
extensive  frontier.  In  the  salutary  operation  of  this  sagacious 
and  benevolent  restraint,  it  is  believed  that  the  inhabitants  will, 
at  no  very  distant  day,  find  ample  remuneration  for  a  temporary 
privation  of  labor  and  immigration."  How  prophetically  true ! 
A  resolution  embodying  these  views  was  also  reported. 

This  report,  made  just  before  the  close  of  the  session,  was  not 
acted  upon,  and  at  the  next  session  was  referred  to  a  new  com 
mittee,  with  Mr.  Rodney,  of  Delaware,  as  chairman,  who  reported 

*8ee  Annals  oi  Congress,  House,  Nov.  1807. 


COLES    ADMINISTRATION.  313 


Feb.  4,  1804,  favorably  to  the  memorialists,  suspending  the  Oth 
article  for  ten  years,  allowing  the  importation  of  slaves  from  States 
only,  and  that  the  male  descendents  should  be  free  at  25  and  the 
females  at  21 ;  but  110  action  was  had  on  the  report.  Again,  at 
the  legislative  session  of  1805-6,  additional  memorials  of  similar 
import  were  prepared  and  submitted  to  congress,  and  in  the  House 
referred  to  a  select  committee,  with  Mr.  Garnett,  of  Virginia,  as 
chairman;  and  again  a  favorable  report  to  the  prayer  of  the 
memorialists  was  made,  Feb.  14,  concluding  with  a  resolution  sub 
stantially  like  the  one  of  Mr.  Rodney.  The  report  was  made  the 
special  order  for  a  certain  day,  but  it  was  never  called  up.  With 
the  opening  of  the  next  congress,  more  resolutions  from  the  Indiana 
legislature  transmitted  by  Gov.  Harrison,  were  presented,  urging 
in  a  long  preamble  a  suspension  of  the  6th  article  of  the  ordinance. 
The  subject  was  finally  referred  to  a  special  committee,  this  time 
with  Mr.  Parke,  the  territorial  delegate,  as  chairman,  and  for  the 
third  time  a  favorable  report  Avas  made,  together  with  a  resolution 
.suspending  the  obnoxious  article;  but  no  action  was  had  and  the 
report  slept  with  its  predecessors.  Simultaneously  with  these  im 
portunities  upon  the  House,  copies  of  memorials  and  resolutions 
were  also  transmitted  to  the  president  and  by  him  sent  to  the 
senate. 

But  while  those  favorable  to  throwing  open  the  territory  to  the 
influx  of  slaves  were  active,  the  opponents  Avere  not  idle.  In 
October,  1807,  a  large  and  enthusiastic  meeting  of  the  citizens  Avas 
held  in  Clark  county,  Indiana,  and  a  remonstrance  drafted  ex 
pressive  of  the  impropriety  of  the  suspension,  and  soliciting  con 
gress  to  defer  action  until  their  population  should  entitle  them  to 
form  a  constitution,  etc.  They  also  charged  that  the  slave  party,  by 
some  "legerdemain,"  obtained  the  name  of  the  president  of  the 
legislative  council  to  the  last  resolutions  sent  to  congress,  which  he 
denies  signing.  In  the  senate  a  committee,  consisting  of  Franklin, 
of  North  Carolina:  Kitcliell,  of  New  Jersey,  and  Tiffin,  of  Ohio, 
was  appointed,  to  which  the  whole  subject  Avas  referred.  After 
duly  considering  the  matter,  they  reported  adversely  to  the  pray 
er  of  the  legislate  memorialists.  Thus  ended  the  very  per 
sistent,  but  happily  abortive,  efforts  to  throw  open  the  doors  of 
this  vast  and  fertile  region  to  the  blighting  influences  of  slavery. 
Not  the  people  at  home,  but  congress  sitting  at  Washington,  saved 
us  from  this  curse. 

Notwithstanding  the  words  of  the  ordinance,  u  there  shall  be 
neither  slavery  or  involuntary  servitude  in  said  territory,77  it  Avas 
very  early  contended  that  the  words  in  the  deed  of -cession  from 
Virginia — "  shall  have  their  possessions  and  titles  confirmed"- 
guaranteed  to  the  holders  of  these  slaATes  a  right  of  property  in 
them;  that  this  provision  in  the  deed  overrode  the  ordinance  and 
secured  them  a  A^ested  right  for  all  time  in  that  species  of  prop 
erty  ;  that  slavery  in  the  territories  was  not  abolished,  but  its  further 
introduction  simply  prohibited ;  that  these  slaves  were  the  prop 
erty  of  citizens  of  Virginia,  or  were  then  the  descendants  of  such 
slaves,  and  remained  slaves  by  the  compact  entered  into  between 
the  State  of  Virginia  and  the  general  government.  And  although 
others  contended  that  the  Avords  "titles,77  "  possessions,77 "  rights77 
and  "liberty,77  in  the  deed  of  cession,  "  were  never  intended  by 
Virginia  to  guarantee  the  possessions  of  slaA^es,77  still  all  that  class 


314  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


of  persons  were  held  as  slaves,  and  the  rightf illness  of  their  ten 
ure  Avas  not  brought  before  the  proper  tribunal  in  this  State  until 
the  year  1845. 

The  first  decision  sustaining  the  sixth  article  of  the  ordinance  of 
1787,  was  made  by  the  supreme  court  of  Indiana.  Next,  by  that 
of  Missouri.*  In  the  former,  the  mother  of  plaintiff  had  been  a 
slave  in  Virginia,  AAras  taken  to  Illinois  before  the  ordinance  of 
1787,  held  in  slavery  there  before  and  after  its  passage,  and  there 
the  plaintiff  was  born  after  its  passage.  It  was  held  that  she  was 
free.  In  the  case  of  Menard  vs.  Aspasia,!  the  mother  of  Aspasia 
Avas  born  in  Illinois  before  the  ordinance,  and  held  as  a  slave  from 
birth.  Aspasia  Avas  born  after  the  ordinance,  at  Kaskaskia,  and 
held  as  a  slave.  The  supreme  court  of  Missouri  held  that  she 
Avas  entitled  to  her  freedom,  and  upon  a  writ  of  error  to  the  su 
preme  court  of  the  United  States,  that  court  declined  jurisdiction, 
which  affirmed  the  judgment  below.  In  1845,  for  the  first  and 
only  time,  Avas  the  question  brought  squarely  before  the  supreme 
court  of  this  State,  and  it  was  decided  that  the  descendants  of- 
the  slaA^es  of  the.  old  French  settlers,  born  since  the  adoption 
of  the  ordinance  of  1787,  or  before,  or  since  the  constitution,  could 
not  be  held  in  slavery  in  Illinois.! 

Indentured  and  Registered  Slaves. — Failing  in  their  effort  with 
congress  to  modify  the  restriction  of  the  organic  law  with  regard 
to  slavery,  the  next  step  to  compass  the  same  result,  was  by  the 
law-making  powers  of  the  territory,  both  of  the  1st  and  2d  grades, 
and  in  defiance  of  the  prohibition,  a  law  was  adopted  entitled  "  an 
act  concerning  the  introduction  of  negroes  and  mulattoes  into  this 
territory."  The  act  bears  date  September  17. 1807,  but  this  sim 
ply  means  that  it  was  reported  among  the  revised  laws  by  Jones 
and  Johnson,  the  whole  batch  of  which  was  re-adopted  on  that 
day  at  Vinceunes.  It  was  a  law  adopted  by  the  first  grade  of  ter 
ritorial  government.  The  first  general  assembly  met  at  Vincennes 
July  20,  1805,  yet  more  than  a  year  previous,  April  0,  1804,  Gov 
ernor  Harrison,  learning  that  certain  persons  were  about  to  remove 
a  number  of  indentured  persons  from  the  territory  for  the  pur 
pose  of  selling  them  as  slaves,  issued  a  proclamation  forbidding 
their  remoA'al  and  calling  upon  the  civil  authorities  to  interpose. 
We  quote  from  the  law  of  1807  : 

"SECTION  1.  It  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  any  person,  being  the 
owner  of  any  negroes  or  mulattoes  of  and  above  the  age  of  15  years,  and 
owing  service  and  labor  as  slaves  in.  any  of  the  States  or  territories  of  the 
United  States,  or  for  any  citizen  of  the  United  States  or  territories, 
purchasing  the  same,  to  bring  the  said  negroes  or  mulattoes  into  this 
territory." 

Section  2  proATided,  that  within  30  days  after  bringing  the  slaves  into 
the  territory,  the  owner  or  master  should  take  them  before  the  clerk  of  the 
court  and  have  an  indenture  between  the  slave  and  his  owner  entered 
upon  record,  specifying  the  time  which  the  slave  was  compelled  to  serve 
his  master;  [the  term  being  generally  fixed  at  99  years,  a  period  beyond 
the  ordinary  term  of  human  life]. 

Section  3  guarded  the  property  of  the  master  against  loss  by  allowing 
him,  in  the  event  of  the  slave  refusing  to  enter  into  such  agreement  or 
indenture,  to  have  the  lawful  right,  Avithin  60  days,  to  remove  such  slave 
to  any  State  or  territory  where  such  property  could  be  legally  held. 

*John  Murry  vs.  Tiffin  and  Menard,  1  Mo.  R.  725. 

*5th  Peters,  510. 

$See  2d  Oilman,  p.  1 — Jarrot  vs.  Jarrot. 


COLES'  ADMINISTRATION.  315 

The  4th  section  prescribed  the  manner  of  correcting  the  ser 
vant  for  laziness,  misbehaviour,  or  disorderly  conduct,  the  pun 
ishinent  being  chastisement  with  "  stripes." 

'•Sue.  5.  Any  person  removing  into  this  territory,  and  being  the 
owner  of  any  negro  or  mulatto  under  the  age  of  15  years,  it  shall  and  may 
be  law  ul  tor  such  person,  owner  or  possessor  to  hold  the  said  negro  or 
mulatto  to  service  or  labor,  the  males  until  they  arrive  at  the  age  of  35 
and  the  females  until  they  arrive  at  the  age  of  32  years. 

"Si:c.  13.  The  children  born  in  this  territory  of  a  parent  of  color, 
owing  service  of  labor  by  indenture,  according  to  the  law,  shall  serve 
the  master  or  mistress,  the  males  until  the  age  of  30,  and  females  until 
the  age  of  28  years." 

The  other  sections  of  the  act  were  all  in  harmony  with  the  pur 
pose  to  introduce,  maintain  and  protect  slavery  in  Illinois  in  defi 
ance  of  the  ordinance  of  1787.  Slavery  was  thus  not  only 
introduced,  but  made  hereditary,  by  imposing  upon  the  children 
born  under  it  the  obligation  to  serve  the  owners  of  their  parents 
until  28  and  30  years.  It  also  pointed  out  the  mode  in  which  the 
master  might  sell  his  servants  by  an  assignment  of  the  indenture 
by  which  these  people  were  made  commerce,  as  completely  as 
if  in  a  condition  of  absolute  slavery. 

After  the  organization  of  the  Illinois  territory  in  1800,  the  governor 
and  judges  adopted  the  same  act  as  the  law  of  Illinois,  and  upon 
the  assembling  of  the  first  legislature  at  Kaskaskia,  it  was,  De 
cember  13, 1812,  re-adopted.  The  law  was,  to  all  intents  and  pur 
poses,  void  under  the  ordinance  of  1787.  In  the  case  of  Phoebe 
vs.  Jarrot,*  of  the  supreme  court,  Lockwood,  judge,  decided  that 
the  act  of  September  17,  1807,  respecting  the  introduction  of  ne 
groes  and  niulattoes  into  the  territory,  was  void,  as  being  repug 
nant  to  the  sixth  article  of  the  ordinance  of  1787.  But  it  was 
further  held  that  the  contracts  of  indenture  under  that  law  were 
rendered  valid  by  the  third  section  of  the  sixth  article  of  the  State 
constitution : 

"Each  and  every  person  who  has  been  bound  to  service  by  contract  or 
indenture  in  virtue  of  the  laws  of  Illinois  territory  heretofore  existing, 
and  in  conformity  to  the  provisions  of  the  same,  without  fraud  or  collu 
sion,  shall  be  held  to  a  specific  performance  of  their  contracts  or  inden 
tures;  and  such  negroes  and  niulattoes  as  have  registered  in  conformity 
with  the  aforesaid  laws,  shall  serve  out  the  time  appointed  by  said  laws; 
provided,  however,  that  the  children  hereafter  born  of  such  persons, 
negroes  or  niulattoes,  shall  become  free,  the  males  at  the  age  of  21  years, 
the  females  at  the  age  of  18  years." 

The  court  say  :  A  constitution  can  do  what  a  legislative  act  can 
not  do,  because  it  is  the  supreme,  fixed  and  permanent  will  of  the 
people  in  their  original,  sovereign  and  unlimited  capacity  ;  that  the 
act  of  accepting  that  constitution  and  admitting  it  into  the  Union 
by  congress,  abrogated  so  much  of  the  ordinance  of  1787  as  was 
repugnant  to  it.  In  Boone  vs.  Juliet,*  the  court  held  that  "the 
children  of  negroes  and  niulattoes,  registered  under  the  laws  of 
the  territory  of  Indiana  and  Illinois,  are  unquestionably  free — 
because  of  an  absence  in  the  law  of  1807  providing  for  the  chil 
dren  of  registered  slaves,  notwithstanding  the  constitution  of 
Illinois  says  that  the  children  born  of  such  registered  persons 
shall  render  service  until  18  and  21  years  old." 

The  question  of  the  validity  of  the  indenture  and  registration 
act,  under  the  sixth  article  of  the  ordinance  of  1787,  it  seems,  was 

~*Breese  Ills.  R.  268.  tlst  Scam.  258. 


316  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

not  raised  before  the  territorial  courts,  and  indeed,  not  for  some 
time  afterwards.  The  convention,  therefore,  which  enacted  the 
constitution,  gave  that  law  the  only  legal  vitality  it  ever  had,  but 
it  is  presumable  that  they  were  under  the  impression  that  it 
was  valid  and  had  been  all  the  time;  and  it  was  only  in  require 
ment  of  the  enabling  act  of  congress  that  they  enacted  article  VI, 
section  I :  "Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  shall  here 
after  be  introduced  into  this  State." 

At  the  session  of  the  territorial  legislature,  in  1817,  a  bill  was 
passed  to  repeal  so  much  of  "  an  act  concerning  the  introduction 
of  negroes  and  mulattoes  into  this  territory,"  as  authorized  the 
bringing  of  negroes  and  mulattoes  into  the  territory  and  inden 
turing  them  as  slaves.  The  preamble  declares  the  law  to  "  intend 
to  introduce  and  tolerate  slavery  under  the  pretense  of  voluntary 
servitude  in  contravention  of  the  permanent  law  of  the  land," 
and  "contrary  to  the  ordinance  of  1787."  But  the  veto  power  of 
the  territorial  governor  was  absolute,  and  his  Excellency  Gover 
nor  Edwards  hesitated  not  to  exercise  it,  assigning  reasons  at 
considerable  length,  as  was  his  wont:  "  I  conscientiously  believe 
that  the  legislature  was  competent  to  pass  the  law— of  Avhich 
opinion  were  also  the  judges  with  whom  I  was  associated"  in  the 
adoption  of  the  law,  "  previous  to  the  organization  of  our  general 
assembly."  He  held  that  congress  could  not  violate  the  stipula 
tions  in  the  deed  of  cession  from  Virginia,  "there  was  and  still  is 
slavery  in  the  territory,  notwithstanding  the  article  in  the  ordi 
nance  f  but  "  waiving  the  question  whether  congress  ever  had  any 
right  to  impose  the  sixth  article  of  the  ordinance,  or  any  more 
restrain  the  people  from  purchasing  additional  slaves  to  clear  and 
cultivate  their  lands,  than  horses  to  plow  them,"  he  proceeded  to 
argue  the  abstract  right  of  "involuntary  servitude."  After  finally 
stating  that  "  such  indentures  would  be  and  ought  to  be  supported 
upon  principles  of  law  as  well  as  common  honesty,"  and  that 
he  "can  see  no  evil  in  allowing  them  to  be  made," he  concluded: 
"  I  am  no  advocate  for  slavery  ;  and  if  it  depended  upon  my  vote 
alone,  it  should  never  be  admitted  into  any  State  or  territory  not 
already  cursed  with  so  great  an  evil ;"  and  that  his  objection  to 
the  repeal  was,  that  there  was  no  such  law  of  Illinois  as  that  of 
September  17,  1807,  described  in  the  bill.  In  this  he  was  tech 
nically  right,  because  in  1807  Illinois  was  Indiana.*  This  veto 
message  was  now  (1823-4)  made  use  of  by  the  convention  party, 
seeking  to  graft  slavery  upon  the  constitution,  as  an  electioneering 
document^ 

The  convention  which  framed  the  first  constitution  of  the  State, 
evaded  the  full  requirement  of  the  ordinance  of  1787.  In  article 
VI,  section  I  of  that  instrument,  the  further  introduction  of  slaves 
into  the  State  was  prohibited ;  but  it  did  not  only  not  abolish  slavery, 
or  liberate  those  in  the  State,  but  in  section  3  of  the  same  article, 
provided  that  the  "indentured  servants" — slaves  for  99  years  in 
most  cases — should  be  held  for  the  whole  term  specified  in  their 
contracts  of  indenture,  and  even  their  children  were  to  owe  ser 
vice,  the  males  till  21  and  the  females  till  18  years  of  age  5  and 
this  provision,  as  we  have  seen,  the  supreme  court  held  as  valid. 
Thus  slavery  in  Illinois,  while  it  was  steadily  decreasing,  was  not 

*Governor  Edwards  was  himself  the  owner  of  quite  a  number  of  indentured  slaves. 
111.  Intelligencer,  Sept.  6,  1823. 


COLES'  ADMINISTRATION.  317 

wholly  abolished  until  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  of  1848, 
which  contained  the  following  provision :  "There  shall  be  neither 
slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  in  this  State,  except  as  a  pun 
ishment  for  crime,"  etc. 

The  u  Black  Laics." — After  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  of 
1818  and  the  admission  of  the  State  into  the  Union,  the  first  gen 
eral  assembly,  notwithstanding  the  small  number  of  negroes  as 
compared  with  the  white  inhabitants,  re-enacted,  March  30,  1810, 
the  old  stringent,  not  to  say  barbarous  law  "respecting  free  ne 
groes,  mulattoes,  servants  and  slaves,"  with  only  such  slight  revi 
sion  as  became  necessary  by  the  transition  from  the  territorial  to 
tli«  State  government.  Of  course  the  territorial  law  which  author 
ized  the  introduction  of  slaves  from  slaveholding  States  and  terri 
tories  was  omitted,  in  obedience  to  article  VI  section  I  of  the  con 
stitution.  Perhaps  no  severer  law  was  to  be  found  in  any  slave 
State,  even  where  the  blacks  outnumbered  the  whites.  There  was 
no  adequate  cause  for  this :  it  doubtless  resulted  from  the  early 
associations  of  our  law  makers,  who  at  that  time  were  men  not  only 
mostly  born  and  bred  in  the  midst  of  slaves,  but  who  looked  for 
ward  to  the  making  of  Illinois  a  slave  State. 

No  negro  or  mulatto,  by  himself  or  with  his  family,  was  permit 
ted  to  reside  or  settle  in  the  State,  until  he  had  first  produced  a  cer 
tificate  of  freedom  under  seal  of  a  court  of  record,  which,  together 
with  a  description  of  the  person  producing  it,  and  his  family,  if 
any,  was  to  be  entered  of  record  in  the  county  he  proposed  settling 
in  and  so  duly  endorsed ;  but  the  overseers  of  the  poor  were  not  with 
standing  empowered  to  expel  such  family  in  their  discretion.  Any 
person  coming  to  theState  to  emancipate  his  slaves,  was  required  to 
execute  to  the  county  a  bond  in  $1000  as  guaranty  that  the  eman 
cipated  person  should  not  become  a  public  charge  ;  for  neglect  or 
refusal  of  which  he  was  liable  to  a  fine  of  $200  ;  all  resident 
negroes  or  mulattoes,  except  slaves,  before  the  1st  of  June  ensuing, 
were  to  enter  their  names  and  every  member  of  their  families, 
with  the  circuit  clerk,  together  with  their  evidences  of  freedom  to 
be  certified  by  the  clerk,  but  which  should  not  bar  the  owners  to 
reclaim  them.  No  j)erson  was  to  employ  any  negro  or  mulatto 
without  such  certificate,  under  a  penalty  of  $1.50  for  each  day  em 
ployed,  recoverable  before  a  justice,  one  third  going  to  the  inform 
er,  the  rest  to  the  owner  or  the  county.  To  harbor  any  slave  or 
servant,  or  hinder  the  owner  in  retaking  a  slave,  was  declared  a 
felony,  punishable  by  restitution,  or  a  fine  of  two-fold  value  and 
whipping  not  to  exceed  30  stripes.  Every  black  or  mulatto  not 
having  a  proper  certificate  was  deemed  a  runaway  slave,  subject 
to  arrest  and  commitment  by  a  justice,  then  to  be  described  and 
advertised  for  6  weeks  by  the  sheriff,  when,  if  not  reclaimed  or  his 
freedom  established,  he  was  to  be  sold  for  one  year,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  he  was  entitled  to  a  certificate,  except  as  against  his 
owner.  No  person  was  to  sell  to,  buy  of  or  trade  with  any  servant 
or  slave,  without  the  consent  of  his  master,  under  penalty  of  for 
feiting  to  the  master  4  times  in  value  the  amount  of  such  transac 
tion.  Any  slave  or  servant  found  ten  miles  from  home  without 
permit  was  liable  to  arrest  and  35  stripes  on  the  order  of  a  justice  ; 
or  if  he  appeared  at  any  dwelling  or  plantation  without  leave  of 
his  master,  the  owner  of  the  place  was  entitled  to  administer,  or 
have  it  done,  10  lashes  on  the  bare  back;  for  being  lazy,  disorderly 


318  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

or  misbehaving-  to  his  master  or  family,  on  the  order  of  a  justice, 
he  was  to  be  corrected  with  stripes,  and  for  every  day  he  refused 
to  work  he  was  to  serve  two. 

Riots,  routs,  unlawful  assemblies,  trespass,  seditious  speeches 
by  slaves  or  servants,  were  punishable  with  stripes  not  exceeding 
39  ;  persons  suffering1  3  or  more  slaves  or  servants  to  assemble  on 
their  premises  for  dancing,  reveling,  &c.,  were  liable  to  a  tine  of 
$20,  recoverable  by  qiti  tarn  action.  It  was  made  the  duty  of  all  cor 
oners,  sheriffs,  judges,  and  justices  of  the  peace,  on  view  or  knowl 
edge  of  such  assemblages,  to  have  the  offenders  committed  to  jail, 
and  upon  judgment  to  order  39  stripes.  In  all  cases  where  free 
persons  were  punishable  by  flue,  slaves  or  servants,  were  to  be 
chastised  by  whipping,  at  the  rate  of  20  lashes  for  every  $8  of 
tine,  not  to  exceed  40  stripes  at  any  one  time.  Thus  was  the  free 
State  of  Illinois  provided  with  a  complete  slave  (-ode. 

In  1847,  the  convention  which  revised  the  constitution,  in  arti 
cle  XIV,  required  of  the  general  assembly  at  its  flrst  session  under 
the  amended  constitution,  to  pass  such  laws  "as  would  effectually 
prohibit  free  persons  of  color  from  immigrating  to  or  settling  in. 
this  State  and  prevent  the  owners  of  slaves  from  bringing  them  in 
to  the  State  for  the  purpose  of  setting  them  free. 

In  pursuance  of  this  precision,  the  legislature  passed  an  act  of 
Feb.  12,  1853,  which  provided  that  if  any  negro  or  mulatto,  bond 
or  free,  came  into  this  State  and  remained  ten  days,  with  the 
evident  intention  of  residing  therein,  he  should  he  deemed  guil 
ty  of  a  high  misdemeanor,  and  for  the  first  offence  should  be  fined 
$50,  and  if  the  fine  was  not  forthwith  paid  he  was  to  be  committed 
to  the  custody  of  the  sheriff',  to  be  advertised  ten  days  and  then 
sold  to  any  person  who  would  pay  the  fine  and  costs  for  the  short 
est  period,  the  purchaser  being  empowered  to  hold  and  work  the 
culprit  djiring  the  time.  One  case  under  this  act  was  taken  up  to 
the  supreme  court  from  Hancock  county,  and  decided  in  18(54* 
The  court  held  the  law  to  be  valid  ;  that  the  punishment  was  not 
slavery,  because  the  person  was  sold  only  fora  limited  period 5  it  was 
only  a  species  of  apprenticeship  ;  and  that  the  State  might  define 
offences  and  prescribe  the  punishment,  and  the  exercise  of  such 
powers  could  not  be  inquired  into  by  the  court. 

The  "black  laws,"  as  they  were  for  a  long  time  known,  were 
continued,  with  slight  modification,  in  all  the  revisions  of  the  laws 
from  1819  down  to  18C5,  when  by  act  of  Feb.  7th,  they  were  re 
pealed.  During  that  time,  however,  efforts  were  repeatedly  made 
to  abolish  them.  But  they  had  ceased  to  be  enforced  for  many 
years  previously,  and,  except  the  act  of  }853,  were  regarded  as  a. 
dead  letter.  The  obstinacy  with  which  they  were  retained  Avas 
owing  in  great  part  to  the  Abolition  excitement  of  modern  times, 
which  in  a  manner  constituted  them  tests  of  party  fealty. 

Kidnapping. — But  the  most  odious  feature  of  the  act  of  March 
30,  181.9,  ''respecting  free  negroes,  in  ul  at  toes,  servants  and 
slaves,"  Avas  one  of  omission,  or  the  inadequate  provision  made  for 
the  punishment  of  the  crime  of  kidnapping.  It  provided,  "section 
9,  and  be  it  further  enacted,  that  any  person  or  persons,  AV!IO 
shall  forcibly  take  and  carry  out  of  this  State  any  negro  or  mulatto 
(slaves  excepted  by  their  owners),  owing  service  or  labor  to  any 
person  in  this  State,  or  AV!IO  shall  forcibly  take  out  of  this  State 

*See  Nelson  vs.  The  People,  &c. 


COLES'  ADMINISTRATION.  319 

any  free  negro  or  mulatto  having  gained  a  legal  settlement  in  this 
State,  shall  forfeit  and  pay  for  every  such  offence  the  sum  of  $1000 
to  the  party  injured,  to  be  recovered  in  the  name  of  the  people  of 
the  State  of  Illinois,  by  action  of  debt- in  any  court  having  cogni 
zance  of  the  same."  By  a  proviso  it  was  added,  that  this  should  not 
apply  to  the  recapture  of  fugitive  slaves. 

The  line,  it  will  be  observed,  was  for  the  party  injured,  who 
might  have  been  successfully  carried  to  so  remote  a  section  in  the 
south  and  there  sold  into  bondage,  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of 
his  return.  No  share  of  it  was  to  go  to  a  prosecutor.  It  in  effect 
provided  a  premium  for  the  successful  kidnapper  who  would  steal 
the  remedy  with  the  person.  The  remedy  was  civil ;  no  provision 
occurs  in  the  law  for  any  other  punishment  if  the  culprit  was 
worthless  in  visible  worldly  effects  upon  which  to  levy  an  execu 
tion,  and  this  doubtless  was  the  condition  of  the  kidnapping 
scoundrels  in  99  cases  out  of  every  100.  The  law  reads :  who 
"shall  forcibly  take  and  carry  out  of  this  State "  &c;  but  in  the 
majority  of  cases  the  poor  ignorant  blacks,  by  fraud  and  deceit, 
were  inveigled  into  atrip  south  on  a  flat  boat,  or  other  errand,  and 
at  some  pre-arranged  point  on  the  river  they  would  be  turned 
over  to  confederates,  forcibly  and  rapidly  taken  to  the  interior  and 
there  sold  into  slavery,  the  original  parties  often  leaving  the 
impression  upon  their  black  dupes  that  they  had  no  hand  in  the 
outrage.  Against  such  enticements  the  law  cited  made  no  provi 
sion,  and  they  were  perpetrated  with  impunity.  Another  mode  was 
to  seize  a  black  and  forcibly  convey  him  to  a  rendezvous  either  on 
the  Ohio  or  Mississippi,  but  not  out  of  the  State,  where  a  confede 
rate  would  appear  and  carry  him  beyond.  Nor  were  the  blacks 
allowed  their  oaths  against  whites,  and  hence  it  was  generally 
impossible  to  convict. 

The  crime  of  seizing  free  blacks,  running  them  south  and  selling 
them  into  slavery  from  this  State,  for  a  long  time  was  quite  com 
mon.  The  poor  ignorant  colored  creatures,  against  whom  was  not 
only  the  law  but  apparently  every  man's  hand,  were  hampered  in 
the  south  by  all  the  contrivances  of  ingenious  slave  codes  to  pre 
vent  their  escape,  while  the  Aveary  years  of  unrequited  toil 
rolled  slowly  around,  ever  embittered  by  heart  longings  to  return 
to  home  and  kindred.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  affectionate 
ones  left  at  home.  No  crime  can  be  greater  than  this.  Portions 
of  southern  Illinois  for  many  years  afforded  a  safe  retreat  to  these 
kidnapping  outlaws.  We  cannot  cite  the  numerous  cases  of  kid' 
napping.  An  early  conviction  for  this  crime  was  that  of  Jeptha 
Lambkins,  at  the  term  of  the  Madison  county  circuit  court,  Novem 
ber,  1822.  We  have  not  the  particulars.  On  the  night  of  May  25, 
1823,  a  free  colored  man  named  Jackson  Butler,  his  wife  and  6 
children,  residing  in  Illinois  a  few  miles  from  Vincennes,  were  kid 
napped  by  a  band  of  villians  from  Lawrence  county  in  this  State. 
Butler  had  been  purchased  by  Gov.  Harrison  in  Kentucky, 
brought  to  Indiana,  indentured,  and  had  served  out  his  term 
faithfully.  His  wife  was  born  free,  which  rendered  the  children 
also  free.  They  were  taken  down  the  Wabash  to  the  Ohio,  thence 
south.  Harrison  learning  of  the  outrage,  offered  a  reward  of  $300 
for  the  apprehension  of  the  kidnappers.  The  name  of  Harrison 
gave  it  wide  circulation,  and  in  September  following,  news  came 


320  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

that  the  Butler  family  Lad  been  rescued  at  New  Orleans,  just  as 
they  were  about  to  be  shipped  to  Cuba.* 

In  the  first  message  to  the  general  assembly,  December,  5, 
1822,  GOT.  Coles  called  special  attention  to  the  subject  of  kidnap 
ping  ;  that  crime,  he  was  sorry  to  say,  was  too  often  committed  in 
the  State  with  impunity ;  urged  that  the  duty  of  society  as  well  as 
every  benevolent  feeling  demanded  better  protection  for  the  free 
blacks,  while  they  remained  in  the  State  ;  that  the  peculiar  situa 
tion  of  the  State,  bordering  on  three  rivers  communicating  with 
the  country  where  there  was  always  a  demand  for  slaves,  afforded  a 
great  temptation  and  facility  to  the  lawless  and  inhuman  to  engage 
in  this  crime,  and  that  more  efficient  laws  were  required  to  prevent 
the  kidnapping  of  free  blacks. 

This  part  of  the  message,  with  the  subject  of  slavery,  was  refer 
red  to  a  special  committee  consisting  of  Messrs.  Will,  Emm  it  and 
Moore,  who  reported  Dec.  12,  1822,  as  follows  :  "Your  committee 
have  carefully  examined  the  laws  upon  the  subject,  and  with  deep 
regret  announce  their  incapability  of  devising  a  more  effectual  plan 
than  the  one  already  prescribed  by  law  for  the  suppression  of  such 
infamous  crimes.  It  is  believed  that  the  benevolent  views  of  tlie 
"executive  and  the  benign  purposes  of  the  statutes  can  only  be 
realized  by  the  redoubled  diligence  of  our  grand  juries  and  our 
magistrates,  aided  by  the  well  directed  support  of  all  just  and 
good  men." 

The  legislature  was  politically  opposed  to  the  governor,  and  the 
language  of  the  committee,  "benign  statute,77  was  the  baldest  of 
irony.  These  gentlemen  however  were  quite  capable  of  devising 
a  scheme  how  to  introduce  slavery  into  the  State,  which  they 
reported  at  the  same  time,  and  to  which  we  will  now  direct  our 
inquiry. 

[In  1851  ad  attempted  murder,  growing  out  of  the  business  of  kidnapping, was  curious 
ly  developed.  It  shows  also  the  modus  operandi  and  the  desperate  characters  connec 
ted  with  this  crime.  A  Mrs.  Prather,  deceased,  of  Weakley  county,  Tennessee,  had 
some  years  before  emancipated  her  slaves,  and  they  removed  to  Gallatin  county, 
Illinois.  Here  they  were  followed  by  parties  from  their  former  home,  who  conspired 
to  arrest  them  as  fugitive  slaves.  The  U.  S.  district  court,  Judge  Pope  presiding,  de 
cided  upon  full  proof  that  they  had  net  a  shadow  of  claim  to  them.  With  the  con 
spirators  was  connected  a  shrewd  bad  man  by  the  name  of  Newton  E,  Wright,  residing 
in  Kentucky,  back  of  Wolf  Island,  who  had  Jong  been  engaged  in  kidnapping.  While 
here  attempting  to  reclaim  the  Prather  negroes  as  slaves,  he  formed  the  acquaintance 
of  a  notorious  kidnapper  of  Hamilton  county,  named  Joe  O'Neal,  with  whom  was 
associated  a  disreputable  character  by  the  name  of  Abe  Thomas.  Subsequently 
O'Neal  stole  three  likely  children  from  an  old  negro  named  Scott,  in  Hamilton  county, 
Illinois,  and  ran  them  off  and  sold  them  partly  on  credit  to  Wright,  who  resold  them  at 
New  Madrid  to  one  Phillips.  When  O'Neal's  note  matured  he  sent  Thomas  to  collect 
it,  telling  him  further  that  Wright  had  business  of  a  particular  nature  for  him,  for 
which  he  would  be  well  paid.  Thomas  proceeded  by  steamer  to  Wright's.  There  he 
undertook  for  $J50  to  kill  a  Dr  Swayne,  at  Hicco,  Tennessee,  who  had  sued  Wright  on  a 
note  of  $8000.  If  the  doctor  could  be  killed,  Wright,  by  means  of  nicely  forged  receipts, 
could  successfully  defend  the  suit. 

In  May,  1850,  a  man  calling  himself  Stewart,  rode  up  to  the  house  of  Dr.  Swayne,  de 
siring  him  to  visit  his  father,  a  little  way  off,  alleged  to  have  been  taken  suddenly  ill 
on  his  return  from  Texas.  The  doctor  invited  the  stranger  to  dinner,  just  ready  ; 
that  attended  to,  the  two  rode  away  to  seethe  sick  man  After  proceeding  some  dis 
tance,  Stewart,  tailing  a  little  behind,  drew  a  pistol  and  shot  the  doctor,  the  ball  lodg 
ing  in  his  arm,  fracturing  it  badly.  The  cry  of  murder  was  raised,  but  Stewart  made 
his  escape.  Pursuit  was  made,  and  every  effort  to  ferret  out  the  assassin  ;  suspected 
parties  were  followed  even  to  Texas  ;  much  money  was  expended,  but  without  avail. 
Dr.  Swayne  recovered. 

But  now  unexpectedly  a  clue  was  gained.  Two  citizens  of  White  county,  Illinois. 
John  Eubanks  and  son,  Shannon,  took  8  lot  of  horses  to  Tennessee  for  sale,  and  while 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Dr.  Swayiie's,  heard  hire  relate  the  particulars  of  the  attempt 
to  assassinate  him,  giving  also  a  minute  description  of  his  assailant,  whose  nose  was 
flat  at  the  base,  projecting  forward  like  a  hawk's  bill.  Shannon  knew  the  description 
fitted  Abe  Thomas,  and  no  other  living  man,  who  was  then  stopping  at  JoeO.Neal's, 
in  Hamilton  county,  Illinois.  Further  description  as  too  size,  complexion,  &c.,  tallied 
exactly.  A  short  time  after,  Thomas  was  seized  by  same  Tennesseeans,  and  carried 
to  that  State  for  trial.  (Shawneetown  Mercury  1851.] 

'111.  Intelligencer,  1823. 


COLES'  ADMINISTRATION.  321 

The  Convention  question  of  1824 — The  Effort  to  make  Illinois  a 
Shire  State. — It  has  doubtless  been  noted  that  the  voice  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  territory,  as  it  found  expression  from  time  to  time,  was 
strongly  in  favor  of  slavery.  By  canvassing  the  names  of  lead 
ing'  convention  advocates  in  1823-4,  and  from  other  circumstances, 
it  may  be  asserted  with  entire  safety  that  the  constitutional  con 
vention  of  1818,  left  unrestrained  by  the  ordinance  of  1787.  or  the 
enabling  act  to  form  a  constitution,  would  have  established 
slavery.  As  it  was,  that  convention  in  a  manner  evaded  the  full 
requirement  of  the  acts  of  congress  by  declaring  (article  VI.  sec.  I.). 
u  Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  shall  hereafter  be  intro 
duced  into  this  State  ;"  and  by  the  3d  section  of  the  same  article 
they  gave  to  indentured  slavery  the  only  validity  it  ever  had. 
The  feeling  in  favor  of  slavery  was  still  strong  after  the  admission 
of  the  State.  The  financial  embarrassments  of  the  people,  to 
which  we  have  adverted  in  the  preceding  chapter,  coupled  with 
the  golden  pictures  of  prosperity  which  that  institution  would 
bring  to  the  country,  as  they  were  wont  to  regard  it,  did  not  abate 
their  longings.  The  subject  was  further  kept  astir  by  the  frenzied 
agitation  of  the  slavery  question  as  connected  with  the  admission 
of  Missouri,  which  convulsed  the  entire  nation  and  threatened 
a  dissolution  of  the  Union. 

It  had  also  the  effect  to  extensively  advertise  that  new  State, 
and  stimulate  emigration  thither,  as  the  crowds  of  immigrants 
from  the  southern  States  to  Missouri,  consisting  in  great  part  of 
the  wealthiest  and  best  educated  classes,  passed  through  southern 
Illinois,  where  immigration  had  been  for  some  time  stagnant,  and 
the  want  of  which  was  seriously  felt.  "Many  of  our  people  who 
had  land  and  farms  to  sell,  looked  upon  the  good  fortune  of  Mis 
souri  with  envy;  whilst  the  lordly  immigrant,  as  he  passed  along 
with  his  money  and  droves  of  negroes,  took  a  malicious  pleasure 
in  increasing  it,  by  pretending  to  regret  the  short-sighted  policy 
of  Illinois,  which  excluded  him  from  settling  with  his  slaves 
among  us,  and  from  purchasing  the  lands  of  our  people."* 

Into  the  election  of  August,  1822,  as  we  have  noted,  the  ques 
tion  of  slavery  entered  to  a  large  extent,  and  while  it  was  not 
generally  sharply  denned,  it  was  well  known  that  Coles  was  a 
zealous  opponent  of  the  institution  of  human  chattels ;  so  also  was 
Gen.  Moore ;  and  for  these  reasons  the  partisans  of  freedom  rallied 
with  little  division  for  Coles.  His  aggregate  vote  was  2810,  that 
of  Moore  522,  total  3332.  The  vote  of  Phillips  was  2760  and  that 
of  Brown  2543,  total  5303 — being  a  majority,  so  far  as  this  ex 
pression  was  a  criterion,  of  about  2000  in  favor  of  the  introduction 
of  slavery.  But  personal  considerations  at  that  day  entered  more 
largely  into  election  contests  than  principles. 

Edward  Coles,  the  governor  elect  of  Illinois,  was  born  in  Vir 
ginia,  Dec.  15, 1786,  and  was  among  the  youngest  of  ten  children. 
His  father  was  a  planter,  owning  many  slaves.  During  college 
life  the  question  of  property  in  man  first  presented  itself  to 
Edward's  mind,  and  he  returned  home  impressed  with  its  moral 
wrongfulness  and  political  impolicy,  and  the  resolution  that  when 
he  should  become  the  owner  of  his  portion  of  his  father's  slaves  he 
would  emancipate  them.  Apprehending  that  these  sentiments 

•Ford's  History. 

21 


322  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

would  meet  with  no  countenance  at  home  he  kept  them  sacred  to 
himself.  Upon  the  death  of  his  father  in  1808,  he  became  entitled 
to  25  negroes  and  1,000  acres  of  land.  His  father  had  taken  no 
share  in  public  life,  but  his  home  had  been  the  resort  of  nearly  all 
the  great  statesmen  of  the  day.  Edward  became  the  private 
secretary  of  President  Madison.  In  person  Coles  was  tall  and 
graceful,  with  face  of  the  Grecian  style.  To  a  benevolent  dis 
position  he  added  a  wide  fund  of  information,  social  tact  and 
conversational  powers.  By  the  judicious  exercise  of  these  he  is 
said  to  have  brought  in  to  new  bonds  of  friendship  Mr.  Madison  and 
Mr.  Monroe,  and  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  had  respec 
tively  been  somewhat  estranged.  In  1816  he  was  sent  in  the  sloop 
of  war  "Promethious"  on  a  special  mission  to  Eussia.as  the  bearer 
of  important  dispatches  to  the  American  embassadors  at  St. 
Petersburg.  Before  his  return  he  made  the  tour  of  Europe. 
After  his  arrival  home  he  shortly  determined  to  go  west.  He  spent 
the  summer  of  1818  in  Illinois,  and  witnessed  the  labors  of  the 
convention  at  Kaskaskia  to  enact  the  first  constitution.  In  the 
following  spring,  1810,  he  removed  with  his  slaves  to  Illinois.  On 
the  trip  hither,  made  mostly  on  flat  boats  down  the  Ohio,  the 
negroes,  being  ignorant  of  their  destination,  were  one  clear  moon 
light  evening  in  June,  while  calmly  floating  down  the  placid 
stream,  called  together,  and  by  their  master  addressed  in  a  plain, 
short  speech  in  which  he  pronounced  them  all  free.  Their  grati 
tude  was  so  profound  that  they  tendered  him  one  year's  service  at 
their  new  home.  But  being  much  touched  at  this  manifestation 
of  their  attachment,  he  refused  their  offer.  He  gave,  besides,  to 
each  head  of  a  family  160  acres  of  land  in  Illinois,  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  Edwardsville,  aided  them  with  money,  and  for  many 
years  exercised  paternal  care  over  them.* 

In  1833,  at  the  age  of  47,  he  removed  to  Philadelphia,  and  was 
married  to  Miss  Sallie  Logan  Roberts,  by  whom  he  had  one 
daughter  and  two  sons.  He  died  July  7,  1868,  in  the  82d  year  of 
his  age.  On  coming  to  Illinois,  Coles  received  the  appointment 
of  register  of  the  land  office  at  Edwardsville,  from  Mr.  Crawford, 
secretary  of  the  treasury,  who  was  an  aspirant  to  the  presidency. 
Coles,  it  was  supposed,  was  sent  out  to  counteract  the  influence  of 
Gov.  Edwards,  who  favored  Cahoim.t 

The  partisans  of  slavery,  although  beaten  for  governor  in  1822, 
by  a  schism  in  their  own  ranks,  had  carried  both  houses  of  the 
general  assembly,  and  the  lieutenant-governor,  and  throughout  the 
nrst  half  of  his  term,  the  governor  experienced  a  want  of  accord 

*The  law  of  1819  respecting  free  negroes  required  the  emancipator  to  give  bond  that 
they  should  not  become  a  county  charge  Having  provided  them  amply  with  lands, 
Coles  neglected  to  do  this,  whereby  he  incurred  a  liability  to  a  fine  of  55200  for  each 
negro,  which  might  be  sued  for  by  the  county  in  which  they  were  settled.  Dm-ing 
the  heat  of  the  convention  struggle  the  county  commissioners  of  Madison  were  insti 
gated  to  bring  suit  against  the  Governor  for  this  penalty,  resulting,  in  September,  1824, 
in  a  verdict  of  $2,000  for  setting  at  liberty  negroes  without  giving  bond.  Pending 
a  motion  lor  a  new  trial,  in  January  1825,  the  legislature  released  all  penalties  incuri'ed 
under  the  act,  including  those  of  Coles.  At  the  next  term  of  court  he  plead  this  re 
lease  in  bar  of  judgment  against  him.  But  Judge  McKoberts  decided  that  the  legisla 
ture  had  no  power  to  take  from  a  municipal  corporation  its  vested  right  in  a  fine,  any 
more  than  from  an  individual,  and  rendered  judgment  on  the  verdict-  This  decision, 
believed  to  have  been  influenced  by  the  feelings  growing  out  of  the  slavery  contest  the 
year  before,  caused  no  little  popular  excitement.  The  case  was  taken  to  the  supreme 
court  and  reversed,  the  power  of  the  legislature  being-  held  to  be  ample  in  the  premises. 
The  opinion  of  the  court,  by  Wilson,  chief  justice,  says  :  "It  is  said  the  king  cannot 
remit  an  informer's  interest  in  a  popular  action  after  suit  brought ;  this  is  no  doubt 
true,  but  it  is  equally  true  that  the  Parliament  can.  It  is  not  pretended  that  the  exe 
cutive  could  remit  the  penalty  in  this  case,  but  that  the  legislature  may." 

tFord's  History  of  Illinois. 


COLES'  ADMINISTRATION.  323 

with  that  body.  Governor  Coles  directed  attention  to  the  subject 
of  slavery,  and  in  clear  and  forcible  language  urged  the  emanci 
pation  of  the  French  slaves,  recommended  a  revision  of  the  black 
laws  in  accordance  with  the  dictates  of  humanity,  and  the  enact 
ment  of  more  adequate  laws  to  repress  the  frequent  crime  of  kid 
napping,  as  we  have  noticed.  This  was  enough  to  immediately 
fan  into  flame  the  smouldering  embers  of  the  slavery  question. 
The  purpose  was  now  to  make  a  strong  effort  to  introduce  slavery 
into  Illinois,  which  could  only  be  done  by  amending  the  constitu 
tion,  which  required  a  two-thirds  vote  in  each  house  to  pass  the 
proposition  submitting  the  question  to  a  vote  of  the  people.  So 
much  of  the  message  as  related  to  the  abrogation  of  slavery,  was 
referred  to  a  select  committee,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Beaird,Boon, 
Ladd,  Kinney  and  White,  who  in  a  few  days  reported  as  folloAvs : 
After  giving  a  historical  resume  of  the  establishment  of  slavery 
in  Illinois,  demonstrating  its  legal  existence  and  claiming  that  the 
provision  in  the  deed  of  cession  from  Virginia,  viz :  that  the  inhabi 
tants  of  the  territory  who  professed  themselves  to  have  been  citi 
zens  of  Virginia  previous  to  the  cession,  should  "have  their 
possessions  and  titles  continued  to  them,  and  be  protected  in  the 
enjoyment  of  their  rights  and  liberties,"  could  not  be  overridden 
and  set  aside  by  the  subsequent  act  of  congress,  which  provided 
that  "  there  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  in 
the  said  territory ;"  that  the  language  in  the  deed  of  cession  was 
too  plain  and  forcible  to  be  misunderstood  or  evaded;  that  the  con 
stitution,  in  obedience  to  the  behests  of  congress,  for  the  purpose 
of  having  the  State  admitted,  Avas  careful  to  avoid  any  interfer 
ence  with  this  species  of  property,  and  left  it  in  the  same  state  of 
security  that  the  ordinance  had  placed  it ;  that  thus  the  constitu 
tion  of  Illinois  was  ratified,  no  doubt  upon  the  ground  that  no 
condition  of  the  ordinance  had  been  violated,  and  that  the  consti 
tution  left  the  right  to  property  acquired  under  the  compact 
with  Virginia,  entire. 

They  concluded  their  report  by  saying  :  "Your  committee  have 
now  arrived  at  the  period  when  Illinois  was  admitted  into  the 
Union  upon  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  States  in  all  respects 
whatever;  and  whatever  causes  of  regret  were  experienced  by  the 
restrictions  imposed  upon  the  first  convention,  your  committee  are 
clearly  of  the  opinion  that  the  people  of  Illinois  have  now  the  same 
right  to  alter  their  constitution  as  the  people  of  the  State  of  Vir 
ginia,  or  any  other  of  the  original  States,  and  may  make  any  dis 
position  of  negro  slaves  they  choose,  without  any  breach  of  faith 
or  violation  of  compact,  ordinances  or  acts  of  congress ;  and  if 
the  reasoning  employed  be  correct,  there  is  no  other  course  left  by 
which  to  accomplish  the  object  of  this  portion  of  the  governor's 
message,  than  to  call  a  convention  to  alter  the  constitution." 

And  they  recommended  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolu 
tion  :  "  Resolved,  That  the  general  assembly  of  the  State  of  Illi 
nois  (two-thirds  thereof  concurring  therein),  do  recommend  to  the 
electors,  at  the  next  election  for  members  to  the  general  assembly, 
to  vote  for  or  against  a  convention,  agreeably  to  the  7th  article 
of  the  constitution." 

*See  111.  •  Intelligencer,  Dec.  14, 1822. 


324  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

On  motion  of  Michael  Jones,  the  report  was  concurred  in.  A 
minorty  report  was  made  by  Bisden  Moore  and  John  Emmett, 
strongly  and  ably  urging  the  abolition  of  slavery,  the  amelioration 
of  the  black  laws,  and  greater  stringency  regarding  the  punish 
ment  of  kidnapping.  Mr.  Will  made  a  separate  report,  of  a  milk 
and  water  character. 

In  the  senate,  it  was  speedily  ascertained  that  the  requisite  two- 
thirds  vote  to  pass  the  resolution  for  the  call  of  a  convention  to 
amend  the  constitution,  could  be  obtained,  and  to  spare;  but  in 
the  house  the  case  stood  otherwise — they  needed  one  vote.  At 
first  it  was  strenuously  argued  that  the  two-thirds  vote  required  by 
the  constitution  to  pass  the  convention  resolution,  meant  two- 
thirds  of  the  two  houses  in  joint  session.  But  the  opponents 
were  too  powerful  in  argument  upon  this  point.  The  majority  was 
not  to  be  foiled  in  their  purpose,  however.  Another  mode  pre 
sented  itself — all  that  was  required  was  courage  to  perpetrate  a 
gross  outrage  upon  a  recalcitrant  member. 

There  had  been  a  contested  election  case  from  Pike  county, 
which  then  included  all  the  country  between  the  Illinois  and  Mis 
sissippi  rivers,  north  to  the  boundary  of  the  State.  The  sitting 
member,  decided  by  the  house  to  be  entitled  to  the  seat,  was 
Nicholas  Hanson,  and  the  contestant,  John  Shaw.  Hanson's  vote 
had  been  obtained  for  the  re-election  of  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  strongly 
pro-slavery,  to  the  United  States  senate,  but  farther  than  this  he 
would  not  go.  Shaw,  who  favored  the  convention  project,  was 
now  discovered  to  be  justly  entitled  to  the  seat !  A  motion  was 
thereupon  made  to  reconsider  the  admission  of  Hanson,  which 
prevailed.  It  was  next  further  moved  to  strike  out  the  name  of 
Hanson  and  insert  that  of  Shaw.  During  the  pendency  of  the 
resolution,  a  tumultuous  crowd  assembled  in  the  evening  at  the 
state  house,  and  after  the  delivery  of  a  number  of  incendiary 
speeches,  inflaming  the  minds  of  the  people  against  Hanson,  they 
proceeded  through  the  town  with  his  effigy  in  a  blaze,  accompa 
nied  by  the  beating  of  drums,  the  sounds  of  bugles,  and  shouts 
of  "  Convention  or  death." 

The  motion  to  expel  Hanson  and  admit  Shaw  was  adopted,  and 
the  latter  rewarded  the  majority  by  voting  for  the  convention  res 
olution,  which  thus  barely  passed  by  his  aid  on  the  night  follow 
ing.  A  number  of  the  members  of  both  houses  entered  their 
solemn  protest  against  this  glaring  outrage  of  unseating  Hanson, 
both  as  to  the  object  intended  and  the  manner  of  perpetrating  it. 
Many  reflecting  men,  earnest  in  their  support  of  the  convention 
Question,  condemned  it ;  and  it  proved  a  powerful  lever  before  the 
people  in  the  defeat  of  the  slavery  scheme. 

The  passage  of  the  convention  resolution  was  regarded  as  tanta 
mount  to  its  carriage  at  the  polls.  The  pro-slavery  party  cele 
brated  their  triumph  by  an  illumination  of  the  town  and  a 
procession,  accompanied  by  all  the  horrid  paraphernalia  and  dis 
cordant  music  of  achivarai,  marched  to  the  residence  of  Govern  or 
Coles  and  the  quarters  of  the  chief  opponents  of  the  measure, 
where  they  performed  their  demoniac  music  to  annoy  and  insult 
them.  The  procession  is  said  to  have  been  headed  by  such  digna- 
taries  as  ex-judge  and  late  gubernatorial  canidate,  Joseph  Phil 
lips  ;  the  newly  chosen  chief-justice,  Thomas  Reynolds,  afterwards 
governor  of  Missouri;  associate  supreme  judge,  Smith;  pros- 


COLES'  ADMINISTRATION.  325 

pective  lieutenant-governor  Kiimey,  etc.,  followed  by  many  of 
tlie  honorable  members  of  the  legislature,  the  lobbyists — some  of 
them  strangers  from  adjoining  slave  States — the  rabble,  etc.  The 
rejoicings  of  the  convention  party  also  found  expression  in  pub 
lic  dinners,  and  of  the  toasts  there  given  we  subjoin  a  few:  The 
convention  :  The  means  of  introducing  and  spreading  the  African 
family — three  cheers.  The  enemies  of  the  convention  :  May  they 
ride  a  porcupine  saddle  on  a  hard  trotting  horse,  a  long  journey 
without  money  or  friends.  May  those  individuals  who  are  opposed 
to  our  cause,  before  the  next  election,  abandon  the  State  of  Illi 
nois.  The  State  of  Illinois :  the  ground  is  good — prairies  in 
abundance;  give  us  plenty  of  negroes,  a  little  industry  and  she 
will  distribute  her  treasure 

But  these  brutal  proceedings,  intended  to  intimidate,  only 
recoiled  upon  the  perpetrators.  The  anti-convention  party  was 
inspired  with  renewed  courage  and  determination  to  defeat  the 
call  before  the  people.  That  indeed  was  the  only  hope  for  the  liberty 
of  all  men  in  Illinois.  At  this  period,  the  apportionment  of  the 
State  into  representative  and  senatorial  districts  was  peculiarly 
unequal,  the  strongholds  of  the  convention  advocates  being  in 
the  counties  near  the  Ohio  and  the  old  French  settlements,  whiie 
the  rapid  progress  of  population  northward  was  numerically  far 
in  advance  of  its  just  ratio  of  representation.  If  the  convention 
should  be  ordered  by  the  prople,  it  was  demonstrated  that  by 
reason  of  this  unequal  representation,  one-fourth  of  the  voters 
could,  in  a  certain  contingency,  (that  of  the  delegates  being  made 
to  correspond  to  the  number  of  representatives),  elect  a  majority 
of  the  members,  who  might  fasten  slavery  upon  the  State.  It  be 
came,  therefore,  the  paramount  object  of  the  friends  of  freedom 
to  defeat  the  convention  call  before  the  people. 

The  canvass  now  opened  and  for  nearly  18  months  raged  with 
nnequaled  violence  throughout  the  State.  Never  was  such  canvass 
made  in  the  State  before.  The  young  and  old,  without  regard  to 
sex  entered  the  arena  of  party  strife ;  families  and  neighborhoods 
became  divided  and  surrendered  themselves  up  to  the  bitter  war 
fare.  Detraction  and  personal  abuse  reigned  supreme,  while 
combats  were  not  infrequent.  The  whole  country  seemed  on  the 
verge  of  a  resort  to  physical  force  to  settle  the  angry  question.* 
The  press,  both  for  and  against,  teemed  with  incendiary  publica 
tions  on  the  subject.  Both  anti  and  pro-convention  newspapers 
were  established  :  of  the  former  uTke  Spectator ',"  at  Edwardsville, 
edited  by  Hooper  Warren  ;  one  at  Shawneetown,  edited  by  Henry 
Eddy  ;  the  Illinois  Intelligencer,  located  at  Vandal ia,  which,  at  tirst 
pro-convention,  was  subsequently  purchased  by  David  Blackwell, 
secretary  of  State,  and  then  ably  conducted  in  opposition  to  the 
convention  scheme.  To  these  papers  there  were  also  a  number  of 
able  and  steady  contributors,  principal  among  whom  may  be  men 
tioned,  his  excellency  the  governor;  Morris  Birbeck,  the  able  Eng 
lish  colonist,  in  Edwards  county  ;  Judge,  Lock  wood,  Thomas  Lip- 
pincott,  George  Churchill,  &c.  Pamphlets  were  published  and  ex 
tensively  circulated,  containing  statistics  and  observations  re 
garding  the  Avorking  of  slavery  in  other  countries.  Gov.  Coles 
freely  resigned  the  salary  of  his  entire  term,  $4000,  as  a  contribution 
to  the  cause.  Through  the  efforts  mainly  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  M. 

•Iteynold's  "Own  Times." 


32f>  HISTOUY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Peck,  anti-slavery  societies  were  organized  by  the  "friends  of 
freedom,"  which  ramified  more  or  less  throughout  the  State,  to  the 
number  of  14,  with  headquarters  in  St.  Glair  county,  and  which 
were  active  during  the  canvass.  The  ministers  of  the  gospel  were 
enlisted  in  the  cause,  and  they  met  together  in  large  numbers  to 
devise  ways  to  avert  the  impending  evil.  Denominational  ques 
tions,  ordinarily  much  more  bitter  in  those  times  than  at  the 
present,  were  laid  aside  for  the  time,  and  the  pulpit  now  thunder 
ed  its  anathemas  against  spreading  the  great  sin.  All  the  means 
known  to  civilization  to  impart  ideas  of  the  enormity  of  slavery 
were  made  available.  To  the  distribution  of  pamphlets  and  news 
paper  writings,  were  added  tracts  and  handbills  of  a  most 
incendiary  tone.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Peck,  who,  in  his  vocation  of  dis 
tributing  bibles,  had 'the  opportunity  to  observe  the  management 
of  the  campaign  on  the  part  of  the  opposition,  shaped  his  ends 
with  the  tact  and  skill  of  a  general,  to  meet  them  at  every  hand. 
Political  meetings  were  called,  and  almost  every  stump  resounded 
with  the  declamations  of  indignant  orators,  both  pro  and  con. 
The  rank  and  file  of  the  people,  no  less  excited,  wrangled  and 
argued  with  each  other  wherever  they  met.  Much  time  was  con 
sumed,  and  industry  was  at  a  stand. 

In  the  meantime,  the  pro-slavery  party  was  not  idle,  and 
adopted  the  same  means  to  reach  the  public  mind.  Elias  Kent 
Kane  j  Thomas  Reynolds,  the  chief  justice  ;  Judge  Theophilus  W. 
Smith,  of  the  supreme  court ;  Judge  Samuel  McRoberts,  Emanuel 
J.  West,  A.  P.  Field,  Joseph  A.  Baird,  George  Forquer  and 
others,  were  their  prominent  writers;  while  among  their  chief 
orators,  besides  some  of  these,  may  be  mentioned  R  M.  Young, 
John  McLean,  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  ex  Gov.  Bond,  (running  for  con 
gress  against  D.  P.  Cook,  at  this  time),  Judge  Phillips,  and  many 
others.  .The  members  of  the  legislature  in  favor  of  the  conven 
tion,  before  they  dispersed  in  the  spring  of  1823,  levied  a  contri 
bution  upon  each  other  by  which  they  raised  about  $1000  for 
their  side  of  the  cause.  William  Kinney,  afterward  lieutenant 
governor,  to  his  vocation  as  a  pro-slavery  politician  added  that  of 
a  baptist  preacher,  mingling  the  two  with  much  freedom,  traveled 
constantly  over  the  State,  acting  with  zeal  and  energy  in  arousing 
the  people  to  the  blessings  of  the  institution  of  slavery.  Emissa 
ries  of  both  parties  ranged  the  State  in  every  direction  during  the 
canvass,  with  bitter  partisan  tracts,  and  all  manner  of  inflamatory 
appeals,  to  arouse  the  passions  of  the  people,  and  awakened  them 
to  the  duty  of  the  hour.  The  principal  newspapers  of  the  pro- 
slavery  party  were  located  at  Kaskaskia  and  Edwardsville. 

In  looking  over  the  array  of  prominent  names,  it  has  been 
thought  the  most  talented  and  influential  public  men  were  on  the 
side  of  the  convention  party,*  but  in  energy  and  zeal,  which  grew 
with  the  progress  of  the  campaign,  the  opposition  were  better  or 
ganized.  Their  attacks  were,  besides,  direct  upon  the  subject  in 
volving  the  merits  of  slavery  ;  while  the  other  side  showed  signs  of 
avoiding  the  direct  issue.  The  latter  argued  that  the  constitution 
needed  amendment  in  many  particulars;  that  the  convention 
would  not  probably  interfere  in  behalf  of  slavery,  and  if  it  did,  it 
would  establish  it  only  fora  limited  period,  or  provide  for  inden 
turing  and  gradual  emancipation.  But  the  opponents  were  not  to 

*For(Ts  History. 


COLES7  ADMINISTRATION.  327 

be  hoodwinked  in  this  manner ;  indeed  as  the  people  took  a  very 
absorbing  interest  in  the  subject,  and  as  the  canvass  was  exten 
ded  for  a  period  of  18  months,  they  came  to  thoroughly  appre 
ciate  all  there  was  iii  it  by  the  day  of  election.  The  contest  was 
not  devoid  of  extraneous  pro-slavery  influences  from  beyond  the 
borders  of  the  State,  as  might  well  be  expected,  but  such  imperte- 
nence  was  promptly  met  as  it  deserved. 

When  the  day  of  election  finally  arrived,  the  utmost  exertions  at 
the  polls  throughout  the  State  were  used  by  both  sides  to  bring  out 
a  lull  vote.  The  aged,  the  crippled,  the  chronic  invalids,  all  that 
could  be  conveyed  with  their  bodily  infirmities,  were  brought  out 
and  cast  their  votes,  either  for  against  the  call.  The  result  was 
that  the  convention  scheme  was  defeated  by  some  1800  majority. 
This  was  a  wonderful  victory  to  achieve,  showing  a  gain  for  the 
anti-slavery  cause,  exceeding  3500  votes  since  the  gubernatorial 
contest  of  two  years  before.  The  aggregate  vote  was  11,612 ; 
4,972  for,  and  6,640  against.  This  was  a  large  vote ;  at  the  presi 
dential  election  in  November  following,  the  aggregate  vote  of  the 
State  was  4,707. 

And  thus  ended  the  most  important,  excited,  and  angry  election 
that  took  place  at  that  early  day  in  Illinois.  All  feeling, 'however, 
speedily  subsided,  and  in  6  months  after,  is  it  said,  a  politician 
who  favored  the  introduction  of  slavery  was  a  rara  avis.  The 
vjctory  was  decisive  of  the  question  for  all  time. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
1824-6— MISCELLANEOUS  MATTEES. 

Legislation — Re-organization  of  the  Judiciary — Chief  Justice  Wil 
son — Hubbard  as  Governor  ad  interim — Population  of  1825 — 
Visit  of  LaFayette. 


The  convention  struggle  over,  other  affairs  claim  our  attention. 
And  first  as  to  the  legislature,  which  was  anti-convention  in 
its  political  sentiments.  The  members  chosen  simultaneously  with 
the  defeat  of  the  convention  call,  constituted  in  a  sense  the  first 
ever  elected  in  Illinois  upon  other  than  personal  considerations. 
Permanent  party  principles  and  organizations  had  been,  as  yet, 
foreign  to  the  virgin  soil  of  Illinois.  To  laud  one  and  defame  the 
other  candidate  was,  up  to  that  time,  the  only  recognized  mode  of 
conducting  a  political  canvass,  and  the  campaigns  were  usually 
short.  Governor  Coles,  in  his  message,  congratulated  the  people 
upon  the  result  over  the  slavery  question,  and  again  recom 
mended  the  abolition  of  the  remnant  of  African  slavery  still  exist 
ing,  as  an  anomaly  in  this  free  State.  But  the  legislature, 
notwithstanding  its  anti-convention  majority,  was  not  abolition, 
and  it  paid  little  heed  to  his  recommendation.  Two  United  States 
senators,  four  supreme  judges,  and  five  circuit  judges,  besides  a 
crowd  of  other  officials,  were  to  be  elected  at  this  session ;  but  the 
majority  proved  itself  of  quite  a  forgiving  disposition  toward  its 
recent  bitter  opponents,  and  the  convention  question  was  not 
made  a  test  in  the  choice  of  the  numerous  officers  during  the  ses 
sion.  John  McLean,  a  leading  pro-convention  orator,  was  elected 
United  States  senator  over  Governor  Edwards,  who  was  not 
closely  identified  with  the  angry  contest,  being  absent  in  Wash 
ington.  It  was  at  this  time  that  he  became  involved  in  his  unfor 
tunate  quarrel  with  Mr.  Crawford,  secretary  of  the  treasury, 
which  caused  him  to  give  up  the  Mexican  mission  to  which  he 
had  been  appointed.  One  week  later,  Elias  Kent  Kane  was  also 
elected  to  the  United  States  senate.  He  defeated  for  the  position  such 
prominent  anti-convention  men  as  Governor  Coles  and  Samuel  D. 
Lock  wood.  Kane  was  perhaps  the  ablest  writer  that  the  conven 
tion  party  had  during  the  contest,  although  a  northern  man  by 
birth  and  education.  Two  leading  pro-convention  men  were  thus 
honored  by  an  anti-convention  legislature  with  the  two  highest 
offices  in  their  gift. 

By  the  constitution,  the  terms  of  office  of  supreme  judges  were 
to  expire  with  the  close  of  the  year  1824.  The  legislature  re-or 
ganized  the  judiciary  by  creating  both  circuit  and  supreme  courts. 
The  State  was  divided  into  five  judicial  circuits,  providing  two 
terms  of  court  annually  in  each  county.  The  salaries  of  the  cir- 

328 


COLES'  ADMINISTRATION.  329 


cuit  judges  were  fixed  at  $000.  The  following  circuit  judges  were 
chosen:  John  Y.  Sawyer,  Samuel  McRoberts,  Richard  M.  Young, 
James  Hall  and  John  6.  Wattles,  named  in  the  order  of  their 
respective  circuits.  The  supreme  court  was  relieved  of  circuit 
duties  and  made  a  court  of  appellate  jurisdiction.  It  was  to  be 
held  twice  a  year  at  the  seat  of  government,  and  as  before,  com 
posed  of  four  judges,  but  now  commissioned  during  good  behavior. 
Their  salaries  were  cut  down  from  $1000  to  $800.  December  30, 
1824,  the  two  houses  met  in  joint  session  to  elect  one  chief  jus 
tice  and  three  associate  justices.  On  the  first  ballot,  William 
Wilson  received  35  votes,  Thomas  Reynolds,  chief  justice  up  to 
that  time,  10.  Wilson  having  received  a  majority  of  the  whole 
number  of  votes  cast,  was  duly  declared  chief  justice  of  the 
State  of  Illinois. 

For  associate  justices  there  were  six  candidates:  Thomas  0. 
Brown,  Samuel  D.  Lockwood,  Theophilus  W.  Smith,  David 
Black  well,  Thomas  Reynolds  and  John  Reynolds.  In  the  course 
of  live  ballotings,  the  first  three  named  were  chosen.  James 
Turney  was  elected  attorney-general.  The  two  Reynolds,  Thomas 
and  John,  uncle  and  nephew,  who  were  rejected,  had  been  oil 
the  supreme  bench  up  to  that  time,  and  the  former  had  been  a 
conspicuous  convention  man. 

William  Wilson,  at  the  time  of  his  elevation  to  the  high  and 
honorable  position  of  chief  justice  of  Illinois,  was  but  29  years  old, 
and  had  been  already  five  years  on  the  supreme  bench  as  associate 
justice.  He  was  born  in  London  county,  Virginia,  in  1795-  When 
quite  young  his  father  died,  leaving  his  widow  with  two  sons  and 
an  embarrassed  estate.  At  an  early  age,  his  mother  obtained  for 
him  a  situation  in  a  store.  But  the  young  man  discovered  no  apti 
tude  for  the  business  of  merchandizing,  and  young  as  he  was, 
developed  an  unusual  greed  for  books,  reading  every  one  attaina 
ble,  to  the  almost  total  neglect  of  his  duties  in  the  store.  At  the 
age  of  18  he  was  placed  in  a  law  office  under  the  tuition  of  the 
Hon.  John  Cook,  who  ranked  high  as  a  lawyer  at  the  bar  of  Vir 
ginia,  and  who  also  served  his  country  with  honor  and  distinction 
abroad  as  minister  to  the  court  of  France.  In  1817,  young 
Wilson  came  to  Illinois  to  look  for  a  home,  and  such  was  his 
personal  bearing  and  prepossessing  appearance,  that  one  year 
later,  at  the  inauguration  of  the  State  government,  his  name  was 
brought  before  the  legislature  for  associate  supreme  judge,  and 
he  came  within  6  votes  of  an  election.  Within  a  year,  as  we  have 
seen,  he  was  chosen  in  the  place  of  Foster.  For  five  years  he 
served  the  people  so  acceptably  upon  the  bench  as  to  be  at  this 
time  chosen  to  the  first  position  by  a  large  majority  over  the 
former  chief  justice,  Reynolds.  This  was  the  more  a  mark  of 
approbation,  because  Judge  Wilson  was  totally  devoid  of,  and 
never  in  his  life  could  wield,  any  of  the  arts  of  the  politician  or 
party  schemer.  As  regards  political  intrigue,  he  was  as  inno 
cent  as  achild.  He  was  singularly  pure  in  all  his  convictions  of  duty, 
and  in  his  long  public  career  of  nearly  30  years  as  a  supreme  judge 
of  Illinois,  he  commanded  the  full  respect,  confidence  and 
esteem  of  the  people  for  the  probity  of  his  official  acts  and 
his  upright  conduct  as  a  citizen  and  a  man.  His  education 
was  such  as  he  had  acquired  by  diligent  reading  and  self  culture. 
As  a  writer  his  diction  was  pure,  clear  and  elegant,  as  may  be  seen 


330  HISTOEY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

by  reference  to  his  published  opinions  in  the  supreme  conrt  reports. 
With  a  inind  of  rare  analytical  power,  his  judgment  as  a  lawyer 
was  discriminating  and  sound,  and  upon  the  bench  his  learning 
and  impartiality  commanded  respect,  while  his  own  dignified 
deportment  inspired  decorum  in  others.  By  the  members  of  the 
bar  he  was  greatly  esteemed  ;  no  new  beginner  was  ever  without 
the  protection  of  almost  a  fatherly  hand  in  his  court,  against  the 
arts  and  powers  of  an  older  opponent.  In  politics,  upon  the  form 
ation  of  the  Whig  and  Democratic  parties,  he  associated  himself 
with  the  former.  He  wTas  an  amiable  and  accomplished  gentleman 
in  private  life,  with  manners  most  engaging  and  friendships  strong. 
His  hospitality  was  of  the  old  Virginia  style.  Seldom  did  a  sum 
mer  season  pass  at  his  pleasant  country  seat,  about  two  miles 
from  Carmi,  on  the  banks  of  the  Little  Wabash,  that  troops  of 
friends,  relatives  and  distinguished  official  visitors  did  not  sojourn 
with  him.  His  official  career  was  terminated  with  the  going  into 
effect  of  the  new  constitution,  December  4,  1848,  when  he  retired 
to  private  life.  He  died  at  his  home,  in  the  ripeness  of  age  and 
the  consciousness  of  a  life  well  spent,  April  29,  1857,  in  his  63d 
year. 

The  legislature  of  1824  was  an  important  and  able  body. 
Throughout  its  session,  harmony  and  cordiality  obtained  among 
the  members.  The  men  who  were  promoted  or  elevated  to  office, 
and  charged  with  important  responsibilities,  were  generally  well 
known  to  the  people  for  their  character,  merit  and  ability,  and 
failed  not  to  give  satisfaction.  Seventy  thousand  dollars  of  the 
State  bank  currency  were  committed  to  the  names  in  the  presence 
of  the  governor,  supreme  judges  and  directors  of  the  principal 
bank,  according  to  the  requirements  of  the  law. 

In  the  summer  of  1825,  immigration  revived  considerably.  A 
great  ticle  set  in  toward  the  central  parts  of  the  State.  Through 
Vandalia  alone,  250  wagons  were  counted  in  three  weeks  time,  all 
going  northward.  Destined  for  San  gam  on  county  alone,  80 
wagons  and  400  people  were  counted  in  two  weeks  time.  Sanga- 
mon  county  was,  at  that  time,  without  doubt  the  most  populous 
county  in  the  State.  All  the  northern  counties  were  most  dispro- 
proportionately  represented  in  the  general  assembly.  While  such 
counties  as  Randolph  and  White  had  each  a  senator  and  three  rep 
resentatives,  Sangamon  had  one  representative  and  one  senator 
only. 

It  happened  at  this  time,  that  Governor  Coles  was  temporarily 
absent  on  a  visit  to  Virginia,  and  Lieutenant-governor  Hubbard  was 
the  acting  go verner.  His  Excellency  ad  interim,  struck  with  the  in 
justice  of  this  unequal  representation,  issued  his  proclamation  for 
an  extra  session  of  the  legislature,  to  convene  at  the  seat  of  gov 
ernment  on  the  first  Monday  in  January,  182(5,  for  the  purpose  of 
apportioning  the  State,  and  for  business  generally.  He  was 
not  loth  to  claim  power.  Governor  Coles  returned  on  the  last 
day  of  October  and  resumed  his  office,  but  the  acting  governor 
was  not  inclined  to  yeild  it  up,  claiming  he  had  superseded  the 
former  and  to  be  governor  de  jure  under  section  18,  article  III 
of  the  constitution,  which  read  : 

"  In  case  of  an  impeachment  of  the  governor,  his  removal  from  office, 
death,  refusal  to  qualify,  resignation  or  absence  from  the  State,  the 
lieutenant-governor  shall  exercise  all  the  power  and  authority  apper- 


COLES'  ADMINISTRATION.  331 

taining  to  the  office  of  governor,  until  the  time  pointed  out  by  the  con 
stitution  for  the  election  of  a  governor,  shall  arrive,  unless  the  general 
assembly  shall  otherwise  provide  by  law  for  the  election  of  a  governor 
to  fill  such  vacancy." 

After  the  arrival  of  Coles,  Hubbard,  as  a  test,  issued  a  commis 
sion  to  W.  L.  D.  Ewing  as  paymaster  general  of  the  State  militia, 
which  was  presented  to  the  secretary  of  State,  George  Forquer, 
for  his  signature,  who  refused  to  sign  and  affix  the  official  seal 
thereto.  In  December  following,  the  supreme  court  being  in  ses 
sion,  Ewing  applied  for  a  rule  on  the  secretary  to  show  cause  why 
a  mandamus  should  not  be  awarded  requiring1  him  to  countersign 
and  affix  the  seal  of  the  State  to  his  commission  issued  and  signed 
by  Adolphus  Frederick  Hubbard,  governor  of  Illinois.  The  rule 
being  granted,  the  secretary  answered,  stating  the  facts,  whereby 
the  whole  question  was  brought  before  the  court  and  argued  at 
length  with  much  ability  by  talented  counsel  for  both  sides.  The 
judges,  after  much  deliberation,  delivered  separate  opinions  of  great 
learning  and  research,  but  all  agreed  in  the  judgment  pronounced, 
that  the  rule  must  be  discharged.  Hubbard  was  still  irrepressible, 
and  next  memorialized  the  legislature  in  reference  to  his  grievance. 
But  the  senate  decided  that  the  subject  was  a  judicial  one,  inex 
pedient  to  legislate  upon,  and  the  house  laid  his  memorial  upon  the 
table. 

The  census  of  1825  returned  a  population  of  72,817,  being  con 
siderably  less  than  the  sanguine  expectations  of  many  led  them 
to  hope  for.  The  State  was- duly  apportioned  anew  at  the  special 
session  in  January,  1826,  with  refereuse  to  the  distribution  of  popu 
lation.  The  question  was  also  mooted  at  this  session  of  repealing 
the  circuit  court  system,  not  that  the  court  did  not  subserve  a  great 
public  need,  but  that  politicians  in  their  disappointment  in  obtain 
ing  office  the  winter  preceding,  sought  to  redress  their  grievances 
first  by  depriving  the  circuit  judges  altogether  of  office,  and  next 
by  loading  the  supreme  judges  with  additional  labor  by  remanding 
them  to  circuit  duty.  The  latter,  being  life  members,  could  not 
be  otherwise  reached  as  objects  of  their  vengeance,  wherefore  they 
were  charged  with  having  too  easy  a  life  as  a  court  of  appeals 
for  a  State  so  embarrassed  as  Illinois.  The  house,  however, 
struck  out  of  the  bill  to  repeal  all  after  the  enacting  clause  and 
as  a  piece  of  pleasantry,  inserted  a  section  to  repeal  the  wrolf-scalp 
law,  in  which  the  senate  did  not  concur.* 

"THE  NATION'S  GUEST." 

Visit  of  the  Marquis  deLaFayette  to  Illinois. — A  pleasant  episode 
in  the  spring  of  1825,  to  vary  the  monotony  of  western  life,  and 
per  adventure  the  pages  of  this  book,  was  the  visit  to  Illinois  of 
General  LaFayette,  our  able  and  opportune  ally  in  the  war  of  the 
Revolution,  and  now  after  the  lapse  of  near  a  half  century  the 
honored  guest  of  the  nation.  Having  learned  of  his  arrival  in 
America,  the  general  assembly  of  this  State,  early  in  its  session 
of  1824-5,  adopted  an  eloquent  address  of  welcome  to  him,  couched 
in  terms  of  glowing  admiration  for  his  patriotic  services,  and 

*In  March  succeeding,  within  5  miles  of  where  the  legislature  had  sat, a  five  year  old 
child  of  Daniel  Hufman,  which  had  wandered  from  home  into  the  woods  a  mile  or 
so,  was  attacked  and  killed  by  a  wolf  The  animal  was  seen  leaving  its  mangled  and 
partly  consumed  bouy  by  the  neighbors  in  search  of  it  on  the  following-  day. 


332  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

earnestly  inviting  him  to  extend  his  western  visit  to  Illinois.  On 
the  9th  of  December  the  address,  with  an  affectionately  written 
letter  from  Gov.  Coles,  Avho  had  formed  his  personal  acquaintance 
in  France  in  1817,  were  transmitted  to  Gen.  LaFayette.  Under 
date  of  Washington,  Jan.  16,  1825,  he  expressed  his  gratification 
for  the  honor  done  him  by  Illinois,  adding:  "It  has  ever  been  my 
eager  desire,  and  it  is  now  my  earnest  intention,  to  visit  the  western 
States  and  particularly  the  State  of  Illinois.  The  feelings  which 
yonr  distant  welcome  could  not  fail  to  excite,  have  in 
creased  that  patriotic  eagerness  to  admire  on  that  blessed 
spot,  the  happy  and  rapid  results  of  republican  institu 
tions,  public  and  domestic  virtues.  I  shall,  after  the  celebration 
of  the  22d  of  February  anniversary  day,  leave  this  place  for  a 
journey  to  the  southern,  and  from  New  Orleans  to  the  western 
states,  so  as  to  return  to  Boston  on  the  14th  of  June,  when  the 
corner  stone  of  the  Bunker's  Hill  monument  is  to  be  laid;  a  cere 
mony  sacred  to  the  whole  Union,  and  in  which  1  have  been  engaged 
to  act  a  peculiar  and  honorable  part." 

On  the  28th  of  April,  1825,  the  steamboat  Nachez,  with  General 
LaFayette  and  suit  on  board,  anchored  below  St.  Louis  at  the  old 
French  village  of  Carondolet.  On  the  following  morning  gov 
ernors  Clark  of  Missouri,  and  Coles  of  Illinois,  Col.  Benton,  and 
oihers, repaired  thither  to  escort  the  distinguished  visitor  up  to  the 
city.  During  the  forenoon  the  boat  with  the  entire  party  steamed 
up  to  St.  Louis,  where,  upon  the  wharf,  an  immense  concourse  of 
people  had  assembled  to  greet  and "  honor  the  patriot  hero.  He 
landed  amidst  the  booming  of  cannon  and  the  animated  cheers  of 
the  vast  multitude.  He  was  accompanied  by  his  son,  named 
George  Washington  LaFayette,  and  his  secretary,  Col.  LeVassearj 
by  a  deputation  from  Louisiana  consisting  of  Col.  Morse,  aid  to  the 
governor,  Mr.  LeClair,  his  private  secretary,  and  Mr.  Prier,  re 
corder  of  New  Orleans,  and  Col.  Ducros;  by  Col.  Scott  from  the 
State  of  Mississippi,  and  by  Maj.  Gen.  Gibbs,  Maj.  Hutledge,  Mr. 
Bolcli  and  Mr.  Stewart,  of  Tenn.  Addresses  of  welcome  and 
responses  were  made,  when  the  entire  concourse  moved  to  the 
elegant  mansion  of  Pierre  Chotean,  where  a  reception  was  held. 
Supper  was  had,  followed  by  a  number  of  toasts  and  appropriate 
speeches,  and  in  the  evening  a  splendid  ball  at  Massie's  hotel, 
attended  by  General  LaFayette,  his  suit,  and  all  the  dignitaries. 

In  person  LaFayette  was  about  six  feet  tall,  inclining  to  corpu 
lency,  and  -a  florid  complexion.  He  limped  upon  his  left  leg,  the 
result  of  a  wound.  He  spoke  the  English  language  fluently  and 
had  a  ready  command  of  appropriate  expression. 

On  Saturday,  April  30, 1825,  Gen.  LaFayette  and  suit,  attended 
by  a  large  delegation  of  prominent  citizens  of  Missouri,  made  a 
visit  by  the  steamer  Natchez  to  the  ancient  town  of  Kaskaskia.  No 
military  parade  was  attempted,  but  a  great  multitude  of  patriotic 
citizens  bade  him  Avelcome.  A  reception  was  held  at  the  elegant 
residence  of  Mr.  Edgar.  Gov.  Coles,  on  behalf  of  the  people  of 
Illinois,  delivered  a  glowing  address  of  welcome  to  the  illustrious 
guest,  to  which  LaFayette  replied  in  a  most  feeling  and  happy 
vein,  expressive  of  his  exquisite  gratification  for  the  honor  done 
him  upon  that  occasion. 

After  this  a  general  introduction  of  the  citizens  and  hand-shaking 
followed,  when  a  most  touching  scene  was  presented.  A  few  old 


COLES7  ADMINISTRATION.  333 

revolutionary  soldiers  collected  around  the  General,  who  had 
fought  under  his  eye  at  Brandywine  and  Yorktown,  and 
who  all  recollected  him  and  now  greeted  him  most  heartily. 
Although  the  general  did  not  personally  recollect  them,  the  occa 
sion  was  to  him  and  all  present  most  affecting.  This  meeting  in 
the  winter  of  their  lives  seemed  to  awaken  youthful  feeling  and 
curry  back  these  old  soldier  patriots  to  the  eventful  period 
when  they  were  associated  in  arms  and  fighting  the  battles  of 
liberty. 

The  entire  company  of  distinguished  guests,  visitors,  and  citi 
zens  next  proceeded  to  the  tavern  kept  by  Col.  Sweet,  where  an 
ample  dinner  had  been  prepared.  The  patriotic  ladies  had  deco 
rated  the  dining  hall  with  laurel  wreaths  in  a  most  tasteful  and 
appropriate  manner,  and  over  the  table  where  the  hero  and  honored 
guests  were  seated  a  beautiful  rainbow  of  roses  and  flowers  was 
spanned. 

We  can  only  give  a  very  few  of  the  after  dinner  toasts  that  were 
drank: 

By  LaFayctte — Kaskaskia  and  Illinois;  may  their  joint  pros 
perity  more  and  more  evince  the  blessings  of  congenial  industry 
and  freedom. 

By  Gov.  Coles- The  inmates  of  LaGranges  [LaFayette'shome]: 
let  them  not  be  anxious ;  for  though  their  father  is  1,000  miles 
in  the  interior  of  America,  he  is  yet  in  the  midst  of  his  affectionate 
children.  [Very  good]. 

By  G.  W.  LaFayette—The  grateful  confidence  of  my  father's 
children  and  grand-children,  in  the  kindness  of  his  American  family 
towards  him. 

By  Gov.  Bond — General  LaFayette;  may  he  live  to  see  that 
liberty  established  in  his  native  country  which  he  helped  to  estab 
lish  in  his  adopted  country.  When  this  toast  was  given  the 
general  arose  and  observed  that  he  would  drink  the  latter  part  of 
the  toast — the  liberty  of  his  adopted  country — standing. 

After  dinner  the  distinguished  party  repaired  to  the  largo 
and  commodious  house  of  Win.  Morrison,  Sr.,  Esq.,  where  a  grand 
ball  was  given  for  their  delectation.  Here  during  the  night  quite 
an  interesting  interview  took  place  between  the  renowned  General 
and  an  Indian  squaw  whose  father  had  served  under  him  in  the 
Revolutionary  war.  The  squaw,  learning  that  the  great  White 
Chief  was  to  be  at  Kaskaskia  on  that  night,  had  ridden  all  day  from 
early  dawn  till  some  time  in  the  night,  from  her  distant  home,  to 
see  the  man  whose  name  had  been  so  often  upon  her  father's  tongue 
and  with  which  she  was  so  familiar.  In  identification  of  her 
claim  to  his  distinguished  acquaintance,  she  brought  with  her  an 
old  worn  letter  which  the  general  had  written  to  her  father,  and 
which  the  Indian  chief  had  preserved  with  great  care,  and  finally 
bequeathed  on  his  death  bed  to  his  daughter  as  the  most  precious 
legncy  he  had  to  leave  her. 

By  12  o'clock  at  night,  Gen.  LaFayette  returned  to  the  steam 
boat,  and  started  on  his  route  to  Nashville,  Gov.  Coles  accompany 
ing  him,  the  boat  being  chartered  by  the  State. 

He  returned  from  Nashville  on  the  steamboat  Mechanic.  On 
the  14th  of  Maj-,  1825,  when  the  boat  appeared  in  sight  at  Shaw- 
neetown,  a  deputation  of  the  citizens  waited  on  the  general,  and  ap 
prised  him  of  the  reception  in  waiting  for  him.  As  the  boat 


334  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

approached  the  landing,  a  salute  of  24  rounds  was  fired.  The  peo 
ple  of  the  town  and  surrounding1  country  had  turned  out  en  niasso 
to  greet  the  loved  hero.  Two  lines  were  formed,  extending  from 
Bawling' s  hotel  to  the  river.  Down  this  passed  the  committees 
of  reception,  town  officials,  and  other  dignitaries,  and  received  the 
nation's  guest,  who  with  the  distinguished  party  accompanying 
him,  passed  up  the  line,  the  citizens  standing  uncovered  in  per 
fect  silence,  until  his  arrival  at  the  door  of  the  hotel,  where  a  large 
number  of  ladies  were  assembled.  Here  an  address  of  affectionate 
welcome  was  delivered  by  Judge  James  Hall.  LaFayette  replied 
without  preparation,  in  a  voice  tremulous  with  emotion,  thanking 
the  people  for  this  evidence  of  their  love  and  gratitude.  A  colla 
tion  was  then  partaken  of,  followed  by  a  number  of  toasts  suitable 
to  the  occasion.  After  spending  a  few  hours  in  pleasant  converse, 
the  general  was  conducted  back  to  the  steamer,  when  he  took  a 
most  affectionate  leave.  A  salute  was  fired  at  the  departure. 
The  general  appeared  much  worn  with  the  fatigue  of  his  trip. 
Governor  Coles  quitted  him  at  Shawneetown,  and  proceeded  by 
land  to  Vand alia. 


CHAPTER  XXIX, 
1826-30— ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOVERNOR  EDWARDS. 

Campaign  of  1826 — The  Gubernatorial  Candidates — Contest  between 
Daniel  P.  Cook  and  Joseph  Duncan  for  Congress — Character  of 
Gov.  Edwards'  speeches — His  charges  against  the  State  Bank  officers 
and  result  of  the  inquiry  into  their  conduct — Repeal  of  the  Circuit 
Court  system — Gov.  Edwards  claims  for  the  State  title  to  all  pub 
lic  lands  within  her  limits. 


At  the  general  election  of  August,  1826,  there  were  three  guber 
natorial  candidates  in  the  field  :  Ninian  Edwards,  Thomas  C.  Sloe, 
and  Adolphus  Frederick  Hubbard.  The  latter  was  at  the  time 
lieutenant-governor.  That  he  was  ambitious  to  become  governor, 
we  have  seen  in  his  attempt  to  superede  Gov.  Coles,  failing  in 
which  he  now  sought  that  distinction,  as  was  more  becoming, 
directly  from  the  hands  of  the  people.  "As  a  picture  of  the 
times,"  Gov.  Coles  gives  the  following  morceau,  from  Hubbard's 
speeches  to  his  constituents :  "Fellow  citizens,  I  offer  myself  as 
a  candidate  before  you,  for  the  office  of  governor.  I  do  not  pre 
tend  to  be  a  man  of  extraordinary  talents ;  nor  do  I  claim  to  be 
equal  to  Julius  Caesar  or  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  nor  yet  to  be  as 
great  a  man  as  my. opponent,  Gov.  Edwards.  Nevertheless,  I 
think  I  can  govern  you  pretty  well.  I  do  not  think  it  will  require 
a  very  extraordinary  smart  man  to  govern  you;  for  to  tell  you 
the  truth,  fellow-citizens,  I  do  not  think  you  will  be  very  hard  to 
govern,  no  how."  He  was  an  oddity. 

The  contest  lay  between  Sloe  and  Edwards.  Sloe  was  a  gen 
tleman  of  good  sense  and  capacity,  whose  business  was  merchan 
dising.  He  had  been  much  in  public  life,  and  as  a  member  of  the 
legislature,  time  and  again  had  wielded  a  large  influence  as  a 
practical  worker  in  that  body.  In  deportment,  he  was  dignified 
and  urbane,  but  had  not  cultivated  the  art  of  public  speaking, 
in  which  Edwards,  an  Apollo  Belvedere  in  form  and  Titan  in 
intellect,  had  quite  the  advantage  of  him. 

"  Edwards,"  says  Gov.  Ford,  "  was  a  large,  well  made  man,  with 
a  noble,  princely  appearance,"  who  "  never  condescended  to  the 
common  low  arts  of  electioneering.  Whenever  he  went  out  among 
the  people  he  arrayed  himself  in  the  style  of  a  gentleman  of  the 
olden  time,  dressed  in  fine  broadcloth,  with  short  breeches,  long' 
stockings,  and  high,  fair- topped  boots ;  was  drawn  in  a  fine  car 
riage  driven  by  a  negro;  and  for  success  he  relied  upon  his 
speeches,  which  were  delivered  with  great  pomp  and  in  a  style 
of  diffuse  and  florid  eloquence.  When  he  was  inaugurated  in 

335 


336  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

1820,  he  appeared  before  the  general  assembly  wearing  a  golden 
laced  cloak,  and  with  great  pomp  he  pronounced  his  first  mes 
sage  to  the  houses  of  the  legislature." 

For  the  office  of  lieutenant-governor  there  were  bnt  two  candi 
dates — Hubbard  being  without  an  associate.  They  were  William 
Kinney  and  Samuel  H.  Thompson,  and  what  may  appear  a  little 
singular  at  this  day,  both  were  ministers  of  the  gospel,  the  former 
a  Baptist,  the  latter  a  Methodist.  Kinney  was  one  of  the  old 
pioneers,  having  emigrated  to  Illinois  with  his  father  in  1797. 

He  possessed  naturally  a  good  mind,  but  had  recieved  no  educa 
tion,  until  after  marriage,  when  his  wife  taught  him  its  rudiments, 
lie  had  been  much  in  public  life,  and  was  an  efficient  and  untir 
ing  canvasser.  In  the  convention  contest,  he  had  been  unceas 
ing  in  his  efforts  to  render  it  a  success.  He  was  wealthy,  and  in 
a  political  canvass  the  duties  of  his  holy  calling  were  not  a 
stumbling  block  in  his  way.  The  Eev.  Mr.  Thompson,  his  oppo 
nent,  while  he  was  his  superior  in  scholastic  attainments,  had  not 
his  knowledge  of  men,  nor  his  political  art.  This  was  his  virgin 
effort  to  attain  honors  which  perish.  His  character  was  irre 
proachable  and -forbade  him  to  engage  in  any  electioneering  con 
duct  to  sully  it.  His  candidacy  was  distasteful  to  him.  The  re 
sult  of  the  secular  contest  between  these  two  of  the  sacred  cloth, 
was  the  reverse  of  that  for  governor.  The  Eev.  Mr.  Kinney, 
although  running  on  the  Sloe  ticket,  which  failed,  was  elected  by 
a  small  majority. 

There  was  however,  a  more  important  contest  connected  with 
the  election  of  182G,  in  a  political  point  of  view,  than  that  for  the 
office  of  governor.  We  allude  to  the  race  for  congress  between 
Daniel  P.  Cook  and  Joseph  Duncan,  which  marked  the  begin 
ning  of  party  principles,  instead  of  mere  local,  personal  scram 
bles  for*  office.  To  help  our  understanding  we  must  take  a  short 
view  of  national  affairs. 

Out  of  the  presidential  contest  of  1824,  grew  the  parties  known 
afterwards  as  the  whig  and  democratic.  The  election  had  failed 
before  the  people,  and  the  house  of  representatives,  in  disregard 
of  the  will  of  the  people,  chose  the  one  who  had  received  next  to 
the  highest  number  of  electoral  votes,  Mr.  Adams.  Mr.  Clay 
accepted  the  highest  position  in  the  cabinet,  but  Mr.  Crawford 
refused  office  under  the  new  administration.  Some  bitterness  of 
feeling  sprang  up  between  Mr.  Clay  and  Gen.  Jackson,  the  former 
having  written  a  letter  in  which  he  deprecated  the  election  of  a 
"  military  chieftiaii"  to  the  high  office  of  president,  which  was 
thought  to  reflect  upon  the  latter.  A  coalition  of  the  Clay  and 
Adams  men  followed,  and  as  Jackson  had  received  a  plurality  of 
electoral  votes,  more  than  double  those  of  Crawford,  and  as  he 
further,  through  the  nomination  of  the  legislature  of  Tennessee, 
directly  became  a  candidate  again  for  the  same  position,  it  became 
evident  at  an  early  day,  that  the  next  contest  would  lie  between 
him  and  Mr.  Adams.  The  friends  of  Mr.  Crawford,  therefore 
gave  in  their  adhesion  to  the  Jackson  party,  as  by  so  doing,  was 
there  any  hope  of  defeating  Adams.  Party  principles  did  not  as 
yet  obtain ;  indeed  Jackson  had  voted,  while  in  the  senate,  with 
Adams  and  Clay,  and  supported  affirmatively  8  different  bills 
providing  for  internal  improvements  by  the  general  government, 
and  also  the  tariff  of  1824,  founded  on  the  principle  of  protection. 


EDWARDS'  ADMINISTRATION.  337 

Party  divisions   involved  personal  considerations    only   which 
were  very  acrimonious. 

Daniel  P.  Cook,  in  the  election  of  1824,  ran  against  Gov.  Bond 
for  congress,  and  was  elected.  During  the  campaign,  the  proba 
bility  of  the  presidential  election  going  into  the  house  was  not 
untbrseen,  and  he  had  pledged  himself  in  such  contingency,  "to 
vote,  as  a  representative,  in  accordance  with  the  clearely  express 
ed  sense  of  a  majority  of  those  whose  will  he  should  be  called  upon 
to  express."  The  total  popular  vote  of  Illinois,  which  voted  by 
districts,  was  4,707,  of  which  1541  were  cast  for  the  electors  of 
Adams,  127o  for  Jackson,  1046  for  Clay,  218  for  Crawford,  and 
G2i)tbr  James  Turney,  elector  for  Clay  and  Jackson  jointly.  If  half 
of  these  latter  votes  had  been  added  to  Jackson's,  it  would  have 
given  him  a  pluraliy  but  not  a  majority.  The  electoral  college 
of  Illinois,  in  December  following,  dropping  Clay  and  Crawford, 
gave  to  Jackson  two  votes,  and  to  Adams  one;  but  when  the  elec 
tion  of  president  came  before  the  house  of  representatives  in  con 
gress,  Mr.  Cook  cast  the  vote  of  Illinois  for  Mr.  Adams,  as  it  was 
•supposed  by  the  people  (who  probably  made  no  distinction  between 
the  highest  popular  vote  and  majority)  in  violation  of  his  express 
ed  pledges ;  and  they  believed  that  Gen.  Jackson  had  been  gross 
ly  cheated,  by  their  representative.* 

And  now  Mr.  Cook  was  again  a  candidate  for  congress.  Prior 
to  his  voting  for  Adams,  he  was  the  most  popular  man  in  the 
State.  This  was  attributable  in  great  part  to  his  social  qualities, 
being  gifted  with  a  natural  charm  of  manner  almost  irresistible, 
and  a  ready  adaptability  to  surroundings,  which  were  to  him  a 
great  aid  in  his  electioneering  intercourse  with  the  people,  and 
which  enabled  him  to  accommodate  himself  with  acceptability  to 
every  circumstance  and  condition  of  western  life.t  Thus, 
with  nothing  against  him  but  his  vote  for  Adams,  did  he 
start  into  the  campaign  of  1826.  His  former  opponents,  John 
McLean,  Eli  as  Kent  Kane,  and  ex  Gov.  Bond  had  been  beaten  so 
badly  and  not  appreciating  the  public  resentment,  the}'  even  now 
feared  to  again  essay  the  race,  and  Joseph  Duncan,  afterward 
governor,  then  but  little  known  in  the  State,  had  the  temerity  to 
come  out  against  him.  At  that  time  Duncan  was  an  original  Jack- 

*  Reynold's  Life  and  Times,  page  254. 

[•f-During  the  convention  campaign,  in  1824,  when  Mr.  Cook  running  for  congress,  was 
opposed  by  ex-Gov.  Bond,  he  had  occasion  to  stop  over  night  with  a  farmer  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  State.  In  conversation  Cook  inquired  the  news,  to  w^ich  the 
farmer  replied  "there  was  none,  except  they  were  afraid  that  that  d— d  little  Yankee, 
Cook,  would  be  re-elected  to  congress."  The  conversation  continued  during  the 
evening  on  various  topics;  in  the  morning  when  Mr.  Cook  was  about  to  take  his 
departure,  the  farmer,  pleased  with  his  agreeable  and  intelligent  guest,  inquired  his 
name.  Mr.  Cook  replied,  that  he  was  "that  d— d  little  Yankee  Cook,"  he  hud  alluded 
to  the  evening  previous!  The  farmer  bee  ime  his  devoted  supporter.  (Edwards' life 
of  Edwards.)  In  stature  Mr.  Cook  was  below  the  medium  hight,  slender  and  erect, 
weighing  not  exceeding  120  pounds  ;  his  voice  was  soft  and  melodious,  and  his  speech 
ready  and  fluent.  He  was  born  in  Scott  county,  Kentucky,  and  was  a  self  made  man, 
having  few  educational  advantages  in  his  youth.  In  official  life  he  exhibited  an  exten 
sive  and  varied  knowledge  of  public  affairs.  He  settled  in  Illinois  in  1815,  was  the  first 
attorney  general  of  the  State,  and  the  second  congressman,  beating  John  McLean  in 
1819,  and  was  bi-ennially  thereafter  re  elected  up  to  1826  In  congress  he  stood  high  ; 
in  1S25-6  he  was  transferred  from  the  committee  on  public  lands,  to  that  of  wavs  and 
means,  and,  owing  to  the  absence  of  the  chairman,  acted  in  that  laborious  and  responsi 
ble  capacity  most  of  the  time.  During  his  last  term  in  congress  he  procured  the 
very  important  grant  of  near  300,000  acres  of  land  in  this  State  for  the  construction 
of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  canal.  Mr.  Cook's  health  having  been  feeble  for  some 
time,  at  the  close  of  the  session  in  the  Spring  of  1827,  he  made  a  visit  to  Cuba,  but 
soon  returned.  He  died  of  consumption,  at  the  home  of  his  nativity,  October  16,  1827, 
at  the  early  age  of  34.  He  was  the  son-in-law  of  Gov.  Edwards,  and  left  one  child. 
Gen.  John  Cook,  now  of  Springfield.  The  county  of  Cook,  was  named  appropriately 
in  his  honor.] 

22 


338  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

son  mail,  attached  to  his  political  fortune  in  admiration  of  the 
glory  of  his  military  achievements.  He  had  been  an  ensign  under 
the  dauntless  Croghan  at  Lower  Sandusky  and  acquitted  himself 
with  credit.  In  the  Illinois  legislature  he  had  served  as  a  senator 
from  Jackson  county.  His  chances  of  success  against  Cook  were 
regarded  as  hopeless;  but  he  entered  upon  the  campaign  un 
daunted;  his  speeches,  devoid  of  ornament,  though  short,  were  full 
of  good  sense.  He  made  a  diligent  canvass  of  the  State,  Mr. 
Cook  being  much  hindered  by  the  state  of  his  health.  The  most 
that  was  expected  of  Duncan,  however,  was  that  he  would  get  a 
respectable  vote — not  the  defeat  of  Cook.  Both  friends  and  foes 
were  struck  with  surprise  and  amazement  at  the  result.  The  vio 
lence  of  party  feeling  smouldering  in  the  breasts  of  the  people  on 
account  of  the  defeat  of  Jackson,  was  not  duly  appreciated  until 
the  defeat  of  Cook  and  the  election  of  Duncan  by  a  majority  of 
(Ml — the  vote  standing  6,321  for  Duncan  to  5,680  for  Cook.  Aside 
from  the  convention  struggle  in  1824,  none  other  than  mere  local  and 
personal  considerations  had  ever  before  controlled  the  result  of  an 
election  in  Illinois. 

In  the  gubernatorial  contest  the  party  lines  were  not  so  closely 
drawn.  Sloe  was  the  undoubted  Jackson  candidate,  but  Edwards, 
too,  professed  adherence  to  the  political  fortunes  of  the  ''military 
chieftain."  But  the  burden  of  his  speeches  related  to  State  affairs  and 
particularly  the  wasteful  administration  of  the  State  finances,  and 
other  abuses.  He  characterized  in  fitting  terms  the  wretched  legis 
lation  which  had  first  saddled  the  State  with  the  bank  whose  worth, 
less  issues  it  was  bound  to  redeem  in  gold  and  silver  by  1831 ;  whose 
notes  it  was  bound  to  receive  at  par  for  taxes  and  other  indebted 
ness,  and  which  were  paid  out  again,  or  auditor's  warrants  as  their 
equivalent,  at  $3  for  $1;  showed  the  loss  from  this  policy  must  neces 
sarily  be  $2  for  $1  received;  that  a  debt  of  $150,000  had  been 
imposed  upon  the  State  yearly  Avhen  the  ordinary  current  expenses 
should  have  been  but  about  $25,000;  that  these  losses  must  event 
ually  be  wrung  out  of  the  people  by  treble  taxation;  that  no 
State,  however  great  its  energies  or  resources,  could  long  withstand 
so  enormous  a  draft  upon  them ;  that  it  tended  to  check  immigra 
tion;  emigrants  as  a  class  were  "neither  the  most  able  nor  the  most 
willing  to  pay  high  taxes;"  that  while  the  annual  State  revenue 
amounted  to  between  $40,000  and  $50,000,  being  nearly  double  the 
current  expenses  of  the  government,  these  deplorable  deficits  and 
depreciation  of  currency  were  taking  place,  humiliating  to  our  pride 
and  disreputable  to  our  character  abroad.  Pie  inveighed  against 
the  unjust  discrimination  whereby  residents  wrere  compelled  to  pay 
taxes  yearly  and  non-residents  semi-annually;  that  as  the  State 
revenue  was  chiefly  derived  from  the  latter,  human  ingenuity 
could  not  have  devised  a  more  effectual  scheme  to  produce  an  annual 
deficit  in  the  State  treasury.  This  it  was  that  created  the  demand 
for  new  issues  of  floods  of  auditor's  warrants  which  depreciated 
the  currency  and  afforded  the  opportunity  for  speculators  to  riot  on 
the  necessities  of  the  people;  but  for  this  unfair  advantage  the 
further  emission  of  these  warrants  would  cease.  "But  then,"  he 
exclaimed  to  his  auditory,  "this  would  have  withered,  if  not  anni 
hilated,  that  speculation  which  has  so  long  been  luxuriating  upon 
the  resources  of  the  State  and  the  honest  earnings  of  the  sweat 
°f  your  brows.  Such  impositions  as  these,  upon  a  free,  highininded 


EDWARDS'  ADMINISTRATION.  339 

ami  independent  people,  I  boldly  assert,  have  no  parallel  in  the 
annals  of  free  government,  and  they  are  only  to  be  borne  by  that 
charity  which  hopeth  all  things,  believeth  all  things,  and  endureth 
all  things."* 

Edwards  fought  his  campaign  battles  single-handed,  and  solely 
upon  the  grounds  of  fiscal  reform  as  affecting  the  welfare  of  the 
State,  irrespective  of  party  affiliations.  This  brought  him  in  array 
against  nearly  every  public  man  of  any  prominence  in  the  State, 
while  many  of  his  friends  stood  aloof,  deeming  it  hazardous  to  be 
identified  with  him.  But  from  his  triumph  it  may  well  be  deduced 
that  his  forcible  and  instructive  addresses  gained  the  ear  of  the 
people.  The  legislature  was,  however,  largely  against  him.  His 
campaign  speeches  having  produced  a  good  effect  upon  the  people, 
as  evinced  by  their  sustaining  him,  and  encouraged  by  his  remark 
able  triumph,  lie  now  attempted  to  go  further.  In  his  inaugural 
message  he  alluded  to  the  delinquencies  of  the  Shawneetown 
branch  of  the  State  bank,  as  reported  by  the  committee  of  investiga 
tion,  stating  that  "its  concerns  had  been  loosely  and  irregularly 
conducted ;"  that  the  deranged  state  of  its  accounts  did  not 
exhibit  the  amount  of  debts  due,  and  that  money  had  been  loaned 
without  security,  contrary  to  the  requirements  of  the  law,  sworn 
by  all  its  officers  to  execute  faithfully  the  injunction,  "I  will 
not  permit  money  to  be  loaned  to  any  individual  without  security." 
From  which  he  deduced  not  only  fraud  and  imposition,  but  the 
clearest  moral  perjury,  voluntarily  and  deliberately  committed.t 

And  now  followed  in  short  order  several  messages  from  him  to 
the  house,  charging  specific  acts  of  corruption,  particularly  upon 
the  officers  of  the  Edwardsville  branch  of  the  State  bank.  A  loan 
of  $2,050  had  been  obtained  by  a  mortgage  upon  real  estate,  which 
on  execution  was  valued  at  $737.75  and  which  actually  sold  for 
only  $491.83;  another  loan  of  $6,625  was  effected  upon  realty 
valued  at  $3,140.71,  when  the  sworn  duty  of  the  officers  was  to 
exact  real  estate  security  in  double  value  of  the  loan,  and  to  loan 
but  $1,000  on  such  security  at  one  time  to  one  man.  Three  days 
later,  in  another  message,  he  charged  that  these  loans  were  to 
Thos.  J.  McGuire,  Emanuel  J.  West,  and  Theophilus  W.  Smith, 
to  establish  a  press  at  Edwardsville,  intended  to  promote  the  intro 
duction  of  slavery  into  the  State;  that  lieutenant-governor  Kinney 
president  of  the  bank,  advanced  the  money  to  buy  the  press,  that 
McGuire  was  the  printer  who  obtained  the  loan  with  West  as 
security,  and  that  Smith  the  cashier,  became  the  editor;  that  no 
entries  on  the  minute  book  showed  when  the  loan  was  made,  &c. 
These  details  were  perhaps  indiscrete,  as  they  gave  color  to  the 
charge  that  his  excellency  was  actuated  by  something  more  than 
feelings  purely  of  reform. 

Having  obtained  further  information,  the  governor,  on  the  25th 
of  January,  submitted  to  the  house  of  representatives,  as  the 
grand  inquest  of  the  State,  charges  of  grave  and  serious  import 
against  the  officers  and  board  of  directors  of  the  branch  bank  at 
Edwardsville,  alleged  to  be  predicated  upon  the  books,  accounts, 
and  papers,  delivered  by  the  late  cashier,  T.  W.  Smith,  to  his  suc 
cessor.  Mr.  Miller:  1st,  for  making  loans  of  more  than  $1000  upon 
real  estate  security  to  various  individuals;  2d,  making  loans  of 

*Edwarcl'8  Life,  by  hia  gon  X.  W. 

tSee  House  Journal,  session  of  1826-7. 


340  HISTOHY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


more  than  $100  upon  personal  security — that  the  president  him 
self  had  two  several  loans  of  $1000  each  on  personal  security, 
•made,  too,  out  of  the  10  per  cent  fund  which  w~as  never  to  be  put 
into  circulation  ;  3d,  loaning  on  real  estate  not  free  from  incuui- 
brances;  4th,  loaning  on  insufficient  security;  5th,  culpable  neg 
lect  of  duty  in  not  protesting  overdue  paper  and  proceeding  to 
the  collection  thereof;  all  in  violation  of  the  positive  require 
ments  of  the  law ;  stating  that  among  the  batch  of  promissory 
notes  due  and  unrenewed,  running  back  for  three  years,  and 
handed  over  by  T.  W.  Smith  (late  cashier)  to  his  successor,  there 
were  eleven  forgeries  detected  as  early  as  18±J,  yet  no  effort  had 
been  made  to  bring  the  offender  to  punishment;  that  in  18124, 
Thomas  J.  McGuire  had  obtained  a  loan  of  $100  on  a  mortgage 
improperly  executed  and  without  relinquishing  dower  (he  being 
married),  on  a  piece  of  property  not  worth  $300  ;  the  same  to 
Emanuel  J.  West  on  land  valued  on  execution  at  $301  18;  that 
by  the  law,  all  loans,  before  made,  w^ere  to  be  passed  upon  by  two- 
thirds  of  the  board,  yet  T.  W.  Smith  had  obtained  a  loan  without 
being  so  sanctioned,  because  at  the  time  the  president  was  absent 
from  the  State,  two  of  the  four  directors  were  attending  the  legis 
lature  as  senators,  and  Smith  himself,  one  of  the  supreme  judges, 
was  also  there  in  attendance.  The  governor  further  adroitly  de 
clared  that  he  fully  appreciated  the  formidable  combinations  that 
had  grown  out  of  the  banking  interest  in  the  State,  but  as  the 
crisis  had  arrived  he  proposed  meeting  it,  notwithstanding  men 
aces  to  intimidate  him  had  been  made.'  He  would  shrink  from  no 
danger,  but  fearlessly  discharge  the  high  trust  reposed  in  him  by 
the  people.  The  message  and  accompanying  documents  were  re 
ferred  to  a  select  committee  of  seAren,  composed  of  Henry  J. 
Mills,  George  Churchill,  Thomas  Reynolds,  William  Sim,  W. 
Cavarly  and  Conrad  Will,  with  power  to  send  for  persons  and 
papers. 

Four  days  later,  the  governor,  having  embarked  in  the  under 
taking  of  ferreting  out  fiscal  corruptions,  boldly  and  circumstan 
tially  brought  forward  nine  distinctive  charges  against  the  cashier 
of  the  principal  bank  at  Yandalia,  J.  M.Duncan,  mostly  relating  to 
withholding  the  required  information  as  to  the  condition  of  the 
bank,  failing  to  make  out  descriptive  lists  of  the  burnt  notes,  and 
failing  to  lay  before  the  legislature  his  half  yearly  report  as  to  the 
condition  of  the  branches,  all  of  which  the  law  required,  and 
in  all  which  particulars  the  law  had  been  violated.  This  mes 
sage,  too,  was  referred  to  a  committee.  Still  again  he  charged 
that  Theophilus  W.  Smith  did,  when  acting  as  cashier,  misapply 
and  appropriate  to  his  own  use  a  large  amount  of  funds  of  the 
bank,  which  he  still  withheld,  and  as  he  presided  over  the  circuit 
court  in  the  county  of  his  residence,  he  asked  that  provision  be 
made  for  instituting  suit  against  him  outside  of  his  own  circuit. 

And  now  there  was  intense  excitement  at  the  capital.  The  gov 
ernor  had,  single  handed,  to  deal  with  adroit  and  sagacious  politi 
cians  of  the  dominant  party,  some  high  in  office,  before  a 
legislature  with  whom  he  was  in  a  party  minority.  The  cry  was 
raised  that  the  charges  u  emanated  from  a  base  and  malignant 
determination,  on  the  part  of  the  governor,  to  prostrate  every  in 
dividual  who  had  dared  to  oppose  his  election,"*  Governor  Ford 

*See  J.  M.  Duncan's  letter,  House  Journal,  January  29,1827. 


EDWARDS1   ADMINISTRATION.  341 

says  :  "  A  powerful  combination  of  influential  men  was  thus  formed 
to  tli wart  the  investigation.  The  governor  was  openly  and  boldly 
charged  with  base  motives;  and  that  kind  of  stigma  was  attempted 
to  be  cast  on  him  which  is  apt  to  fix  itself  upon  a  common  informer. 
His  charges  against  Mr.  Crawford  were  remembered,  and  he  was 
now  charged  with  being  influenced  by  hostility  towards  Judge 
Smith,  who  had  been  a  friend  toMr.  Crawford's  election." 

The  charges  against  J.  M.  Duncan  were  speedily  disposed  of. 
The  committee,  February  8th,  reported,  "exculpating  the  cashier 
of  the  principal  bank  from  all  censure,"  and  that  there  was  "  not 
the  least  semblance  of  the  violation  of  his  duty,"  in  any  of  the 
charges  preferred  by  his  Excellency ;  and  as  to  the  misapplication 
of  the  bank  funds  by  Judge  Smith,  while  cashier,  they  reported 
that  it  was  not  the  province  of  the  general  assembly  to  decide 
upon  the  validity  of  the  claims  between  the  bank  and  its  officers  ; 
the  question  was  a  judicial  one;  that  a  law  already  existed  provid 
ing  for  a  change  of  venue,  where  the  judge  of  a  court  was  inter 
ested  in  a  suit.* 

The  committee  of  7,  which  Governor  Ford  says  was  "  packed" 
against  the  governor,  gave  the  subject  a  long  and  apparently  care 
ful  investigation,  their  proceedings  being  taken  down  in  writing 
and  fully  reported  to  the  house.*  Many  of  the  charges,  apparently 
hastily  made,  were  satisfactorily  explained,  yet  much  irregularity 
in  the conduct  and  management  of  the  bank  also  appeared,  chief  of 
which  was  in  connection  with  the  insufficiency  of  the  real  estate 
security  required.  But  this  was  partly  explained  in  that  val 
uations  were  made  after  the  depreciation  of  the  bank  notes,  in 
accordance  with  the  rejal  value  of  the  money  received,  while  the 
Lard  times  incident  to  that  period  also  caused  a  very  great  depre 
ciation  of  property  generally.  The  loans  exceeding  $1000,  made  to 
directors  and  officers,  it  appeared,  Avere  authorized  by  section  18  of 
the  law,  which  allowed  them  to  borrow  $750  "  in  addition  to  the 
amount  which  as  individuals  they  might  be  entitled  to."  The  law 
was  further  construed  that  they  were  entitled  to  borrow  on  per 
sonal  security  beyond  the  $100  allowed  to  individuals,  which  had 
been  sanctioned*  by  the  governor  himself  in  the  case  of  Daniel 
Parkinson,  a  director  from  Sangamon,  wrho  had  borrowed  $850, 
August  9,  1821,  on  a  note,  with  N.  Edwards  as  personal  security. 
It  appeared  further  that  this  same  Parkinson  had  presented  and 
drawn  the  money  on  the  eleven  $100  notes  alleged  by  the  gover 
nor  to  be  forged.  The  notes  purported  to  be  from  a  number  of 
parties,  but  "appeared  to  have  been  signed  in  the  handwriting  ol" 
the  director  from  Sangamon.  On  inquiry,  Parkinson  said  lie  was 
not  personally  acquainted  with  the  makers  of  the  notes,  but  he 
had  heard  that  they  were  good,  and  lived  down  on  Indian  creek. 
T.  W.  Smith  made  affidavit  that  he  had  been  informed  by  the 
sheriff'  and  clerk  of  Sangamon  county,  who  had  made  diligent 
search  for  them  in  order  to  serve  them  with  process  at  the  suit  of 
the  bank,  that  no  such  persons  ever  resided  in  the  county  to  their 
knowledge  and  belief.  The  charge  that  money  had  been  re-loaned 
out  of  the  10  per  cent  fund,  the  governor  took  occasion  to  retract.f 
The  house  of  representatives,  in  committee  of  the  whole,  after 

*See  House  Journal'  182G-7,  416-4G6, 

tlbirt,  f.04  to  595 

ISee  House  Journal,  p.  454, 


342  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

considering  the  report  of  the  special  committee,  reported  for 
adoption:  "Mesolved,  That  nothing  has  been  proved  against  the 
late  president,  directors  and  cashier  of  the  branch  bank  at  Ed- 
wardsville,  to- wit:  William  Kinney,  Joseph  A.  Beaird,  Thomas 
Carlin,  Abraham  Prickett,  Elijah  lies  and  Theophilus  W.  Smith, 
which  would  justify  the  belief  that  they  had  acted  corruptly  and 
in  bad  faith  in  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  said  bank;77 
which  was  adopted  by  the  house.  Thus  did  the  attempt  of  the 
governor  to  impeach  the  managers  of  the  old  State  Bank  prove  a 
complete  failure. 

As  illustrative  both  of  the  cordiality  existing  between  two  of 
the  co-ordinate  branches  of  government  and  the  relative  dignity 
of  the  same,  we  give  the  following:  Some  joint  resolutions, 
addressed  to  congress,  were  passed  by  the  legislature  in  favor  of 
amending  the  constitution  according  to  Mr.  .Ben ton's  idea,  to  allow 
the  people  to  vote  directly  for  president  and  vice  presiden  t.  The  gov 
ernor  was  required  to  transmit  a  copy  of  the  resolutions  to  the  execu 
tives  of  the  several  States,  with  the  request  that  they  be  laid  before 
the  legislatures  thereof,  and  also  to  our  senators  and  representatives 
in  congivss.  But  he  returned  them  to  the  house  with  an  indignant 
letter,  protesting  against  the  "unprecedented  language  of  the 
resolutions  requiring  him  to  transmit"  them;  that  it  implied  an  au 
thority  over  a  co-ordinate  branch  of  the  government,  and  was  an 
assumption  of  power  not  granted  to  the  two  houses  under  the  con 
stitution;  that  such  "language  was  violative  of  their  relative  inde 
pendence,"  and  that  he  "  declined  obedience  to  a  command  so 
unwarranted  f  he  would,  however,  comply  with  a  "request" to  that 
effect.*  The  offensive  word  was  changed  ! 

One  of  the  most  exciting  measures  passed  at  this  session,  was 
the  repeal  of  the  circuit  court  system,  established  2  years  before. 
During  that  time  demagogues,  well  knowing  how  to  create  polit 
ical  capital  by  inference  in  the  absence  of  facts,  charged  extrava 
gance  and  a  prodigal  waste  of  the  people's  money  in  sustaining  a 
judiciary,  and  virtually  pensioning  the  supreme  court,  which 
might  well  perform  all  the  circuit  duty.  A  good  deal  of  opposi 
tion  had  been  stirred  up  among  the  people  by  the  governor  during 
his  canvass,  and  he  also  urged  the  repeal  in  his  inaugural  message. 
Upon  the  other  hand,  all  the  nine  judges,  circuit  and  supreme, 
opposed  it.  But  in  this  measure  the  governor  was  aided  by  some 
of  his  worst  enemies,  who  had  failed  in  their  judicial  aspirations  two 
years  before  when  the  court  was  re-organized,  and  the  bill  pre 
vailed.  The  State  was  divided  into  live  circuits,  assigning  one  of 
the  supreme  judges  to  each  of  four,  to  hold  two  terms  of  court  in 
each  county  yearly.  One  of  the  circuit  judges,  the  Hon.  11.  M. 
Young,  wTas  retained  on  a  circuit  in  the  military  district.  But  one 
yearly  term  of  the  supreme  court  was  provided.  The  salaries  of 
the  judges  were  increased  from  $800  to  $1000.  The  salaries  of  the 
five  circuit  judges  were  $000  each.  Thus  was  saved  to  the  State 
treasury  annually  a  total  of  $2400  from  this  source,  at  an  incal 
culable  delay  and  vexation  to  suitors  in  both  the  supreme  and  cir 
cuit  courts.  But  the  mere  question  of  expense,  and  the  petty  re 
venge  of  sore  aspirants,  were  not  the  only  things  which  conspired 
to  this  repeal.  One  of  the  circuit  judges  was  to  be  punished  for 
"proscription,"  it  was  said.  The  circuit  judges  had  power  to  appoint 

*See  House  Journal,  p.  454. 


EDWARDS'  ADMINISTRATION.  343 

circuit  clerks,  but  that  from  this  as  a  corollary  followed  the  power 
of  removal,  was  not  so  clear.  Judge  McRoberts  so  viewed  it,  and 
had  exercised  both  powers,  proscriptively,  it  was  thought.  He 
had  removed  from  that  office,  in  Madison  county,  Joseph  Couway, 
a  political  opponent,  and  appointed  in  his  stead,  Emanuel  J.  West, 
his  friend.  Conway,  being  well  known  and  popular,  was  elected 
to  the  State  senate,  and  after  riding  into  office  on  his  grievance 
before  the  people,  iii  the  legislature  he  brought  it  to  bear  against 
the  entire  system,  and  completed  his  revenge  against  McRoberts 
by  repealing  all  the  judges  but  one  out  of  office.  Judge  MeKob- 
erts,  intellectualy  one  of  the  first  men  of  the  State,  was  also  un 
popular  on  account  of  arbitrarily  entering  up  judgment  against 
Governor  Coles,  after  he  had  been  released  by  an  act  of  the  legis 
lature  from  fine  in  emancipating  his  negroes  without  giving  bond 
that  they  should  not  become  a  charge  upon  the  county. 

The  supreme  judges  appointed  at  the  session  of  1824-5  to  revise 
the  statutes,  submitted  the  result  of  their  labor  so  far  as  com 
pleted.  Appreciating  the  magnitude  of  such  a  work,  fraught 
with  such  great  interests,  to  the  perfection  of  which  great  and 
uninterrupted  re-search  should  be  brought,  they  had  not  com 
pleted  many  chapters.  A  joint  committee  from  both  houses  was 
appointed,  which  went  earnestly  at  work  to  finish  up  the  revision, 
employing  as  assistants  the  circuit  judges  in  attendance  at  the 
seat  of  government.  The  revision  embraced  all  the  various  laws 
relating  to  the  right  of  property,  contracts  and  civil  actions,  and 
the  rights  of  persons  and  society,  and  the  modes  of  redress.  Jus 
tices  of  the  peace  were  at  this  session  made  elective  by  the  peo 
ple. 

1828-9 — Early  in  the  session  of  1826-7,  the  legislature  had  un 
der  consideration  some  resolutions  memorializing  congress  to 
reduce  the  price  of  public  lands,  and  for  a  grant  to  the  State  of 
all  the  public  lands  lying  therein,  upon  such  principles  as  might 
be  deemed  just  and  equitable.  Mr.  Black  well  offered  an  amend 
ment — "on  condition  that  the  State  at  all  times  grant  to  actual 
settlers  each  not  less  than  a  quarter  section,  to  be  occupied  and 
improved."  In  a  communication  to  the  house,  the  governor  re 
commended  that  our  delegates  in  congress  be  instructed  uto 
contract  with  the  government  for  a  surrender  of  the  public  lands 
within  the  State,  on  the  following  terms:  the  State  to  be  at  all 
the  expenses  of  selling  them  at  a  price  not  exceeding  25  cents  per 
acre ;  to  keep  an.  office  constantly  open  for  that  purpose,  and  to 
pay  to  the  general  government  annually  25  cents  per  acre  for 
all  that  shall  have  been  sold."  Later,  the  committee  to  which 
the  governor's  communication  had  been  referred,  reported,  and 
taking  a  step  in  advance,  required  from  congress  a  surrender 
of  the  public  lands  "unconditionally,  subject  to  such  disposition 
as  the  people  of  the  State,by  their  representatives,  may  deem 
most  conducive  to  their  prosperity  and  happiness." 

This  proposition  threw  the  governor's  effectually  in  the  shade, 
and  he  was  not  heard  from  again  during  the  session  upon  the  sub 
ject.  But  by  the  meeting  of  the  legislature  in  1828,  he  had  had 
ample  time  to  work  this  subject  up  to  its  largest  proportions.  Me 
now  eclipsed  the  bold  demand  of  the  committee,  by  broadly 
claiming  in  his  message  of  extraordinary  length,  evincing  uuusii- 


344  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


al  legal  research  and  acumen,  that  the  public  lands  within  the 
limits  of  Illinois  belonged  already  to  the  State.  He  showed  that 
the  articles  of  confederation  not  only  affirmed  the  right  of  every 
State  to  all  the  lands  within  its  limits,  but  expressly  declared  that 
"no  State  shall  be  deprived  of  territory  for  the  benefit  of  the 
United  States."  He  argued  that  the  United  States,  by  the  terms 
of  the  constitution,  could  not  acquire  or  hold  any  land,  in  any 
original  State,  even  with,  its  own  consent,  except  what  may  be 
necessary  "for  the  erection  of  forts,  magazines,  arsenals,  dock 
yards,  and  other  needful  buildings  ;  "  that  as  this  State  had  been 
admitted  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  States,  the  United 
States  could  hold  110  more  land  than  for  these  purposes  within  its 
limits,  and  for  anything  more  the  general  government  had  to 
obtain  "the  consent  of  the  legislature  of  the  State  ;"  that  till 
the  admission  of  the  State  into  the  Union,  it  had  no  rights  as  a 
State  under  the  constitution,  and  consequently  no  competency  to 
act  in  that  character;  it  was  like  a  minor,  not  within  the  age  of 
consent  ;  that  the  State  could  not  therefore  be  bound  by  the  acts 
of  the  territory,  in  consenting  for  the  United  States  to  hold  lands 
within  her  limits  ;  that  if  the  federal  government  enjoyed  this 
privilege  of  dominion  over  the  public  lands  during  "its  political 
minority,  it  ceased  on  the  admission  of  the  State  into  the  Union, 
having  thence  forward  the  same  rights  of  sovereignty,  freedom, 
and  independence  as  the  other  States;  that  the  sovereignty  of  a 
State  includes  the  right  to  exercise  supreme  and  exclusive  control 
over  all  lands  within  it  5  that  the  freedom  of  a  State  is  the  right 
to  do  whatever  may  be  done  by  any  nation,  and  includes  the 
right  to  dispose  of  all  the  public  lands  within  its  limits,  according 
to  its  own  will  and  pleasure ;  that  the  independence  of  a  State 
includes  an  exemption  from  all  control  by  any  other  State  or 
nation  over  its  will  or  action,  within  its  own  territory.  The  gover 
nor  seems  to  have  been  deeply  in  earnest. 

Beyond  this  broad  claim  it  was  impossible  for  the  legislature  to 
go.  They  did  therefore  the  next  best  thing,  which  was,  to  divide 
the  credit  and  honors  of  the  grand  discovery  with  his  excellency. 
The  committee  \\lio  had  considered  the  subject,  reported  :  That 
from  a  careful  examination  of  the  governor's  argument  and  aided 
by  the  best  lights  they  could  get,  they  believed  the  position 
assumed  in  the  message  to  be  correct.  They  close  recommending 
the  adoption  of  resolutions  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Represen 
tatives  of  the  State  of  Illinois;  that  this  State  possesses  the 
exclusive  sovereignty  over  all  lands  within  its  limits;  that  the 
United  States  possesses  no  right  of  jurisdiction  over  any  lands 
within  the  limits  of  Illinois;  that  the  United  States  cannot  hold 
any  right  of  soil  within  the  limits  of  the  State  but  for  the  erection 
of  forts,  magazines,  arsenals,  dockyards  and  other  needful  build 
ings,  and  that  this  State  possesses  the  right  of  soil  of  all  the  public 
lands  within  its  limits.  The  resolutions  were  passed,  and  it  was 
further  provided,  that  they  be  signed  by  the  speakers  of  both 
houses  and  copies  thereof  sent  to  our  senators  and  representa 
tives  in  congress,  with  instructions  to  lay  them  before  that  body. 
Copies  were  also  to  be  transmitted  to  the  governors  of  the  several 
States  of  the  Union.  "Having  thus  laid  a  broad  foundation  to 
enrich  the  State  with  the  public  lands,  the  members  returned  to 


EDWARDS'  ADMINISTRATION.  345 

their  constituents  swelling  with  importance  and  high  expectations 
of  future  favor.  But  the  people  were  not  such  big  fools  as  Avas 
thought,  for  many  laughed  at  their  representatives  in  very  scorn 
of  their  pretensions."*  The  splendid  bantling  fell  still-born  upon 
the  public,  and  nothing  more  was  heard  of  it  afterward. 

'Ford's  History. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 
1830— A  RETROSPECT. 

Advance  of  the  Settlements — Note:  Galena,  its  Early  History ;  Origin 
of  the  term  "Sucker;"  Douglas*  Humorous  Account  of  it — Trials 
and  Troubles  of  Pioneers  in  Neic  Counties — European  Colonies — 
Financial  Condition  of  the  State — Trade  and  Commerce — Early 
Mail  Routes,  Newspapers,  and  Literati — Politics  of  the  People — 
Militia  System. 


The  population  of  tlie  State  in  1820  was  157,417,  having  nearly 
trebled  itself  during  the  preceding  decade.  There  were  at  this 
time  50  counties  organized,  but  those  in  the  northern  portion  of  the 
State  were  mere  skeletons  and  unwieldly  in  size.  A  third  of  the 
State,  or  more,  lying  between  Galena  and  Chicago,  extending  south 
ward  to  the  Kaskaskia,  the  headwaters  of  the  Vermilion,  along 
the  Rock  River  and  far  down  into  the  military  tract,  constituting 
at  present  the  most  densely  settled  and  best  improved  portions, 
was  a  trackless  prairie  waste,  overrun  by  the  Sac  and  Fox,  Winne- 
bago,  and  Potawattomie  Indians.  Much  of  the  interior  of  the 
south  part,  and  the  country  bordering  the  Embarrass,  the  Sang- 
amon  and  their  tributaries,  had  ceased  to  be  a  wilderness.  Into 
the  country  of  the  Sangamon  immigration  had  for  some  time 
thronged.  Along  the  Illinois  to  Chicago,  then  just  beginning  to 
attract  attention,  there  were  scattered  a  few  settlements  long  dis 
tances  apart.  For  some  years  after,  the  settlers,  either  in  clusters 
or  separately,  continued  to  hug  the  outskirts  of  the  timber  border 
ing  the  rivers  and  creelc^,  or  the  edge  of  groves,  scarcely  any 
venturing  out  on  the  open  prairies.  Along  the  Mississippi, 
settlements  were  scattered  at  distant  intervals,  culminating  at  the 
lead  mines  on  Fever  river,  where  had  gathered  a  heterogenous 
population  from  many  parts  of  the  world,  numbering  about  1,000 
souls,  nine-tenths  being  men  engaged  in  mining.* 

*In  1804,  Governor  Harrison  boug-ht  from  the  Sac  and  Fox  tribes  a  tract  of  land  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Fever  river  (Mecapiasipo)  15  miles  square.  Lead  had  been  mined  for 
many  years  on  the  Iowa  side  and  was  known  to  exist  on  the  Illinois  side.  The  first 
white  settler  at  the  mines  on  Fever  river,  was  a  Frenchman  named  Boutilier,  in  1819. 
Shortly  after,  Jesse  Shull,  a  trader,  occupied  an  island  there  in  the  river,  and  oeing 
informed  that  the  Indians  had  discovered  lead  near  where  Galena  now  stands,  moved 
thither.  This  proved  to  be  the  noted  "  buck  lead.''  A..  P.  Van  Metre  soon  joined,  and 
"all  took  to  themselves  wives  of  the  daughters  of  the  land,  and  were  traders  for  their 
brethren."  Later.  Dr  Samuel  Mure  also  married  to  a  squaw,  and  was  associate  of  the 
well  known  Indian  trader,  Davenport,  of  Kock  Island,  located  there.  He  gave  to  Ga 
lena  its  name  (from  the  Greek,  Galanns,  a  species  of  lead  ore)  In  1820,  Colonel  J.  John 
son,  authorized  by  the  war  department,  arrived  and  assumed  almost  exclusive  control 
of  the  mining.  He  was  followed  by  a  few  others  the  same  year,  and  more  in  1823-4. 
Float  or  gravel  mineral  was  extensively  sown,  some  prospects  sold,  and  thus  by  iraud, 
parties  went  further  out,  and  some  splendid  ' '  leads'1  were  discovered. 

In  1825,  the  15  mile  boundary  was  overleaped,  and  the  country  of  the  Winnebagos 
first  trenched  upon.  The  "  Shullsburg,11  "  East  Fork"  and  '%Ne\v  Diggings"  were  found 

346 


EDWARDS'  ADMINISTRATION.  347 

As  there  was  doubtless  much  sameness  in  the  early  settlement 
of  new  counties,  particularly  in  the  central  and  northern  portions 
of  the  State,  the  details  of  which  would  probably  prove  both  dull 
and  unprofitable  to  the  general  reader;  and  as  such  early  data, 
have,  except  in  a  few  cases,  generally  been  so  uncoiispicuous  as  to 
cause  them  not  to  be  preserved,  and  are  now  either  lost  or  become 
traditional,  we  subjoin  the  following  account  by  Nathan  Dillon, 
picluringtlie  condition  of  two  counties  after  their  first  organization, 
which  gives  perhaps  the  fair  average  experience  of  many  an  old 
set  tier,  and  conveys  to  us  their  trials,  privations  and  difficulties: 

"As  early  as  1821,  a  few  log  cabins  were  already  built  in  Sangamon 
county,  which  at  that  date  embraced  all  the  northern  part  of  the  State. 

and  developed,  and  the  number  of  miners  had  increased  to  1600.    In  1826,  a  one  horse 
mail  was  established  from  Vandalia  to  Galena,  once  every  2  weeks. 

In  1*27,  the  government  first  surveyed  the  town,  permitting  parties  to  occupy  and 
improve  lots,  on  condition  that  they  vacate  them  on  30  days  notice.  This  was  all  the  ti 
tle  any  occupant  had  up  to  18&S.  The  next  neighbors  of  the  Galenians,  south,  were 
the  Peoriana  :  and  between  the  two  places  lay  a  vast  wilderness  of  uninhabited  terri 
tory.  In  1825.  Mr.  Kellog  started  his  "  trail"  from  Peoria  to  Galena,  'Tossing  Rock 
river  a  few  miles  above  the  present  Dixon,  thence  by  the  West  Grove  to  Galena.  The 
Winnehagos  a«sisted  in  ferrying  Rock  river.  Two  canoes  placed  side  by  side  formed 
the  ferry  boat,  the  wheels  of  one  side  of  a  wagon  in  one,  and  those  of  the  opposite 
in  the  other  canoe.  The  bores  swam.  The  next  year, -'Bolles  Trail"  was  established. 
The  river  was  ferried  at  Dixon.  where  the  Illinois  Central  railroad  bridge  now  crosses. 
This  was  more  direct,  and  became  shortly  the  main  route  of  travel  to  the  lead  mines. 
In  the  spring  of  1S2T,  the  travel  was  so  great  that  in  a  very  few  days  200  teams  passed 
at  this  point.  There  were  also  other  "trails"' farther  to  the  west.  The  "JLewiston 
trail"  crossed  Rock  river  a  little  above  Prophetstown,  Whiteside  county.  (From  the 
History  of  Ogle  county.) 

The  low  cognomen  of  'sucker,"  as  applied  to  Illinoisans.  is  said  to  have  had  its  origin 
at  the  lead  mines.  Says  George  BrunK,  of  Sangamon  :  Late  in  the  fall  of  1826.  I  was 
Stan  .in-zonthe  levee  of  what  is  now  Galena,  watching  a  number  of  our  Illinois  boys  go 
on  board  of  a  steamboat  bound  down  the  river,  when  a  man  from  Missouri  stepped  up 
and  asked— "Boys,  where  are  you  going  ?"  The  answer  was,  "home."  "Well.'  here- 
plied,  ''you  put  me  in  mind  of  suckers:  up  in  the  spring,  spawn,  and  all  return  in  the 
tail."  The  appellation  stuck  to  the  Illinoisans  :  and  when  Judge  Sawyer  came  up  to 
the  mines  on  his  circuit  duty,  he  was  styled  "King  of  the  Suckers  "  These  who  stayed 
over  winter,  mostly  from  Wisconsin,  were  called  Badgers.  The  following  spring  the  Misou- 
rians  poured  into  the  mining  region  in  such  numhers  that  the  State  was  said  to'have  taken  a 
puke,  and  the  offensive  appellation  of  "  Pukes''  was  thenceforward  applied  to  all  Missourians. 
But  the  following  is  a  more  tasteful  origin  of  the  appellation  of  "Sucker"  : 

On  occasi  m  of  a  pleasant  entertainment  at  Petersburg,  Virginia,  Judge  Douglas  gave  the 
following  humorous  account  of  the  origin  of  the  term  "Suckers"  as  applied  to  Illinoisaus :  the 
account  is  valuable  further,  and  confers  a  proud  distinction  upon  Illinois,  in  that  it  clears  up 
all  doubt  regarding  the  discovery  of  that  important  and  inspiring  beverage  called  "mint 
julep."  a  momentous  question  heretofore  covered  with  obscurity  and  oeset  with  many  doubts, 
but  now  in  the  light  of  these  facts,  happily  placed  at  rest.  It  'is  not  improbable  that  a  glasa 
of  the  animating  beverage  served  to  quicken  the  memory  of  the  honorable  senator  on"  the 
occasion. 

•:  About  the  year  1777.  George  Rogers  Clark  applied  to  the  governor  of  Virginia,  and  suf- 
gested  to  him  that  as  peace  might  be  declared  at  any  time  between  Great  Britain  aurl  the  col 
onies,  it  would  lie  well  for  us  to  be  in  possession  of  the  northwest  territory,  so  that  when  the 
commissioners  came  to  negotiate  a  treatv.  we  might  act  on  the  well  known  principle  of  uti 
pntsidetis,  each  party  holding  all  they  had  in  possession.  He  suggested  to  the  governor  to  per 
mit  him  to  go  out  to  the  northwest,  conquer  the  countrv,  and  hold  it  until  the  treaty  of 
peace,  when  we  would  become  possessed  of  it.  The  governor  consented  and  sent  him  across 
the  mountains  to  Pittsburgh.  From  there  he  and  his  companions  floated  down  the  Ohio  on 
rafts  to  the  falls,  where  Louisville  now  is.  After  remaining  there  a  short  time,  they  again 
took  to  their  rafts  and  floated  down  to  the  salines,  just  below  the  present  Shawneetown  in  Illi 
nois.  Here  they  took  up  their  march  across  the  country  to  K asku.sk  ia.  where  the  French  had 
an  old  settlement,  and  by  the  aid  of  a  guide  they  reached  the  Oquaw  river,  and  encamped 
near  Peter  Menard's  house,  some  little  distance  from  the  town.  Yon  see.  I  am  well  acquainted 
with  the  locality.  [Laughter.]  Xext  morning,  Clark  got  his  little  army  of  ragamuffins  together 
(for  they  had  no  army  wagons  with  supplies,  no  sutler,  and  no  stores,  and  by  this  time  looked 
ragged  enough),  and  took  up  his  line  of  march  for  the  little  French  town  of  Kaskaskia.  It 
wa-i  summer  and  a  very  hot  day,  and  as  he  entered  the  town  he  saw  the  Frenchmen  sitting 
quietly  on  their  little  verandahs,  in  front  of  their  houses,  sucking  their  juleps  through  straws, 
lie  rushed  upon  them,  crying,  "surrender,  you  suckers,  you "!"  [Great  laughter.]  The 
Frenchmen  surrendered,  and  from  that  day  to  this,  Hlmoisans  have  been  known  as  "Suckers." 
[Applause.] 

••  That  was  the  origin  of  our  cognomen,  and  when  George  Rogers  Clarke  returned  to  Vir 
ginia  he  introduced  the. juleps  here.  [Laughter.]  Now,  I  want  to  give  Virginians  fair  notice, 
that  when  they  claim  the  honor  of  a  Jefferson,  of  a  Madison,  of  a  Marshall,  and  of  as  many 
other  distinguished  sages  and  patriots  as  the  world  ever  saw.  we  yield  ;  when  you  claim  the 
glory  you  achieved  on  the  field  of  battle,  we  yield ;  when  you  claim  credit  for  the  cession  of  the 
northwestern  territory,  that  out  of  it  sovereign  States  might  be  created,  we  yield  ;  when  you 
claim  the  glory  of  never  having  polled  a  vote  against  the  Democratic  party,  we  yield :  but 
when  you  claim  the  glory  of  the  mint  julep,  hands  off;  Illinois  wants  that.  [Shouts  of  laughter 
and  applause.]— III.  Reg.  Sept.  19,  1860. 


348  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

The  cabins  were  filled  to  overflowing  with  the  families,  the  pioneers  of 
the  county,  my  family  being  among  the  number.  I  was  present  at  the 
election,  August  1822,  held  at  Springfield  (the  election  precinct  extending 
many  miles  east  and  west,  and  north  to  the  State  line),  and  saw  all  the 
voters  who  could  come  to  vote  in  that  wide  scope  of  uninhabited 
country.  Most  of  the  voters  residing  in  the  precinct  attended  the 
election,  though  many  of  them  had  miles  of  wild  country  to  travel  in 
order  to  do  so. 

The  voters  were  mostly  immigrants  from  the  east  and  south,  though  a 
large  portion  of  the  men  present  were  Indians  and  darkies,  they  of 
course  not  being  allowed  the  right  of  suffrage.  The  voting  portion  of 
the  community  were  then  called  the  Yankees  and  white  men.  Three 
men  named  Kinney,  Parkinson,  and  Edwards,  had  along  bench  ranged 
along  side  of  the  court  house,  on  which  they  set  their  liquors.  The 
polls  were  held  in  the  interior.  We  all  got  plenty  to  drink.  The  white 
men  sang  songs,  the  Indians  and  darkeys  danced;  and  a  general  frolic 
occurred ;  but  what  has  surprised  me  as  I  have  reflected  upon  these 
early  days,  we  had  no  fighting.  The  great  evil  was,  that  every  candidate 
had  to  fill  his  portmanteau  with  whiskey,  and  go  around  and  see  and 
treat  every  voter  and  his  wife  and  family  with  the  poisonous  stuff,  or 
stand  a  chance  of  being  defeated.  John  Reynolds  was  our  circuit 
judge.  He  held  his  court  at  Springfield,  in  a  cabin  built  of  round  logs, 
the  walls  of  which  were  only  6  feet  high ;  it  was  also  destitute  of  a  floor ; 
yet  we  continued  to  get  along  very  well.  The  jury  had  to  retire  to  the 
jail,  another  such  building  as  I  have  described.  Such  is  the  outline  of 
those  happy  days. 

In  the  winter  of  1823,  I  emigrated  to  what  is  now  called  Dillon  settle 
ment,  in  this  county,  10  miles  from  Pekiu,  and  17  from  Peoria,  where  I 
spent  the  season  in  quietude;  my  nearest  neighbors  living  in  Peoria, 
except  one  by  the  name  of  A  very,  who  had  raised  his  cabin  at  Funk's 
hill.  But  things  did  not  remain  in  this  condition  long  ;  for  during  the 
same  winter  the  legislature  made  a  new  county,  with  Peoria  for  the 
county  seat,  embracing  all  the  country  north  of  Sangamon  county. 
Phelps,  Stephen  French  and  myself  were  appointed  justices  of  the 
peace  for  the  new  county,  which  extended  east  as  far  as  Bloomington, 
and  north  and  west  to  the  State  line.  We  sent  our  summonses  to  Chica 
go  and  Galena,  and  they  were  promptly  returned  by  our  constable. 

March,  1824,  we  held  an  election  at  Avery's,  Wm.  Holland,  Joseph 
Smith  and  myself  were  elected  county  commissioners.  The  whole 
county  was  embraced  in  one  election  district.  The  number  of  votes 
poJed  was  20  ;  had  some  whiskey  on  the  occasion,  but  it  was  well  tem 
pered,  having  been  imported  a  long  way  by  water;  and  we  did  not  suc 
ceed  in  getting  on  as  great  a  spree  as  we  did  at  Springfield. 

In  those  days  when  we  could  not  get  the  store  room  of  Hamlin  or 
Allen,  or  the  dwelling  house  of  John  Dixon,  we  held  our  courts  on  the 
river  bank ;  not  being  as  wealthy  or  strong  handed  as  in  Sangamon,  we 
had  to  do  without  a  court  house  ;  Judge  Sawyer  was  our  circuit  judge, 
and  it  was  some  time  before  we  could  scare  up  a  jury.  At  that  date 
there  was  not  a  cabin  on  the  site  of  the  city  of  Pekin,  and  perogues  were 
the  only  crafts  M  e  had  to  freight  our  whiskey,  salt,  and  iron  from  the 
State  to  Peoria. 

Now  let  me  tell  you  how  we  got  along  about  mills.  There  were  3  or  4 
horse  mills  in  Sangamon,  at  40  or  45  miles  distance.  Sometimes  we  went 
to  them;  sometimes  to  Southwick's,  situated  at  a  distance  of  60 
miles  ;  we  did  not  mind  the  journey  much,  unless  the  streams  were 
swollen  with  rains,  in  which  case  the  task  of  going  to  mill  was  severe, 
as  there  were  no  bridges  and  ferries  in  those  days.  By  and  by,  to  remedy 
our  wants,  Samuel  Tutter  erected  a  small  horse  mill  in  the  neighbor 
hood  of  Peoria;  and  a  few  years  after,  William  Eds  put  up  one  at  Elm 
Grove ;  a  public  improvement  which  made  us  feel  quite  rich.  In  those 
early  times,  we  only  took  corn  to  mill,  paying  one-sixth  and  one  bit  per 
bushel,  for  grinding.  The  meal  obtained  was  of  an  inferior  quality 
when  compared  with  what  we  now  have.  Our  millers  were  good,  hon 
est  fellows,  and  the  somewhat  heavy  tariffs  they  laid  on  their  customers 
not  at  all  wrong,  for  their  income  was  small. 


EDWARDS'  ADMINISTRATION.  349 

Times  are  changed.  The  reader  who  now  looks  at  the  fertile  prairies 
of  Illinois,  what  does  he  behold.  Large  cities  and  flourishing  towns! 
Behold  the  prairies,  then  wild  and  untrodden,  now  covered  with  fine 
farms  and  dwellings,  behold  the  travel  of  our  railroads  and  rivers,  visit 
our  county  fairs  and  become  acquainted  with  our  intelligent  farmers, 
and  the  vast  and  valuable  amount  of  products  derived  from  the  soil  they 
till;  behold  on  every  hand  our  numerous  churches  and  school  houses, 
our  court  houses  and  seats  of  justice,  spread  all  over  the  wide  territory 
which  French,  Philips  and  myself  early  governed  as  humble  justices ; 
and  tell  me,  has  not  the  changed  improvement  been  great  and  remark 
able."* 

European  Colonists. — It  has  been  stated  that  the  early  settlers 
were  mostly  from  the  southern  states.  There  were  also  some 
foreign  colonists  located  in  Illinois  at  an  early  date.  The  first 
were  a  few  Irish  families,  under  the  leadership  of  Samuel  O'Mel- 
vany,  a  popular  pioneer,  who  located  on  the  Ohio  river  about 
1805. 

Shortly  after  the  war  of  1812,  Morris  Birbeck,  an  Englishman 
imbued  with  republican  principles,  visited  Illinois  with  a  view  to 
locating  a  colony  of  his  countrymen.  Being  a  man  of  tine 
scholarly  attainments,  he  wrote  home  for  publication  a  number  of 
letters  faithfully  representing  the  advantages  of  this  country,  which 
received  a  wide  circulation  and  proved  of  great  benefit  to  Illinois 
abroad.  In  a  short  time  after,  he  and  George  Flower,  both  men 
of  wealth  brought  out  from  England  a  large  colony  consisting 
of  several  hundred  families,  representing  almost  every  industrial 
pursuit.  They  located  in  Edwards  county.  The  town  of  Albion, 
the  present  county  seat,  was  started  by  Mr.  Flower,  and  about  a 
mile  west  of  it  another  by  Mr.  Birbeck,  called  Waunock,  which 
proved  a  failure.  There  was  some  rivalry.  There  was  much 
wealth  and  refinement  in  the  colony,  aside  from  that  in  the  posses 
sion  of  the  founders.  A  few  of  the  first  settlers  are  still  living, 
their  descendents  are  quite  numerous  in  and  about  Albion.t 

About  1815,  two  German  families,  by  the  name  of  Markee  and 
Germain,  first  settled  in  a  gorge  of  the  Mississippi  bluff  in  St. 
Glair  county,  known  from  that  circumstance  as  Dutch  Hollow. 
These  families  became  the  nucleus  of  the  present  large  German 
population  of  St.  Clair  and  adjacent  counties.  Another  English 
colony,  Roman  Catholic  in  belief,  composed  of  15  or  20  families 
from  Lancashier,  settled  in  Prairie  du  Long  Creek,  Monroe  county, 
in  1817.  Thomas  Winstauly,  Bamber,  Threlfall  and  ^ewsham 
were  the  founders.  They  became  a  thrifty  settlement.  Numerous 
English  immigrants  also  settled  in  Green  county  in  1820. 

In  1819  Ferdinand  Ernst,  a  gentlemen  of  wealth,  education  and 
literary  taste,  from  the  kingdom  of  Hanover,  came  to  Vandalia, 
then  just  selected  as  the  seat  of  government,  and  located  a  German 
colony  consisting  of  25  or  30  families.  In  1822  Bernard  Steiner 
settled  a  small  Swiss  colony  of  8  or  10  families  in  the  southeastern 
»  part  of  St.  Clair  county.  Their  location  was  on  a  beautiful  and 

*See  Illinois  State  Journal  June  30  1854. 

•fMr.  Flower  lost  his  fortune  by  the  breaking  of  the  United  States  bank,  and  afterwards  re 
moved  to  Mt.  Vernon,  Indiana,  but  some  of  his  descendeuts  still  live  in  the  Bo)tenhous» 
prairie.  Mr.  Birbeek  was  secretary  of  State  under  Grov.  Coles.  In  the  convention  contest  of 
18-24.  he  contributed  more  by  his  writings  than  perhaps  any  one  else  to  defeat  the  schemes  of 
the  cohorts  of  slavery.  He  Avas  unfortunately  drowned  in  a  bayou  of  the  great  Wabash,  cal.ed 
Fox  river,  swollen  by  heavy  rains.  He.  accompanied  by  his,  son  was  on  his  way  home  from 
New  Harmony,  Indiana,  then  in  charge  of  the  Robert  Owen  communists,  whither  they  had 
made  a  visit.  In  attempting  to  cross  the  stream,  the  rapid  current  swept  their  horses  out  of 
their  course,  and  Mr.  Birbeck  and  both  horses  perished.  His  son  barely  escaped  the  same  fate. 
His  untimely  death  was  a  great  loss  to  the  State. 


350  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


commanding  eminence  called  Dutch  Hill.  It  was  added  to  by  sub 
sequent  immigrants  until  it  formed  a  large  settlement.* 

Financial  Condition  of  the  State. — When  the  State  government 
went  into  operation,  in  1818,  the  total  revenue  reported  in  the 
treasury,  and  to  become  due  on  the  1st  of  December,  was 
$7,310.40;  it  now  amounted  for  the  years  1829-30  to  $78,938, 
of  which  $70,1237  was  derived  solely  from  taxes  on  non-residents' 
lands,  $2,787  from  the  Ohio  salines,  $2,800  from  the  sale  of  Van- 
dalia  lots,  and  $3,084  collected  by  sheriffs.  The  biennial 
State  expenses  were  estimated  by  the  treasurer,  for  salaries  and 
to  support  the  contingent  fund,  at  $25000,  and  for  a  session  of  the 
general  assembly  at  $15,000,  total  $40,000,  or  $20,000  annually, 
leaving  at  the  lowest  estimate  a  surplus  revenue  of  $30,000  every 
two  years.  That  was  a  good  healthy  condition  of  the  State's  fiscal 
affairs.  Gov.  Edwards  was  greatly  instrumental  in  bringing  about 
this  highly  creditable  condition  of  the  State  treasury,  which  he 
found  4  years  before  empty,  and  auditor's  warrants  at  a  discount 
of  50  per  cent.  At  the  present  writing  we  have  a  population  10 
times  as  large,  to-wit,  2,553,000;  we  have  no  public  debt  of  conse 
quence,  and  our  gain  of  property  is  proportionately  larger  than 
our  ratio  of  increase  in  population,  yet  our  State  expenses  are 
50  times  greater,  as  every  tax  payer  yearly  feels. 

During  the  period  over  which  we  are  now  casting  a  retrospect, 
the  treasuries  of  the  State  and  counties,  and  suitors  at  law  in 
dividually,  were  subjected  to  serious  losses  by  defaulting  sheriffs, 
for  taxes  collected  and  moneys  received  on  execution.  If  the  sheriff 
was  an  aspirant  for  re-election,  the  State  or  county  would  not 
suffer  much  the  first  term,  because  he  could  not  be  commissioned 
for  a  second  term  without  a  certificate  of  settlement  for  all  public 
funds  placed  in  his  hands;  but  to  exhibit  such  a  clearance,  the 
money  collected  on  executions  and  belonging  to  individuals  would 
be  used;  while  with  the  people  generally,  who  felt  little  concern 
in  these  private  affairs,  and  among  whom  his  official  duties  con 
stantly  called  him,  he  was  in  the  condition  to  contradict  rumors, 
and  in  the  face  of  his  dereliction  enabled  to  make  friends  and 
secure  a  renewed  lease  of  power.t  No  official  who  handles  large 
sums  of  the  people's  money,  or  is  so  closely  identified  with  all  our 
property  rights,  either  corporate  or  individual,  as  a  sheriff  or 
treasurer,  ought  by  law  to  be  allowed  to  become  his  own  successor 
in  office.  We  can  but  regard  this  as  a  bad  feature  in  the  constitu 
tion  of  1870. 

Trade  and  Commerce. — Internal  improvements  to  facilitate  trade 
and  commercial  intercourse,  consisted,  up  to  that  time,  mostly  in 
acts  of  the  legislature  declaring  certain  streams  navigable.  In 
thesedecjarations  that  honorable  body  was  not  the  least  parsimo 
nious,  but  dealt  them  out  to  almost  every  rivulet  with  a  prodigal 
Land;  and  a  stranger,  in  looking  over  the  old  statutes,  ante-dating, 
say,  1840,  would  inevitably  conclude  that  the  State  of  Illinois  was 
intersected  by  navigable  streams  in  every  direction  as  abundantly 
as  could  possibly  be  desired  by  the  most  commercial  people.  To 
the  Illinois  and  Michigan  canal  there  was  as  yet  nothing  done 

'Reynold's  Life  and  Times 
•(•Ford's  History. 


EDWARDS'  ADMINISTRATION  351 

except  some  very  imperfect  surveys,  though  it  had  been  the  theme 
of  recommendation  by  every  governor,  and  its  grant  of  land  was 
procured  from  congress. 

The  progress  of  commerce  from  1818  to  1830  was  jostled  but 
little  from  its  beaten  track  by  the  improved  facilities  of  quick  con 
veyance  offered  by  the  introduction  of  steam.  Steamboats  upon 
the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  had  become  frequent,  but  the  older 
settlers  were  not  stirred  from  their  drowsy  condition  of  making 
simply  enough  to  live  on  by  the  new  life,  and  the  recent  settlers, 
if  they  desired,  were  not  in  a  condition  to  raise  anything  beyond 
their  present  needs — the  condition  of  all  new  comers.  The  Illinois 
river  was  not  visited  by  the  newly  propelled  craft,  except  small 
ones  which  ascended  to  Beardstown  and  occasionally  to  Peoria 
and  above,  as  required.  Gen.  Joseph  Street,  writing  from  Peoria 
under  date  of  March  30,  1827,  says:  "There  is  nothing  doing  on 
land  and  less  on  water.  *  *  The  harbor  and  town  site  are  the 
best,  I  presume,  in  all  the  western  country ;  but  not  one  sail 
enlivens  the  monotonous  prospect  or  one  oar  dips  in  the  dark 
blue  waves  of  the  fairy  lake  from  one  years'  end  to  another — if 
you  will  except  the  ferry  boat,  with  now  and  then  the  canoe  of  a 
few  miserable  savages  in  quest  of  a  dram."  Keel-boat  transporta 
tion  had  been  superseded,  it  is  true,  but  the  scanty  commerce  and 
feeble  trade  made  no  demands  for  more  extensive  carrying  facili 
ties  than  we  have  mentioned.  In  development  and  wealth  the 
State  was  in  its  merest  infancy. 

Merchandizing  during  this  period  consisted  in  the  bare  retailing 
of  a  few  dry  goods  and  groceries.  None  of  the  products  of  the 
country  were  taken  in  exchange,  except  peltries,  beeswax*  and 
tallow.  The  peoples'  chief  supply  of  money  came  from  immigrants 
who  bought  of  their  grain,  stock  or  produce,  and  often  employed 
their  labor  besides.  The  money  went  out  again  into  the  hands 
of  the  merchants  who  sent  it  abroad  in  payment  for  goods,  and 
thus  the  country  was  kept  drained  of  anything  like  a  sufficient 
currency.  When  credit  was  obtained  at  the  stores,  in  default  of 
payment  and  to  gain  time,  mortgages  would  often  be  given,  these 
foreclosed,  the  merchant  would  in  time  find  himself  the  possessor 
of  perhaps  a  number  of  farms,  retire  from  business  on  a  compe 
tency  and  dream  away  his  life  in  village  idleness,  Avithout  ever 
benefiting  the  country  in  the  least,  but  ruining  perhaps  a  number 
of  its  citizens.  For  a  long  time  there  was  no  class  of  merchants 
who  did  a  barter  business.  They  were  unwilling  to  exchange 
goods  for  produce  and  incur  the  responsibility  of  ownership  until 
shipments  to  distant  markets  and  sales  could  be  effected.  There 
was  the  risk  of  a  fluctuating  market  in  the  interim;  their  capital 
as  a  rule  was  small,  and  a  loss  on  produce  might  render  them 

••'Fifty  years  ago,  or  in  the  summer  of  1821,"  writes  Chas.  Robertson  of  Arnzville, 
under  date  of  Feb.  8,  1872,  to  the  Chicago  Journal,  -'there  was  not  a  bushel  of  corn  to  be 
had  in  Central  Illinois.  My  father  settled  in  that  year  23  miles  west  of  Springfield. 
We  had  to  live  for  a  time  on  venison,  blackberries  and  milk,  while  the  men  were  gone 
to  Egypt  to  harvest  and  procure  breadstuffs.  The  land  we  improved  was  surveyed 
that  summer, and  afterward  bought  of  the  government  by  sending  beeswax  down 'the 
Illinois  river  to  St.  Louis  in  an  Indian  canoe.  Dressed  deer  skins  and  tanned  hides 
were  then  in  use,  and  we  made  one  piece  of  cloth  out  of  nettles  instead  of  flax 
Cotton  matured  well  lor  a  decade,  until  the  deep  snow,"  in  1830. 

The  southern  part  of  the  State,  known  as  Egypt,  received  this  appellation,  as  here 
indicated,  because  being  older,  better  Settled  and  cultivated,  it  "gathered  corn  as  the 
sand  of  the  sea,"  ana  the  immigrants  of  the  central  part  of  the  State,  after  the  manner 
of  the  children  of  Israel,  in  their  wants  went  "thitherto  buy  and  bring  from  thence 
that  they  might  live  and  not  die. 


352  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

insolvent;  no  business  connections  with  commission  houses  had 
been  established;  added  to  these  was  often  a  limited  capacity.  A 
few  years  later,  it  seems,  merchants  were  forced  into  barter  by  the 
refusal  of  the  United  States  bank  at  St.  Louis  to  extend  accommo 
dations  to  them,  in  meeting  their  matured  contracts  for  goods 
bought  in  the  east.  Then  the  grain,  beef,  and  pork  of  the  country 
were  purchased  and  shipped  forward  in  payment  thereof,  and  not 
unfreq  nen  try,  it  was  found,  a  double  profit  was  realized,  one  on 
the  goods  sold  at  retail  and  another  on  the  produce  forwarded.* 

It  was  no  uncommon  practice  in  early  times  for  farmers  to  be 
come  their  own  carriers  and  merchants  ;  the  practice  obtained  to 
within  quite  a  recent  period  in  many  parts  of  southern  Illinois. 
A  flat-boat  would  be  built  on  the  banks  of  a  suitable  stream, 
launched,  loaded  with  the  produce  of  the  year — the  flour,  bacon, 
corn,  etc.,  of  perhaps  a  neighborhood — manned,  and  with  the  first 
rise  of  the  waters,  cut  loose  and  floated  down  to  STew  Orleans. 
After  a  tedious  and  often  hazardous  voyage,  on  arrival  at  the 
distant  market  a  total  stranger,  it  was  not  nn frequently  the  case 
that  the  farmer-merchant  would  fall  into  the  clutches  of  sharpers 
who  took  advantage  of  his  want  of  acquaintance  with  commercial 
transactions  and  fleeced  him  of  his  cargo.  But  these  ventures 
proved  at  times  exceedingly  profitable.  Before  the  day  of  steam 
the  journey  home  was  long,  toilsome  atid  weary,  either  on  foot 
through  the  country  inhabited  by  savages,  or  by  keel-boats,  labo 
riously  pushed  with  poles,  or  cordellcd — towed  with  long  ropes — 
against  the  strong  currents  of  the  rivers.  An  entire  season  would 
thus  often  be  wasted,  a  crop  lost,  and  the  farm  abandoned  to  neg 
lect,  on  account  of  the  long  absence  of  the  proprietor.! 

Early  Mail  Facilities. — The  first  mail  route  crossing  the  Alle- 
ghany  mountains,  was  opened  from  Philadelphia  to  Pittsburgh  in 
1788,  and,  at  intervals  of  six  years,  was  extended,  in  171)4,  to 
Louisville,  and  in  1800  to  Vincennes.  From  the  latter  place,  routes 
were  extended,  in  1805,  to  Cahokia,  and  in  180(5,  to  Shawneetown. 
In  1810,  mail  routes  were  established  by  act  of  congress  from  Vin- 
cennes  to  St.  Louis,  via  Kaskaskia,  Prairie  du  liocher  and  Cahokia, 
and  from  the  former  place  to  Cape  Girardeau,  via  St.  Gcnevieve, 
and  also  from  Louisville  to  Shawneetown ;  in  1814,  to  Johnson 
Court-house  (Johnson  county,  Illinois),  and  in  1818,  to  Belleville. 
In  1822,  Edwardsville,  Springfield  and  Peoria  were  connected  by 
a  mail  route;  and  in  1823,  Carroll  ton,  Boss  Settlement  and  New 
Atlas,  in  Pike  county.  In  1824,  there  was  a  direct  mail  route 
from  Vandalia  to  Springfield.  The  first  route  from  the  central 
part  of  the  State  to  Chicago,  was  established  in  1832,  from  Shel- 
byville,  via  Decaturand  Fox  river;  and  in  the  same  year,  a  route 
from  Chicago  to  Danville,  and  to  Green  Bay.  Direct  routes  from 
Chicago  to  Galena,  and  to  Springfield,  were  opened  in  1826.  In 
1827-8,  four-horse  coaches  were  put  on  the  line  from  Vinceunes  to 
St.  Louis.  The  difficulties  and  dangers  encountered  by  the  early 
mail  carriers,  in  time  of  Indian  troubles,  were  very  serious.  The 
bravery  and  ingenious  devices  of  Harry  Wilton  (subsequently 
United  States  marshal),  who,  when  a  boy,  in  1812,  conveyed  the 

*For<T8  History. 
tFord's  History, 


EDWARDS7  ADMINISTRATION.  353 

mail  on  a  wild  French  pony,  over  swollen  streams,  and  through 
the  "  enemy's  country,"  from  Shawneetown  to  St.  Louis,  are  men 
tioned  with  special  commendation.  Stacy  McDonald,  of  Ran 
dolph  county,  an  old  pioneer,  who  was  at  St.  01  air's  Defeat,  and 
under  Wayne  in  1794,  was  the  government  in  ail  con  tractor  on  that 
line.  So  infrequent  and  irregular  were  the  communications  by 
mail  a  great  part  of  the  time,  that  to-day,  the  remotest  part  of  the 
United  States  is  unable  to  appreciate  it  by  example.* 

Early  Newspapers. — The  first  newspaper  published  north  of 
the  Ohio,  and  west  of  Cincinnati,  Avas  the  Vincennes  Sun,  in  1803, 
edited  by  Elihu  Stout.  The  next  in  the  west  was  the  Missouri 
Gazette,  established  at  St.  Louis,  in  1808,  by  Joseph  Charless,  and 
continued  ever  since,  but  subsequently  merged  in  the  Republican. 
The  next  in  the  west,  and  the  first  within  the  limits  of  the  State, 
was  the  Illinois  Herald,  established  at  Kaskaskia,  by  Matthew 
Duncan,  brother  of  the  subsequent  governor.  There  is  some 
variance  as  to  the  exact  time  of  its  establishment.  Win.  H. 
Brown,  afterward  editor  of  the  same  paper  at  Vandalia,  under  the 
name  of  Intelligencer,  and  in  after  years  president  of  the  Chicago 
historical  society,  says,  "at  or  before  1814."  Gov.  Reynolds  says, 
1809.  Hooper  Warren  explains  the  latter  statement  by  saying, 
''the  press  brought  by  Mr.  Duncan  was  for  years  only  used  for  the 
public  printing."  Matthew  Duncan  sold  out  to  Robert  Blackwell 
and  Daniel  P.  Cook  in  1815.  The  former  succeeded  Mr.  Duncan, 
as  public  printer,  and  was,  moreover,  the  territorial  auditor  of 
public  accounts.  In  the  latter  office  he  was  succeeded,  in  the  fall 
of  1817,  by  Elijah  C.  Berry,  who  also  succeeded  to  the  same  office 
under  the  State  government  in  1818,  and  who  became  a  co-editor 
of  the  Herald.  In  the  hands  of  Blackwell  and  Berry  the  name  of 
the  paper  was  changed  to  Illinois  Intelligencer,  and  upon  the 
removal  of  the  seat  of  government  to  Vandalia  in  1820,  the 
Intelligencer  establishment  followed  it.  Mr.  Berry  relinquished 
his  interest  in  the  concern,  and  his  place  was  taken  by  a  brother 
and  Win.  H.  Brown.  In  the  convention  contest  of  1824,  differing 
with  his  associates,  Mr.  Brown  withdrew.  The  Intelligencer  was 
long  an  ably  conducted  paper,  Mr.  Blackwell,  a  well  known  law 
yer,  being  for  many  years  its  editor. 

The  Illinois  Emigrant,  the  second  newspaper  printed  in  Illinois, 
was  established  at  Shawneetown  by  Henry  Eddy  and  Singleton 
H.  Kimmel,  in  the  fall  of  1818,  when  the  State  was  admitted  to 
the  Union.  James  Hall  succeeded  Mr.  Kinmiel.  Through  this 
paper  Mr.  Eddy,  a  clear  and  vigorous  writer,  in  the  convention 
struggle  of  1824,  dealt  herculean  blows  in  opposition  to  slavery. 
The  name  had  been  changed  to  Illinois  Gazette. 

The  third  newspaper  established  in  Illinois,  was  founded  by 
Hooper  Warren,  at  Edwardsville,  in  1819,  called  the  Spectator. 
The  first  year  he  had  the  assistance  of  the  afterward  Hon. 
George  Churchill,  a  practical  printer  and  experienced  writer, 
whom  he  met  at  St.  Louis.  Mr.  Churchill  retired  at  the  end  of  a 
year  to  his  farm  near  Edwardsville,  where  he  lived  until  quite 
recently.  Hooper  Warren  was  a  bold,  able,  and  vigorous  writer, 
and  did  much  to  defeat  the  slavery  schemes  in  1824.  In  1825,  he 

•Paper  read  before  the  Chicago  Hist.  Society,  by  W.  H.  Brown  in  1860 

23 


354  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

sold  out  to  the  Rev.  Thomas  Lippincott  and  Jerremiah  Abbot. 
Mr.  Warren  afterward  started  newspapers  in  various  places  in 
the  State,  but  never  with  the  success  that  his  ability  promised. 

In  September,  1822,  the  "Star  of  the  West"  was  started  by  a 
Mr.  Miller  and  sons,  also  at  Edwardsville.  They  had  just  come 
from  Pennsylvania  with  a  press  and  material,  seeking  a  location. 
At  Edwardsville,  while  stopping  over  night,  they  were  persuaded 
by  the  opponents  of  Mr.  Warren,  to  unload  and  setup  their  press, 
lie  remarks,  "we  had  a  lively  time  for  a  few  months,  when  the 
"Star"  went  down."  They  sold  in  April,  1823,  to  Thomas  J.  Mc- 
Guire  &  Co.,  who  changed  the  name  to  Illinois  Republican.  Judge 
Theophilus  W.  Smith  and  Emanuel  J.  West  were  the  leading 
editors  during  the  convention  contest,  in  counteracting  the  influ 
ence  of  the  Spectator.  It  was  discontinued  with  the  close  of  that 
campaign,  the  last  number  being  issued  Saturday  preceding  the 
election  in  August,  1824 

In  January,  1823,  E.  K.  Fleming  commenced  to  publish  the 
Republican  Advocate,  at  Kaskaskia,  which  was  the  organ  of  the 
pro-convention  party  during  the  contest. 

In  1820,  at  Galena,  on  the  4th  of  July,  was  issued  the  first  num 
ber  of  the  Miners''  Journal,  by  James  Jones.  In  1832,  he  sold  to 
Dr.  Phillio,  when  its  name  was  changed  to  Galenian. 

In  the  winter  of  182G-7,  Hooper  Warren  established  the  8an- 
gamo  Spectator  at  Springfield.  Mr.  Warren  says  (letter  to  the  old 
'settlers'  meeting  of  Sangamon  county,  October,  1859),  "it  was  but 
a  small  affair,  a  medium  sheet,  worked  by  myself  alone  most  of 
the  time.77  It  was  transferred  to  S.  0.  Merredith  in  1828.  In  the 
latter  year  was  started  at  Edwardsville,  the  Illinois  Corrector,  and 
at  Kaskaskia,  the  Republican.  In  1829  was  established  the  Galena, 
Advertiser,  by  Newhall,  Phillio  &  Co.  The  Alton  Spectator  was 
established  about  1830,  by  Edward  Breath.  The  Telegraph  was 
established  by  Parks  and  Treadway,  the  latter  transferring  his 
interest  in  a  short  time  to  Mr.  B  ail  h  ache,  who  was  its  principal 
editor  for  many  years.  In  1831,  Simeon  Francis  established  at 
Springfield,  the  Sangamo  Journal,  which  he  continued  to  edit 
until  1855,  when  he  sold  to  Bailhache  and  Baker.  In  Chicago,  on 
the  2Gth  of  November,  1833,  was  issued  the  first  number  of  the 
Democrat,  published  by  John  Calhoun,  which  was  the  first  news 
paper  there. 

Literature  and  Literati. — The  literature  of  Illinois,  prior  to  1830, 
aside  from  mere  political  articles  in  the  newspapers,  often  well 
and  forcibly  Avritten,  was  confined  to  few7  hands.  We  will  here 
mention  the  prominent  early  literati  of  Illinois.  Morris  Birbeclt, 
an  Englishman,  whom  we  have  noted  as  settling  a  colony  in  Ed 
wards  county,  in  1855,  wrote  home  sketches  of  considerable  merit 
regarding  the  advantages  of  Illinois,  which  received  a  wide  pub 
lication  and  were  afterwards  collected  in  book  form.  He  acquired 
considerable  celebrity  as  an  author.  Dr.  Lewis  C.  Iteck  wrote  the 
valuable  and  well  known  Gazetteer  of  Missouri  and  Illinois,  which 
in  1823,  AY  as  published  in  book  form.  Judge  James  Hall  Avas  a 
Philadelphia!!,  born  1793.  He  settled  in  Illinois  about  1818.  He 
had  been  a  soldier  in  the  Avar  of  1812,  having  participated  under 
Scott  in  the  battles  of  Chippewa,  Niagara  and  Fort  Erie,  and  been 
with  Commodore  Decatur  to  Algiers.  At  Pittsburgh,  in  1817,  he 


EDWARDS'  ADMINISTRATION.  355 

completed  his  law  studies,  resigned  his  commission  in  the  regular 
army,  floated  down  the  Ohio  and  settled  at  Shawneetown.  He 
had  already  devoted  much  time  to  literary  composition.  Here  he 
became  a  co-editor  with  Henry  Eddy  on  the  Gazttee.  He  also 
soon  attained  office  at  the  hands  of  the  legislature,  being  succes 
sively  prosecuting  attorney,  circuit  judge  and  State  treasurer.  In 
the  first  named  position  he  became  well  acquainted  with  the 
operations  of  the  gangs  of  villians,  counterfeiters  and  freebooters, 
which  then  infested  the  shores  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  in 
southern  Illinois,  and  which  doubtless  furnished  him  many  an 
incident  out  of  which  to  weave  his  "Border  Tales."  At  Vandalia 
he  started  the  Illinois  Magazine.  He  also  ajt  that  time  edited  the 
Wetttern  Souvenir,  published  at  Cincinnati,  whither  he  removed  in 
1833,  and  became  connected  with  banking,  but  he  pursued  his 
literary  labors  until  his  death  in  18G8.  Throughout  life  his  pen 
was  constantly  active.  He  wrote  with  great  facility,  and  his 
voluminous  works  evince  a  high  degree  of  literary  merit.  He 
early  became  distinguished  as  a  scholar  and  author  throughout 
the  United  States.  As  a  poet,  too,  he  was  rarely  gifted.  Among 
his  works  best  known  are  perhaps,  "Legends  of  the  West.'7 
"Harpe's  Head/'  "Border  Tales,"  "Life  of  Gen.  Harrison,"  "Tales 
of  the  Wigwam  and  War  path,"  &c.  He  has  also  left  an  elabo 
rate  "  History  of  the  Xorth  American  Indians." 

Rev.  John  M.  Peck,  1).  I).  This  distinguished  Baptist  divine, 
pioneer  and  historian  of  Illinois,  resided  for  near  40  years  on  his 
farm  at  Belleville,  known  as  "Bock  Spring."  He  came  to  Illinois 
about  1820.  There  was  no  man  in  all  the  west  who  traveled,  lec 
tured  or  wrote  so  much  as  he,  during  his  long  life,  throughout 
which  he  was  also  a  constant,  faithful  and  able  preacher  of  the 
gospel.  He  was  the  founder  in  1827,  of  the  "Bock  Spring  theo 
logical  seminary  and  high  school,"  and  became  its  professor  of 
Christian  theology.  John  Messinger  was  professor  of  mathematics 
and  natural  philosophy,  and  Bev.  Joshua  Bradly  principal.  It 
opened  with  100  students.  In  1831  it  was  transferred  to  Alton, 
and  became  the  foundation  for  Shurtleff  college.  Dr.  "Peck 
wielded  a  prolific  pen.  Among  his  voluminous  works  we  mention, 
without  order,  The  Emigrants  Guide,  Illinois  Gazetteer,  maps 
&c.,  Life  of  Bev.  John  Clark,  The  Indian  Captive,  Life  of  Bev. 
John  Tanner,  Moral  Progress  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  Life  of 
Bev.  Jeremiah  Vordeman,  &c.;  but  the  work  which  will  transmit 
his  name  to  posterity  the  longest  is  his  revision  and  enlargement 
of  the  "Annals  of  the  West,"  by  Jas.  H.  Perkins.  It  evinces 
much  research  and  contains  a  very  accurate  history  of  the  north 
west.  We  are  considerably  indebted  to  it  in  the  "preparation  of 
this  work. 

John  Russell,  a  native  of  Vermont,  after  marriage  in  1810, 
removed  west,  and  a  few  years  later  settled  in  Green  county,  at 
Bluff  Dale,  a  beautiful  and  romantic  site  not  far  from  the  Illinois 
river.  Much  of  his  life  was  spent  as  a  professor  in  various 
colleges  in  the  west.  He  was  a  professor  at  an  early  day  in 
Shurtleff  college,  a  profound  scholar  and  chaste  and"  elegant 
writer,  but  his  productions  were  not  voluminous.  Like  many 
authors  before  him,  he  was  unobtrusive  with  his  talents.  Pie  led 
a  quiet  and  retired  life  in  his  western  home,  but  was  ever  an  hide- 


356  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 


fatigable  student.     His  literary  morceaus  were  ofteii  set  afloat 
without  the  author's  name. 

Dr.  Peck  sold  a  manuscript  for  him  in  the  east,  a  magazine 
article  called  "The  Legend  of  the  Piasa,"  representing  a  terrible 
bird  of  prey,  which  feasted  on  the  Indians,  under  an  injunction 
not  to  disclose  the  writer's  name.  It  attracted  considerable  atten 
tion,  and  was  afterwards  translated  into  French,  as  original.  Dr. 
Peck  exposed  the  plagiarism,  to  the  great  mortification  of  the 
Frenchman,  who  resided  in  America.  One  of  Prof.  Kussel's 
fugitive  pieces,  called  the  "Venomous  Worm,"  gained  a  wide  cele 
brity,  being  transalated  into  many  languages.  It  conveys  a  deep 
moral  lesson  in  allegory  on  intemperance,  and  became  a  standard 
piece  in  our  earlier  school  books.* 

[NOTE]  -To  anticipate  a  few  years,  we  find  Pegasus  also  bestrode  upon  the  level  plains 
of  Illinois,  several  regions  having  their  local  poets.  Kane  county  had  one  apparently 
enamored  of  the  solid  advantages  which  the  State  of  his  adoption  atforded.  He  sang 
as  follows :  • 

"The  limber   here  is  very  good— 

The  forest  dense  of  sturdy  wood : 

The  maple  tree  its  sweets  affords 

And  walnut  it  is  sawn  to  boards; 

The  giant  oak  the  axman  hails 

Its  massive  trunk  is  torn  to  rails, 

And  game  is  plenty  in  the  State, 

Which  makes  the  hunter's  chances  great — 

The  prairie  wolf  infests  the  land, 

And  the  wild  cats  all  bristling  stand.' 

To  show  the  comparative  excellence  of  our  rivers,  he  sang  further  : 
"  I've  gazed  upon  the  wild  Scioto, 

And  wondered  where  its  waters  go  to;' 
But  the  Illinois, 

"Rattling  onward  in  its  course, 
Doth  seek  the  Mississippi's  source" — 

afforded  him  no  such  misgivings,  for  it  will  be  perceived  that  by  a  poetic  license,  per 
haps,  but  in  defiance  of  natural  law,  he  runs  its  waters  up  tLe Mississippi. 

Politics  of  the  People — Manner  of  conducting  Campaigns — In 
trigues  of  Politicians. — Eegarding  the  political  sentiments  of  the 
people,  it  is  not  flattering  to  our  republican  pride  to  read  from  an 
accurate  observer  of  the  period :  "  Up  to  the  year  1840,  I  can  say 
with  perfect  truth,  that  considerations  of  mere  party,  men's  con 
descensions,  agreeable  carriage  and  professions  of  friendship,  had 
more  influence  with  the  great  body  of  the  people,  than  the  most 
important  public  services.'''!  But  it  is  more  humiliating  to  confess 
that  these  considerations  play  to-day  no  less  a  part  than  they  did 
40  and  50  years  ago;  and  they  probably  always  will  be  formidable 
agencies  in  politics,  however  we  may  boast  the  intelligence  of  the 
masses. 

The  masses  did  not  expect  that,  nor  did  the  public  servants 
think  or  study  how,  government  might  be  made  conducive  to  the 
elevation  of  the  people.  To  advance  the  civil  condition  and  hap 
piness  of  society  was  an  object  foreign  to  the  purposes  of  legisla 
tion.  Government  was  tolerated,  and  its  forms  and  requirements 
acquiesced  in,  by  the  masses,  from  a  feeling  of  habit,  so  long  as  its 
administration  did  not  clash  with  or  encroach  upon  their  inter 
ests,  enjoyments,  or  personal  freedom  too  much.| 

*  Reynolds  Life  and  Times.  tFord's  Hist 

$An  anecdote,  related  by  Robert  S.  Blackwell  Esq.,  at  a  New  England  supper  on 
Pilgrim's  day  in  Chicago,  December  21,1853,  may  serve  to  illustrate  this  characteris 
tic  of  the  old  pioneers:  "They  were  great  bee-hunters  and  had  a  custom  of  appropri 
ating  to  the  tinder  all  bee  trees,  on  whose  land  soever  they  happened  to  be  growing. 
When  they  discovered  a  bee  tree,  without  leave  or  license,  they  entered  upon  the 
land  and  cut  it  down,  and  made  themselves  masters  of  the  hcney.  The  owner  seldom 


EDWARDS7  ADMINISTRATION.  357 

Among- the  pioneers  were  ill  so  many  adventurers;  and  nearly 
all  immigrants  sought  the  new  country  for  an  easier  life  or  the 
accumulation  of  property.  Upon  governmental  affairs  but  little 
thought  was  bestowed.  When  aroused  to  the  exercise  of  the  great 
privilege  of  the  citizen — the  elective  franchise — by  interested  .dem 
agogues,  no  other  consideration  entered  into  the  act  than  to  either 
favor  a  friend  or  punish  an  enemy.  This  indifference,  so  unworthy 
of  the  citizen,  redounded  to  the  advantage  of  the  active  and  dili 
gent  place  hunters,  in  that  it  permitted  them,  without  molestation 
or  exposure,  to  perfect  their  "  pipe  laying"  for  the  partition  of 
governmental  patronage.  There  were  no  great  political  questions 
to  divide  the  people  prior  to  1832-3.  Politics  were  personal,  and 
suffrage  was  bestowed,  not  with  regard  to  public  welfare,  but  as  a 
matter  of  personal  favor.  In  such  elections,  the  ballot  system, 
which  in  denser  populations  affords  the  greatest  independence  to 
the  voter  in  eliciting  his  true  intent,  was  here  prostituted  to 
double-dealing  and  dissimulation.  Out  of  it  grew  what  was  known. 
as  the  "keep  dark  Boon"  system,  in  which  were  sacrificed  on  the 
part  of  both  office  seekers  ami;  to  a  certain  extent,  the  people,  all 
principles  of  honor  and  sincerity,  by  mutual  deceptions  of  every 
grade  and  character,  from  which  the  most  adroit  intriguer  emerged 
with  the  greatest  success.  Promises  of  support  would  be  vio 
lated  as  freely  as  they  were  made.  To  cure  the  evil,  the  legislature 
repealed  the  mode  of  voting  by  ballot  at  the  session  of  1828-9 

The  use  of  ardent  spirits  was  almost  a  universal  custom  with 
the  people,  and  u  treating,"  as  it  was  called,  during  a  political  can 
vass,  was  a  sine  qua  non  to  success.  Not  unfrequently  candidates 
for  office  would  give  orders  to  liquor  saloons  to  treat  freely  whoso 
ever  would  drink  at  their  expense,  on  certain  days,  usually  every 
Saturday  and  other  days  of  public  occasion,  for  weeks  before  the 
day  of  election.  At  such  places  the  voters  would  congregate  from 
all  parts  of  the  surrounding  neighborhoods  on  "  treating  days" 
during  the  campaign,  riding  in  to  gather  the  news,  and  not  unfre 
quently  get  drunk  and  engage  in  rough  and  tumble  tights.  The 
candidates,  too,  would  often  make  it  a  point  to  be  there  on  these 
days,  either  themselves  or  by  proxy,  and  harangue  the  "  sover 
eigns"  upon  the  issues  of  the  campaign,  in  a  convenient  shady 
grove,  the  auditors,  not  unfrequently  interspersed  with  ladies, 
seated  about  on  the  green  sward.  The  orators  would  thunder 
forth  their  claims  to  office,  mounted  on  convenient  wagons,  logs, 
or  stumps  of  trees,  hence  the  phrase  of  "  stump  speech."  The 
"  vital  questions  of  the  day,"  discussed  at  these  meetings,  Avere 
not  measures  but  men,  and  consisted  in  bitter  personal  arraign 
ments  of  opponents,  often  of  little  general  concern.  Toward 
evening  the  crowd  would  disperse,  mounted  011  their  diminutive 

ventured  to  comp!ain,  and  when  he  did.  the  juries  were  sure  to  punish  his  presump 
tion  with  the  costs  of  the  suit. 

"Well,  one  of  the  old  settlers,  to  whom  I  allude,  came  to  my  office  one  day,  stated 
that  he  had  felled  a  bee  tree  upon  his  neighbor's  land,  alluded  to  the  old  custom  of 
conferring  title  by  discovery,  and  that  a  suit  was  threatened,  and  requested  my  ad 
vice  in  the  premises.  I  replied  that  he  had  committed  a  trespass  and  au vised  him  to 
compromise  the  affair.  He  left  the  office  in  high  dudgeon,  saying  as  he  was  departing, 
*•  this  country  is  fretting'  tood — d  civilized  for  me;  I'll  make  tracks  for  Oregon,  or  some 
Other  country,  where  the  old  pioneer  can  get  justice."  Mr.  Blackwell  was,  with  other 
works,  the  author  of  "Blackwell  on  Tax  Titles,"  an  excellent  standard  treatise,  held 
in  high  esteem  throughout  the  United  States.  He  was  a  native  Tllinoisan  and  self 
made  man,  endowed  with  fine  intellectual  powers.  He  died  at  Chicago,  in  18(13,  at  the 
early  age  of  38  years.  His  early  life  was  an  example  to  the  young  a  d  aspiring— his 
middle  age  a  monument  to  self  made  glory,  and  his  early  deal  ha  warning  to  all. —Chi 
cago  Journal.} 


358  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

horses,  galloping  through  the  town,  perhaps  reeling  from  the  in 
fluence  of  liquor,  huzzahing  and  yelling'  for  their  favorite  candi 
dates,  and  groaning,  cursing  and  berating  the  opposition.* 

The  pioneers  in  all  parts  of  the  State  exercised  a  great  influ 
ence  at  the  elections.  They  were  here  first,  claimed  superior  priv 
ilege  on  that  account,  which  was  mostly  accorded  to  thentf  and 
knew  well  every  subsequent  coiner.  They  were  unfortunately  in 
some  instances  not  only  extremely  ignorant,  but  governed  besides 
by  passionate  prejudices,  and  opposed  every  public  policy  which 
looked  to  the  elevation  of  society;  and  their  descendants  in  many 
cases  at  an  early  day,  were  no  improvement  on  their  prototypes. 
They  were,  as  a  rule,  brave  in  personal  combats  and  brawls,  and  had 
a'propensity  to  indulge  in  them.  They  arrayed  themselves  in  buck 
skin  breeches,  leather  moccasins,  raccoon  caps  and  red  hunting 
shirts  belted  at  the  waist,  in  which  they  carried  a  large  knife, 
whence  they  were  denominated  " Butcher  Boys."  When  proclaim 
ing  their  bravery,  a  proceeding  of  which  they  were  not  chary, 
they  would  swear  that  they  were  a  half  horse  and  half  alligator," 
meaning  that  it  was  impossible  to  overcome  them  in  combat.  The 
influence  of  this  class  wras  much  courted  by  candidates,  and  vitb 
these  and  their  peculiar  characteristics  thrown  in  the  scale,  success 
was  no  doubtful  result. t 

u  Like  people,  like  priest" — public  servants  under  any  form  of 
government  ultimately  reflect  the  character  of  the  people,  for  they 
are  of  the  people.  In  the  legislature,  while  the  general  interests 
of  the  people  received  but  little  attention,  all  manner  of  com 
binations  for  the  parceling  out  and  creation  of  offices  were 
formed.  Fat  jobs  were  engineered  for  the  benefit  of  friends;  to 
u  ring  legislation,"  so  rife  in  modern  times,  they  were  not  stran 
gers;  the  "good  things"  were  apportioned  by  disreputable  bar 
gains  made  in  advance — indeed,  it  was  very  much  as  it  is  at 
present — u  the  cohesive  power  of  public  plunder"  was  most  potent; 
and  the  possessor  of  the  greatest  capacity  for  tact,  blandishments, 
and  intrigue  generally  carried  off  the  lion's  share.  Govern  or  Ford 
relates  of  Samuel  Crozier,  senator  from  Randolph,  ua  remarkable 
example  of  pure,  kind  and  single-hearted  honesty,,  after  serving 
two  sessions,  and  after  he  had  been  bought  and  sold  a  hundred 
times  without  knowing  it,  said  he  'really  did  believe  that  some  in 
trigue  had  been  going  on.'  So  little  are  honest  men  aware  of  the 
necessity  of  keeping  their  eyes  open,  in  sleepless  watchfulness,  or 
otherwise,  a  few  will  monopolize  all  the  advantages  of  govern 
ment,  and  it  will  be  done  in  the  most  unfair  and  corrupt  manner." 
Good  laws  badly  ajl ministered  with  the  tacit  acqniesence  of  the 
people,  cannot  reform  any  government.  The  virtue  of  the  people 
should  both  demand  and  enforce  them. 

Militia. — The  militia  system  was  an  important  feature  of  the 
early  times  in  Illinois,  both  during  its  territorial  and  State  organi 
zations.  Militia  duties,  viewed  from  a  modern  stand  point,  doubt 
less  appear  droll,  if  not  uninteresting,  yet  at  the  time  when  the 
system  was  fully  in  vogue,  they  were  important  and  onerous. 
During  the  long  peace  which  the  country  enjoyed  between  the 
war  of  1812  and  that  with  Mexico  in  1846,  it  is  not  to  be  won- 

*Ford's  Hist. 
tFord'sHist. 


EDWARDS'   ADMINISTRATION.  359 

dered,  as  the  system  also  became  the  common  target  of  much  wit 
ticism  and  ridicule,  that  it  fell  under  reproach  and  ultimately  into 
disuse.  Yet  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  assert,  that  if  a  vigorous 
militia  system  had  all  the  time  been  maintained  up  to  the  break 
ing  out  of  the  late  rebellion,  perhaps  main'  of  the  headlong  fiascos 
of  the  Union  forces  in  the  early  part  of  that  Avar  would  have  been 
avoided,  and  probably  a  year  of  the  war — expended  in  perfecting 
and  drilling  the  soldiery — saved  besides.  The  military  system  of 
Prussia,  which  in  the  late  war  with  France  has  brought  that 
country  forward  as  the  very  first  military  power  of  the  world,  is 
nothing  but  the  militia  system  in  its  perfection.  While  the  sys 
tem  of  that  country  has  demonstrated  it  to  be  the  best,  it  is  also 
by  far  the  cheapest  mode  of  maintaining  a  standing  army,  for 
which  it  becomes  to  a  great  extent  a  substitute.  But  notwith 
standing  its  perfection  in  that  country,  Americans  could  never  be 
brought  fully  to  submit  to  its  dependent  and  onerous  duties, 
and  it  will,  perhaps,  never  obtain  any  considerable  foothold  where 
the  government  is  not  strongly  centralized. 

During  the  territorial  existence  of  Illinois  the  militia  proved  a 
valuable  auxiliary  to  the  defence  of  the  country,  in  repelling  hos 
tile  savages  and  affording  protection  to  the  frontier  settlements. 
The  law  was  substantially  the  same  as  that  of  1819,  from  which 
we  subjoin  a  synopsis.  It  contained  equitable  provisions  for  draft 
ing  or  conscription — a  drafted  militia-man  was  known  as  a  "forced 
volunteer."  From  the  militia  sprung,  it  may  be  said,  the  mounted 
rangers  of  that  period.  An  early  law  passed  at  Vinceunes,  im 
ported  for  Illinois  by  the  governor  and  judges,  and  subsequently 
adopted  by  the  territorial  legislature,  prohibited  all  commisioned 
officers,  except  justices  of  the  peace  and  militia  officers,  from 
serving  in  either  house  of  the  legislature.  This  placed  the  road 
to  political  preferment  in  a  manner  in  the  hands  of  the  militia,  ren 
dering  it  very  obnoxious  to  other  office-holding  aspirin  its. 

All  free  white  inhabitants  resident  in  the  State,  of  the  age  of 
18  years  and  under  45,  except  as  hereinafter  excepted,  shall  be 
enrolled  in  the  militia  by  the  commanding  officer  of  the  company 
within  whose  bounds  such  person  shall  reside,  within  ten  days 
next  after  he  shall  be  informed  of  such  residence ;  and  at  all  times 
thereafter  in  like  manner,  shall  be  enrolled  those  who  may  from 
time  to  time  arrive  at  the  age  of  18,  or  come  to  reside  in  the  dis 
trict,  being  of  that  age  and  under  45.  Such  enrolled  person  was 
to  be  notified  of  his  enrollment  by  an  officer  of  the  company,  and 
within  six  months  thereafter  he  was  to  provide  himself  with  a  good 
musket  and  bayonet,  fusee  or  rifle,  knapsack,  blanket,  canteen, 
two  spare  flints,  cartridge-box  to  contain  not  less  than  24  car 
tridges  with  powder  and  ball  suited  to  the  bore  of  his  musket  or 
fusee,  or  pouch  and  powder-horn  with  1-4  Ib.  powder,  and  24  balls 
suited  to  the  bore  of  his  rifle;  and  every  enrolled  person  when 
(•ailed  on  shall  so  appear  armed,  accoutered  and  provided,  except 
when  called  to  exercise  by  companies,  battalion  or  regiment,  when 
lie  may  appear  without  knapsack  or  blanket.  Field  and  staff 
officers,  ranking  as  commissioned  officers,  shall  be  armed  with 
sword  or  hanger  and  a  pair  of  pistols.  Company  officers  with 
sufficient  sword  or  hanger.  Officers  were  to  furnish  their  respec 
tive  commands  as  follows :  The  colonel  to  each  battalion  a  stand 
of  colors,  writh  the  number  of  the  battalion,  regiment,  brigade  and 


360  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

division  inscribed  thereon.  The  captain  was  to  furnish  his  com 
pany  with  drum  and  fife;  regimental  drum  and  life-majors 
to  furnish  themselves,  with  instruments  of  music.  The 
officers  were  to  be  re-irnbursed  for  these  articles  out  of 
the  regimental  fund  (tines  and  penalties)  upon  the  order  of 
the  regimental  board — a  slender  chance.  The  entire  militia 
of  the  State  was  apportioned  into  divisions,  brigades,  regi 
ments,  battalions  and  companies ;  all  to  take  rank  when  in  the 
field,  agreably  to  the  date  of  the  commissions  of  the  officers  in 
command.  Each  division  was  entitled  to  its  major-general,  with 
division  inspector  and  aids;  each  brigade  to  a  brigadier-general, 
major,  and  aid-de-camp  who  was  also  judge  advocate  and  quarter 
master;  each  regiment  to  a  colonel,  lieutenant-colonel,  major,  sur 
geon,  surgeon's  mate,  adjutant  (ex-officio  clerk),  quartermaster,  ser 
geant,  drum-major  and  life-major.  The  superior  officers  appointed 
their  subordinates,  and  their  ranks  were  denned  according  to  the 
U.  S.  army  regulations.  The  companies  elected  their  captains  and 
lieutenants,  and  these  appointed  their  subalterns. 

The  officers  must  be  citizens  of  the  U.  S.  and  this  State,  and 
take  an  oath  to  support  the  constitutions  of  both.  The  regiments, 
battalions  and  companies  elected  their  respective  superior  officers, 
who  were  commissioned  by  the  governor.  The  governor,  by  virtue 
of  his  office,  was  commander-in-chief.  Provision  was  made  for 
one  company  of  artillery  and  one  of  cavalry  or  troop  of  horse  to 
each  regiment,  by  voluntary  enrollment.  In  the  same  manner  a 
company  of  riflemen,  grenadiers  or  light  infantry,  might  be  raised 
in  the  battalions;  all  of  which  were  to  equip  and  uniform  them 
selves  in  manner  fully  pointed  out.  They  were  to  appoint  their 
officers  in  a  manner  similar  to  the  first-mentioned.  Companies 
were  required  to  muster  four  times  yearly,  on  the  first  Saturdays 
of  April,  June,  August  and  October ;  and  also  the  first  battalions 
of  each  first  regiment,  on  the  first  Mondays  in  April ;  the  2d  011 
the  succeeding  Wednesdays;  the  1st  battalion  of  the  2d  regiments 
on  the  succeeding  Fridays ;  and  the  2d  battalion  of  the  2d  regi. 
nients  on  the  succeeding  Mondays  in  each  and  every  year.  Ivegi- 
niental  musters  were  provided  for  similarly  to  the  above,  in  Septem 
ber  of  each  year.  The  evolutions  and  exercises  were  to  be  con 
ducted  agreeably  to  the  military  discipline  of  the  armies  of  the 
U.  S.  In  addition  to  these  times  the  commanders  of  regiments, 
battalions  or  companies,  were  empowered  to  call  their  respective 
commands  out  to  muster,  as  a  in  their  opinions  the  exigency  of 
the  case  may  require."  The  brigadier-generals  were  required  to 
call  together  for  drill  or  exercise  all  the  commissioned  officers  in 
April  and  September  of  each  year. 

These  repeated  musters,  it  will  be  perceived,  were  no  light  duties. 
Every  officer  and  soldier  must  appear  at  the  places  of  muster, 
armed  and  equipj)ed  as  the  law  directed,  at  the  proper  time.  The 
roll  was  to  be  called  and  delinquents,  either  as  to  absence  or  im 
proper  equipments,  were  to  be  duly  noted,  for  which  fines  and  for 
feitures  were  to  be  assessed  by  courts-martial,  ranging  as  follows: 
privates  from  50  cents  to  $1  50 ;  commanders  of  divisions  for  neg 
lect  of  any  duties  enjoined,  from  $20  to  $200  ;  commanders  of  brig 
ades,  for  disobedience  of  orders  or  any  duties  enjoined  by  law, 
from  $15  to  $150;  of  regiments  from  $10  to  $100;  of  battalions 
from  $8  to  $80 ;  of  companies  from  $5  to  $50.  Fathers  were  liable 


EDWARDS'  ADMINISTRATION.  301 

for  the  fines  of  their  minor  sons,  guardians  for  their  wards,  and 
masters  for  their  apprentices.  Execution  was  to  issue  upon  the 
findings  of  the  courts-martial,  directed  to  the  hands  of  constables 
to  be  levied  as  in  other  cases. 

The  lieutenant- governor,  judges  of  the  supreme  and  circuit 
courts,  attorney-general,  licensed  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  and 
jailors,  were,  in  addition  to  those  by  the  laws  of  the  U.  S.  ex 
empted  from  militia  duty.  From  time  to  time  acts  were  also 
passed  for  the  relief  of  Dunkards,  Quakers,  and  other  religious 
persons  conscientiously  scrupulous  against  bearing  arms.  By  act 
of  Jan.  21, 1821,  such  persons  were  relieved  by  paying  $3  each  to  the 
sheriff,  and  the  entry  of  their  names  with  a  statement  of  their 
scruples,  with  the  assessor  of  the  county.  But  wlien  detachments 
of  militia  for  actual  service  were  required,  they  like  others,  were 
not  exempt  from  the  tours  of  duty,  but  might  respond  by  substi 
tute  like  others. 

The  militia  was  liable  to  be  called  into  actual  service  at  any  time 
for  the  space  of  three  months  on  the  requisition  of  the  Executive 
of  the  U.  S.  in  actual  or  threatened  invasion  of  this  or  neighbor 
ing  States  or  territories;  for  which  purpose  the  number  required 
were  to  be  distributed  among  the  classes  (into  which  companies 
were  to  be  formed),  one  man  to  be  furnished  by  volunteering  or 
draft  out  of  each  class ;  classes  might  furnish  substitutes.  The 
governor  could  exempt  the  militia  from  a  call  into  actual  service, 
in  such  frontier  settlements  as  in  his  opinion  their  safety  required  de 
fence,  and  make  such  further  pro  vision  as  the  emergency  demanded. 
While  in  actual  service  the  militia  was  to  be  subject  to  the  same 
rules  and  regulations  as  the  armies  of  the  U.  S.,  and  to  receive 
the  same  pay,  rations  and  forage ;  but  their  transgressions  were 
to  be  tried  and  determined  by  a  court-martial  of  militia  'officers 
only. 

This  is  but  a  very  brief  outline  of  some  of  the  main  features  of 
the  militia  system  of  Illinois.  The  law  contains  many  sections 
and  is  a  very  long  one. 

While  the  requirements  of  the  militia  system  in  times  of  profound 
peace,  without  the  stimulant  of  a  common  danger  to  aid  in  the  dis 
charge  of  its  onerous  duties,  were  perhaps  dull  and  irksome,  it 
nevertheless  afforded  to  many  a  budding  ambition  for  the  "  bub 
ble  reputation  at  the  cannon's  mouth,"  "that  swelling  of  the 
heart  you  ne'er  can  feel  again,  while  with  fearless  hearts  though 
tired  limbs,  [they]  *  fought  the  mimic  fray."  The  military  titles 
of  general,  colonel,  &c.,  of  many  of  our  public  men  of  the  period, 
from  1812  to  1840?  were  mostly  of  militia  origin,  and  had  little 
other  significance.  » 

The  militia  system  was  much  the  same  in  all  the  States ;  and  to 
come  down  to  a  later  period  the  people  abhorred  it.  But  legisla 
tures  were  unwilling  to  disturb  the  time  honored  law,  which  in 
many  instances  had  been  the  means  to  originally  bring  them  per 
haps  into  prominence.  But  the  shafts  of  wit  and  ridicule  were 
hurled  at  it  with  such  effect  as  to  make  it  eventually  succumb. 
The  memorable  attack  of  Tom  Corwiii  in  the  Ohio  legislature,  by 
his  cele  rated  "  water  mellon  speech,"  is  familiar  to  every  school 
boy.  H  w  it  fell  into  disuse  all  over  Illinois,  we  do  not  pretend 
to  recount,  but  we  glean  the  following  account  of  the  means  used 


362  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

to  bring  it  into  contempt  in  one  place,  from  a  speech  of  Mr.  Lin 
coln  : 

"  A  number  of  years  ago  the  militia  laws  of  this  state  required 
that  the  militia  should  train  at  stated  intervals.  These  trainings 
became  a  great  bore  to  the  people,  and  every  person  nearly  was 
for  putting  them  down;,  but  the  law  required  them  to  train  and 
they  could  not  get  it  repealed.  So  they*  tried  another  way,  and 
that  was  to  burlesque  them.  And  hence  they  elected  old  Tim 
Langwell,  the  greatest  drunkard  and  blackguard,  for  colonel  over 
the  best  men  of  the  country.  But  this  did  not  succeed  altogether. 
So  they  raised  a  company  and  elected  Gordon  Abrains  comman 
der.  He  was  dressed  in  peculiar  style,  one  part  of  his  pants  were 
of  one  collor  and  material,  and  the  other  different.  He  wore  a 
pasteboard  cap  about  G  feet  long,  resembling  an  inverted  ox-yoke. 
The  shanks  of  his  spurs  were  about  8  inches  long,  with  rowels 
about  the  circumference  of  common  saucers.  He  carried  a  swoixl 
made  of  pine  wood,  9  feet  long.  They  also  had  'rules  and  regu 
lations,'  one  of  which  was,  L  That  no  officer  should  wear  more  than 
20  Ibs,  of  codfish  for  epaulets,  nor  more  than  30  yards  of  Bologna 
sausage  for  a  sash ;  and  on  the  banner  Avas  born  aloft  these  Avords : 
i  We'll  fight  till  we  run  and  run  till  we  die.'  This  succeeded  to  a 
demonstration.  They  were  the  last  company  that  trained  in 
Springfield." 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 
1830-4— ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOVERNOR  REYNOLDS. 

The  Gubernatorial  Candidates,  their  Lives  and  Characters — The  Cam 
paign — The  Wiggins  Loan — Impeachment  of  Supreme  Judge 
Smith — W.  L.  D.  JEwing  Governor  for  15  days. 


In  August,  1830,  another  gubernatorial  election  was  tdttake  place. 
The  candidates  Avere  William  Kinney,  then  lieutenant  governor, 
and  John  Reynolds,  formerly  one  of  the  associate  justices  of  the 
supreme  court,  both  of  the  dominant  party.  Since  1826,  the 
Jackson  party  had  been  regnant  in  both  houses  of  the  general 
assembly.  The  opposition,  or  anti- Jackson  men,  brought  forward 
no  candidate  for  governor  at  this  election  5  they  were  in  a  hope 
less  minority.  In  Illinois  party  principles  had  not  taken  deep 
root,  nor  were  they  as  yet  well  defined  anywhere  by  the  position 
of  president  Jackson.  Those  who  were  ardently  and  uncompro 
misingly  attached  to  the  fortunes  of  Gen.  Jackson,  were  denomina 
ted,  in  the  political  slang  of  the  period,  "whole  hog  men.7'  Mr. 
Kinney  was  a  strong  example  of  the  thorough-going  Jackson 
men.  Of  those  who  nominally  espoused  the  cause  of  Jackson, 
not  unmixed  with  policy  perhaps,  as  that  party  was  so  largely  in 
the  majority,  while  at  the  same  time,  the  support  of  the  anti- 
Jackson  men  was  not  unacceptable,  was  Mr.  Reynolds,  who,  it 
should  be  added,  however,  had  always  consistently  acted  with  the 
Jackson  party.  The  opposition,  influenced  not  so  much  by  any 
clearly  defined  party  principles,  as  a  dislike  to  the  strong,  arbi 
trary  and  personal  characteristics  of  Gen.  Jackson,  came  to  the 
support  of  Reynolds,  not  on  account  of  love  for  the  latter,  but  of 
their  hatred  toward  the  former.  Kinney  had  been  to  Washington 
and  witnessed  the  inauguration  of  president  Jackson,  and  was 
thought  to  have  much  agency  in  directing  removals  from  federal 
offices  in  Illinois.  It  was  reported  he  said,  in  his  peculiar  graphic 
manner,  that  the  whigs  ought  to  be  whipped  out  of  office  "like 
dogs  out  of  a  meat  house."* 

Mr.  Kinney  was  born  1781,  in  Kentucky,  and  emigrated  to 
Illinois,  in  1793.  As  has  before  been  stated,  he  acquired  his  edu 
cation  after  marriage,  being  taught  its  rudiments  by  his  wife.  By 
unwearied  application  he  became  remarkable  for  intelligence  and 
business  capacity.  Shortly  after  his  early  marriage,  contracted 
with  a  most  estimable  lady,  he  removed  to  a  farm  a  short  distance 
northeast  of  Belleville,  and  before  long  Mr.  VonPhul,  of  St.  Louis, 
induced  him  to  engage  in  merchandizing.  He  brought  his  first 

"Reynolds'  Life  and  Times. 

363 


864  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

stock  of  goods  from  St.  Louis,  at  one  load  on  horse-back.  He  pros 
pered  as  a  merchant,  became  an  extensive  trader,  and  accumula 
ted  a  fortune.  Firmly  impressed  with  religious  convictions,  he 
early  became  a  member  of  the  baptist  church,  and  afterward 
forcibly  preached  the  faith  of  that  denomination  of  Christians. 
He  frequently  had  the  honor  of  a  seat  in  the  legislature  where  he 
was  noted  for  close  attention  to  business.  He  was  of  a  social  dis 
position,  and  had  gathered  a  wonderful  store  of  pithy  anecdotes, 
which  served  him  a  good  purpose  in  electioneering.  He  was 
regarded  as  one  of  the  best  political  canvassers  in  the  State,  pos 
sessing  unbounded  energy  and  great  ambition.  With  his  strong 
partisan  bias  he  associated  a  rare  jovial  and  witty  pleasantry, 
which  made  him  very  acceptable  in  his  intercourse  with  the  peo 
ple.  Notwithstanding  his  clerical  calling,  which  he  did  not  lay 
aside  while  in  quest  of  office,  he  availed  himself  fully  of  the 
worldly  practice  of  those  days  in  elections,  by  "treating"  with 
intoxicating  liquors,  as  did  ail  other  candidates.  It  was  wittily 
remarked  af  him  that  he  was  invincible,  because  he  went  forth  to 
the  contest  "armed  with  the  sword  of  the  Lord  and  the  spirit." 
Yet  with  all  these  favorable  traits,  he  was  not  sufficiently  guarded 
during  the  canvass  in  his  sarcastic  utterances,  which  were  caught 
up  and  distorted  by  his  enemies,  to  liis  disadvantage.  His  strong 
denominational  prejudices  and  clerical  calling,  induced  him  oc 
casionally  to  berate  other  churches,  which  he  discovered  from  the 
drift  of  tilings  to  be  arrayed  against  him,  often  from  no  other  than 
sectarian  motives.  He  also  arrayed  himself  in  opposition  to  the 
canal,  then  much  before  the  public,  not  on  account  of  its  intrinsic 
or  public  value,  but  because  that  great  improvement  would  send 
a  tide  of  "Yankee"  emigrants  to  the  State,  which  he  and  his  ultra 
partisans  affected  to  despise  ever  since  the  defeat  of  the  proposi 
tion  to  introduce  slavery  into  the  State  six  years  before.  These 
sentiments,  inconsiderately  expressed,  did  him  much  injury  in  the 
campaign. 

His  opponent,  John  Reynolds,  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  in 
1788,  of  Irish  parents,  who  removed  to  Tennessee  while  he  was  an 
infant,  and  to  Illinois  in  1800.  In  early  manhood  young  Reynolds 
returned  to  Tennessee,  Avhere  he  received  a  "classical  education," 
as  he  asserts  in  his  "Lite  and  Times,"  but  for  this  assertion  110 
one  would  ever  have  suspected  it,  either  from  his  conversation, 
public  addresses,  or  writings.  He  was  reared  among  a  frontier 
people,  and  imbibed  their  characteristics  of  manners,  customs, 
and  speech — disliked  polish,  contemned  fashion,  and  was  addicted 
to  inordinate  profanity,  all  of  which  attached  to  him  through  life, 
of  none  of  which  he  took  any  pains  to  divest  himself,  and  much 
of  which  is  said  to  have  been  affected,  which  we  doubt.  These, 
garnished  by  his  varied  reading,  a  native  shrewdness,  and  a  won 
derful  faculty  of  garrulity,  make  him,  considering  the  high  offices 
to  which  he  attained,  one  of  the  public  oddities  in  the  annuls  of 
Illinois.  His  imagination  was  fertile,  but  his  ideas  were  poured 
forth  regardless  of  logical  sequence,  evidencing  his  Milesian 
blood.  He  had  an  extraordinary,  disconnected  sort  of  memory, 
and  possessed  a  large  fund  of  detached  facts  relative  to  the  early 
settlement  of  St.  Glair  and  Randolph  counties,  which  are  embod 
ied  by  him  in  a  work  entitled  the  "  Pioneer  History  of  Illinois," 


REYNOLDS'  ADMINISTRATION.  365 

and  are  in  the  main  correct  and  valuable,  though  badly  arranged.* 
He  was  tall  of  stature  ;  his  face  long,  bony  and  deeply  furrowed, 
and  under  his  high,  narrow  forehead  rolled  his  eyes,  large  and 
liquid,  expressive  of  volubility.  His  nose  projected  well  down 
ward  to  his  ample  mouth.  He  was  kindly  by  nature,  treasured 
few  resentments,  and  was  ever  ready  to  do  a  favor.  His 
thoroughly  democratic  manners,  social  disposition  and  talkative 
habit  caused  him  to  mingle  readily  with  the  people  and  enjoy 
their  confidence.  He  was  much  in  public  life.  We  have  noted 
him  as  a  judge;  he  served  three  terms  in  congress,  was  afterward, 
commissioned  (most  unwisely)  one  of  the  State  financial  agents 
to  negotiate  large  loans  to  carry  on  the  State  internal  improve 
ments,  visiting  Europe  in  this  capacity;  still  again  we  find  him  iu 
the  legislature.  He  always  claimed  the  staunchest  adhesion  to 
the  democratic  party.  In  1858,  however,  he  refused  to  follow  the 
lead  of  Douglas,  but  sided  with  President  Buchanan  in  his  effort 
to  fasten  slavery  upon  Kansas  by  the  Lecompton  constitution,  and 
his  hatred  of  Douglas  was  such  that  he  preferred  Mr.  Lincoln  for 
the-senate.  In  I860,  old  and  infirm,  he  attended  the  Charleston 
convention  as  an  anti-Douglas  delegate.  Owing  to  his  age,  his 
extreme  pro-slavery  views  and  loquaciousness,  no  man  from  the 
north  received  more  attention  from  the  southern  delegates  than 
he.  He  supported  Breckinridge  for  the  presidency.  After  the 
elections  of  October,  iu  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Pennsylvania,  had 
foreshadowed  the  success  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  he  howrever  published 
an  address  urging  democrats  to  rally  to  the  support  of  Douglas, 
that  the  election  might  be  thrown  into  congress,  where  Breck- 
inridgpe  would  succeed.  Immediately  preceding,  and  during  the 
war  of  the  rebellion,  his  correspondence  with  extra-Billy  Smith 
of  Virginia,  and  his  letter  to  his  brother-in-law,  J.  L.  Wilson  of 
Alabama,  which  was  widely  circulated,  evinced  a  clear  sympa 
thy  for  the  treason  of  the  south.  About  the  1st  of  March,  1861, 
he  urged  upon  Buchanan  officials  the  seizure  of  the  treasure 
and  arms  in  the  custom-house  and  arsenal  at  St.  Louis,  He  died 
at  Belleville,  May,  1865.  He  left  no  will,  and  his  fine  property 
descended  to  his  wife,  who  survived  him  but  a  few  months.  He 
had  no  children  by  either  of  his  wives. 

During  the  political  campaign,  Eeynolds  professed  great  admi 
ration  for  the  character  of  Jackson,  though  he  was  not  accounted 
ultra  enough  by  the  real  Jackson  men  who  denounced  him  as  an 
"outsider."  He  and  his  competitor  made  a  thorough  canvass  of 
the  State,  and  party  excitement  ran  exceedingly  high.  Much 
personality  entered  into  it,  and  bitter  reproaches  were  indulged  by 
the  partisans  of  the  respective  candidates.  The  press  was  loaded 
with  abusive  articles  on  both  sides,  and  hand-bills  were  scattered 
broadcast,  containing  distorted  reports  of  the  speeches  of  the  can 
didates,  and  all  sorts  of  scandalous  charges.  After  a  Avearisomtt 
campaign  of  near  18  months,  Eeynolds  was  elected  governor. 

But  with  regard  to  the  election  for  lieutenant  governor,  the 
same  result  did  not  obtain;  it  was  the  same  as  four  years  before. 
Eigdon  B.  Slocumb  was  on  the  ticket  with  Eeynolds,  and  Zadock 
Casey  -with  Mr.  Kinney.  Both  candidates  for  lieutenant  governor 

*He  writes  :  "In  the  year  1794,  the  Morrison  family  emigrated  to  Illinois.  They 
were  talented,  industrious,  and  became  very  wealthy.  In  the  same  year  the  horse 
flies  were  very  bad,  and  of  these  the  green  headed  fly  was  the  worst." 


3GC  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


were  gentlemen  of  sterling  worth,  character  and  ability.  Slocumb 
was  unused  to  the  not  uncommon  accomplishment  of  the  Ameri 
can  politician,  public  speaking;  nor  did  he  electioneer  much,  it  is 
said,  in  any  other  manner.  Xot  so  however  with  Casey  ;  he  was 
gifted  with  the  power  of  charming  oratory,  Although  lacking  in 
thorough  early  education,  by  comprehensive  reading  he  had  stor 
ed  his  mind,  naturally  strong,  with  varied  knowledge.  He  had 
frequently  been  a  member  of  tlie  legislature,  and  his  fine  personal 
appearance  and  large  public  experience  gave  him  distinction 
throughout  the  State.  Like  his  colleague,  he,  too,  occupied  the 
pulpit  occasionally.  The  clerical  ticket  was  somewhat  injured  by 
the  fact  that  the  people  could  not  brook  the  worldly  aspirations  of 
men  engaged  in  a  calling  so  militant  to  honors  that  perish ;  but 
this  objection  did  not  extend  to  both  gentlemen,  for  Casey  was 
elected.  Governor  Casey  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree  the  com 
manding  tact  of  presiding  over  a  deliberative  body. 

In  his  message,  Governor  Reynolds  invited  attention  to  the  sub 
ject  of  education,  internal  improvement  and  the  canal;  urged 
that  congress  be  memorialized  to  improve  Chicago  harbor;  recom 
mended  three  public  highways,  commencing  respectively  ai 
Cairo,  Shawneetown,  and  on  the  lower  Wabash,  all  to  terminate  at 
the  lead  mines:  the  completion  of  the  penitentiary;  winding  up  of 
the  old  State  bank;  and,  inocculated  with  his  predecessor's  theory, 
stated  he  was  "satisfied  that  this  State,  in  right  of  its  sovereignty 
and  independence,  [was]  the  rightful  owner  of  the  soil  within  its 
limits.77  But  His  Excellency  advocated  no  hobby,  and  his  admin 
istration  was  not  strongly  personal. 

The  governor  was  not  in  political  accord  with  a  majority  ot  the 
senate,  and  the  usual  conflicts  between  that  body  and  the  executive 
obtained*  The  senate  desired  the  removal  of  A.  P.  Field,  secretary 
of  State,  and  with  that  view  passed  a  resolution  requesting  his 
renomination — that  they  might  reject  him.*  But  the  governor 
refused  compliance,  and  would  neither  remove  nor  renominate  him. 
He  renominated  Henry  Eddy,  Sidney  Breese,  Thomas  Fordf  and 
Alfred  CoAvles,  who  had  been  efficient  and  acceptable  prosecuting 
attorneys,  but  as  they  had  opposed  the  election  of  Kinney,  the 
senate  rejected  them  and  turned  all  out  of  office,  except  Thomas 
Ford.  They  were  again  nominated  and  again  rejected;  but  after 
the  adjournment  of  the  legislature,  the  governor  reappointed 
them.  He  succeeded  in  having  his  choice  of  treasurer,  John  De 
ment,  confirmed  by  the  senate.  Dement  was  an  ultra  Jackson 
man,  but  had  supported  Reynolds.  The  incumbent  Judge  James 
Hall,  desired  to  be  retained  in  the  office;  and  although  an  anti- 
Jackson  man,  he  had,  as  editor  of  the  Illinois  Intelligencer,  with 
much  power,  supported  Kinney;  but  this  failed  to  avail  him.  That 
curious  political  posture  would  indicate  both  aspirants  to  the  treas- 
urership  to  have  been  governed  in  their  course  more  by  the  hope 
of  office  than  by  party  principles.  But  that  is  a  weakness  not 
peculiar  to  those  days  alone,* 

Among  the  measures  passed  at  the  first  legislative  session  of 
Reynolds'  administration  may  be  noted  the  adaptation  of  the  crim 
inal  code  to  the  penitentiary  system.  But  the  most  notable  measure 
of  this  session  was  the  passage  of  the  act  providing  for  the 

•Reynolds'  Life  and  Times. 

tHall,  as  Treasurer,  was  in  arrears  with     ie  State. 


REYNOLDS'  ADMINISTRATION.  367 

redemption  of  the  notes  of  the  old  State  bank,  which  would 
mature  during  the  current  year.  The  notorious  "Wiggins  loan" 
of  $100,000  was  authorized,  and  if  that  proved  insufficient  to 
redeem  the  out-standing  notes,  the  residue  was  to  be  refunded  by 
issuing  State  stocks  bearing  6  per  centum  annual  interest.  This 
speedily  raised  the  credit  of  the  State  and  advanced  its  currency 
to  par.  But  while  the  financial  standing  of  the  State  was  thus 
preserved,  the  honorable  members  who  actively  authorized  it,  it  is 
said,  sunk  beneath  the  waves  of  popular  indignation,  never  to  rise 
again  as  politicians.  The  value  of  a  financial  character  for  the 
young  State,  or  the  disgrace  of  repudiation,  was  not  duly  appre 
ciated  by  the  people.  Demogogues  availed  themselves  of  this  and 
proclaimed  to  the  people  that  their  representatives  had  corruptly 
betrayed  their  interests,  and  sold  out  them  and  the  State  to  Wig 
gins  for  generations  to  come.  The  members  quailed  before  the  first 
onset  of  public  indignation  as  if  stricken  with  the  enormity  of  their 
wrong.  Truth  was  crushed  to  earth  never  to  rise  again,  in  the 
case  of  these  politicians.  A  blight  swept  over  the  State  and  laid 
low  many  promising  buds  of  incipient  statesmen.  It  is  left  for  us 
at  this  day,  who  look  back  with  swelling  pride  to  the  fact  that  our 
State  has  emerged  from  every  impending  financial  crisis  with  her 
garments  unsullied,  to  appreciate  the  merits  of  their  act,  only 
regretting  that  they  did  not  boldly  defend  their  course  and  hold 
up  to  public  scorn  the  unprincipled  demagogues  wTho  inflamed  the 
people  to  the  contrary.* 

The  United  States  census  returns  of  1830  showed  a  population 
for  Illinois  of  157,445,  and  in  accordance  therewith  the  State  was 
apportioned  into  three  congressional  districts.  Up  to  this  time  the 
State  had  had  but  one  representative  in  the  lower  house  of  congress. 
A  special  election  for  one  congressman  was  ordered  for  August  1831, 
at  which  Joseph  Duncan  was  elected;  but  for  the  general  election  of 
August  1832,  and  every  two  years  thereafter — it  being  provided 
that  congressmen  should  be  elected  one  year  and  over  prior  to  taking 
their  seats — three  members  were  to  be  elected.  Joseph  Duncan, 
Zadock  Casey  (the  lieutenant  governor,)  and  Charles  Slade  w^ere 
elected. 

In  his  message  to  the  session  of  the  general  assembly  of  1832-3, 
governor  Reynolds  stated  the  ordinary  receipts  into  the  treasury 
for  the  two  years  ending  November  30th,  1832,  to  be  in  round 
numbers,  $102,000;  the  current  expenses  of  the  State  government 
for  the  same  period,  were,  in  round  numbers,  $00,000.  This  indi 
cated  a  healthy  condition  of  the  State  finances,  when  it  is 
considered  that  the  Black  Hawk  war  occurred  during  this  period. 
The  expenses  of  that  war  amounting  to  some  two  million  dollars,t 
were  however  assumed  by  the  general  government.  At  this 
session  the  first  earnest  efforts  were  made  to  build  railroads ; 
several  charters  were  granted  incorporating  railroad  companies, 
but  no  stock,  it  is  said,  was  ever  subscribed  to  any  of  them.  Jt 
was  proposed  to  build  a  railroad  from  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Illinois 
river  in  place  of  the  canal ;  surveys  for  the  Northern  Cross  road 
(now  the  T.  W.  &  W.,)  and  for  the  Central,  from  Peru  to  Cairo, 
were  also  proposed. 

'Ford's  History. 
tBrown's  Illinois,  355. 


308  HISTORY   OF    ILLINOIS. 

But  the  most  absorbing  topic  of  this  session  was  the  impeach 
ment  trial  of  Tlieophilns  AV.  Smith,  one  of  the  associate  judges 
of  the  supreme  court.  Petitions  numerously  signed  were  received 
by  the  house  charging  him  with  misdemeanors  in  office.  The 
house  voted  seven  articles  of  impeachment,  which  were  trans 
mitted  to  the  senate  for  trial.  The  first  three  related  to  the  corrupt 
sales  of  circuit  clerkships;  he  had  authorized  his  son,  a  minor,  to 
bargain  off  the  office  in  Madison  county,  by  hiring  one  George 
Kelly  at  $25  per  month,  reserving  the  fees  and  emoluments  to 
himself;  he  did  the  same — reserving  the  fees  and  emoluments — 
till  his  son  became  of  age;  and  to  subject  said  office  to  his  will,  he 
bad  made  appointments  three  several  times  without  requiring 
bonds  from  the  appointees.  He  was  also  charged  with  being  a, 
co-plaintiff  in  several  vexatious  suits  for  an  alleged  trespass,  com 
menced  by  affidavit  in  a  court  where  he  himself  presided,  holding 
the  defendants  illegally  to  excessive  bail  upon  a  trilling  pretext, 
to  oppress  and  injure  them,  and  continuing  the  suits  from  term  to 
term  to  harrass  and  persecute  them.  The  5th  article  charged  him 
with  arbitrarily  suspending  John  S.  Greathouse,  a  lawyer,  from 
practice  for  advising  his  client  to  apply  for  a  change  of  venue  to  a 
circuit  where  his  honor  did  not  preside;  6th,  for  tyranically  com 
mitting  to  jail,  in  Montgomery  county,  a  Quaker  who  entertained 
conscientious  scruples  against  removing  his  hat  iii  open  court;  7th, 
for  deciding  an  agreed  case  between  the  sheriff  and  treasurer  of 
Madison  county  without  process  or  pleading,  to  the  prejudice  of  the 
county,  rendering  appeal  to  the  supreme  court  necessary.  The 
senate  resolved  itself  into  a  high  court  of  impeachment  and  a 
solemn  trial  was  had,  which  lasted  from  January  9th  to  February 
7th,  1833.  The  prosecution  was  conducted  by  a  committee  of  man 
agers  from  the  house,  consisting  of  Benjamin  Mills,  Murray 
McConnel,  John  T.  Stuart,  James  Seinple,  and  John  Dougherty. 
The  defendant  was  represented  by  Sidney  Breese,  B.  M.  Young, 
and  Thomas  Ford,  subsequently  governor.  The  array  of  talent  on 
both  sides,  -the  exalted  position  of  the  accused,  and  the  excitement 
thereby  caused  in  political  circles,  gave  to  the  trial  unusual  public 
attraction  throughout  the  State,  and  during  its  protracted  pendency 
little  else  was  transacted  by  the  legislature. 

The  trial  was  conducted  throughout  by  marked  ability  and  learn 
ing.  A  great  number  of  witnesses  were  examined  and  much 
documentary  evidence  introduced.  The  arguments  of  counsel 
were  of  the  highest  order;  and  in  the  final  summing  up  for  the 
prosecution,  the  chairman  of  the  house  committee,  Mr.  Mills,  one 
of  the  most  brilliant  orators  of  the  time,  spoke  for  three  days  in  a 
strain  of  unsurpassed  eloquence.  Pending  the  trial,  the  defendant, 
after  each  adjournment,  had  the  desks  of  senators  carefully 
searched  for  scraps  of  paper  containing  scribbling  concerning  their 
status  upon  the  respective  charges.  Being  thus  advised,  his 
counsel  enjoyed  peculiar  advantages  in  the  management  of  the 
defence.  The  constitution  required  that  "no  person  shall  be  con 
victed  without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  all  the  senators 
present*^  When  the  vote  was  finally  taken  upon  each  article 
separately,  22  senators  were  present,  4  absent  or  excused.  It 
required  15  to  convict,  12  voted  "guilty"  on  some  of  the  charges, 
10  were  in  favor  of  acquittal,  and  15  "voted  him  guilty  of  one  or 
other  of  the  specifications,  but  as  12  was  the  highest  vote  on  any 


REYNOLDS'  ADMINISTRATION.  369 

one  of  them,  he  was  acquitted.77*  Thereupon  the  house  of  repre 
sentatives,  well  convinced  of  his  guilt,  immediately  passed  a 
resolution  by  a  two-thirds  vote  under  the  constitution  to  remove 
him  from  office  by  address;  but  this,  too,  when  reported  to  the 
senate,  failed  in  that  body,  and  Judge  Smith  retained  his  seat 
upon  the  supreme  bench  of  Illinois  until  he  died  about  ten  years 
afterward.! 

When  Lieutenant  Governor  Zadock  Casey  was  elected  to  con 
gress  in  1832  he  resigned  his  office  and  Gen.  W.  Lee  D.  Ewing,  a 
senator,  was  chosen  to  preside  OAW  the  senate.  At  the  August 
election  of  1834,  governor  lieynolds  was  also  elected  to  congress, 
more  than  a  year  ahead,  as  was  then  the  law,  to  succeed  Mr.  Slade; 
but  shortly  after,  the  incumbent  died,  when  Reynolds  was  also 
chosen  to  sen^e  out  his  unexpired  term.  Accordingly  he  set  out 
for  Washington  in  November  of  that  year  to  take  his  seat  in  con 
gress,  and  Gen.  Ewing,  by  virtue  of  his  office  as  president  of  the 
senate,  became  governor  of  this  State  for  just  15  days,  when,  upon 
the  meeting  of  the  legislature,  to  which  he  sent  his  message  as 
acting  governor,  he  was  relieved  of  his  exalted  station  by  the 
governor  elect,  Duncan,  being  sworn  into  office.  This  is  the  only 
time  that  such  a  conjuncture  has  happened  in  the  history  of  the 
State, 

*Ford's  History- 

+See  Senate  Journals  1833,  appendix,  for  full  proceedings  of  this  trial. 


24 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 
1827-1831— BLACK  HAWK  WAE. 

1.  Winnebago  Hostilities — Indians   unable  to  Resist  the  Encroach 
ments   of  the  Miners — Coalition    with   the  Sioux — Attack  on   a 
Steamboat — Compelled  to  sue  for  Peace. 

2.  Sacs    and  Foxes — Black  Hawk — Keokiik — Sac   Villages — Inva 
sion  of  the  State — Militia  and  Regulars  brought  into  Requisition 
— March  to  the  Scene  of  Danger — Black  Hawk  compelled  to  en 
ter  into  a  Treaty  of  Peace. 


The  most  frequent  cause  of  the  difficulties  which  from  time  to 
time  have  disturbed  the  peaceful  relations  of  the  white  and  red 
men,  has  resulted  from  a  desire  of  the  former  to  possess  the  hunt 
ing-  grounds  of  the  latter.  Intrusions  upon  Indian  territory,  led 
to  the  war  with  Pontiac  and  that  of  King  Phillip,  11  years  after 
ward,  aM  at  a  later  date,  and  farther  westward,  to  the  san 
guinary  contest  with  Tecumseh.  The  original  emigrants  from 
Europe  and  their  descendants,  requiring  lands  for  cultivation, 
purchased  large  tracts  from  the  Indians.  As  fast  as  these  became 
populated  others  were  required,  till  the  savages,  seeing  their  for 
ests  and  hunting  grounds  rapidly  disappearing,  endeavored  to 
re-possess  them.  The  Europeans  met  them  in  arms,  and  as  the 
result,  they  have  been  driven  from  river  to  river  and  from  forest 
to  forest  till  scarcely  an  abiding  x>lace  is  left  them.  The  last  effort 
to  resist  encroachments  of  this  kind,  was  made  by  the  Winneba- 
goes  and  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  within  the  limits  of  Illinois. 

Winnebago  War. — During  the  latter  part  of  Governor  Edwards7 
administration,  the  Indians  on  the  northwestern  frontier  manifested 
symptons  of  discontent.  The  dissatisfaction  increased,  and  in  the 
summer  of  1827,  culminated  in  what  the  writers  of  the  time  style 
the  Winnebago  war,  an  affray  of  no  great  magnitude  but  tlie 
precursor  of  the  hostilities  under  Black  Hawk,  Avhich  filled  the  na 
tion  with  alarm.  This  sudden  ebulition  of  savage  animosity,  was 
the  unjust  occupation  of  their  lands  by  the  miners  of  Galena.  At 
this  period  large  number  of  adventurers  from  different  States, 
were  hastening  to  the  lead  mines,  and  in  passing  through  the  coun 
try  of  the  Winnebagoes,  purposely  exasperated  them  with  the  in 
tention  of  provoking  hostilities  and  securing  their  lands  by  way  of 
reprisal.  The  right  of  this  tribe  to  the  lands  in  question,  was,  how 
ever,  involved  in  doubt.  By  the  treaty  of  1804,  the  Sacs  and  Foxes 

370 


BLACK  HAWK  WAR.  371 


ceded  to  the  United  States  all  the  land  between  the  mouths  of 
the  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  rivers.  In  1816,  that  portion  of  the 
territority  lying  north  of  a  line  drawn  west  from  the  southern  ex 
tremity  of  Lake  Michigan,  was  retroceded  by  the  government  to  the 
Ottawas,  Chippewas  and  Potawattoinies,  the  Winnebagoes  not 
being  included  in  the  grant.  Subsequently,  however,  a  war  broke 
out  among  these  tribes  in  regard  to  their  respective  boundaries, 
and  in  1825  the  commissioners  of  the  United  States  interposed  as 
mediators  to  re-adjust  them  and  terminate  hostilities.  In  the  new 
arrangement,  the  right  of  the  Winnebagoes  to  the  land  in  the  vi 
cinity  of  the  lead  mines,  seems  to  have  been  admitted,  although 
they  were  not  recognized  in  the  preceding  treaty. 

But  waiving  the  question  of  title,  they  had  been  in  possession 
of  the  country  for  years,  and  believing  it  belonged  to  them,  re 
garded  the  intrusion  of  the  whites  with  the  same  intense  jealousy 
and  ill-will  manifested  by  civilized  men  on  similar  occasions,  liich. 
deposits  of  lead  ore  had  been  found  in  their  territory,  and  Mr. 
Thomas,  the  agent  at  Galena,  gave  permission  to  the  miners  to 
procure  large  quantities  of  mineral,  despite  the  remonstrances  of 
the  Winnebagoes.  The  savages  at  length,  nndingtheir  complaints 
unheeded,  attempted  to  eject  the  trespassers  by  force,  but  were 
themselves  repelled  and  greatly  exasperated  at  being  unable  to 
protect  their  property.  Assistance  from  others  was  now  their 
only  alternative,  and  for  this  purpose  they  sent  a  delegation  to  ask 
the  advice  of  their  principal  chiefs  north  of  Prairie  du  Chien.  An 
other  object  of  their  visit  was  to  secure  the  co-operation  of  the 
Sioux,  who  had  also  become  offended  at  the  Americans  and  only 
waited  an  opportunity  to  wreak  their  vengeance  upon  the  objects  of 
their  ill-will.  Some  of  their  countrymen  had  not  long  before  surpris 
ed  and  murdered  a  number  of  the  Chippewas  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort 
Snelling,  and  the  commandant  immediately  caused  their  arrest 
and  had  them  delivered  up  to  the  injured  tribe  for  merited  punish 
ment.  The  interposition  of  the  American  officer  was  prompted 
only  by  a  sense  of  justice,  yet  Red  Bird,  the  chief  of  the  tribe,  be 
came  greatly  offended  and  secretly  resolved  to  form  a  coalition  with 
the  Winnebagoes.  Both  tribes,  therefore,  had  grievances  to  redress, 
and  each  found  the  other  ready  to  strike  a  united  blow  against 
the  common  enemy. 

Accordingly,  while  the  Winnebagoes  were  in  consultation  with 
their  chiefs,  they  were  visited  by  a  messenger  of  the  Sioux,  who 
after  detailing  the  wrongs  of  his  own  tribe,  resorted  to  falsehood 
to  further  exasperate  his  auditors  against  the  Americans.  He 
informed  them  that  two  Winnebago  prisoners  confined  at 
Fort  Snelling,  had  recently  been  cruelly  murdered  by  the  whites, 
under  circum stances  which  demanded  immediate  and  bloody 
retaliation.  Notwithstanding  the  utter  mendacity  of  this  state 
ment,  the  Winnebagoes.  smarting  under  their  treatment  at  the 
hands  of  the  miners,  were  easily  persuaded  it  was  true,  and 
resolved  upon  revenge,  while  the  visitor  assured  them  that  as 
soon  as  they  struck  the  first  blow,  his  own  tribe  would  assist 
them.  They  accordingly  killed  "2  white  men,  and  a  more  justifi 
able  pretext  was  not  long  wanting  for  them  to  strike  another  blow. 
On  the  30th  of  July  1827,  2  keel  boats,  laden  with  supplies  for  Fort 
Snelling,  landed  at  a  large  Wiunebago  encampment  a  short  dis 
tance  above  Prairie  du  Chien.  While  here  the  Indians  collected 


372  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


about  the  boats,  doubtless  for  the  purpose  of  plunder  but  were 
foiled  in  their  designs.  In  the  absence  of  other  weapons  the 
whites  made  them  drunk,  and  taking  advantage  of  their  helpless 
condition,  captured  several  squaws,  and  took  them  aboard,  for  a 
purpose  too  base  to  mention.  Before  their  intoxicated  husbands 
became  aware  of  the  injury  they  had  sustained,  the  boats  and 
their  squaws  were  too  far  up  the  river  for  pursuit,  yet  several 
hundred  infuriate  warriors  now  assembled  with  the  determination 
of  meeting  out  to  the  aggressors  the  most  severe  punishment 
when  they  returned.  In  due  time,  the  boats  were  seen  descend 
ing  the  river,  but  the  crews  aware  that  their  misdeeds  deserved 
castigation,  had  made  preparation  for  defence.  One  of  the  boats 
passed  by  unobserved  during  the  night,  but  the  other,  less  fortu 
nate,  was  assailed  by  an  overwhelming  force  of  savages,  who 
fought  with  a  determination  only  equalled  by  their  passion  for 
vengeance.  The  boat  became  grounded,  and  for  a  time  the  men 
on  board  seemed  doomed.  Directly  in  the  face  of  a  galling  lire, 
the  savages  succeeded  in  lashing  some  of  their  canoes  to  the 
unmanageable  craft,  but  when  they  attempted  to  board  her.  they 
were  beaten  back  into  the  river,  and  finally  retired  from  the  con 
test.  During  the  engagement  the  squaws  escaped,  and  no  doubt 
with  the  hearty  consent  of  the  boatmen,  provided  it  might  be  the 
means  of  drawing  after  them  their  infuriate  lords.  Two  of  the 
Americans  were  killed,  and  so  many  others  wounded,  it  was  with 
difficulty  that  Captain  Lindsey,  who  had  charge  of  the  boat,  ran 
down  to  Galena,  and  made  known  the  hostile  attack.  Dire  alarm 
at  the  reception  of  the  news  spread  among  the  miners,  and  in  a 
short  time  not  less  than  3000  men,  women  and  children  fled  to 
Galena  for  protection.  Exaggerated  reports  spread  rapidly  over 
the  country,  and  most  of  the  settlements  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  State  partook  of  the  fear  and  excitement  incident  to  an 
actual  invasion.  At  Galena  a  committee  of  safety  was  formed, 
temporary  defenses  were  erected,  and  in  pursuance  of  an  order 
from  Gov.  Edwards,  the  miners  were  formed  into  companies  and 
equipped  for  action.  A  regiment  was  also  raised  in  Sangamon 
and  Morgan  counties,  and  under  the  command  of  T.  M.  Neale, 
marched  to  the  scene  of  danger.  On  his  arrival,  however,  he 
found  the  war  virtually  at  an  end.  Gen.  Atkinson  with  600  regu 
lars  and  the  Galena  militia,  under  Gen.  Dodge,  had  penetrated  the 
enemy's  country,  as  far  as  the  portage  of  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin, 
and  compelled  the  hostile  savages  to  sue  for  peace.  The  army 
returned  from  Prairie  du  Chien,  with  7  of  their  principal  men, 
among  whom  were  Red  Bird  the  chief  of  the  Sioux,  and  Black 
Hawk  who  shortly  afterward  became  the  instigator  of  other  and 
greater  disturbances.  They  were  all  thrown  into  prison  as 
abettors  of  the  murderous  attack  on  the  boat,  and  suifered  a  long 
confinement  before  they  were  tried.  As  the  result  of  the  tardy 
trial,  some  were  acquitted,  and  others  convicted,  and  more  than  a 
year  after  their  incarceration  executed  on  the  gallows. 

In  the  meantime,  Red  Bird  whose  proud  spirit  could  not  endure 
the  humiliation  of  confinement,  sickened  and  died  in  prison. 
There  was  associated  with  the  latter  days  of  his  life  a  romantic 
and  melancholy  interest,  different  from  the  usual  phases  of  Indian 
character.  He  had  always  been  the  favorite  of  his  own  people 
and  up  to  this  illicit  connection  with  the  Winnebagoes  the 


BLACK   HAWK   WAR.  373 


ardent  and  unalterable  friend  of  the  whites.  Unlike  other  savage 
leaders,  when  liis  allies  were  pressed  with  a  victorious  force,  he 
refused  to  desert  them,  and  voluntarily  gave  himself  up  to  suffer 
not  only  tor  his  own  misdeeds,  but  for  the  common  offense  of  the 
tribe.  Clad  in  a  robe  of  skins,  and  bearing  a  white  thig,  he  rode 
into  camp,  and  with  dauntless  courage  and  an  unclouded  brow, 
placed  himself  in  the  hands  of  his  enemy.  Not  even  the 
restraints  of  prison  life,  although  they  impaired  his  health,  could 
obscure  the  native  vigor  of  his  mind,  and  when  called  on  by  white 
men  all  the  nobility  of  a  great  savage  lit  up  his  manly  features. 
Incensed  at  the  Americans  because  they  had  delivered  his  coun 
trymen  into  the  hands  of  their  enemy,  he  was  doubtless  the  secret 
instigator  and  ruling  spirit  of  the  war,  although  the  Winnebagoes 
committed  the  overt  acts.  This  tribe  now  completely  humbled,  in  a 
subsequent  talk  with  the  federal  authorities  abandoned  all  their 
lands  south  of  the  Wisconsin  river,  to  the  insatiate  grasp  of  the 
conquerors. 

Hardly  had  the  disturbances  of  the  vanquished  tribe  ceased  be 
fore  the  frontier  inhabitants  became  embroiled  in  difficulties  witli 
the  Sacs  and  Foxes.  The  first  recognition  of  these  Indians  by 
the  United  States,  was  iii  a  treaty  concluded  at  Fort  Hariner,  ill 
1787,  by  Gov.  St.  Clair,  wherein  the  government  guaranteed  them 
its  protection.  In  1804,  Gov.  W.  H.  Harrison  was  instructed  by 
president  Jefferson  to  institute  negotiations  with  them  for  the 
purchase  of  lands,  and  shortly  afterward  a  treaty  was  ratified 
with  them,  by  which  their  beautiful  country  on  Rock  river  was 
divested  of  the  Indian  title.  Again  in  1830,  a  third  treaty  was 
entered  into,  by  the  terms  of  which  they  were  to  remove  from  the 
lands  which  they  had  sold  to  the  United  States,  east  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  and  peaceably  retire  across  the  river. 

At  this  time,  Keokuk  and  Black  Hawk  were  the  two  principal 
chiefs  of  the  nation.  The  latter  was  born  at  the  principal 
village  of  his  tribe,  on  Rock  river,  in  1767.  Possessing  no  here 
ditary  rank,  his  chieftainship  was  due  to  the  native  vigor  of  his 
character,  and  great  success  in  war.  In  early  youth  he  distin 
guished  himself  as  a  brave;  and  in  the  many  fierce  conflicts  of  his 
subsequent  life  with  the  Osages  and  Cherokees,  he  never  lost  a 
battle.  When  the  war  of  1812,  broke  out  between  the  United 
States  and  England,  he  offered  his  services  to  the  Americans, 
which  from  motives  of  humanity  they  declined.  He  however, 
soon  found  patrons  among  the  British,  who  regardless  of  the  bru 
tal  attrocities  of  savage  warfare,  furnished  his  men  with  arms. 
At  the  instance  of  their  mercenary  agents,  he  succeeded  in  collect 
ing  200  braves,  and  repaired  to  Green  Bay,  where  he  met  Col. 
Dixon  and  a  large  body  of  Indians  assembled  from  the  adjacent 
tribes.  Of  the  interview  which  followed  between  him  and  the 
British  officer,  he  says:  "He  received  me  with  a  hearty  shake  of 
the  hand,  and  presented  me  to  the  other  officers  who  shook  my 
hand  cordially,  and  seemed  much  pleased  with  1113-  men.  After  I 
was  seated,  Col.  Dixon  said :  <Gen.  Black  Hawk,  I  sent  for  you  to 
explain  what  we  are  going  to  do,  and  the  reasons  that  have 
brought  us  here.  Your  English  father  has  found  out  that  the 
Americans  want  to  take  your  country  from  you,  and  has  sent  me 
and  his  braves  to  drive  them  back.  He  has  likewise  sent  a  large 
quantity  of  arms  and  ammunition,  and  we  want  your  warriors  to 


374  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

join  us.'  He  then  placed  a  medal  around  my  neck,  and  gave  me  a 
paper  and  a  silk  flag,  saying,  'Yon  are  to  command  all  the  braves 
which  are  to  leave  here  day  after  tomorrow,  to  join  our  braves 
at  Detroit.'  Black  Hawk  fought  in  U  engagements  with  his  new 
allies,  and  annually  received  payment  for  his  services  up  to  the 
time  of  his  own  war  against  the  Americans.  From  this  circum 
stance  his  force  was  designated  the  British  band. 

Keokuk,  his  rival,  unlike  him,  remained  the  friend  of  the  Amer 
icans.  Notwithstanding  the  insatiate  passion  of  the  Sacs  and 
Foxes  for  war,  and  the  belief  that  they  had  been  injured  by  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  he  drew  after  him  a  majority  of  the 
nation,  and  thus  weakened  the  efforts  of  Black  Hawk.  In  diplo 
macy  and  judgment  he  was  more  than  a  match  for  his  brother 
chieftain,  and  as  AVC  shall  see,  through  the  influence  of  the  United 
States  whose  cause  he  had  espoused,  he  became  the  sole  chief  of 
his  people. 

In  accordance  with  the  treaty  stipulations,  Keokuk  and  his  fol 
lowers  remained  on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  Black  Hawk,  how 
ever,  actuated  no  doubt  partly  by  patriotism,  but  mostly  by  the 
ill  Avill  he  entertained  toward  the  Americans  declared  all  the 
previous  treaties  void,  and  in  the  Spring  of  1831  recrossed  the  Mis 
sissippi  with  his  women  and  children  and  300  warriors.  Every 
argument  had  been  used  by  his  most  prudent  advisers,  to  deter 
him  from  embarking  in  this  hazardous  enterprise,  and  even  the 
authorities  of  Canada,  with  whom  he  had  consulted,  counseled 
him  to  leave  his  village  if  he  had  sold  it.  The  government  of  the 
United  States,  desirous  of  preventing  bloodshed,  bore  with  him  a 
long  time,  hoping  after  due  reflection  he  would  abandon  his  rash 
design.  This,  however,  being  construed  as  weakness,  he  was 
induced  to  believe  that  the  government  either  could  not  or  would 
not  attempt  his  removal.  He  also  affected  to  believe  it  was  an  act 
of  cowardice  to  abandon  his  village,  and  thus  leave  the  graves  of 
his  fathers,  to  be  ruthlessly  plowed  up  by  strangers,  whose  rights 
to  the  soil  was  of  doubtful  authority. 

This  celebrated  Indian  town  was  romantically  situated  on  a  prom 
ontory  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  Mississippi  and  Bock  rivers,  ami 
the  great  beauty  and  fertility  of  the  adjacent  country  made  it  the 
centre  of  attraction  for  emigrants  from  all  parts  of  the  country. 
The  village  was  capable  of  sheltering  a  population  0,000  or  7,000 
inhabitants.  The  houses  consisted  of  poles  wrought  into  frames 
and  covered  with  bark,  previously  prepared  by  drying  to  adapt  it 
to  the  walls  of  these  structures.  Seven  hundred  such  lodges  of 
various  dimensions,  the  largest  of  which  did  not  perhaps  exceed 
100  feet  in  length  and  50  in  breadth,  constituted  the  dwellings  of 
the  villagers.  About  700  acres  of  the  adjacent  prairie  was  sur 
rounded  by  a  fence,  and  the  enclosed  soil  cultivated  by  the  Indian 
women  in  corn,  beans,  peas  and  squashes.  The  place  was  said  to 
be  150  years  old,  and  had  for  00  or  70  A  ears  been  the  principal  vil 
lage  of  the  Sac  Nation.  On  the  one  hand  flashed  the  broad  wa 
ters  of  the  Mississippi  in  the  rays  of  the  evening  sun,  on  the  other 
the  rippling  stream  of  Bock  river  struggled  between  the  dark 
forest-clad  islands  which  obstructed  its  channel.  Hardly  an  in 
dividual  could  be  found  who  did  not  have  friends  and  relations 
whose  ashes  were  reposing  in  the  adjacent  grave  yards.  Hither, 
in  accordance  Avith  an  immemorial  custom  of  the  nation,  bereaved 


BLACK  HAWK  WAR.  375 


mothers,  wives  and  sisters  performed  annual  pilgrimages  to  pay 
a  tribute  of  respects  to  their  departed  relatives.  On  these  melan 
choly  occasions  they  carefully  removed  the  growing-  vegetation 
from,  the  mounds  and  addressed  words  of  endearment  to  the  dead, 
inquiring  how  they  fared  in  the  land  of  spirits  and  who  performed 
the  kindly  office  of  mother,  sister  or  wife.  The  depositing  of  food 
on  the  grave  concluded  these  time-honored  religious  services. 

As  is  usually  the  case  with  rival  factions  brought  in  contact,  the 
conduct  of  both  whites  and  Indians  admitted  of  censure.  The 
7th  article  of  the  treaty  of  1804  provided  that  as  long  as  the  lands 
which  are  now  ceded  to  the  II.  S.  shall  remain  their  property  the 
said  Indians  shall  enjoy  the  privilege  of  living  and  hunting  on 
them.  These  lands  Avere  not  brought  into  market  till  the  year 
181*9,  and  consequently  all  who  had  previously  settled  on  them 
were  trespassers,  having  violated  the  laws  of  congress  and  the  pre 
existing  treaties.  The  most  advanced  settlements  at  that  time  did 
not  approach  nearer  than  50  or  60  miles  of  Rock  river,  and  the 
lands  for  even  a  greater  distance  had  not  been  offered  for  sale, 
yet  the  government  disposed  of  a  few  quarter  sections  at  the  mouth 
of  this  stream,  embracing  the  site  of  the  village  and  fields  cultiva 
ted  by  the  inhabitants.  The  manifest  object  of  this  advanced 
movement  upon  the  Indian  settlements  was  to  evade  the  provis 
ions  of  the  treaty,  by  having  the  governmental  title  to  the  lands 
pass  into  the  hands  of  individuals  and  thus  obtain  a  pretext  for 
removing  its  owners  west  of  the  Mississippi.  The  white  inhabi 
tants  thus  introduced,  commenced  depredations  by  destroying  the 
corn  of  the  Indians,  killing  their  domestic  animals,  and  in  some 
instances  whipping  their  wonfen  and  children.  They  carried  with 
them  as  articles  of  traffic  intoxicating  liquors,  and  by  frequently 
selling  them  in  violation  of  law,  introduced  scenes  of  drunkenness 
and  disorder.  Some  of  the  chiefs  remonstrated  against  these  out 
rages  and  even  visited  the  house  of  a  white  settler  and  emptied 
the  contents  of  his  whiskey  barrels  on  the  ground,  to  prevent  their 
people  from  becoming  intoxicated  and  murdering  the  white  inhab 
itants.  The  Americans,  on  the  other  hand,  preferred  grave 
charges  against  the  Indians,  many  of  which  were  true.  Notwith 
standing,  in  1816  Black  Hawk  had  recognized  the  treaty  of  1804, 
and  to  use  his  own  expression,  he  touched  the  goose  quill  to  this 
paper  in  its  confirmation,  he  endeavored  to  deceive  his  tribe  with 
statements  that  their  lands  were  inalienable  and  that  the  previous 
cessions  and  treaties  were  fraudulent  and  void.  Again,  when  the 
government  surveyed  and  sold  the  site  of  their  village,  although 
the  object  which  induced  the  purchasers  to  pass  over  such  large 
scope  of  unoccupied  territory  was  hardly  justifiable,  yet,  when  the 
title  of  the  government  became  vested  in  individuals  the  right  of 
the  Indians  ceased  and  they  should  have  peaceably  retired.  Fur 
thermore,  Black  Hawk  and  his  band,  when  they  crossed  the  river, 
notified  the  whites  that  they  must  depart  from  the  village,  and  the 
latter  refusing  to  comply  with  their  demand,  their  property  was 
destroyed  and  they  suffered  in  person  various  indignities  at  the 
hands  of  the  savages.  A  petition  signed  by  40  persons,  was  sent 
on  the  30th  of  April,  1831,  to  the  executive  of  Illinois,  represent 
ing  that  the  previous  fall  the  Black  Hawk  band  of  Indians  de 
stroyed  most  of  the  crops  and  made  several  attempts  upon  the 
lives  of  the  owners  when  they  endeavored  to  prevent  the  depre- 


376  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

dations  $  that  now  they  act  in  a  more  outrageous  and  menacing 
manner  and  their  number,  which  amounts  to  600  or  TOO, 
18  to  be  further  augmented  if  necessary,  by  the  Potawatto- 
niies  and  Winnebagoes.  A  few  days  after  another  petition  was 
sent,  which  after  detailing  similar  outrages  committed  by  the  sav 
ages,  states  that  if  relief  does  not  arrive  the  inhabitants  will  be 
compelled  to  leave  their  crops  and  homes.  Several  depositions 
were  also  presented  to  the  governor,  corroborating  the  above  evi 
dence.  B.  F.  Pike  stated  under  oath  that  the  number  of  warriors 
was  about  300 ;  that  they  had  in  various  instances  done  much 
damage  to  the  white  inhabitants  by  throwing  down  their  fences, 
destroying  their  fall  grain,  pulling  off  the  roofs  of  their  houses 
and  positively  asserting  that  if  the  Americans  did  not  leave  they 
would  kill  them. 

Governor  Reynolds,  thus  informed  in  regard  to  the  state  of  affairs 
at  the  mouth  of  Rock  River  and  believing  that  Black  Hawk  and 
his  band  were  determined  to  retain  possession  of  the  country  by 
force,  resolved  to  effect  their  expulsion.  A  call  was  accordingly 
made  for  volunteers,  and  when  it  became  known  the  whole  north 
western  part  of  the  State  resounded  with  the  clamor  of  war. 
Many  of  the  old  citizens,  who  20  years  before  had  fought  these 
Indians  in  the  war  with  Great  Britain,  still  survived  and  urged 
their  sons  to  appear  on  the  tented  field  against  the  same  enemy. 
The  exigencies  of  the  situation  demanded  that  troops  should 
reach  the  scene  of  action  in  the  shortest  time  practicable,  and 
therefore  the  10th  of  June  was  appointed  as  the  time,  and  Beards- 
town  as  the  place  for  the  assembling  of  the  forces.  No  county 
south  of  St.  Clair  and  east  of  San  gain  on  was  included  in  the  call, 
it  being  impossible  for  troops  from  the  remote  parts  of  the  State 
to  meety  organize  and  reach  the  place  of  rendezvous  in  the  brief 
interval  of  14  or  15  days,  the  allotted  time.  The  governor  circu 
lated  documents  among  the  people  and  made  speeches  showing 
that  the  defence  of  the  northwestern  frontier  required  prompt  and 
energetic  action.  Notwithstanding  it  was  the  most  busy  season 
of  the  year,  hundreds  abandoned  their  plows  and  cornfields,  and 
more  than  twice  the  number  called  for  volunteered.  It  was  easier 
to  obtain  men  than  provide  means  of  sustenance.  Cols.  Enoch  C. 
March  and  Samuel  C.  Christy  were  appointed  quartermasters,  who, 
being  extensive  merchants,  possessed  superior  facilities  for  obtain 
ing  supplies.  These  gentlemen  were  successful  in  the  discharge 
of  their  duties  and  provisions  Avere  in  readiness  at  the  appointed 
time  for  the  expedition  to  march. 

The  governor,  aw^are  that  General  Clark,  the  superintendent  of 
Indian  affairs  stationed  at  St.  Louis,  had  great  influence  with  the 
Sac  and  Fox  tribes,  on  the  27th  of  May,  1831,  the  day  on  which  he 
made  the  call  for  volunteers,  addressed  a  letter  to  him  requesting 
his  co-operation.  In  this  letter  he  states:  "I  have  called  out 
about  700  militia  to  protect  the  citizens  near  Rock  Island  from 
Indian  depredations.  I  consider  it  due  the  general  government  to 
state  that  in  about  15  days  a  sufficient  force  will  appear  before  the 
hostile  Indians  to  remove  them  dead  or  alive  west  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  but  perhaps  a  request  from  you  would  induce  them  to  leave 
without  the  necessity  of  resorting  to  arms."  On  the  28th  another 
letter  Avas  sent  to  General  Gaines  at  Jefferson  Barracks,  in  Avhich 


BLACK  HAWK  WAR.  377 


lie  also  stated:  "I  liave  received  undoubted  information  that  the 
section  of  the  State  near  Hock  Island  is  actually  invaded  by  hostile 
bands  of  Indians  headed  by  Black  Hawk,  and  in  order  to  repel 
the  invasion  and  protect  the  citizens  of  the  State,  I  have,  under  the 
provisions  of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  and  the  laws 
of  this  State,  called  out  the  militia  to  the  number  of  700  men,  who 
will  be  mounted  and  ready  for  service  in  a  very  short  time.  I  con 
sider  it  my  duty  to  lay  before  you  the  above  information  that  you 
may  adopt  such  measures  as  you  deem  just  and  proper."  Both 
generals  Gaines  and  Clark  considered  the  precaution  of  raising- 
troops  pursued  by  governor  Reynolds  unnecessary,  believing  that 
the  forces  of  the  regular  army  were  sufficient  to  protect  the  frontier 
settlements.  On  the  2d  of  June,  general  Gaines  replied  to  His 
Excellency  that  he  had  ordered  10  companies  to  Hock  Island,  6 
from  Jefferson  Barracks  and  4  from  Prairie  du  Chien,  which  he 
deemed  sufficient  for  the  protection  of  the  frontiers,  that  if  the 
entire  Sac  and  Fox  nation  and  other  tribes  united  with  the  band 
of  Black  Hawk,  he  would  call  on  him  for  additional  forces  to 
repel  the  invasion,  but  did  not  regard  it  necessary  at  that  time. 

Accompanied  by  six  companies  from  the  barracks,  Gen.  Gaines 
passed  up  the  river  in  a  steamboat  to  Fort  Armstrong,  situated  on 
Hock  Island,  and  on  the  7th  of  June  a  council  was  held  wTith  the 
Indians.  Black  Hawk,  Keokuk,  Wapello,  and  a  number  of  other 
chiefs  and  braves  were  present.  Gen.  Gaines  stated  in  council 
that  the  President  was  displeased  because  the  Sacs  on  Rock  river 
refused  to  depart,  that  their  great  father  only  required  that  which 
was  reasonable  when  he  insisted  that  they  should  remove  west  of 
the  river.  Black  Hawk  replied  by  asserting  that  they  had  never  sold 
their  land  and  they  were  determined  never  to  abandon  them.  Gen. 
Gaines  thereupon  inquired,  "Who  is  Black  Hawk?  is  he  a  chief, 
and  why  does  he  sit  in  council!"  Black  Hawk  then  arose  from  his 
seat,  and  gathering  his  blanket  around  him  stalked  out  of  the  room 
without  deigning  a  reply.  When  the  council  reconvened  on  the 
following  morning  Black  Hawk  was  again  present  and  said:  "My 
father,  you  inquired  yesterday  who  is  Black  Hawk,  and  why  does 
he  sit  among  the  chiefs.  I  will  tell  you  who  I  am.  I  am  a  Sac.  My 
father  was  a  Sac.  I  am  a  warrior  and  so  was  my  father.  Ask  those 
young  braves  who  have  followed  me  to  battle  and  they  will  tell  you 
who  Black  Hawk  is.  Provoke  our  people  to  war  and  you  will  learn 
who  Black  Hawk  is." 

The  result  of  the  conference  Avas  that  Black  Hawk  refused  to 
leave,  and  Gen.  Gaines  informed  him  that  if  he  and  his  band  were 
not  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  in  a  short  time  he  would  be 
compelled  to  remove  him  by  force.  The  American  commander 
also  wrote  to  governor  Reynolds  requesting  the  assistance  of  the 
volunteers  and  intimating  that  it  might  be  necessary  to  call  for 
more  troops  as  Black  Hawk  was  endeavoring  to  secure  the  co 
operation  of  the  neighboring  tribes.  It  was  hoped  that  by  this 
augmentation  of  the  forces  the  Indians  might  be  intimidated,  and 
thus  prevent  the  effusion  of  blood,  and  in  case  of  actual  conflict 
the  army  would  be  enabled,  to  act  with  greater  efficiency. 

Great  enthusiasm  was  exhibited  by  the  people  in  responding  to 
the  call  for  troops,  and  instead  of  700,  1000  men  offered  their  ser 
vices.  All  were  eager  to  enlist  having  made  arrangements  on 
leaving  home  to  remain  and  take  a  part  in  the  expedition.  The 


378  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

entire  number  could  be  provisioned  and  equipped,  and  it  was  deemed 
folly  to  appear  on  the  field  without  a  force  sufficiently  large  when 
one  more  imposing  and  adequate  could  be  secured.  Among  the 
volunteers  were  many  of  the  best  and  most  energetic  citizens  of  the 
State,  a  number  of  whom  afterward  attained  celebrity  and  still  live 
to  enjoy  the  respect  of  their  countrymen.  The  whole  force  consisted 
of  one  brigade,  subdivided  into  two  regiments,  and  a  spy  and  odd 
battalion.  The  governor,  who  accompanied  the  expedition,  appointed 
Joseph  Duncan,  then  a  member  of  congress,  brigadier  general  to 
command  the  entire  brigade,  and  Samuel  Whitesides  a  major  to 
command  the  spy  battalion.  The  other  officers,  not  being  regarded 
so  essential  to  the  success  of  the  campaign,  were  elected  by  the 
volunteers. 

Col.  James  D.  Henry  was  chosen  to  command  the  first  regiment, 
Col.  Daniel  Lieb  the  second,  and  major  Xathaniel  Buckmaster  the 
odd  battalion.  Thus  organized  and  furnished  with  the  necessary 
supplies,  the  brigade  left  their  encampment  near  Kushville  on  the 
15th  of  June  for  the  seat  of  the  Indian  disturbances.  Although 
not  highly  disciplined,  it  was  the  largest  military  force  that  had 
ever  assembled  in  the  State,  and  made  a  very  imposing  appearance 
in  its  march  over  the  then  broad  expanse  of  prairie  wilderness. 
Eager  for  a  fray  with  the  Indians  the  utmost  vigilance  was  re 
quired  on  the  part  of  the  officers,  to  keep  the  men  from  indiscrimi 
nately  killing  every  straggling  savage  they  encountered  in  their 
pleasant  journey  of  four  days  to  the  Mississippi.  A  halt  was  made 
on  its  banks  eight  miles  below  the  old  Sac  village,  where  they  were 
met  by  a  steamboat  containing  provisions,  in  charge  of  general 
Gaines,  who  received  them  into  the  service  of  the  United  States. 
A  beautiful  site  was  selected  for  an  encampment,  and  as.a  battle 
was  considered  imminent,  the  greatest  watchfulness  was  exercised 
during  the  night  to  guard  against  surprise,  but  no  disturbance 
occured.  Here  generals  Duncan  and  Gaines  concerted  measures 
of  attack;  the  latter  officer  having  been  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Indian  town  for  some  time,  thus  became  acquainted  with  the  topo 
graphy  of  the  place.  Previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  volunteers  he 
had  possessed  and  fortified  with  cannon  a  commanding  bluff  in 
range  of  the  village,  and  in  another  direction  had  posted  a  strong- 
force  of  regulars  to  aid  if  necessary  in  the  conflict.  In  accord 
ance  with  the  plan  adopted,  on  the  following  morning  General 
Gaines  with  a  force  of  regulars  and  cannon  steamed  up  the  river 
in  the  boat,  while  the  volunteers  marched  across  the  country,  both 
forming  a  junction  at  Woodruff's  Islands  in  the  channel  of  the 
river  opposite  the  Sac  village.  The  boat  having  come  within 
range  of  the  island,  fired  several  rounds  of  grape  and  canister  into 
the  dense  growth  of  timber  and  thickets  to  test  the  presence  of  the 
Indians,  who  it  was  feared  might  be  concealed  among  them,  to 
intercept  the  passage  of  the  volunteers  across  the  stream.  The 
spy  battalion,  followed  by  the  main  body  of  the  forces  in  three 
columns,  passed  over  a  slough  to  the  island,  when  it  was  discovered 
that  the  rapid  elevation  of  the  land  from  the  water  had  prevented 
the  shot  taking  effect  more 'than  100  yards  from  the  shore.  Owing 
to  this  circumstance  the  Indians  might  have  been  concealed  in  full 
force  without  being  discovered.  Fortunately  no  enemy  was  found, 
for  the  volunteers  became  so  completely  bewildered  in  the  tangled 
thickets  as  to  disqualify  them  for  effective  resistance,  and  in  case 


BLACK  HAWK  WAR.  379 


of  an  attack  the  artillery  looking  down  from  the  bluffs  on  what 
would  have  been  the  battle  field,  was  too  far  away  to  distinguish 
friends  from  foes.  On  arriving  at  the  river  between  the  island  and 
town,  it  proved  to  be  a  deep,  bold  stream  at  that  point  unford able. 
and  hence  the  progress  of  the  troops  was  delayed  till  scows  could 
be  procured  to  ferry  them  over.  When  the  town  was  finally  entered 
it  was  found  deserted,  the  inhabitants  having  the  previous  night 
crossed  to  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi.  It  was  supposed  that 
Generals  Duncan  and  Games,  before  leaving  camp,  believed  that 
the  Indians  would  abandon  their  village,  and  now  that  such  was 
the  case,  it  served  to  explain  the  apparent  neglect  in  ascertaining 
the1  presence  of  Indians  and  the  seemingly  unfavorable  disposition 
of  the  forces.  General  Gaines  appears  to  have  been  an  efficient 
officer,  anxious  to  settle  the  difficulties  without  the  effusion  of 
blood,  and  great  credit  was  undoubtedly  due  GoA^ernor  Reynolds 
and  General  Duncan  for  the  promptness  with  which  the  troops 
were  called  out,  organized  and  marched  to  the  seat  of  war. 

The  number  of  warriors  who  fled  across  the  Mississippi  could 
never  be  definitely  ascertained.  Many  of  the  straggling  and 
disaffected  Winnebagoes,  and  Potawattomies,  doubtless  united 
with  the  band  of  Black  Hawk,  and  perhaps  the  number  amounted 
to  from  400  to  600.  The  Indians  having  escaped  without  injury, 
the  volunteers  took  vengeance  on  the  village  by  burning  it  to  the 
ground,  although  the  dwellings  would  have  sheltered  them  from 
tiie  incessant  rains  which  prevailed  during  the  day.  "  Thus 
perished  this  ancient  village  which  had  been  the  delightful  home 
of  0000  or  7000  Indians,  where  generation  after  generation  had 
been  born,  had  died  and  been  buried,  where  the  old  men  had 
taught  wisdom  to  the  youth,  whence  the  Indian  youth  had  often 
gone  out  in  parties  to  hunt  or  to  war,  and  returned  in  triumph  to 
dance  around  the  spoils  of  the  forest  or  the  scalps  of  the  enemy, 
and  where  the  dark-eyed  Indian  maidens,  by  their  presence  and 
chiinns,  had  made  it  a  scene  of  delightful  enchantment  to  many 
an  admiring  warrior."* 

Black  Hawk  and  his  warriors  having  departed  the  night  preceding 
the  destruction  of  their  village,  encamped  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Mississippi,  while  the  Americans  took  a  position  12  miles  above 
where  Kock  Island  now  stands.  Gen.  Gaines  sent  an  order  to 
Black  Hawk,  requiring  him  and  his  band  to  return  and  enter  into 
a  treaty  of  peace,  or  he  would  move  on  them  with  all  the  troops 
under  his  command.  Several  days  afterward  some  of  the  chiefs 
made  their  appearance,  but  Black  Hawk  and  the  majority  of  them 
refusing  to  come,  a  more  peremptory  demand  was  made,  which 
had  the  desired  effect.  He  and  about  30  chiefs  of  the  British 
band  of  the  Sacs,  now  came  and  in  full  council  with  Geu.  Gaines, 
and  Gov.  Reynolds,  on  the  3()th  of  June,  1831,  signed  an  agree 
ment  of  which  the  following  is  the  first  article. 

"The  British  band  of  the  Sac  Indians,  are  required  peaceably  to 
submit  to  the  authority  of  the  friendly  chiefs  and  braves  of  the 
united  Sac  and  Fox  nations,  and  at  all  times  hereafter  to  reside 
and  hunt  with  them  upon  their  own  lands,  west  of  the  Mississippi 
river,  and  to  be  obedient  to  their  laws  and  treaties,  and  no  one  or 
more  shall  ever  be  permitted  to  recross  said  river,  to  the  usual 
place  of  residence,  nor  any  part  of  their  old  hunting  grounds  east 

•Ford's  History. 


380  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

of  the  Mississippi,  without  permission  of  the  president  of  the 
United  States  or  governor  of  the  State  of  Illinois." 

The  truism  that  the  brave  are  merciful,  was  well  illustrated  by 
the  treatment  extended  by  Gen.  Games  and  Gov.  Reynolds  to  the 
vanquished  and  unfortunate  Indians,  after  the  conclusion  of  the 
treaty.  The  larger  part  of  the  invading-  force  had  been  deluded 
by  listening  to  the  bad  counsel  of  Black  Hawk  and  other  leaders, 
and  as  a  consequence,  their  helpless  women  and  children,  were  then 
destitute  of  food  and  clothing.  Gov.  Reynolds  in  a  conversation 
on  the  subject  remarked,  "I  presume  this  is  the  last  time  the  gov 
ernment  will  have  any  trouble  with  these  Indians;  the  women  and 
children  are  not  so  much  to  blame,  and  a  support  for  them  one 
summer,  will  be  nothing  to  the  United  States.  The  government 
has  possessed  their  fine  country,  and  I  cannot  rest  satisfied,  to 
leave  them  in  a  starving  condition."  Provisions  were  accordingly 
distributed  among  them  at  stated  periods,  exceeding  in  amount 
the  quantity  they  would  have  raised.  The  volunteers  seeing  this 
exhibition  of  charity,  ridiculed  the  adjustment  of  the  Indian  dif 
ficulties  by  calling  it  a  corn  treaty,  and  saying,  "we  give  them 
bread,  when  we  ought  to  give  them  lead." 

The  enemy  being  apparently  humbled  and  quiet  restored,  the 
army  was  disbanded  and  returned  home  in  the  best  of  spirits,  not 
a  single  person,  by  disease,  accident  or  otherwise,  having  lost  his 
life. 


CHAPTER   XXXIH 
1832— SECOND  CAMPAIGN  OF  THE  WAE. 

Black  Hawk  induced  by  White  Cloud  to  recross  the  Mississippi — 
Refuses  to  obey  the  order  of  Gen.  Atkinson  to  return — State  Forces 
re-organized — March  to  Rock  River  and  unite  with  the  Regulars — 
Army  proceeds  up  the  river  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy — Battle  of 
Run — Call  for  fresh  troops — The  old  forces  disbanded. 


Prior  to  the  expulsion  of  the  Indians  from  their  village,  Naopope, 
a  chief  of  the  British  bandt  and  second  in  command  to  Black 
Hawk,  had  started  on  a  visit  to  Maiden  to  consult  his  English 
father  concerning-  the  right  of  the  Indians  to  retake  possession  of 
their  lands  on  Rock  river.  According  to  his  statement,  he  was 
advised  by  the  authorities  at  Maiden  that  the  Americans,  without 
a  previous  purchase,  could  not  take  possession  of  their  lands.  On 
his  return  he  also  visited  Wa-bo-kies-shiek  or  White  Cloud,  the 
prophet  of  the  Winnebagoes.  His  home  was  a  village  bearing  the 
name  of  Prophetstown,  situated  on  Eock  river,  35  miles  from  its 
mouth.  Like  the  prophet  of  the  Wabash,  he  had  great  influence 
with  his  countrymen.  He  was  a  stout,  shrewd  looking  Indian, 
about  40  years  of  age  and  claimed  that  one  of  his  parents  was  a 
Sac  and  the  other  a  Winnebago.  A  full  and  flowing  suit  of  long 
hair  graced  his  head,  which  was  surmounted  by  a  white  head-dress 
several  inches  in  height,  resembling  a  turban  and  emblamatic  of 
his  profession.  Sagacity  and  cunning  were  prominent  traits  of 
his  character  and  essential  to  the  prophetic  pretensions  by  which 
he  imposed  on  the  credulity  of  his  ignorant  followers. 

White  Cloud  informed  his  visitor  that  not  only  the  British  but 
the  Ottawas,  Chippewas,  Potawattomies  and  W7innebagoes  would 
assist  his  tribe  in  regaining  their  village  and  the  lands  around  it. 
When  Naopope  in  the  summer  succeeding  the  treaty,  returned  to 
his  friends  he  communicated  this  information  to  Black  Hawk  who 
affected  to  believe  it,  and  immediately  commenced  recruiting  to 
increase  the  number  of  his  braves.  He  also  sent  a  messenger  to 
Keokuk  apprising  him  of  the  good  news  and  requesting 
his  co  operation.  The  latter,  however,  was  a  chief  of  too  much  sa 
gacity  to  be  misled  by  these  promises  of  British  and  Indian  as 
sistance,  and  wisely  admonished  Black  Hawk  that  he  was  deceived 
and  should  therefore  abstain  from  hostile  demonstrations.  The 
latter,  however,  willing  to  credit  any  report  that  even  faintly 
promised  an  opportunity  to  wreak  vengeance  on  his  old  adversa 
ries  the  Americans,  rejected  this  good  counsel  and  persistently 

381 


382  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

pursued  his  own  plans.  Haying  resolved  to  bid  defiance  to  tho 
whites,  in  the  winter  of  1831-32,  great  efforts  were  made  to  obtain 
recruits,  and  the  number  of  his  warriors  embracing  the  chivalry 
of  the  nation,  was  augmented  to  500.  His  headquarters  were  at 
the  site  of  old  Fort  Madison  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi, 
whence  he  moved  up  the  river,  his  warriors  proceeding  on  horses 
and  his  women  and  children  and  baggage  ascending  in  canoes.  A 
halt  was  made  opposite  the  site  now  occupied  by  Oqnawka,  where 
they  were  met  by  White  Cloud  the  prophet.  His  mission  was  to 
further  strengthen  Black  Hawk's  determination  to  recross  the 
Mississippi,  by  assuring  him  that  he  might  depend  on  the  assist 
ance  of  other  tribes.  Naturally  prone  to  mischief  and  enter 
taining  a  strong  prejudice  against  the  whites,  he  was  at  all  times 
ready  to  stir  up  strife  without  curing  for  the  evils  that  might  be 
inflicted  on  those  who  listened  to  his  advice.  In  a  speech  to  the 
warriors  and  braves,  he  told  them  that  by  following  his  advice  they 
had  nothing  to  fear  and  much  to  gain  5  that  the  American  war 
chief  would  not  interfere  with  them  if  they  refrained  from  hos 
tilities,  and  that  strengthened  by  reinforcements  the  time  would 
come  when  they  would  be  able  to  pursue  a  different  course. 
Pleased  with  this  advice,  on  the  Oth  of  April,  1832,  they  proceeded 
to  the  mouth  of  Rock  river  and  the  whole  party  crossed  the  Mis 
sissippi  and  commenced  ascending  the  former  stream,  for  the 
avowed  object  of  entering  the  territory  of  the  Winuebagoes  and 
raising  a  crop  with  them,  when  the  real  object  was  to  secure  them 
as  allies,  After  they  had  proceeded  some  distance  the}'  were 
overtaken  by  an  order  from  General  Atkinson,  then  in  command 
of  the  regulars  at  Fort  Armstrong,  requiring  them  to  recross 
the  Mississippi,  which  they  refused  to  do.  alleging  that  the  general 
had  no  light  to  make  such  a  demand,  as  they  were  peaceably  jour 
neying  to  the  A'illage  of  their  friemls  for  the  purpose  of  raising 
corn.-  Before  they  had  reached  their  destination  another  courier 
was  sent  in  pursuit,  who  this  time  informed  them  unless  they  re 
turned  force  would  be  used  to  effect  their  expulsion.  The  Indians 
replied  that  they  would  not  be  driven  back,  but  did  not  intend  to 
make  the  first  attack  upon  the  whites.  Black  Hawk  on  arriving 
among  the  Potawattoinies  and  Winnebagoes.  readily  obtained  per 
mission  to  cultivate  corn  with  them,  but  they  refused  to  unite  in 
any  acts  of  hostility  against  the  United  States,  and  denied  having 
given  the  prophet  any  assurances  of  co-operation. 

The  refusal  of  Black  Hawk  and  his  warriors  to  comply  with  the 
demand  of  General  Atkinson,  and  the  imposing  character  of  his 
military  operations,  created  a  general  panic  along  the  whole  north 
ern  frontier  from  the  Mississippi  to  Lake  Michigan.  Most  of  the 
settlers  abandoned  their  homes  and  moved  into  the  interior,  while 
messengers  were  at  the  same  time  sent  to  inform  Gov.  Reynolds 
of  the  hostile  attitude  assumed  by  the  Indians.  The  governor 
understanding  the  belligerent  character  of  the  settlers  and  In 
dians,  and  knowing  that  the  slightest  indiscretion  committed  by 
either  party  might  involve  the  Avhole  f  roil  tier  in  a  bloody  war,  de 
termined,  on  the  16th  of  April,  to  call  out  a  large  body  of  volun 
teers  as  the  best  means  of  averting  such  a  calamity  or  meeting  it 
in  case  of  its  actual  occurrence.  Gen.  Atkinson  in  com 
mand  of  the  regular  forces  near  the  scene  of  the  threatened  hos 
tilities,  at  the  same  time,  made  a  requisition  for  troops,  stating 


BLACK  HAWK  WAR.  383 


the  frontier  was  in  great  danger  and  that  the  force  under  his  com 
mand  was  insufficient  for  its  defence.  Danger  being  imminent  the 
22d  \vas  made  the  time  for  meeting,  which  gave  only  6  days  for 
the  troops  to  meet  at  Beardstown,  again  selected  as  the  place  of 
rendezvous.  The  governor,  with  great  promptness,  sent  influen 
tial  messengers  to  the  northwestern  counties  of  the  State,  in  which 
levies  were  to  be  made  and  addressed  the  following  letter  to  the 
citizens :  "  Fellow-citizens :  Your  country  requires  your  service. 
The  Indians  have  assumed  a  hostile  attitude  and  invaded  the 
State,  in  violation  of  the  treaty  of  last  summer.  The  British  band 
of  Sacs  and  other  hostile  Indians  are  in  possession  of  the  country 
on  Ilock  river,  to  the  great  terror  of  the  frontier  inhabitants,  and 
I  consider  the  settlers  in  imminent  danger.  Under  these  circum 
stances  I  have  not  hesitated  what  course  I  should  pursue.  No 
citizen  ought  to  remain  inactive  when  his  country  is  invaded  and 
the  helpless  part  of  community  is  in  danger.  I  have  called  out  a 
strong  detachment  ot  militia  to  rendezvous  at  Beardstown  on  the 
22d  iust.  Provisions  for  the  men  and  food  for  the  horses  will  be 
furnished  in  abundance.  I  hope  my  countrymen  will  realize  my 
expectations  and  offer  their  services  as  heretofore  with  prompti 
tude  and  cheerfulness  in  defence  of  their  country." 

Daily  accounts  respecting  the  operations  of  the  Indians  were 
received.  Judge  Young,  CoL  Strode  and  Benjamin  Mills  wrote 
to  the  governor  urging  the  speedy  protection  of  the  frontiers  as 
the  Potawattomies  and  Wiimebagoes  had  joined  Black  Hawk  and 
the  inhabitants  were  in  great  danger.  On  the  receipt  of  this  in 
telligence  200  men  under  the  command  of  Major  Stillman  were 
ordered  to  guard  the  frontier  near  the  Mississippi,  and  200  un- 
under  Major  Bailey  the  frontier  between  the  Mississippi,  and  the 
settlements  on  the  Illinois.  Such  was  the  threatening  aspect  of 
affairs;  the  call  of  troops  was  now  extended  to  every  portion  of  the 
State,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  a  reserve  force  of  5,000  men  to  be 
ready  in  case  of  emergency.  Various  causes  operated  to  retard 
the  progress  of  the  campaign,  and  this  precaution  proved  highly 
advantageous  in  the  closing  stages  of  the  war.  As  in  the  prece 
ding  year,  many  of  the  most  conspicuous  men  of  the  State  volun 
teered,  their  prominence  in  public  life  giving  them  elegibility  for 
potions  in  the  organization  of  the  forces. 

Eighteen  hundred  men  met  at  the  place  rendezvous  and  were 
divided  into  four  regiments,  an  odd  and  a  spy  battalion.  An  elec 
tion  being  held  for  field  officers,  Col.  DeWitt  was  chosen  com 
mander  of  the  first  regiment;  Col.  Fry  of  the  2d  ;  Col.  Thomas  of 
the  3d,  Col.  Thompson  of  the  4th,  and  Major  James  of  the  odd  bat 
talion.  The  governor,  who  participated  in  the  campaign,  placed 
Gen.  Whitesides  in  command  of  the  brigade,  and  Col.  James  D. 
Henry  in  command  of  the  spy  battalion.  He  also  appointed 
Colonels  Enoch  C.  March  and  Samuel  C.  Christy  to  procure 
supplies;  as  brigade  quartermaster,  William  Thomas;  as  staff 
officers,  James  B.  Stapp  and  Joseph  M.  Chadwick  ;  as  pay 
master,  James  Turney ;  as  adjutant  general,  Vital  Jarrot,  and 
as  ordnance  officer,  Cyrus  Edwards.  On  the  27th  of  April 
the  army  started  from  their  encampment,  a  few  miles  north 
of  Kushville,  for  Oquawka  on  the  Mississipi  river,  with  only 
a-few  days'  rations,  while  Col.  March  was  dispatched  to  St.  Louis 
for  additional  supplies  which  were  to  be  sent  up  the  river  to  the 


384  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

same  place.  After  the  arrangement  had  been  made  a  letter  came 
by  express  from  from  Gen.  Atkinson,  informing  the  governor  that 
the  hostile  Indians  had  gone  up  llock  river,  but  the  intelligence 
came  too  late.  Had  it  been  received  one  day  earlier  the  provis 
ions  might  have  been  ordered  to  Peoria  in  greater  proximity  to 
the  enemy,  and  had  the  army  marched  to  the  same  point  it  might 
have  ended  the  contest  without  giving  the  Indians  an  opportunity 
to  escape.  Rains  had  recently  prevailed  and  the  progress 
of  the  troops  was  retarded  by  the  muddy  prairies  and  swollen 
streams.  On  arriving  at  Oquawka  they  hoped  to  find  Colonel 
March  and  the  supplies  from  St.  Louis,  but  they  had  not  made 
their  appearance.  The  evening  of  the  same  day  Captain  Warren 
and  two  companies  from  Shelby  county  also  arrived  and  were 
greeted  with  loud  cheers  for  the  energy  which  they  exhibited  in 
swimming  streams  and  overcoming  other  formidable  obstacles  en 
countered  in  their  route.  Great  anxiety  was  now  felt  for  the 
safety  of  the  supplies.  A  considerable  advance  had  been  made 
into  the  wilderness  and  any  accident  which  prevented  or  prolonged 
the  coming  of  the  boat  might  necessitate  the  disbanding  of  the 
army.  On  the  5th  day  the  provisions  were  exhausted,  and  mur 
muring  being  heard  among  the  men,  the  Governor  engaged  three 
trusty  persons  to  deliver  a  message  to  Gen.  Atkinson  informing 
him  of  the  destitute  condition  of  the  army,  and  requesting  relief. 
Although  Kock  Island  was  50  miles  distant,  and  it  was  necessary 
to  swim  several  streams  in  traversing  the  intervening  country,  the 
journey  was  successfully  accomplished  and  a  boat  load  of  provis 
ions  arrived  the  next  day.  The  succeeding  morning  the  steam 
boat  William  Wallace  from  St.  Louis,  also  came  in  and  the  army, 
which  a  short  time  before  was  in  a  suifering  condition,  had  now  a 
two-fold  supply. 

Immediately  on  the  receipt  of  provisions  rations  were  issued  to 
the  men  and  baggage  wagons  were  loaded  preparatory  to  moving 
to  Dixon,  where,  according  to  the  latest  intelligence,  the  enemy 
was  posted.  Spies  had  previously  been  sent  to  obtain  informa 
tion  of  the  Indians,  but  instead  of  returning  with  proper  dispatch 
they  loitered  with  the  officers  of  Fort  Armstrong  and  finally  re 
turned  on  the  boat  which  brought  the  supplies.  When  the  army  was 
ready  to  march,  a  letter  was  brought  from  Gen.  Atkinson  informing 
the  governor  that  Black  Hawk  and  his  band  had  descended  Kock 
river,  and  requesting  him  to  march  immediately  with  the  troops  to 
Fort  Armstrong.  Disappointment  was  felt  at  the  reception  of 
this  news,  and  perhaps  the  request  would  have  been  disregarded, 
but  according  to  the  statement,  the  Indians  had  descended  the 
river,  and  it  was  folly  to  move  up  it  to  find  them.  Instead,  how 
ever,  of  going  to  the  fort,  the  force  was  marched  to  the  mouth  of 
Bock  river  where  they  were  received  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  and  General  Atkinson  assumed  command.  It  was  now  as 
certained  that  the  information  in  regard  to  the  Indians  was  incor 
rect  and  the  commanding  general  steamed  up  the  river  with  an 
armament  of  cannon  and  400  regulars  accompanied  by  the  brig 
ade,  which  rode  through  the  swamps  in  the  vicinity  of  the  stream. 

As  the  expedition  advanced,  dogs  immolated  to  appease  the 
Great  Spirit  were  frequently  found  at  the  various  Indian  encamp 
ments.  This  relic  of  barbarism  and  superstition  common  among 
the  oriental  nations  of  antiquity,  was  employed  by  these  Indians 


BLACK  HAWK  WAK.  385 


when  tlie  nation  was  threatened  with  great  calamity.  The  body 
of  the  animal,  in  these  instances  having1  the  vitals  removed,  was 
fastened  to  a  tree  over  a  small  tire  with  its  head  in  the  direction 
the  Indians  were  traveling.  Instead  of  rendering  any  assistance 
it  only  served  to  point  out  their  trail  to  the  pursuing  foe. 

On  the  10th  of  May  some  spies  sent  in  advance  captured  near 
Prophetstown,  an  Indian,  from  whom  information  was  obtained 
that  Black  Hawk  and  his  warriors  were  on  Bock  river  above  the 
town  of  Dixon.  In  accordance  with  this  information  the  volun 
teers  moved  up  to  the  town,  where  it  was  ascertained  from  scouts 
who  had  scoured  the  country,  that  the  Indians  had  dispersed  and 
it  was  determined  to  abandon  the  pursuit  and  await  the  arrival 
of  Gen  Atkinson  with  the  steamboat  and  provisions.  It  was  con 
jectured  that  Black  Hawk  and  his  band  contemplated  residing  on 
the  lauds  of  the  Pota  wattomies,  and  as  a  means  of  preventing  the 
consumation  of  such  a  design,  an  embassy  of  ft ve  persons  was  sent 
to  confer  with  the  chiefs  of  that  nation  upon  the  subject.  In 
consequence  of  cloudy  weather  the  party  became  bewildered,  and 
losing  their  way  fell  in  with  some  of  Black  HaAvk's  band,  who  very 
adroitly  endeavored  to  decoy  them  into  the  power  of  the  principal 
Indian  force.  After  much  skillful  maneuvering  on  horseback  the 
savages  retired  and  the  Americans  returned  to  Dixon.  greatly  ex 
hausted,  having  been  without  food  or  rest  for  two  days. 

Majors  Stillmau  and  Bailey,  who  had  previously  been  ordered  to 
protect  the  frontier  were  at  Dixon  when  the  army  arrived  at  that 
place,  and  having  done  but  little  service,  they  besought  the 
privilege  of  reconn ottering  the  country,  and  reporting  the  situation 
of  the  enemy.  It  was  rumored  that  a  small  party  of  Black  Hawk's 
force  was  encamped  at  the  head  of  Old  Man's  creek  12  miles 
above  Dixon,  and  in  accordance  with  their  request,  the  governor 
issued  the  following  order :  "  Major  Stillman  :  You  Avill  cause  the 
troops  under  your  immediate  command,  and  the  battalion  under 
Major  Bailey,  to  proceed  without  delay  to  the  head  of  Old  Man's 
creek,  where  it  is  supposed  there  are  some  hostile  Indians,  and 
coerce  them  into  submission." 

On  the  following  morning,  the  Major  with  275  men  started  on 
his  mission,  hoping  to  give  a  good  account  of  himself  when  he 
returned.  The  expedition,  after  reaching  Old  Man's  creek, 
although  unauthorized  to  pass  beyond  it,  continued  their  march 
15  miles  higher  up  the  stream  to  Sycamore  creek,  where  they  dis 
mounted  for  the  purpose  of  spending  the  night. 

Here  they  were  within  a  few  miles  of  the  main  lodgment  of  Black 
Hawk  and  a  part  of  his  braves,  and  while  engaged  in  camp  duties 
3  unarmed  Indians  bearing  a  white  flag  made  their  appearance. 
The  Indians  giving  themselves  up,  were  taken  into  custody. 
Shortly  5  other  Indians  were  descried  on  horseback  upon  rising 
ground  about  a  mile  distant.  A  party  of  Major  Stillrnan's  men 
immediately  started  in  pursuit,  and  others  followed  as  fast  as  they 
could  mount;  in  a  short  time  three-fourths  of  the  whole  detach 
ment  were  scattered  pell  mell  over  the  intervening  prairie.  In  this 
irregular  running  fight,  the  troops  at  the  camp  knowing  that  blood 
had  been  shed,  killed  1  of  the  3  Indians  who  had  been  sent  as 
envoys  under  the  white  flag,  but  the  other  2  in  the  confusion  escap 
ed.  The  Americans  having  the  fastest  horses,  overtook  and 
killed  2  of  the  other  party,  and  pursued  the  survivors  to  the  edge 


38G  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

of  the  forest.  At  this  juncture,  Black  Hawk  aiid  about  40  braves 
rose  up  from  their  ambush,  and  with  a  terrific  yell,  rushed  on  the 
assailants.  Those  who  had  just  exhibited  so  much  bravery  in 
pursuit  of  the  fleeing'  foe,  now  retreated  with  a  corresponding 
swiftness.  The  frightful  din  attending  the  fugitives,  who  reached 
camp  about  dark,  caused  the  remainder  of  the  force  to  think  that 
Black  Hawk  and  his  whole  band  were  about  to  burst  upon  them 
like  an  avalanche.  A  panic  ensued,  and  some  with  only  a  saddle 
or  bridle,  and  others  without  either,  mounted  their  horses  and 
joined  their  comrads  in  the  inglorious  flight,  leaving*  their  wagons, 
ammunition  and  other  property  to  the  victors.  Major  Stilhnau 
ordered  his  men  to  retreat  over  the  creek  and  rally  ou  more 
elevated  ground,  but  such  was  the  consternation  that  no 
elevated  ground  was  found  till  they  reached  the  forces  at  Dixon. 

The  principal  resistance  offered  to  the  pursuing  Indians,  was  at 
Old  Man's  creek,  a  small  stream  rising  in  Ogle  county  and  falling 
into  Kock  river  at  the  town  of  Bloomingville.  It  has  since  been 
called  Stillinan's  Run,  in  commenoration  of  the  battle,  a  result  inci 
dent  to  the  delay  caused  in  crossing  its  muddy  banks.  After 
passing  the  stream,  Major  Perkins,  Captain  Adams  and  about  15 
other  daring  men  made  a  stand,  and  b}r  their  heroic  conduct 
partially  checked  the  career  of  the  Indians  and  saved  the  lives  ol 
others,  who  must  otherwise  have  fallen  victims  of  savage  ven 
geance.  Captain  Adams,  however,  in  saving  the  lives  of  his  friends, 
sacrificed  his  own,  his  body  being  found  the  next  day,  near  the 
two  Indians  whom  in  a  personal  encounter  he  had  slain.  None  of 
the  parties  lived  to  tell  the  story  of  the  terrific  struggle,  but  from 
the  evidence  left  behind  it  must  have  been  of  the  most  determined 
character.  Their  guns  were  broken  into  fragments,  and  the 
ghastly  wounds  inflicted  by  rifle  balls,  spears,  butcher  knives  and 
tomahawks  were  frightful  proofs  of  the  efforts  that  had  been  made. 
The  Americans  greatly  lamented  the  death  of  Captain  Adams, 
and  even  the  Indians,  as  a  mark  of  respect  for  his  bravery,  neither 
scalped  nor  otherwise  mutilated  his  body.  Near  was  dismounted 
Major  Hackleton,  who  had  a  severe  encounter  with  with  an  Indian, 
in  which  he  killed  his  tawny  antagonist,  and  afterward  made  his  es 
cape  to  the  camp  at  Dixou.  Some  others,  in  the  confused  and  precip 
itate  fight,  occasionally  fired  on  the  pursuing  savages,  and  as  the 
result  of  the  conflict,  about  11  whites  and  7  Indians  lost  their 
lives.  The  fugitives  commenced  arriving  at  Dixon  about  12  o'clock 
at  night,  and  from  that  time  till  morning  they  continued  to  come 
in  small  squads  of  4  to  5  each,  telling  the  most  tragic  stories  of 
the  disaster.  Every  one  seemed  to  be  impressed  with  the  idea  that 
his  own  party  was  all  that  escaped,  and  while  telling  the  death  of 
a  comrade  he  would  arrive  and  contradict  the  account. 

During  the  night  of  the  battle,  which  fully  inaugurated  the  wrar, 
Gov.  Reynolds  made  out  a  requisition  for  2000  men  to  be  in  readi 
ness  for  future  operations,  and  orders  were  also  prepared  requir 
ing  Col.  March  to  forward  supplies  for  the  men,  and  Major  Adams 
to  procure  provisions  for  the  horses.  Letters  were  also  written  to 
Gens.  Atkinson  and  Dodge,  apprising  the  former,  who  had  not 
yet  arrived,  that  the  army  was  without  proivsious,  and  the  latter, 
that  Stillman  was  defeated,  and  the  frontiers  of  Wisconsin  were, 
in  danger.  When  the  news  of  the  defeat  reached  the  camp,  the 
officers  were  summoned  to  meet  at  the  tent  of  Gen.  Whitesides, 


BLACK  HAWK   WAR.  387 


and  it  was  determined  to  march  the  next  morning  to  the  fatal 
field  of  the  evening's  disaster.  Quartermaster  Thomas  anticipa 
ting  the  result  of  the  council,  obtained  from  John  Dixon,  then  the 
only  inhabitant  in  that  part  of  the  country,  8  or  10  oxen,  as  a 
temporary  supply  for  the  expedition.  The  animals  were  slaught 
ered  and  distributed  among  the  men,  who  partaking  of  their  flesh 
without  bread  or  salt,  started  for  the  battle  field.  Arriving 
thither,  the  bodies  of  their  fallen  comrades  were  found  frightfully 
mutilated,  presenting  a  scene  appalling  to  troops  who  had  never 
before  witnessed  such  a  spectacle.  Some  were  beheaded,  some 
had  their  hands  and  feet  cut  off,  while  their  hearts  and  other 
internal  organs,  were  torn  out  and  scattered  over  the  prairie.  The 
mangled  fragments  were  gathered  together,  and  buried  in  a  com 
mon  grave,  over  which  a  rude  slab  hewn  from  the  trunk  of  a  tree, 
was  erected  to  mark  the  place.  The  troops  encamped  on  the 
ground,  and  heavy  guns  being  heard  during  the  night,  they  were 
supposed  to  be  signals  for  collecting  the  scattered  warriors  of 
Black  Hawk.  The  men  rested  in  their  saddles,  expecting  every 
moment  an  attack,  but  the  morning. dawned  without  the  enemy 
being  seen.  Major  Henry  and  his  battalion  were  then  ordered  to 
scour  the  surrounding  country,  but  no  traces  of  the  foe  being 
detected  the  whole  detachment  fell  back  to  Dixon. 

Perhaps  no  better  material  for  an  army  could  be  found  than 
Major  Stillman  and  his  men,  and  their  defeat  was  not  the  lack  of 
bravery,  but  the  want  of  experience  and  discipline.  No  body  of 
men  under  similar  circumstances,  would  have  acted  more 
efficiently,  yet  for  years  afterward  they  were  made  the  subjects  of 
thoughtless  merriment  and  ridicule,  as  undeserving  as  their  expe 
dition  was  disastrous.*  Stillmairs  defeat  spread  consternation 
throughout  the  State  and  nation.  The  number  of  Indian  war 
riors  was  greatly  exaggerated,  and  th£  name  of  Black  Hawk 

NOTE. — "It  is  said  that  a  big,  tall  Kentuckian,  with  a  very  loud  voice,  who  was 
colonel  of  the  militia,  but  private  under  Stillman,  upon  his  arrival  in  camp  gave  to 
Gen.  Whitesides  and  the  wondering  multitude  the  following  glowing  and  bombastic  ac- 
cou  tof  the  battle:  'Sirs  '  said  he,  -our  detachment  was  encamped  among  some  scattering 
timber  on  the  north  side  of  Old  Man's  creek,  with  the  prairie  on  the  north  gently  sloping 
down  to  our  encatnpu.ent.  It  was  just  after  twilight,  in  the  gloaming  of  the  evening, 
when  we  discovered  Black  Hawk's  army  coming  down  upon  us  in  solid  column  ;  they 
deployed  in  the  form  of  a  crescent  upon  the  brow  of  the  prairie,  and  such  accuracy  and 
precision  of  movements  were  never  witnessed  by  man  ;  they  were  equal  to  the  best 
troops  of  Wellington,  in  Spain.  I  have  said  that  the  Indians  came  down  in  solid  column, 
and  deplayed  iu  the  form  of  a  crescent ;  and  what  was  most  wonderful,  there  were 
large  squares  of  cavalry  resting  upon  the  points  of  the  curve,  which  squares  were  sup 
ported  again  bv  other  columns  15  deep,  extending  back  through  the  woods  and  over  a 
swamp  three-quarters  of  a  mile,  which  again  rested  upon  the  main  body  of  Black  Hawk's 
army  bivouacned  upon  the  banks  of  the  Kiswakee.  It  was  a  terrible  and  glorious 
sight  to  see  the  tawny  warriors  as  they  rode  along  our  flanks  attempting  to  outflank  us, 
with  the  glittering  moonbeams  glistening  from  their  polished  blades  and  burnished 
spears.  It  was  a  sight  well  calculated  to  strike  consternation  into  the  stoutest  heart, 
and  accordingly  our  men  soon  began  to  break  in  small  squads,  for  tall  timber.  In  a  very 
little  time  the  route  became  general;  the  Indians  were  upon  our  flanks  and  threatened 
the  destruction  of  the  entire  detachment.  About  this  tim«  Major  Stillman,  Colonel 
^tephenson,  Major  Perkins,  Capt.  Adams,  Mr.  Hackleton,  and  myself  with  some  others, 
threw  ourselves  into  the  rear  to  rally  the  fugitives  and  ?>rotect  the  retreat.  But  in  a 
short  time  all  my  companions  fell,  bravely  fighting  hand  to  hand  with  the  savage 
enemy,  and  £  alone  was  left  upon  the  field  of  battle.  About  this  time  I  discovered 
not  far  to  the  left  a  corps  of  horsemen  which  seemed  to  be  in  tolerable  order  I  im 
mediately  deployed  to  the  left,  when  leaningdown  and  placing  my  body  in  a  recumbent 
posture  upon  the  mane  of  my  horse,  so  as  to  bring  the  heads  of  the  horsemen  between 
my  eye  and  the  horizon,!  discovered  by  the  li<>-ht  of  the  moon  that  they  were  gentle 
men  who  did  not  wear  hats,  by  which  token  I  knew  they  were  no  f rinds  of  mine.  I 
tuerefore  made  a  retrograde  movement  and  recovered  my  former  position,  where  I  re 
mained  some  time  meditating  what  further  I  coul.i  do  in  the  service  of  my  country, 
when  a  random  ball  came  whistling  by  my  ear  and  plainly  whispered  to  me,  'Stranger, 
you  have  no  further  business  here.'  Upon  hearing  this.  I  followed  the  example  of  my 
companions  inarms,  and  broke  for  tall  timber,  and  the  way  I  ran  was  not  a  little."* 

*Ford's  History. 


388  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


carried  with  it  associations  of  great  military  talent,  savage 
cunning  and  cruelty.  Gen.  Scott,  with  1000  United  States  troops, 
was  sent  to  the  northwest  to  superintend  the  future  operations  of 
the  campaign. 

The  new  levies  under  the  proclamation  of  Gov.  Reynolds,  were 
to  meet,  some  on  the  3d  of  June,  again  at  Beardstown,  and  others 
on  the  10th  of  the  same  month  at  Hennepin,  and  efficient  messen 
gers  were  sent  to  convey  intelligence  of  the  requisition  to  different 
parts  of  the  State.  The  greatest  dispatch  was  required  to  enable 
forces  in  the  most  distant  counties  to  assemble  and  march  more 
than  a  hundred  miles  to  the  places  of  rendezvous  in  so  short  a 
period  of  time.  The  previous  organization  of  the  volunteers, 
however,  greatly  facilitated  the  labor  of  bringing  the  present  call 
into  the  field. 

The  men  in  the  service  now  asked  to  be  discharged,  urging  that 
they  had  enlisted  at  a  moment's  warning,  for  the  protection  of  the 
frontier,  without  providing  clothes  for  themselves  or  food 
for  their  families  at  home,  and  both  must  suffer  if  the  cam 
paign  was  protracted.  The  term  of  enlistment  being  undefined, 
they  had  a  right  to  return  home;  but  the  governor  appealing  to 
their  patriotism,  -they  agreed  to  remain  12  or  15  days  longer.  In 
the  meantime,  Gen.  Atkinson  arrived  at  Dixon  with  provisions, 
encamped  on  the  northwest  side  of  the  river,  and  threw  up 
embankments  for  the  protection  of  his  stores.  The  companies  of 
Capts.  Bailey  and  Stillman,  were  organized  as  a  brigade  under  the 
command  of  Col.  Johnson,  and  received  into  the  service  of  the 
United  States,  and  one  part  ordered  to  Ottawa  for  the  defence  of 
that  place,  while  the  other  remained  at  Dixon  to  guard  the  stores. 

On  the  19th  of  May,  the  whole  army  consisting  of  volunteers 
and  regulars,  under  the  command  of  Gen.  Atkinson,  marched  up 
the  river  in  pursuit  of  tjie  enemy.  Toward  evening  news  was 
received  that  several  white  families  had  been  murdered  by  the 
savages,  on  Indian  creek,  not  far  from  Ottawa.  The  story  of  the 
massacre  is  but  a  repetition  of  the  bloody  tragedies  which  always 
characterize  savage  warfare.  About  70  warriors  made  a  descent 
on  the  settlement,  and  in  broad  daylight  stealthily  entered  a 
house  in  which  3  families  had  assembled,  and  murdered  15  of  the 
inmates.* 

On  the  receipt  of  the  news,  Gen.  Atkinson  ordered  Gen.  White- 
sides  and  Col.  Taylor,  afterwards  president  of  the  United  States, 
to  continue  the  pursuit  of  the  Indians  with  the  volunteers,  while 
he  with  the  regulars  fell  back  to  Dixon.  After  several  days 
march,  the  trail  of  Black  Hawk  led  the  army  to  a  village  of  the 
Potawattomies  on  Sycamore  creek,  where  were  discovered  several 
relics  of  the  tragedy  on  Indian  creek,  and  the  battle  of  Stillman's 
Run.  The  inhabitants  had  lied,  and  the  trail  separating  led  in 
different  directions,  a  precaution  doubtless  taken  to  elude  the  pur 
suing  force.  It  was  the  supposition  that  Black  Hawk  had  visited 
the  town  to  secure  the  co-opertion  of  the  Potawattomies,  who  were 
perhaps  deterred  from  rendering  assistance  by  the  overwhelming 

*The  fiends  who  perpetrated  the  butchery  afterward  related,  with  infernal  glee,  that 
the  women  squawked  like  geese,  as  they  were  pierced  with  spears,or  felt  the  keen  edge 
of  the  tomahawk  entering  thei"  heads  The  bodies  of  the  victims  were  scalped  and 
otherwise  mutilated,  the  children  were  chopped  to  pieces  with  axes,  and  the  women 
suspended  by  their  feet  to  the  walls  of  the  houses,  their  clothes  falliug  over  their 
heads,  leaving  their  persons  exposed  to  the  public  gaze. 


389  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

number  of  the  whites.  While  the  army  lay  at  the  village,  a  re- 
connoitering  party  was  sent  out  to  search  for  lost  horses,  and 
returning1  in  the  night,  the}*  discovered  a  large  Indian  force  steal 
ing  away  in  the  dark,  evidently  to  avoid  the  whites,  and  to  joiu 
their  comrades,  a  large  body  of  whom  it  was  inferred  was  in  the 
vicinity.  The  trail  of  the  Indians  led  north,  while  the  homeward 
route  of  the  volunteers,  now  about  to  return  led  south,  and  it  there 
fore  became  necessary  to  determine  whether  to  continue  the  pur 
suit  or  return  home.  Col.  Taylor  and  Major  Harney,  of  the 
regular  army,  and  Gov.  Reynolds  urged  them  to  remain  in  the 
service  till  the  Indians  could  be  overtaken  and  chastised.  The 
volunteers,  however,  expressed  great  reluctance  to  a  continuance 
of  the  pursuit.  The  private  soldiers  also  were  not  only  displeas 
ed  with  the  commanding  general,  but  they  had  left  their  business 
in  such  condition  as  to  require  their  presence  at  home.  Gen. 
\Vhiteside,  upon  whom  the  principal  command  devolved  in  the 
absence  of  Gen  Atkinson,  although  opposed  to  following  the 
enemy,  agreed  to  be  governed  by  a  majority  of  the  officers,  and  the 
question  being  submitted  to  a  vote,  one-half  were  for  pursuing 
the  Indians  and  the  other  half  for  returning  home.  Gov.  Key- 
nolds  seeing  the  demoralizing  condition,  caused  them  to  be  march 
ed  to  Ottawa,  and  on  the  27th  and  28th  of  May  they  were 
discharged  and  the  campaign  thus  ended  without  effecting  any 
important  results. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 
1832— THIED  CAMPAIGN  OF  THE  WAK. 

Requisition  for  Additional  Troops — Attack  on  Apple  Creek  Fort — 
Captain  Stephens7  Encounter  with  the  Indians — Organization  of 
the  New  Levies — Battle  of  Kelloy's  Grove — Battle  of  the  Wis 
consin. 


Gen.  Atkinson  called  upon  the  govern  or  at  the  time  these  troops 
were  mustered  out,  and  at  his  suggestion  a  call  was  made  for  1000 
additional  men  to  co-operate  with  the  previous  requisition  and  1000 
more  to  guard  the  frontiers.  The  danger  of  exposed  settlements 
being  very  imminent,  an  appeal  was  made  to  the  disbanded  troops, 
and  a  regiment  raised  to  serve  till  the  new  levies  could  be  made 
available.  After  the  election  of  Jacob  Fry  as  colonel  and  James 
D.  Henry  as  lieutenant  colonel,  the  different  companies  of  which 
it  was  composed  were  immediately  dispatched  to  the  most  exposed 
localities.  The  regiment,  after  bravely  guarding  the  imperiled 
frontier,  was  finally  mustered  out  of  service  at  Dixon,  on  the  19th 
of  June  *by  Col.  Taylor.  One  of  the  companies  under  Captain 
Snyder,  had  some  severe  skirmishing  with  a  body  of  some  seventy 
Indians  in  the  vicinity  of  Kellog's  grove,  in  which  4  of  the  savages 
and  2  or  3  of  his  own  men  were  killed.  The  new  levies  arrived, 
but  before  they  could  be  organized  or  brought  into  the  field,  the 
Indians  committed  a  number  of  murders  in  different  parts  of  the 
country. 

On  the  6th  of  June  Black  Hawk  and  about  150  warriors  made 
an  attack  on  Apple  liiver  Fort,  situated  a  quarter  of  a  mile  north 
of  the  present  village  of  Elizabeth  and  within  12  miles  of  Galena. 
The  fort  was  a  stockade  having  strong  block  houses  at  the  corners, 
and  had  been  erected  for  the  benefit  of  a  small  village  of  miners, 
who  resided  in  their  homes  during  the  day  and  retired  to  the  fort 
for  protection  at  night.  Three  messengers  chanced  to  be  on  their 
wray  from  Galena  to  Dixon,  and  when  within  half  a  mile  of  the 
village,  were  fired  upon  by  Indians  lurking  in  ambush.  One  of  them 
was  wounded,  but  by  the  assistance  of  his  two  companions  he 
reached  the  fort  without  further  injury.  The  inhabitants,  as  usual 
during  the  day,  were  scattered  abroad  attending  to  business,  when 
the  report  of  guns  apprised  them  of  danger  and  they  fled  to  the  fort 
in  advance  of  the  enemy.  The  Indians  came  within  firing  distance, 
when  the  battle  commenced  and  was  continued  with  great  fury 
for  15  hours,  during  which  several  attempts  were  made  to  burn 
and  storm  the  fortifications.  The  assailants  took  possession  of  the 
dwellings  in  the  village,  and  while  some  knocked  holes  in  the 

390 


BLACK  HAWK  WAR.  391 

walls  through  which  in  safety  they  tired  upon  the  fort,  others  de 
stroyed  provisions,  broke  crockery,  and  with  devilish  glee  ripped 
open  beds  and  bestrewed  the  houses  and  yards  with  feathers. 
There  were  only  25  men  in  the  fort,  but  they  fought  with  the  im 
petuosity  of  desperation,  deeming  it  better  if  the}'  could  not 
repulse  their  adversaries  to  die  in  defence  of  their  families,  than 
suffer  capitulation  and  butchery  afterward.  The  mothers  and 
children  partook  of  the  same  inspiration,  and  by  moulding  bullets 
and  charging  guns  greatly  assisted  in  warding  off  the  assaults  of 
the  enemy.  The  Indians  at  length,  finding  they  could  not  prevail 
against  the  garrison,  raised  the  seige  and  departed,  taking  Avith 
them  horses,  cattle,  flour  and  other  provisions.  The  Americans 
sustained  a  loss  of  one  man,  that  of  the  Indians  could  never  be 
ascertained  as  their  killed  and  wounded  Avere  carried  away  in  the 
retreat.  A  messenger  in  the  meantime  had  hurried  to  Galena  for 
assistance,  and  Col.  Strode  of  the  militia  marched  to  afford  them 
assistance,  but  the  enemy  had  left  before  he  arrived. 

On  the  24th  of  June  two  men  Avere  killed  near  Fort  Hamilton, 
situated  among  the  lead  mines  4  or  5  miles  east  of  Galena.  Gen. 
Dodge,  of  Wisconsin,  who  by  chance  visited  the  fort  shortly  after 
the  tragedy  was  committed,  immediately  followed  the  trail  of  the 
savages  to  the  Pekatonica,  where  they  took  refuge  under  a  high 
bank  of  the  river.  The  brave  commander  and  his  equally  brave 
men  immediately  rushed  on  the  sheltered  foe  and  killed  the  entire 
number,  having  three  of  their  OAVH  men  mortally  wounded  in  the 
assault.  This  action  although  small,  exhibited  the  greatest  daring 
on  the  part  of  those  engaged  in  it. 

About  the  same  time  Capt.  Stephen  son  of  Galena,  and  a  portion 
of  his  company  fell  in  with  a  party  of  Indians  between  Apple 
Kiver  Fort  and  Kellog's  Grove,  and  pursued  them  till  they  took 
refuge  in  a  small  grove  in  the  midst  of  the  prairie.  The  Ameri 
cans  commenced  a  random  fire  into  the  timber  but  after  the  loss 
of  a  few  men  retired.  Notwithstanding  this  loss  neither  officers 
nor  men  were  yet  willing  to  abandon  the  contest,  and  the  party  in 
a  short  time  returned  and  charged  into  the  grove,  receiving  the 
galling  fire  of  the  savages,  who  were  so  effectually  protected  by 
the  trees  it  was  impossible  to  dislodge  them.  The  charge  was 
renewed  a  second  and  a  third  time,  and  not  until  3  additional  men 
Avere  killed  and  the  captain  supposed  to  be  mortally  Avounded  did 
the  fighting  cease.  The  Indians  had  greatly  the  advantage,  and 
the  rashness  of  making  an  attack  under  the  circumstances  is 
perhaps  as  much  an  object  of  censure  as  the  heroic  deeds  per 
formed  are  feats  of  admiration. 

As  previously  arranged  in  the  call  for  troops,  the  new  leA'ies  met 
at  Beardstown  and  Hennepin,  but  were  afterward  ordered  to  Fort 
AVilburn  where  a  permanent  organization  was  effected.*  A  pro 
miscuous  multitude  of  several  thousand  persons  had  assembled  at 
this  place,  and  the  greatest  patience  and  judgment  Avas  required 
to  form  them  into  an  army.  As  many  of  the  most  prominent  men 
in  the  State  wrere  present  and  Avanted  positions,  there  was  great 
danger  in  the  bestowal  of  offices  that  dissatisfaction  might 
arise  and  thus  seriously  impair  the  efficiency  of  the  army.  It  was 


*This  was  a  aman  fortification  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Illinois,  about  a  mile  above 
Peru,  and  had  been  erected  by  Lieut.  AVilburn,  for  the  protection  of  the  supplies 
entrusted  to  his  care  by  Col.  March. 


392  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

however  agreed  in  a  consultation  between  the  governor  and 
captains  of  the  various  companies  who  had  already  been  chosen, 
that  the  principal  officers  should  be  elected  by  the  troops  over 
whom  they  were  to  act.  Three  brigades  were  organized,  and  on 
the  16th  of  June  Alexander  Posey  was  elected  general  of  the 
first,  Milton  K.  Alexander  general  of  the  second,  and  on  the  18th, 
James  D.  Henry  general  of  the  third.  Gen.  Atkinson  received 
them  into  the  service  of  the  United  States  and  acted  as  com- 
mander-in -chief  of  the  force  thus  organized,  which  amounted  to 
3192  men.  The  governor  appointed  on  his  staff  Benjamin  F. 
Hickman  and  Alex.  F.  Grant  as  aids,  James  Turuey  as  adjutant 
general,  E.  C.  March  as  quartermaster  general.  Besides  the  main 
army  4  battalions  were  organized  for  special  purposes,  and  com 
manded  severally  by  Majors  Bogart  and  Baily,  and  Colonels  Buck- 
master  and  Dement. 

In  view  of  the  disasters  which  threatened  the  northern  frontier 
of  the  State,  the  governor  ordered  a  chain  of  forts  to  be  erected 
and  garrisoned  from  the  Mississippi  to  Chicago.  Indian  war 
parties  lurked  in  every  defile,  beset  every  solitary  road,  hovered 
about  every  settlement,  and  woe  to  the  traveler  or  unprotected 
party  of  white  men  who  attempted  to  pass  through  the  country. 
Despite  their  vigilance  their  supremacy  in  the  field  was  soon  to 
end  5  beaten,  humbled  and  bleeding  they  were  to  be  driven  before 
the  conquerers,  and  their  hunting  grounds  were  to  know  them  no 
more. 

On  the  17th  of  June,  Col.  Dement  and  his  force  were  ordered  to 
report  themselves  to  Col.  Taylor  at  Dixon,  while  the  main  army 
was  to  follow.  Here  Col.  Dement  was  ordered  to  take  a  position 
in  Kellog's  Grove,  where  on  the  25th  of  June  he  was  visited  by  Mr. 
Funk  of  McLean  county,  who  came  during  the  night  from  the  lead 
mines  and  informed  him  that  the  trail  of  about  300  Indians  lead 
ing  southward,  had  been  seen  the  previous  day,  and  that  there 
wras  perhaps  a  large  body  of  them  in  the  neighborhood.  A  conn, 
cil  of  war  was  held  the  same  night,  which  decided  that  Col- 
Dement  and  50  picked  men  should  reconnoitre  the  surrounding 
country  the  next  day,  while  the  remainder  were  to  remain  in  the 
fort  near  the  grove  prepared  for  any  emergency  that  might  hap 
pen.  This  rude  block  house  was  an  oblong  building  constructed 
of  logs,  contained  3  rooms,  and  was  furnished  with  doors  of  strong 
material.  At  daylight  on  the  following  morning  the  party  sallied 
forth,  but  the  more  advanced  portion  of  it  had  not  proceeded 
more  than  300  yards,  when  several  Indian  spies  were  discovered 
on  the  adjacent  prairies.  Col.  Dement  and  Lieut.  Gov.  Zadock 
Casey  were  mounting  their  horses  preparatory  to  leaving  the 
fort,  when  a  messenger  returned  to  make  knoAvn  the  discovery. 
The  iiewrs  wTas  soon  communicated  tq  the  whole  battalion  •  a 
phrenzy  to  fight  the  redskins  took  possession  of  the  men,  and 
contrary  to  orders  they  mounted  their  horses  and  started  after 
them.  At  their  approach  the  Indians  fled,  but  Col.  Dement  sus 
pecting  that  their  intent  wras  to  decoy  the  whites  into  an  ambus 
cade,  galloped  after  them  to  induce  them  to  return  and  thus 
prevent  the  occurrence  of  such  a  catastrophe.  The  excited  volun 
teers,  however,  mistook  his  intentions,  supposing  he  also  was  pursu 
ing  the  Indians  to  kill  them,  and  the  chase  was  continued  till  they 
came  near  a  bushy  ravine  in  which  Black  Hawk  and  his  men  were 


BLACK   HAWK  WAR.  393 


concealed.  The  object  contemplated  by  the  hidden  foe  was  now 
consummated,  and  no  generalship  of  civilized  warfare  could  have 
been  better  pi  aimed  or  more  successfully  executed  than  this  strategy 
of  the  bookless  men  of  the  forest.  Suddenly  a  war-whoop  proceed 
ing-  from  the  throats  of  300  naked  savages,  who  had  previously 
prepared  for  battle  by  divesting  themselves  of  their  clothes,  star 
tled  the  Americans.  "Determined  to  profit  by  the  surprise  and  the 
advantage  of  numerical  strength,  they  rushed  with  the  fury  of 
demons  upon  their  adversaries.  Col.  Dement  and  several  other 
officers  made  several  attempts  to  rally  their  panic-stricken  men, 
but  the  danger  of  being  out-nankedby  superior  numbers  rendered 
their  efforts  futile.  All  subordination  ceased,  and  each  fugitive, 
prompted  by  the  instinct  of  self  preservation,  shaped  his  course 
toward  the  fort  with  a  speed  equal  to  that  with  which  a  short  time 
before  he  had  left  it.  In  the  hurried  and  confused  retreat  which 
followed.  5  Americans  who  were  without  horses  were  killed,  while 
the  remainder  reached  the  fort  and  dismounting  entered  it,  closely 
pursued  by  the  enemy.-  The  fort  was  vigorously  attacked  for  near 
ly  an  hour,  but  the  force  within  returned  the  fire  of  the  assailants 
with  such  rapidity  and  precision  that  they  retired,  leaving  nine  of 
their  comrades  dead  on  the  field,  and  carrying  others  away  with 
them.  Xo  one  in  the  fort  was  killed  but  several  were  wounded 
by  bullets  which  occasionally  entered  through  crevices  in  the 
walls.  Three  balls  passed  through  the  apparel  of  Col.  Dement, 
all  of  them  touching  his  person,  but  none  causing  a  wound. 
About  50  horses  were  killed,  and  suddenly  swelling  afterward  it 
was  supposed  they  had  been  pierced  with  poisoned  arrows. 

With  the  retreat  of  the  Indians,  sentinels  were  sent  out  to  watch 
their  movements,  and  work  was  commenced  on  the  fort  to  get  it 
in  readiness  for  a  night  attack.  The  heavy  timber  of  which  it 
was  built  would  withstand  the  effect  of  bullets  better  than  that 
of  fire,  and  lest  an  attempt  should  be  made  to  burn  it,  barrels  of 
water  were  provided,  and  a  large  number  of  wet  blankets  were 
hung  on  the  walls. 

At  8  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  the  battle  had  partially  sub 
sided,  Col.  Dement  sent  five  messengers  to  Dixon,  a  distance  of  50 
miles,  for  assistance,  and  toward  sundown  Gen.  Posey  and  his 
brigade  made  their  appearance.  Shortly  after  his  arrival  some 
Indian  spies  were  seen  to  emerge  from  the  adjacent  thicket,  where 
they  had  been  watching  to  see  if  any  additional  troops  came  to 
the  relief  of  the  fort.  Retiring  to  the  main  body  of  the  enemy,  a 
consulation  was  held,  and  doubtless  further  attempts  upon  the 
fort  were  abandoned,  in  consequence  of  the  timely  arrival  of  Gen. 
Posey. 

Early  the  next  morning  an  excavation  was  made  with  knives 
and  tomahawks  near  the  grove,  and  in  this  lonely  grave  were 
buried  the  mutilated  remains  of  the  five  Americans  killed  the 
preceding  day.  When  the  melancholy  task  was  ended  Gen.  Posey 
started  after  the  Indians,  but  soon  discovering  by  the  trail  that 
they  had  scattered,  the  pursuit  was  discontinued.  Thus  termin 
ated  this  expedition.  Nature  had  endowed  in  the  highest  degree 
with  soldiery  qualities  those  engaged  in  it,  and  the  only  reason 
their  efforts  were  not  more  successful  was  the  want  of  discipline,  a 
disideratum  which  the  immediate  demand  for  their  services  had 
not  permitted  them  to  acquire. 


394  HISTOEY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

After  the  battle  of  Kellog's  Grove,  the  forces  of  Gen.  Posey  and 
Col.  Dement  returned  to  Dixon.  where  the  regulars  and  most  of 
the  volunteers  were  concentrated  under  the  command  of  Gen. 
Atkinson.  To  prevent  the  escape  of  the  Indians  if  they  attempt 
ed  to  recross  the  Mississippi,  Gen.  Alexander  was  ordered  to  the 
country  south  of  Galena,  and  Gen.  Posey  to  Fort  Hamilton  on  the 
Pekatonica.  While  the  army  was  at  Dixon,  3  Potawattomie  chiefs, 
Wapello,  Billy  Oaldwell  and  Waubansee,  came  to  Gen.  Atkinson 
asking  some  protection  against  Black  Hawk.  The  ire  of  the  old 
Sac  warrior  was  aroused  because  the  tribe  of  these  chiefs  pro 
posed  an  alliance  with  the  Americans,  who  deemed  it  better  to 
secure  their  co-operation  than  have  them  fight  on  the  opposite  side. 
Col.  Fry  and  his  regiment  were  accordingly  sent  in  advance  of 
the  main  army  to  Sycamore  creek  to  afford  protection,  and  to  re 
ceive  into  the  service  100  Potawattomie  warriors,  who  had  signi 
fied  their  willingness  to  unite  with  the  whites.  Much  was  expec 
ted  from  this  accession  to  the  army,  but  the}"  soon  returned  home 
and  little  was  realized,  although  commanded  by  Wabansee,  a 
veteran  chief  of  the  tribe.  Gen.  Atkinson  having  heard  that 
Black  Hawk  had  fortified  a  position  on  the  four  lakes  in  southern 
Wisconsin,  started  thither  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  on  a 
general  engagement  and  thus  terminating  the  war.  Passing  Syc 
amore  creek  he  was  joined  by  the  Winnebago  warriors,  and  on 
the  30th  of  June,  encamped  near  Turtle  village,  a  considerable 
town  of  the  Wiunebagoes,  then  deserted  by  its  inhabitants.  The 
night  following  was  one  of  continual  alarms,  the  whole  command 
was  frequently  paraded  in  order  of  battle,  but  no  enemy  was  seen 
except  a  few  prowling  Indians.  The  next  morning  the  march 
was  resumed,  and  on  the  4th  of  July  the  army  reached  Lake 
Kush-ka-nong  an  expansion  of  Eock  river,  where  they  formed  a 
junction  with  the  forces  of  Col.  Fry  and  Gen.  Alexander.  These 
having  scoured  the  whole  of  the  adjacent  country  and  not  finding 
the  enemy,  the  march  of  the  mounted  men  was  continued  up  the 
east  side  of  the  liock  river  to  Burnt  village,  another  town  of  the 
Winnebagoes  situated  on  Whitewater,  a  tributary  of  the  first 
mentioned  stream.  Here  they  were  joined  by  Gen.  Posey  and  a 
battalion  of  100  men  under  Major  Dodge  of  Wisconsin.  The 
evening  of  their  arrival  at  that  place,  a  company  of  scouts  came 
in  and  reported  the  main  trail  of  the  Indians  3  miles  higher  up 
the  stream.  Preparations  were  immediately  made  to  follow  it, 
and  at  an  early  hour  next  day  a  detachment  proceeded  up  the 
river  a  distance  of  15  miles,  but  no  trace  of  the  enemy  being  de 
tected  the  detachment  fell  back  to  Burnt  village.* 

Eight  weeks  had  now  been  spent  in  marching  and  counter- 
inarching  to  find  the  enemy,  and  the  attainment  of  the  object  did 
not  seem  any  nearer  at  hand  than  when  the  campaign  was  com- 

[NoTE  — *  "In  this  expedition  the  force  came  upon  the  tremblin<r  lands,  which  are 
immense  flats  of  turf  from  6  to  12  inches  thick,  extending  for  miles  in  every  direc 
tion  and  resting  on  beds  of  water  and  quicksand  A  troop  or  even  a  single  horseman 
riding  over  them  produced  an  undulating-  motion  of  the  land  from  which  it  gets  its 
name.  Although  the  surface  is  quite  dry  vet  there  is  no  difficulty  in  procuring  plenty 
of  water  by  cutting  an  opening  through  Uie  stratum  of  turf.  The  horses  wouJd 
sometimes  force  a  foot  through  or  fall  to  the  shoulders,  ytt  so  great  was  the  tenacity 
of  the  surface  in  no  instance  was  there  any  trouble  in  getting  their,  out.  In  some 
pl->ees  the  weight  of  the  earth  forced  a  stream  of  water  upward,  which  carrying  with 
it  and  depositing  large  quantities  of  sand  formed  mounds.  The  mounds  as  they  en 
larged  increased  the  pressure  on  the  water  below  presenting  the  novel  sisrhtof  a  foun 
tain  on  the  prairie,  throwing  its  stream  down  the  sides  of  the  hillock  then  to  be  ab 
sorbed  by  the  sand  and  returned  to  the  waters  beneath.''] — Ford's  Hist.  111. 


BLACK  HAWK  WAR.  395 


ineiiced.  The  progress  of  the  army  was  necessarily  slow,  the 
country  was  comparatively  an  unexplored  wilderness  of 
prairie  and  forest,  none  of  the  command  had  been  through 
it,  and  it  was  therefore  impossible  to  obtain  reliable  guides. 
A  number  of  Win  neba  goes  followed  who  from  necessity 
were  frequently  consulted,  but  their  fidelity  was  of  a  doubtful 
character,  and  the  information  they  communicated  generally  de 
lusive.  The  result  was  short  marches,  frequent  delays,  fruitless 
explorations,  giving  the  enemy  every  opportunity  to  ascertain  the 
intentions  and  movements  of  the  pursuing  force  and  thus  elude  it. 
The  efforts  of  the  commanding  general  were  further  retarded  by 
the  distance  from  the  base  of  supplies,  and  the  great  difficulty  of 
transportation,  in  consequence  of  which  the  troops  were  frequently 
without  provisions  and  rarely  had  sufficient  for  protracted  oper 
ations.  Owing  to  this  difficulty,  it  iiow~  became  necessary  to  dis 
perse  the  army  to  obtain  food.  Accordingly  Major  Dodge  and 
Generals  Henry  and  Alexander  were  sent  to  Fort  Winnebago, 
situate  on  the  portage  between  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  rivers,  for 
this  purpose,  while  Gen.  Posey  marched  to  Fort  Hamilton  for  the 
protection  of  the  adjacent  frontier,  the  governor  returned  to  his 
home  at  Belleville  and  Gen.  Atkinson  fell  back  to  lake  Kush-ka- 
nong.  Here  he  erected  a  fort,  which  was  called  after  the  name  of 
the  lake,  in  which  he  expected  to  remain  till  the  volunteer  generals 
returned  with  supplies. 

Fort  Winnebago,  a  distance  of  80  miles  from  the  encampment 
on  the  Stillwater,  was  reached  in  three  days,  but  the  march  thither 
over  the  intervening*  swampy  country  so  crippled  some  of  the 
horses  as  to  render  them  useless  in  the  succeeding  part  of  the 
campaign.  Another  calamity  also  befell  the  horses  shortly  after 
ward,  which  was  worse  than  an  ordinary  battle.  About  1,000 
were  peaceably  grazing  on  the  prairie  when  a  stampede  occurred, 
caused,  as  was  supposed,  by  Indians  attempting  to  steal  some  of 
them.  The  soldiers  at  the  time  were  sound  asleep  in  their  tents, 
which  Avere  closely  pitched  together  and  the  frightened  animals 
in  their  mad  night  rushed  directly  over  the  encampment,  knock 
ing  the  tents  down  on  the  fac.es  of  the  men  and  trampling  their 
weapons  and  camp  equipage  into  the  ground.  Then  coursing 
northward  with  great  rapidity,  the  sound  of  their  feet  produced 
an  appalling  noise  resembling  the  roll  of  distant  thunder.  The 

[*  ''  A  view  of  the  country  from  camp  at  Fort  Winnebago  presented  the  most  strik 
ing  contrariety  of  features.  Looking  toward  the  fort  which  was  a  neat  structure 
among  the  green  hills,  two  streams  are  seen,  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin,  with  sources  sev 
eral  hundred  miles  apart,  the  former  in  the  east  and  the  latter  in  the  north,  gliding  as 
if  to  mingle  their  waters,  until  within  three  miles  of  each  other,  when  they  sweep  the 
one  to  the  northeast,  and  the  other  to  the  southwest,  as  if  they  had  met  to  bid  each 
other  a  gallant  adieu  before  parting,  the  Fox  to  mingle  its  sweet  and  limped  waters  in 
the  Gulf  of  St  Lawrence,  and  the  Wisconsin  to  contribute  its  stained  and  bitter  floods 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico..  The  course  of  the  Fox  is  short,  crooked,  narrow  and  deep,  and 
aboundsin  the  finest  variety  of  fish,  whilst  the  Wisconsin  is  large,  wide  and  compara 
tively  straight,  and  is  said  to  have  no  fish,  owing  perhaps  to  its  passage  through  cy 
press  swamps  which  renders  it  unwholesome  for  the  finny  tribes,  and  also  causes  the 
discoloration  of  its  waters  Besides  the  rivers  the  face  of  the  country  is  no  less  re 
markable.  The  strip  of  land  between  the  two  rivers  is  low  and  marshy,  with  no  other 
growth  except  a  course  variety  of  rush,  and  at  high  waters  so  •  ompletely  inundated 
as  to  convert  all  that  part  of  the  United  States  east  of  the  Mississippi  into  a  vast  island. 
A  wisp  of  straw  being  thrown  into  the  flood  where  the  twocurrents  meet  will  separate 
and  one  portion  float  into  the  northern  and  the  other  into  the  southern  sea.  East  of 
the  Fox  river  the  land  is  generally  undulating,  presenting  an  equal  distribution  of 
prairie  of  the  richest  mould  and  timber  of  the  finest  growth.  West  of  the  Wisconsin 
commences  th^se  frowning  steppes  of  rugged  barren  rocks  covered  with  black  and  brist 
ling  pine  and  hemlock  which  toward  the  Mississippi  terminates  in  a  region  mountain 
ous,  dreary,  terrific  and  truly  Alpine  in  all  its  features."— Ford's  History-] 


396  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

picket  guards  and.  sentinels  fled  to  the  camp,  supposing  an  attack 
had  been  made  by  the  Indians,  the  bugles  sounded  to  arms,  but 
many  of  the  soldiers  were  temporarily  injured  and  in  the  confusion 
which  prevailed  could  not  find  their  broken  and  scattered 
weapons.  The  Wisconsin  river  changed  the  direction  of  the  stam 
pede  but  did  not  stop  its  fury,  for  the  frightened  animals  turned 
about  and  again  ran  into  the  midst  of  the  camp,and  the  soldiers  now 
aware  of  the  situation,  endeavored  to  arrest  their  headlong  course 
but  without  success.  It  was  supposed  that  most  of  them  ran  a 
distance  of  30  miles  before  the  alarm  subsided.  Some  were  fol 
lowed  a  distance  of  50  miles  before  they  were  found,  and  about 
100  were  permanently  disablied  in  the  surrounding  swamps. 

Two  days  were  spent  at  the  fort  in  regaining  the  horses,  recruit 
ing  the  men  and  procuring  necessary  supplies,  during  which  some 
Winnebago  chiefs  said  that  Black  Hawk  and  his  force  were 
encamped  on  Eock  river,  35  miles  above  lake  Kush-ka-nong,  the 
headquarters  of  Gen.  Atkinson.  It  was  now  evident  that  if  the 
army  attempted  to  return  to  Gen.  Atkinson  the  Indians  would 
perhaps  escape  to  the  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  only  oppor 
tunity  of  closing  the  war  with  profit  to  the  country  and  honor  to 
the  service  would  be  lost.  A  council  of  war  was  convened  and  it 
was  the  unanimous  opinion  of  all  the  officers  present  that  the 
exigency  of  the  case  demanded  that  they  should  disregard  the 
orders  of  Gen.  Atkinson,  by  marching  directly  upon  the  enemy 
with  the  intention  of  taking  him  by  surprise  or  preventing  his 
retreat  further  northward.  The  15th  of  July  was  accordingly 
appointed  as  the  time  of  starting,  and  Gen.  Henry  at  once  com 
menced  reorganizing  his  brigade,  and  disencumbering  it  of  the 
sick  and  dismounted  men,  who  would  retard  the  celerity  of  his 
marcli.  Before,  however,  the  day  of  departure  came  around, 
Gen.  Alexander  announced  that  his  men  becoming  dissatisfied 
had  determined  not  to  accompany  the  expedition,  and  Major 
13odge  reported  that  so  many  of  his  horses  were  disabled  that  he 
could  not  mount  a  force  sufficiently  large  to  render  any  valuable 
assistance.  At  this  juncture  Capt.  Craig  arrived  with  a  fine  com 
pany  of  mounted  men  from  Galena  and  vicinity,  which  uniting 
with  the  battalion  of  Major  Dodge  increased  it  to  120  effective 
men.  Gen.  Henry's  brigade  was  reduced  to  600  men,  and  even 
these  associating  with  Alexander's  malcontents,  became  so  demor 
alized  as  to  be  at  the  point  of  open  mutiny.  A  protest  was  handed 
to  the  former,  signed  by  all  his  subordinate  officers  except  the 
colonel  who  presented  it,  remonstrating  against  the  enterprise  as 
a  violation  of  Gen.  Atkinson's  orders. 

This  was  the  turning  point  on  which  hinged  the  fate  of  the  cam 
paign,  and  but  for  the  prudence  and  determination  of  Gen.  Henry 
all  would  have  been  lost.  He  was  perhaps  the  only  man  in  the 
army  who  possessed  the  rare  faculty  of  successfully  commanding 
the  militia  by  inspiring  them  with  order  and  the" honorable  im 
pulses  of  his  own  noble  nature.  He  could  command  with  sternness 
and  not  give  offence,  and  while  he  excited  the  fear  he  always 
won  the  love  of  the  most  obdurate  soldier.  In  this  emergency  he 
knew  he  was  right  and  promptly  ordered  all  the  officers  signing 
the  protest  to  be  arrested  and  inarched  to  Gen.  Atkinson,  who  he 
knew  would  approve  his  course  when  he  became  acquainted  with 
the  circumstances.  This  decided  command  from  a  general  whom 


BLACK  HAWK  WAR.  397 


they  knew  had  the  courage  to  execute  it,  caused  the  officers  to 
relent.  The  colonel  who  presented  the  shameful  paper  denied 
knowing  its  contents,  and  all  promised  with  the  greatest  contrition 
that  they  would  never  again  be  guilty  of  insubordination.  Gen. 
Henry,  who  understood  human  nature  and  knew  how  to  profit  by 
it,  spoke  to  them  with  dignity  and  kindness,  wisely  forgiving  the 
offence  and  thus  securing  their  faithful  co-operation  during  the 
remainder  of  the  campaign. 

At  the  appointed  time  Gen.  Henry  and  Major  Dodge,  with  two 
Winnebagoes  for  guides,  started  in  pursuit  of  the  Indians,  and 
Gen.  Alexander  with  provisions  returned  to  Gen.  Atkinson.  The 
former  while  on  their  way  to  the  infested  region,  were 
frequently  thrown  from  a  direct  course  by  intervening  swamps  of 
several  miles  in  extent,  yet  after  three  days  hard  marching  they 
again  encamped  on  Rock  river.  Here  information  was  received 
that  Black  Hawk  was  entrenched  on  Cranberry  lake,  higher  up  the 
river,  and  relying  on  this  information  Henry  determined  to  make  a 
forced  march  to  that  place  the  following  day.  Adjutants  E.  H. 
Merryman  and  W.  "VV.  Woodbridge,  accompanied  by  Little 
Thunder,  a  Winnebago  chief,  as  guide,  were  sent  to  Gen.  Atkinson 
to  apprise  him  that  they  had  discovered  the  situation  of  the  enemy 
and  were  making  preparations  to  move  against  him.  The  mes 
sengers  started  about  dark  and  after  proceeding  about  8  miles 
southwest  they  struck  the  fresh  trail  of  Black  Hawk,  who  was 
making  toward  the  Wisconsin  river,  evidently  to  elude  his  pur 
suers  by  crossing  it.  Little  Thunder,  panic  stricken  at  the  sight 
of  the  trail,  without  permission  returned  to  the  camp  and  revealed 
the  discovery  to  the  two  Indian  guides,  who  attempted  to  make 
their  escape,  but  before  their  object  was  fully  accomplished  they 
were  arrested  and  brought  to  the  tent  of  Gen.  Henry.  Confessing 
that  their  motives  for  acting  as  guides  was  to  give  false  informa 
tion  and  thus  favor  the  escape  of  Black  Hawk,  they  HOAV 
disclosed  all  they  knew  of  his  movements,  with  the  hope  of 
escaping  the  punishment  which  their  perfidy  deserved.  General 
Henry  humanely  spared  their  lives,  and  to  prevent  his  men  who 
would  have  wreaked  summary  vengeance  on  them  for  their 
treachery,  prudently  kept  it  a  secret.  The  messengers,  when  they 
found  themselves  deserted  by  Little  Thunder,  also  returned  to  the 
camp,  but  just  before  reaching  it  one  of  them  came  near  being 
killed  by  the  fire  of  a  sentinel.  Early  the  next  morning  the  same 
messengers  and  guide  were  again  dispatched  to  Gen.  Atkinson, 
and  the  army  started  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  leaving  all  the  heavy 
baggage  behind  in  the  wilderness.  Those  who  had  previously  lost 
their  horses,  abandoned  their  blankets  and  all  their  clothing 
except  what  they  wore,  and  carrying  their  guns,  ammunition  and 
provisions  on  their  backs  through  thickets,  SAvamps  and  prairie, 
kept  pace  with  their  comrades  on  horseback.  The  riders  on  reach 
ing  a  slough  through  which  their  horses  were  unable  to  carry  them, 
dismounted  and  waded  across,  driving  their  animals  before  them. 
The  large  fresh  trail  being  strewn  with  various  articles,  belonging 
to  the  Indians,  gave  animation  to  the  pursuing  force  5  there  were 
no  more  complaints  among  the  men,  and  even  the  horses  seemed 
to  partake  of  the  enthusiasm  which  prevailed.  Towards  evening 
there  arose  one  of  those  terrific  thunder  storms  common  to  the 
prairies,  frightfully  dark  and  accompanied  by  torrents  of  rain  and 


398  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS'. 


peals  of  thunder.  The  men,  however,  dashed  on  regardless  of  the 
raging  elements,  through  floods,  marshes,  and  almost  impenetrable 
clumps  of  timber,  the  horsemen  frequently  dismounting  and 
marching  afoot  that  the  footmen  might  be  relieved  by  riding  their 
horses.  The  storm  continued  most  of  the  night,  and  the  exhausted 
men  threw  themselves  on  the  muddy  earth  to  obtain  a  little  rest, 
having  partaken  of  no  supper  except  a  little  raw  meat  and  some 
dough,  the  result  of  the  drenching  rain  on  the  flour  they  carried  in 
their  sacks.  A  similar  repast  serving  them  for  breakfast,  by  early 
daylight  they  were  again  in  motion  and  after  a  march  as  hard  as 
that  of  the  previous  day,  -they  encamped  on  one  of  the  four  lakes, 
near  where  Black  Hawk  had  rested  the  previous  night.  The  men 
now  eagerly  embraced  the  opportunity  which  was  offered  to  build 
tires  and  cook  their  suppers,  having  marched  100  miles  without 
eating  anything  except  raw  food.  As  soon  as  their  hunger  was 
appeased,  they  again  lay  down  to  rest  with  nothing  under  them 
but  the  naked  earth,  and  nothing  over  them  but  the  starry  canopy, 
and  slept  sweetly  till  aroused  and  called  to  arms.  A  sentinel  who 
during  the  night  discovered  an  Indian  stealthily  gliding  toward 
the  shore  in  a  canoe,  tired  his  gun  which  caused  an  alarm,  but 
nothing  further  occurred  to  indicate  the  presence  of  an  enemy. 
Early  the  following  day  the  march  was  resumed  with  great  vigor, 
all  being  elated  with  the  hope  of  soon  overtaking  the  Indians  and 
terminating  the  war  in  a  general  battle.  Crossing  the  river  be 
tween  two  of  the  lakes,  the  army  ascended  an  eminence,  whence 
could  be  seen  a  panorama  of  wonderous  beauty.  Three  of  these 
lovely  sheets  of  water  environed  by  wooded  hills  and  rolling 
prairies  were  in  full  view.  The  hand  of  civilization  had  not 
marred  their  primeval  beauty  and  everything  was  wild  and  still, 
save  the  distant  roar  of  the  surging  waters  lashed  by  almost  con 
stant  winds. 

The  Indians,  however,  were  only  a  few  miles  distant  endeavoring 
to  escape,  and  the  hurried  march  to  overtake  them  gave  but  little 
time  to  contemplate  the  surrounding  scenery.  The  path  of  the 
fugitives  was  strewn  with  all  kinds  of  baggage  highly  valued  by 
the  owners,  which  they  were  compelled  to  throw  away  to  accelerate 
their  flight.  Some  oi'  the  horses  were  found  dead,  the  result  of 
exhaustion,  and  others  were  occasionally  killed  to  afford  their 
hungry  riders  the  means  of  sustenance.  About  12  o'clock  on  the 
21st  of  July,  3  Indian  spies  were  overtaken  and  killed,  and  short 
ly  afterward  the  rear  guard  began  to  make  faint  stands  as  if 
desirous  of  bringing  on  a  battle.  It  was,  however,  soon  apparent 
that  their  object  was  to  gain  time,  for  after  firing  a  few  rounds 
they  would  dash  ahead  while  the  pursuing  force  was  forming  for 
battle.  In  this  manner  by  4  o'clock  they  gained  the  bluffs  of 
the  Wisconsin,  and  as  the  vanguard  of  the  Americans,  consisting 
of  two  battalions  commanded  by  Majors  Dodge  and  Ewing,  came 
up  they  were  tired  upon  by  the  Indians  concealed  in  the  timber 
which  skirts  the  bluff  of  the  stream.  Gen.  Henry  soon  arrived, 
and  the  entire  force1  was  formed  in  order  of  battle.  Major  Dodge's 
battalion  constituted  the  extreme  right  of  the  line;  Col.  Jones' 
regiment  the  center,  and  Col.  Collins'  the  left,  while  Major  Ewing's 
battalion  was  placed  in  front,  and  Col.  Fry's  regiment  in  the 
rear  as  a  reserve.  A  charge  being  ordered,  E\ving's  battalion  and 
the  regiments  of  Cols.  Jones  and  Collins  made  a  gallant  onset  up- 


BLACK   HAWK  WAR.  399 


on  the  enenly,  causing  him  to  retire  obliquely  to  the  right  and 
concentrate  in  front  of  the  battalion  of  Major  Dodge,  who  was 
then  ordered  to  advance  upon  the  foe,  but  considering  his  force 
inadequate  and  requesting  assistance,  Col.  Fry's  regiment  was  sent 
to  his  aid,  when  a  vigorous  charge  was  made  from  one  end  of  the 
line  to  the  other.  Fry's  regiment  and  Dodge's  battalion  entered 
the  timber  and  tall  grass,  exposed  to  the  fierce  fire  of  the  Indians, 
who  maintained  their  ground  till  their  adversaries  could  reach 
them  with  their  bayonets,  when  they  fled  and  took  a  new  position 
in  the  head  of  a  ravine  farther  westward,  and  leading  to  the  low 
lands  of  the  river.  Here  they  made  a  more  stubborn  resistance, 
but  a  handsome  charge  by  Collins'  and  Jones'  regiments  and 
E wing's  battalion,  forced  some  of  them  down  the  hollow,  and 
others  farther  westward  along  the  bluffs,  whence  they  escaped  to 
the  bottom  bordering  011  the  stream.  This  was  about  a  mile  wide 
and  next  to  the  river,  covered  with  heavy  timber,  while  near  the 
bluff  it  was  swampy  and  overgrown  with  grass  so  tall  as  to  be 
above  the  heads  of  the  men  on  horseback.  It  was  now  near  sun 
down,  and  Gen.  Henry  concluded  it  would  be  too  hazardous  to  dis 
lodge  the  enemy  during  the  night,  and  accordingly  remained  on 
the  battle  ground. 

The  battle  of  the  Winconsin  was  the  first  important  victory 
obtained  over  the  enemy  during  the  war.  The  Indians  had  with 
them  their  women  and  children,  and  fully  alive  to  the  disastrous 
consequences  which  would  attend  defeat,  fought  with  great  deter 
mination.  During  the  engagement  Naopope,  their  commander, 
posted  himself  on  an  elevation  near  his  warriors  and  gave  his 
orders  in  a  voice  of  thunder,  which  could  be  distinctly  heard  above 
the  din  of  battle.  It  was  said  that  of  all  men  he  had  the  loudest 
voice,  but  it  ceased  to  be  heard  when  his  braves  were  driven  from 
their  position.  Great  praise  was  due  the  entire  army,  the  officers 
having  discharged  their  duties  with  great  efficiency  and  the  pri 
vates  exhibited  unusual  bravery  in  the  different  charges  made 
upon  the  enemy.  Gen.  Henry  was  young  and  inexperienced,  yet 
in  his  coolness  and  the  judgment  displayed  in  the  disposition  of 
his  forces  acted  the  part  of  a  veteran  commander.  He  now  con 
cluded  that  if  the  Indians  intended  to  continue  the  contest  they 
would  make  an  attack  during  the  night,  and  as  a  precaution  he 
increased  the  strength  of  the  guard  and  caused  fires  to  be  built  in 
front  of  the  camp  and  kept  burning  till  morning.  Orders  were 
given  that  the  men  should  sleep  on  their  arms,  and  they  had  not 
long  been  wrapt  in  slumber  when  they  were  aroused  by  the  tramp 
ing  of  horses.  It  was  supposed  that  the  latter  had  been  fright 
ened  by  the  approaching  enemy,  and  the  men  were  ordered  to  hold 
themselves  during  the  remainder  of  the  night  in  readiness  for  an 
attack.  About  3  o'clock  in  the  morning  Naopope  took  a  stand  on 
the  same  elevation  he  had  occupied  during  the  battle,  and  spoke 
with  a  loud  voice,  in  the  Winnebago  tongue,  which  in  the  calm  of 
the  night  reverberated  from  hill  to  hill.  It  was  ascertained  when 
the  war  was  over  that  he  wTas  suing  for  peace.  He  stated  that  his 
countrymen  were  in  a  starving  condition  and  unable  to  fight  the 
Americans,  and  that  if  they  were  permitted  to  peaceably  return 
west  of  the  Mississippi  with  their  families  they  would  do'  no  fur 
ther  mischief.  As  the  Indian  guides  had  fled  at  the  commence 
ment  of  the  battle  there  was  no  person  in  the  camp  who  under- 


400  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

stood  his  language,  and  it  was  supposed  lie  was  giving  commands 
to  liis  warriors.  The  Americans  expecting  every  moment  to  be 
attacked,  Gen.  Henry  made  a  spirited  speech  in  which  he  told 
them  they  were  about  to  meet  the  savages  who  had  butchered  in 
cold  blood  so  many  of  their  helpless  and  unoffending  citizens,  re 
minded  them  of  the  obstacles  which  they  had  encountered  and 
overcome  during  the  campaign,  and  urged  them  not  to  tarnish  the 
reputation  they  had  gained  in  the  battle  of  the  preceding  day. 
Every  man  then  took  his  position  and  remained  in  it  till  early 
dawn,  when  Ewing's  battalion  proceeded  to  the  top  of  the  hill 
whence  the  voice  proceeded,  but  only  found  the  foot-prints  of  a 
few  horsemen.  The  army  then  inarched  to  the  river  and  discov 
ered  that  the  Indians  had  crossed  and  made  their  escape  among 
the  mountains  between  it  and  the  Mississippi.  One  hundred  and 
sixty-eight  of  their  fallen  comrades  were  found  dead  on  the  field 
of  battle,  and  the  number  of  the  wounded  was  perhaps  propor 
tionately  large,  as  25  of  them  were  subsequent  found  dead  along 
the  track  of  their  departing  trail.  Gen.  Henry  had  one  man 
killed  and  8  wounded.  The  great  disparity  in  the  loss  of  the 
Americans,  and  that  of  the  enemy  was  accounted  for  on  the  sup 
position  that  the  Indians  had  been  taught  to  fire  at  men  on  horse 
back  and  consequently  aimed  too  high  to  hit  their  adversaries,  who 
dismounted  before  entering  battle. 


CHAPTER  XXXY. 
1832— CLOSE  OF  THE  WAE. 

Pursuit  of  the  Indians — Battle  of  Bad-Axe — Arrival  of  Gen. 
Scott — Treaties  ic itli  the  Indians — Eastern  Tour  of  the  Prisoners — 
Death  of  Black  Hawk. 


It  will  be  remembered  that  Adjutants  Woodbriclge  and  Merry- 
man,  piloted  by  Little  Thunder,  were  sent  the  second  time  to  Gen. 
Atkinson's  headquarters.  They  arrived  safely,  and  after  conferr 
ing  with  him,  they  were  ordered  to  return  with  instructions 
authorizing  Gen.  Henry  to  pursue  the  trail  of  Black  Hawk,  and  if 
possible  overtake  and  capture  his  force,  and  that  when  his  provis 
ions  were  exhausted  he  should  go  to  the  Blue  Mounds  for  supplies, 
where  he  and  his  army  would  meet  him.  The  messengers  reached 
Gen.  Henry  during  the  recent  battle,  and  the  next  day,  as  the 
army  was  without  food  and  the  means  of  rendering  the  wounded 
comfortable,  it  was  determined  to  visit  the  Mounds  for  this  pur 
pose  and  replenish  their  stores.  No  one  in  the  brigade,  however, 
understood  the  topography  of  the  country  sufficiently  well  to  act 
as  guide.  They  had  now  penetrated  100  miles  into  an  unexplored 
wilderness,  and  the  Winnebagoes  who  had  accompanied  the 
expedition  fled  at  the  commencement  of  the  battle  and  had  not 
returned.  A  council  was  called  to  consider  the  means  of  over 
coming  the  difficulty,  and  while  in  session  a  white  flag  was  seen 
approaching,  borne  by  a  number  of  friendly  Winnebagoes,  who 
agreed  to  act  as  guides.  Litters  were  constructed  for  the  wound 
ed,  and  on  the  23d  of  July  the  army  was  again  in  motion,  and 
after  encountering  a  number  of  muddy  creeks  and  a  large  extent 
of  rough  roads,  they  reached  the  Blue  Mounds  in  safety.  Here, 
as  they  had  been  advised,  they  found  Gen.  Atkinson,  with  the 
regular  and  volunteer  forces  under  his  immediate  command,  and  a 
number  of  inhabitants,  whose  kind  treatment  made  the  wounded 
forget  the  hardships  they  had  suffered  in  the  journey  thither. 

It  was  now  evident  that  Gen.  Atkinson  and  other  officers  of  the 
regular  army  were  greatly  mortified  at  the  success  ot  Gen.  Henry, 
as  they  did  not  intend  that  the  militia  should  acquire  any  renown 
in  the  war.  Gen.  Atkinson  relying  mostly  on  the  regulars,  had 
always  kept  them  in  front,  but  unexpectedly  while  they  were 
snugly  ensconced  at  Lake  Kushkanong,  Gen.  Henry  discovered 
and'  vanquished  the  enemy  as  effectually  as  if  the  veterans  had 
participated  in  the  engagement.  This  unmanly  jealousy  was 
further  intensified  by  the  fact,  that  the  victory  had  been  obtained 
in  opposition  to  the  council  and  orders  of  those  who  arrogated  to 
26  401 


402  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

themselves  superior  courage  and  knowledge  in  the  practice  and 
art  of  war. 

All  the  generals  were  now  together,  but  not  all  the  men:  Gen. 
Posey's  brigade  contained  only  200  effective  men ;  Gen.  Alexan 
der's  350,  and  Gen.  Henry's  being  also  greatly  reduced,  the 
three  brigades  combined  were  not  much  stronger  than  one  at 
the  commencement  of  the  campaign.  In  addition  to  the  volun 
teer  force,  there  were  now  400  regulars  under  the  command  of 
Gen.  Brady  and  his  subordinate  officers,  Col.  Taylor  and  Majors 
Blley  and  Morgan.  After  spending  2  days  at  the  Mounds,  on  the 
25th  of  July  the  whole  army,  under  direction  of  Gen.  Atkinson, 
again  started  after  the  Indians.  The  regulars  inarched  in  front, 
Posey's  and  Alexander's  brigades  and  Dodge's  battalion  came 
next,  and  lastly  Henry's  brigade  in  charge  of  the  baggage  brought 
up  the  rear.  The  position  assigned  Gen.  Henry,  the  hero  of  the 
battle  of  Wisconsin,  showed  too  plainly  the  ungenerous  feeling  that 
rankled  in  the  breast  of  the  commanding  general.  The  whole 
army  noticed  the  insult,  and  the  brave  men  who  were  thus 
degraded  knew  they  deserved  better  treatment,  and  justly  claim 
ed  the  post  of  honor  and  of  danger.  It  was  now  evident  that  if 
other  laurels  were  to  be  won  they  would  decorate  other  brows. 
Gen.  Henry  and  his  men,  were  too  true  to  their  duties  as  soldiers  to 
suffer  this  injustice  to  interfere  with  the  success  of  the  expedition, 
and  therefore  quietly  trudged  along  in  the  rear,  doing  the  drudg 
ery  of  the  army  and  taking  charge  of  the  baggage.  On  the  26th 
they  arrived  at  Helena,  with  a  view  to  crossing  the  Wisconsin  at 
that  place. 

This  village,  formerly  a  promising  town,  was  now  abandoned  by 
its  inhabitants,  and  the  houses  were  pulled  down  and  converted 
into  rafts  on  which  to  cross  the  river.  During  the  construction  of 
the  rafts,  scouts  were  sent  up  the  river  to  the  battle  ground  to 
ascertain  if  the  Indians  had  returned  thither  as  the  course  they 
had  taken  in  their  flight  after  the  battle.  A  day  was  spent  in 
making  explorations,  but  no  trace  of  the  enemy  being  discovered 
the  party  returned.  On  the  28th  the  whole  army  had  gained  the 
opposite  bank  of  the  river,  and  after  marching  a  distance  of  5 
miles  fell  in  with  the  trail  of  the  retreating  fugitives.  Before  the 
discovery,  the  army  was  greatly  disheartened,  the  distance  to  the 
Mississippi  was  supposed  to  be  80  miles,  and  it  was  seriously 
feared  that  ere  the  enemy  could  again  be  overtaken  they  would 
make  their  escape  west  of  this  stream.  The  men  had  become 
weary  in  hunting  trails,  but  now  it  was  found,  the  hope  of  again 
falling  in  with  the  Indians  was  revived  and  all  murmurs  ceased.  The 
trail  at  first  followed  the  course  of  the  river,  but  soon  turned 
northward  among  huge  mountains,  which  never  before  had  echoed 
with  the  tread  of  civilized  men.  Three  weary  days  were  consumed 
in  scaling  these  precipitous  elevations  and  crossing  the  interven 
ing  gorges,  the  one  being  covered  with  heavy  timber  and  a  dense 
undergrowth  of  briers  and  vines,  and  the  other  filled  with  swamps 
of  deep  black  mud.  The  men  were  well  supplied  with  provisions, 
and  bore  their  labors  with  cheerfulness,  but  it  was  difficult  for  the 
horses  to  find  grass,  and  many  of  them  becoming  debilitated  by 
hunger  were  left  to  perish  in  these  pastureless  solitudes.  The  con 
dition  of  the  Indians  was  extremely  deplorable.  They  were  com 
pelled  to  subsist  on  roots,  bark  and  the  flesh  of  horses,  and  their 


BLACK  HAWK  WAR.  403 


trail  could  be  readily  traced  by  blankets,  kettles  and  other  articles 
abandoned  to  hasten  their  flight.  Death,  too,  had  marked  their 
course  with  the  bodies  of  those  who  had  been  wounded,  most  of 
whom  had  died  more  for  the  want  of  proper  medical  treatment 
than  from  the  fatal  nature  of  their  injuries. 

At  10  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  2d  of  August,  the  army 
reached  the  bluffs  of  the  Mississippi,  which  at  this  point  were 
some  distance  from  the  stream.  The  Indians  having  reached  the 
margin  of  the  river  some  time  before  the  arrival  of  the  Americans, 
were  busily  engaged  in  preparations  to  cross.  Some  had  already 
reached  the  opposite  shore,  and  some  of  the  women  had  been  put 
in  canoes  and  started  down  to  Prairie  dti  Chieii,  but  part  of  the 
latter  were  drowned,  and  those  who  reached  the  town  were  found 
in  a  starving  condition.  While  thus  employed  they  were  attacked 
\)y  the  steamboat  Warrior,  which  had  been  chartered  for  the  pur 
pose  of  conveying  supplies  to  the  army.  On  the  1st  of  August 
she  was  sent  up  the  river  to  notify  some  friendly  Indians  that  the 
Sacs  were  approaching,  and  to  take  them  down  to  Prairie  du 
Chien.  On  his  way,  Captain  Throckmorton  heard  that  Black 
Hawk  was  already  encamped  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  he 
immediately  made  preparations  for  an  attack.  As  the  steamboat 
neared  the  camp  of  the  Indians,  they  raised  a  white  flag,  which 
the  captain  affecting  to  believe  was  only  used  as  a  mask  to  cover 
their  real  designs,  ordered  them  to  send  a  canoe  alongside  his 
boat.  The  order  being  declined,  they  were  allowed  15  minutes  to 
remove  their  women  and  children,  when  a  six-pounder,  loaded 
with  cannister,  was  discharged  into  their  midst,  followed  by  a 
severe  fire  of  musketry.  The  battle  continued  about  an  hour, 
during  wiiich  the  enemy  had  23  men  killed  and  a  proportionate 
number  wounded.  The  fuel  of  the  steamer  now  began  to  fail, 
and  night  coming  on,  she  fell  down  the  river  to  Prairie  du  Chieu, 
intending  to  return  the  next  day. 

The  captain  of  the  Warrior,  even  if  his  surmises  were  correct 
respecting  the  perfidy  of  the  Indians,  was  still  liable  to  censure 
for  the  precipitancy  with  which  he  brought  on  the  engagement. 
He  and  his  men  were  beyond  the  reach  of  harm,  and  consequently 
both  humanity  and  the  rules  of  war  required  that  he  should  have 
taken  more  than  15  minutes  to  discover  the  real  motive  of  the  In 
dians  in  hoisting  the  symbol  of  peace.  Black  Hawk  himself  asserted 
that  he  directed  his  braves  not  to  fire  on  the  Warrior,  as  he  intended 
going  onboard  in  order  to  save  his  women  and  children,  and  that  he 
raised  a  white  flag  and  called  to  the  captain  of  the  boat  for  the 
purpose  of  effecting  this  object.  His  condition  wras  now  hopeless, 
his  warriors,  reduced  in  numbers,  were  exhausted  by  fatigue  and 
hunger,  while  an  overwhelming  force  ready  to  move  against  him, 
was  just  in  his  rear.  It  is  therefore  highly  probable  that  he  was' 
sincere  and  anxious  to  end  the  contest,  in  which  so  many  of  his 
people  had  been  slaughtered  ;  and  had  the  captain  of  the  War 
rior  properly  respected  the  flag  of  truce,  which  all  civilized  war 
fare  holds  sacred,  the  campaign  would  have  terminated  without 
the  further  effusion  of  blood. 

Before  the  Warrior  could  return  to  the  Indian  encampment, 
which  was  on  the  Mississippi  below  the  mouth  of  the  Bad  Axe, 
Gen.  Atkinson  arrived  and  commenced  a  general  battle.  Black 
Hawk,  aware  that  the  American  force  was  in  close  proximity,  to 


4:04  HISTOKY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

gain  time  for  crossing,  with  20  warriors,  went  back  to  meet  them, 
his  object  being  to  make  an  attack  and  then  retreat  up  the  river 
to  decoy  the  Americans  from  the  principal  force.  Accordingly, 
when  the  army  reached  the  bluffs  of  the  Mississippi,  it  was  tired 
upon  from  behind  trees  by  the  Indians,  the  tall  grass  growing 
among  the  timber  greatly  favoring  their  design.  The  order  of 
battle  being  the  same  as  at  first :  Major  Dodge's  battalion  was  in 
front,  next  the  regulars,  then  the  brigades  of  Alexander  and  Posey 
and  lastly  the  command  of  Henry.  At  the  first  indications  of  op 
position,  Gen.  Atkinson  rode  to  the  scene  of  action  and  in  person 
directed  the  charge  against  the  Indians,  who  of  course  fell  back, 
and  were  pursued  up  the  river  by  the  whole  army  except  the  force 
under  the  immediate  command  of  Gen.  Henry  and  Major  Ewing. 
In  the  hurried  pursuit  he  was  called  on  for  one  regiment  to  cover 
the  rear  of  the  pursuing  forces,  and  the  rest  were  left  without  or 
ders.  It  now  seemed  that  fortune  was  determined  to  distinguish 
her  favorite  son,  despite  the  intention  to  disgrace  him.  He  who 
during  the  whole  march  had  been  kept  in  the  rear,  now  by  the 
strategy  of  a  few  untutored  savages  who  had  triumphed  over  the 
science  of  the  veteran  general,  was  suddenly  placed  in  front. 

While  Gen.  Atkinson  was  ascending  the  river,  the  main  trail 
leading  directly  to  it  was  discovered  by  Major  E wing's  men,  who 
were  in  front.  Henry  being  notified  of  the  fact,  followed  to  the  foot 
of  the  bluffs  bordering  the  valley,  where  he  left  his  horses  and  ar 
ranged  his  men  for  an  attack.  Eight  men  were  sent  forward  as  a 
forlorn  hope  to  draw  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  and  thus  disclose  their 
situation  in  the  drift  wood  and  brush  through  which  the  trail  led. 
The  men  moved  boldly  forward  till  they  came  in  sight  of  the  river, 
when  they  were  fired  upon  by  about  50  Indians,  who  were  in  ad 
vance  of  the  main  force.  Five  of  the  eight  instantly  fell,  either 
killed  or  wounded,  while  the  other  three,  protected  by  timber,  re 
mained  in  their  position  till  the  army  came  to  their  rescue.  Henry 
immediately  ordered  a  charge,  before  which  the  Indians  retreated 
to  the  main  body,  amounting  to  300  warriors  and  fully  equal  to 
the  force  contending  against  them.  The  whole  force  of  the  enemy 
becoming  involved,  fought  with  great  bravery  and  determination, 
yet  they  had  evidently  been  surprised  and  there  was  little  concert 
of  action.  Closely  pressed  they  fell  back  from  position  to  posi 
tion,  until  the  bank  of  the  river  was  reached,  where  retreat  being 
impossible  a  frightful  carnage  ensued.  The  bloody  bayonet  in  the 
hands  of  an  excited  soldiery,  drove  them  into  the  water,  when 
some  of  the  survivors  endeavored  to  swim  the  river  and  others 
sought  refuge  in  a  willow  island  150  yards  from  the  shore. 

About  this  time  Gen.  Atkinson  and  that  portion  of  the  army 
which  had  been  decoyed  up  the  river,  made  their  appearance  at 
the  scene  of  conflict.  Henry  had  previously  sent  messengers  to 
inform  him  that  he  had  discovered  the  main  force  of  the  enemy, 
but  the  roar  of  battle  apprised  him  of  the  situation  before  mes 
sengers  had  time  to  reach  him.  He  came  but  found  the  battle 
substantially  over,  the  dead  and  dying  strewn  upon  the  fatal  field, 
disclosing  the  stern  work  which  had  been  done  in  his  absence. 
Seeing  the  position  of  the  enemy,  he  immediately  ordered  a  descent 
upon  the  island.  A  force  consisting  of  the  regulars,  Ewing's  and 
Dodge's  battalions  and  Fry's  regiment,  charged  through  the  water 
up  to  their  arms,  to  dislodge  them  from  their  last  refuge.  "When 


BLACK  HAWK  WAR.  405 


the  island  was  gained  most  of  the  enemy  who  had  tied  thither 
were  killed  or  captured,  those  attempting  to  swim  to  the  opposite 
shore  being  either  shot  in  the  water  or  drowned.  Large  numbers 
of  women  and  children  lost  their  lives,  owing  to  the  fact  that  they 
were  dressed  so  much  like  the  men  it  was  impossible  to  distinguish 
them  in  the  high  grass  and  weeds  which  obstructed  the  view. 
Some  of  them  plunged  into  the  Mississippi  and  were  shot  escaping 
in  the  promiscuous  crowd  which  was  buffeting  the  waves  in  the 
attempt  to  reach  the  opposite  shore.* 

It  is  supposed  that  the  entire  Indian  loss  amounted  to  150  killed 
and  as  many  lost  by  drowning  in  the  attempt  to  swim  the  river. 
About  50,  consisting  mostly  of  women  and  children,  were  taken 
prisoners.  The  American  loss  amounted  to  17  killed. 

Soon  after  the  battle  was  over,  the  captain  of  the  Warrior 
steamed  up  the  river  and  commenced  raking  the  island,  thinking 
that  the  Indians  were  still  on  it.  The  laud  forces  hearing  his 
guns,  supposed  he  was  firing  a  salute  in  honor  of  the  victory,  and 
tired  a  volley  in  acknowledgment,  and  it  was  not  till  she  came  to 
land  that  intelligence  was  for  the  first  time  interchanged  in  regard 
to  the  battles  which  had  previously  been  fought  by  the  respective 
forces. 

Gen.  Atkinson  considering  the  war  virtually  ended,  on  the  4th 
of  August,  with  the  regulars,  prisoners  and  wounded,  on  board 
the  Warrior,  fell  down  the  river  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  the 
mounted  men  marched  to  the  same  place  by  land.  The  news  of 
the  battle  had  preceded  the  advent  of  the  army,  and  when  it 
arrived  the  Menomonee  Indians  were  express  ing  their  joy  at  the 
defeat  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  by  music  and  dancing.  Having 
obtained  several  scalps  from  the  squaws  of  the  enemy,  they  pre 
sented  them  to  their  own  women,  whose  relatives  had  been 
murdered  the  preceding  year  at  Fort  Crawford  by  the  same  tribes. 
These  trophies,  held  aloft  on  poles,  constituted  a  prominent  feature 
of  the  dance,  which  was  conducted  in  the  following  manner:  the 
men  and  women  stood  in  two  lines  facing  each  other,  Avhile  the 
squaws  holding  the  scalps  Avere  situated  between.  The  party  was 
furnished  with  a  rudely  constructed  drum,  and  each  one  who 
participated  in  the  dance  held  in  his  hand  a  gourd  partially  filled 
with  pebbles,  which  were  rattled  to  keep  time  with  the  drum. 
Thus  arranged,  and  equipped  at  the  sound  of  the  drum  the  exercise 
commenced,  each  dancer  moving  around  the  central  group,  sup 
porting  the  scalps,  and  uttering  a  loud  monotonous  refrain,  kept 
time  by  stamping  with  his  feet  and  shaking  his  gourd.  As  the 
exercise  was  protracted  the  chant  became  louder  and  more  animated, 
the  jumping  correspondingly  higher  and  more  boisterous,  and  the 
scalps  were  twirled  in  the  air  with  increased  vehemence.  During 

[.NOTE.— Many  painful  scenes  of  adventure  and  horror  were  crowded  into  the  3  hours1 
continuanceof  the  battle.  A  Sue  woman,  the  sister  of  a  warrior  of  some  notoriety, 
found  herself  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  but  at  length  succeeeded  in  reaching  the  river, 
when  keeping  her  infant  child  safe  in  its  blankets  by  means  of  her  teeth,  she  plunged  into 
the  water,  seized  the  tail  of  a  horse  with  her  hands  whose  rider  was  swimming  the 
stream,  and  was  drawn  safely  across.  A  youngsquaw  during  the  battle  was  standing-  in  the 
prasts  a  short  distance  from  the  American  line,  holding  her  child,  a  little  girl  of  4  years, 
in  her  arms.  Tn  this  position  a  ball  struck  the  right  arm  of  the  child  and  shattering  the 
bone,  passed  into  the  breast  of  the  young  mother  and  instantly  killed  her.  She  fell 
upon  the  child  ond  confined  it  to  the  ground,  till  the  Indians  were  driven  from  this  part 
of  the  field.  Gen.  Anderson  of  the  United  States  army,  hearing  its  cries  went  to  the 
spot  and  taking  it  from  under  the  dead  body,  carried  it  to  the  surgeons  to  have  its 
wound  dressed  The  arm  was  amputated  and  during  the  operation  the  half  starved 
child  did  not  cry.  but  sat  quietly  eating  a  hard  piece  of  biscuit.  It  was  sent  to  Prairie 
du  Chien  and  entirely  recovered. 


40G  HISTORY   OF    ILLINOIS. 

the  entire  performance  the  bodies  of  the  dancers  were  bent  forward 
bringing  their  noses  so  close  together  as  frequently  to  touch,  and 
when  finally  they  became  exhausted  the  exercise  ended. 

The  2d  day  after  their  arrival,  Gen.  Atkinson  having  every 
reason  to  believe  that  the  Winnebago  chiefs  had  been  treacherous, 
summoned  them  for  the  purpose  of  having  a  talk.  He  accused 
them  of  deception  and  rendering  assistance  to  the  Sacs,  and 
Winnesheik,  one  of  their  number,  having  commanded  the  Indians 
in  the  recent  battle,  and  his  sons  who  were  subsequently  brought 
in  wounded,  were  put  in  prison.  Gen  Street,  the  Indian  agent, 
who  was  present  at  the  conference,  then  told  the  chiefs  that  if  they 
would  bring  in  Black  Hawk  and  the  prophet,  it  would  be  well  with 
them,  and  the  government  would  hold  them  in  future  as  friends. 
At  this  declaration,  Deeori,  Cheater,  and  two  other  chiefs,  at  the 
head  of  a  small  party  of  Sioux  and  Winnebagoes,  started  after 
the  two  fugitives,  who  with  20  men,  during  the  battle  of  the  Bad 
Axe  fled  up  the  river.  The  Sioux  and  the  Sacs  had  been  at  war 
for  years,  and  the  former  eagerly  embraced  the  opportunity  now 
offered  to  avenge  their  wrongs  by  bringing  them  to  punishment. 
The  Winnebagoes,  although  first  sympathizing  with  the  hostile 
band,  like  civilized  man  in  the  hour  of  adversity,  \vlien  friendship 
is  mostly  needed,  proved  unfaithful.  As  soon  as  war  had  demon 
strated  the  comparative  strength  of  the  two  belligerents,  their 
cringing  and  crafty  nature  commenced  pandering  to  the  power 
of  the  conquerors. 

On  the  7th  of  August,  Gen.  Scott  who  with  9  companies  of 
infantry  had  been  sent  from  the  eastern  sea-board,  arrived  and 
assumed  command.  He  started  from  Fortress  Monroe,  and  in  18 
days  4  of  the  companies  reached  Chicago,  distant  1800  miles,  which 
before -the  existence  of  the  present  railroad  facilities  was  an 
unparelled  feat  of  celerity.  The  whole  force  was  destined  for 
Chicago,  but  the  virus  of  a  disease  more  fatal  than  the  sword 
preyed  upon  their  vitals,  and  prevented  the  accomplishment  of 
the  object  contemplated.  The  expedition,  filled  with  patriotic 
ardor,  arrived  safe  at  Detroit,  and  while  moored  at  its  wharves 
two  cases  of  a  strange  disease  made  their  appearance  and  created 
unusual  alarm.  The  army  surgeons  and  local  physicians  were 
immediately  summoned,  but  despite  all  their  efforts  two  soldiers 
attacked  were  no  more.  The  Asiatic  Cholera,  then  a  new  disease 
on  the  continent  of  America  was  raging  in  the  Atlantic  cities, 
and  had  now  broken  out  in  the  army,  causing  terror  and  gloom 
to  rest  on  every  countenance.  The  expedition  passed  on  to  Fort 
Gratiot,  distant  40  miles,  where  5  companies,  numbering  280  men, 
who,  either  unwilling  or  unable  to  proceed  further,  were  landed. 
Some  of  them  died  in  the  hospitals,  and  others  fleeing  to  avoid 
the  pestilence,  wandered  hopelessly  over  the  country,  shunned  by 
the  inhabitants,  not  through  inhumanity,  but  the  fear  of  contag 
ion,  till  nature  becoming  exhausted  they  laid  down  in  the  fields 
and  expired.  The  entire  number  with  the  exception  of  9  perished, 
without  a  friendly  hand  to  offer  them  assistance,  or  console  them 
in  the  last  moments  of  existence.  Of  the  other  4  companies  30 
died  on  the  way  to  Chicago,  and  as  a  su statute  for  burial,  were 
heaved  into  the  waters  of  the  lake.  Arriving  at  Chicago  on  the 
8th  of  July,  Fort  Dearborn  was  converted  into  a  hospital,  and 
the  families  which  had  taken  temporary  refuge  within  its  walls 


BLACK  HAWK  WAR.  407 


from  the  attacks  of  the  Indians,  were  turned  roofless  on  the 
prairie.  In  30  days  90  inmates  of  the  hospital  became  victims  of 
the  destroyer,  and  life  was  hardly  extinct  before  they  were  cast, 
unwept  and  nneoflined,  into  pits,  to  prevent  the  spread  of  the 
epidemic.* 

After  the  disease  had  abated,  the  march  was  resumed,  and  finally 
the  remnant  of  the  force  which  had  started  with  such  bright 
anticipations  of  glory,  reached  Fort  Armstrong  on  the  Mississippi, 
the  latter  part  of  August.  Here  not  only  many  of  the  survivors 
perished,  but  the  Indians  were  also  attacked,  and  large  numbers 
of  them  swept  away.  Gen.  Scott  arrived  only  in  time  to  partici 
pate  in  the  negotiations  which  followed  the  Avar,  but  in  his 
humane  exertions  in  behalf  of  the  soldiers,  he  won  laurels  far 
transcending  the  glory  of  the  most  brilliant  campaign  against  the 
enemy. 

The  further  pursuit  of  the  Indians  being  considered  unnecessary, 
on  the  arrival  of  Gen.  Scott  the  volunteers  started  for  Dixon 
to  be  mustered  out  of  service.  Arriving  thither  on  the  17th,  they 
were  discharged,  and  each  soldier  now  released  from  military  life 
returned  to  his  home,  kindred  and  friends,  pleased  with  the  con 
gratulations  which  were  ever  extended,  and  feeling  honored  in 
having  been  instrumental  in  freeing  the  country  from  the  ravages 
of  the  merciless  foe. 

Many  of  the  noted  men  of  the  State  had  been  engaged  in  the 
war,  and  man}',  at  that  time  unknown  to  fame,  afterward  attained 
the  highest  honors  in  the  gift  of  the  country  which  they  risked 
their  lives  to  defend.  Of  the  former  class  were  Eeynolds  and 
Scott,  men  of  State  and  national  reputations.  Of  the  latter,  S.  H. 
Anderson  became  lieutenant  governor,  James  Turney,  attorney  gen 
eral  ;  W.  L.  D.  Ewing,  auditor  of  public  accounts ;  Sidney  Breese, 
chief  justice  of  the  State;  John  Thomas  and  John  Dement,  State 
treasurers ;  Thomas  Ford  and  Joseph  Duncan,  governors  of  the 
State;  Henry  Dodge  governor  of  Wisconsin,  and  General  Taylor 
and  Abraham  Lincoln  presidents  of  the  United  States.  Jefferson 
Davis,  the  rival  of  the  latter,  also  participated  in  the  war,  but  his 
future  career  as  the  chief  of  the  great  rebellion,  gave  him  a  fame 
in  striking  contrast  with  that  which  was  won  by  the  martyr  of 
liberty  and  the  savior  of  his  country. 

Among  the  many  who  distinguished  themselves  in  the  war, 
there  was  no  one  more  efficient  as  an  officer,  or  more  highly 
respected  by  the  people  of  Illinois,  than  Gen.  James  D.  Henry. 
His  great  sagacity  and  determination  at  Fort  Winnebago,  gave  a 
new  direction  to  the  campaign  and  enabled  the  army  to  overtake 
the  Indians.  He  was  the  chief  commander  in  the  battle  of  the 
Wisconsin,  which  followed  the  first  decisive  victory  of  the  war, 
and  the  battle  of  the  Bad  axe  which  closed  it,  was  the  result  of 
his  generalship  and  not  of  the  superior  officers  who  endeavored  to 
prevent  his  sharing  in  its  dangers  and  honors. 

"•The  burial  of  the  dead  was  entrusted  to  a  sergeant,  who  executed  his  duty  with 
military  precision,  as  soon  as  life  was  extinct.  On  one  occasion  several  were  removed 
from  the  hospital  to  be  buried  at  once.  The  grave  had  already  been  dug,  and  the 
bodies  wrapped  in  blankets  were  laid  by  its  side,  the  last  military  honors  had  been  paid, 
and  nothing  more  remained  to  complete  the  service  but  to  tumble  them  one  alter 
another  in,  when  a  corpse  appeared  to  move.  A  brother  soldier  resorting  thither,  his 
old  messmate,  opened  his  eyes  and  asked  him  for  some  water  The  sergeant  said  they 
might  take  him  back,  as  he  was  not  yet  ready  for  burial.  The  order  was  obeyed  and 
the  soldier  lived  many  years  thereafter."  Brown's  History  of  Illinois. 


408  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

He  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  in  the  year  1822  emigra 
ted  to  Illinois  and  located  at  Edwardsville.  Born  in  poverty  and 
obscurity,  his  earlier  years  were  entirely  devoted  to  manual  toil, 
and  when  he  attained  the  age  of  manhood  he  was  hardly  able  to 
read  or  Avrite.  For  some  time  after  his  arrival  at  .Edwardsville,  he 
worked  as  a  mechanic  during  the  day,  and  at  night  attended 
school  for  the  purpose  of  improving  his  education.  After  leaving 
school,  and  engaging  for  a  short  time  in  the  mercantile  business, 
he  removed  in  1826  to  Springfield,  and  was  elected  sheriff  of  San- 
gamon  county.  The  integrity  and  sound  judgment  exhibited  in 
discharging  the  duties  of  this  office,  attracted  the  attention  of 
Gov.  Key n olds,  who  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  made  him  one 
of  his  aids.  He  was  exceedingly  modest  and  retiring  till  his  pas 
sions  were  fully  aroused,  and  then  he  showed  an  intensity  of 
feeling  and  an  iron  will,  which  was  irresistible  so  far  as  he  had 
power  to  act.  The  fear  of  nothing  except  his  maker  ever  entered 
his  breast,  and  he  knew  and  cared  as  little  for  danger  and  death 
as  a  marble  statue.  His  extreme  sensibility  and  diffidence  never 
permitted  him  to  appear  in  the  society  of  ladies.  At  the  close  of 
the  Black  Hawk  war,  the  citizens  of  Springfield  gave  him  a 
splendid  reception  in  honor  of  his  services,  but  he  never  entered 
the  apartments  where  the  ladies  presided.  At  the  close  of  the 
war  he  was  the  most  popular  man  in  Illinois,  and  had  he  lived 
he  could  have  been  elected  to  any  office  in  the  gift  of  the  people. 
His  health  and  constitution  were  origin  ally  good,  but  the  hardships 
of  the  war  induced  consumption,  which  caused  his  death,  on  the 
4th  of  March,  1834,  at  New  Orleans,  whither  he  had  gone  for  the 
benefit  of  the  climate  and  medical  treatment.  Such  was  his  sin 
gular  modesty,  that  during  his  sickness  in  the  city,  he  never 
mentioned  his  connection  with  the  Black  Hawk  Avar,  and  no  one 
knew  he  was  Gen.  Henry  until  after  his  death. 

While  Henry  was  duly  appreciated  at  home,  he  never  received 
abroad  the  honors  to  which  he  was  entitled.  The  news  of  the  war 
first  made  its  appearance  in  The  Galenian,  a  newspaper  printed 
at  Galena,  and  the  only  sheet  issued  north  of  Springfield.  Dr. 
Philleo,  the  editor  belonged  to  Dodge's  battalion,  and  when  from 
time  to  time  he  chronicled  the  events  of  the  war  and  sent  them 
home  for  publication,  he  gave  his  own  command  a  prominence  in 
the  Avar  to  Avhich  it  Avas  not  entitled.  By  a  wilful  perversion  of 
facts,  he  never  mentioned  Henry  except  as  a  subordinate  officer, 
while  Major  Dodge  was  spoken  of  as  a  general,  thus  creating  the 
impression  that  the  former  commanded  a  brigade,  and  the  latter 
a  battalion,  when  the  reverse  was  true.  His  letters  were  copied 
in  the  newspapers  throughout  the  U.  S.,  as  authentic  news,  and  in 
a  number  of  cities  it  was  asserted  that  Dodge  Avas  the  principal 
commander  of  the  war,  and  the  names  of  Henry,  Atkinson  and 
Taylor,  if  mentioned  at  all,  were  only  in  connection  with  subordi 
nate  positions.  This  delusion  Avas  afterward  of  immense  advan 
tage  to  Major  Dodge,  but  independent  of  the  prestige  thus 
acquired,  he  was  a  man  of  great  popularity  and  influence. 

On  the  27th  of  August,  Decori  and  Cheaters,  after  an  ab'sence 
of  20  days,  returned  Avith  Black  HaAvk,  the  prophet,  and  a  number 
of  other  prisoners.  On  handing  them  over  to  Gen.  Street,  Decori 
said  :  "Father,  we  deliA^er  these  men  into  your  custody.  We  do 
not  entrust  them  even  to  your  brother,  the  chief  of  the  warriors, 


BLACK  HAWK  WAR.  409 


but  to  you,  because  we  know  you,  and  we  believe  you  are  our 
friend.  We  want  you  to  keep  them  safe  ;  if  they  are  to  suffer  we 
do  not  want  to  see  it.  Wait  until  we  are  gone  before  it  is  done. 
Father,  many  little  birds  have  been  flying  about  our  ears  of  late, 
and  we  thought  they  whispered  to  us  that  there  was  evil  intended 
for  us,  and  we  now  hope  they  will  let  us  alone."  Gen.  Street 
replied  :  "My  children,  you  have  done  well.  I  told  you  to  bring 
these  men  to  me,  and  you  have  done  so.  I  assured  Gen.  Atkin 
son  that  if  these  men  were  in  your  country,  you  would  find  them 
and  bring  them  to  me,  and  now  I  can  say  much  for  your  good.  I 
will  go  down  to  Rock  Island  with  the  prisoners,  and  I  wish  you  as 
you  have  brought  them,  especially  to  go  with  me,  Avith  such  other 
chiefs  and  warriors  as  you  may  select." 

In  pursuance  of  the  treaty  to  be  entered  into,  on  the  10th  of 
September  Black  Hawk,  his  two  sons,  Wishick,  IsTaopope,  the 
prophet,  and  a  number  of  Winnebago  chiefs,  were  sent  down  to 
Rock  Island,  where  Keokuk  and  his  warriors  were  to  meet  them. 
Likewise  the  remnant  of  Black  Hawk's  band  also  followed  him  to 
to  the  same  place.  Such  was  their  utter  destitution  that  they 
excited  the  compassion  of  all  who  saw  them,  and  Gen.  Scott,  who 
was  as  sympathetic  as  brave,  kindly  bestowed  on  them  everything 
that  could  supply  their  wants  or  relieve  their  suffering.  On  the 
15th  a  treaty  was  made  with  the  Winuebagoes,  whereby  they  sold 
to  the  United  States  all  their  lands  east  of  the  Mississippi  and 
west  of  Green  bay.  As  a  consideration,  the  government  agreed 
to  give  them  a  large  region  of  country  west  of  the  river,  to  pay 
them  $70,000  in  ten  annual  installments,  to  maintain  schools  for 
the  education  of  their  children  for  a  period  of  20  years,  and  to  in 
struct  them  in  agriculture  and  furnish  them  with  cattle  and 
implements  for  its  practical  introduction  among  them. 

To  escape  from  the  cholera,  which  was  still  raging  at  Rock  Is 
land  among  the  Indians  and  eastern  troops,  Gen.  Scott  and  Gov. 
Reynolds,  with  the  principal  chiefs  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  fell 
down  the  river  to  Jefferson  Barracks,  where  they  entered  into  a 
treaty  with  them  also.  They  ceded  to  the  government  the  tract 
of  land  embraced  in  the  present  limits  of  Iowa  and  a  part  of  Wis 
consin,  and  received  in  return,  besides  some  minor  considerations, 
an  annuity  of  $20,000  for  a  period  of  30  years.  As  a  reward  to 
Keokuk  and  his  friendly  band,  a  reservation  of  40  miles  square 
was  made  to  them  in  Iowa,  including  their  principal  village.  It 
was  also  proposed  to  Keokuk  to  establish  schools  for  the  benefit 
of  his  tribe,  but  he  rejected  the  proposition,  alleging  that  it  might 
do  well  enough  for  the  whites,  but  he  had  observed  that  it  made 
Indians  worse  to  educate  them.  By  these  treaties  the  United 
States  obtained  30,000,000  acres  of  land,  at  a  cost  truly  insignifi 
cant  compared  with  their  real  value.  Such,  however,  is  the 
measures  usually  meted  by  the  stronger  to  the  weaker  power,  and 
such  is  the  fate  of  savage  races  when  brought  in  contact  with  the 
diplomacy  of  civilized  men.  Viewed  in  the  light  of  a  commercial 
transaction,  such  a  disparity  of  values  seems  monstrous;  but  Avhen 
we  consider  the  Earth  is  the  common  heritage  of  the  human 
family,  and  that  an  advanced  state  of  the  arts  and  sciences  is 
essential  to  its  development,  we  become  reconciled  to  it  as  anecessity 
in  the  onward  march  of  civilization. 

The  Indian  prisoners  who  were  to  be  retained  during  the  pleasure 
of  the  President,  were  confined  in  the  barracks  till  the  following 


410  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

spring.     Of  the  hundreds  who  visited  them  during  the  winter,  one 
of  them  writes : 

"  We  were  immediately  struck  with  admiration  at  the  gigantic  and 
symmetrical  figures  of  most  of  the  warriors,  who  seemed  as  they  re 
clined  in  their  native  ease  and  gracefulness,  with  their  half  naked  bodies 
exposed  to  view,  rather  like  statues  from  some  master  hand  than  beings 
of  a  race  whom  we  had  heard  characterized  as  degenerate  and  debased." 

Keokuk  visited  them  the  following  spring,  and  made  great  ex 
ertions  for  their  release,  offering  to  become  responsible  for  their 
future  conduct,  but  a  message  was  received  by  Gen.  Atkinson 
from  the  Secretary  of  War,  ordering  them  to  be  sent  to  the 
national  capital.  Under  the  escort  of  an  officer  of  the  army  on 
the  22d  of  April,  1833,  they  reached  Washington,  and  had  an 
interview  with  the  President.  Black  Hawk  closed  his  speech, 
delivered  ou  this  occasion,  in  the  following  words:  "We  did  not 
expect  to  conquer  the  whites — they  have  too  many  houses,  too 
many  men.  I  took  up  the  hatchet  for  my  part,  to  revenge  injuries 
which  my  people  could  no  longer  endure.  Had  I  borne  them 
longer  without  striking,  my  people  would  have  said  Black  Hawk 
is  a  woman ;  he  is  too  old  to  be  a  chief;  he  is  no  Sac.  These  reflec 
tions  caused  me  to  raise  the  war-whoop.  I  say  no  more,  it  is 
known  to  you.  Keokuk  once  was  here ;  you  took  him  by  the 
hand,  and  when  he  wished  to  return  to  his  home,  you  were  willing. 
Black  Hawk  expects,  like  Keokuk,  we  shall  be  permitted  to  return, 
too."  The  president  informed  them  that  they  must  go  to  Fortress 
Monroe  and  remain  there  till  the  conduct  of  their  people  satisfied 
him  that  they  intended  to  comply  with  the  stipulations  of  the 
treaty.  He  also  assured  them  that  their  women  and  children, 
for  whom  they  expressed  solicitude,  should  be  protected  from  their 
enemies.  On  the  26th  of  April,  they  set  off  for  the  Fortress, 
where  they  remained  until  the  4th  of  July  following,  when  an  order 
was  received  from  the  president  directing  their  release  and  return 
iiome.  The  kind  treatment  of  Colonel  Eustice,  in  command  of  the 
prison,  had  so  won  the  friendship  of  the  captives,  that  when  about 
to  leave  Black  Hawk  waited  ou  the  colonel  and  said:  "The 
memory  of  your  friendship  will  remain  till  the  Great  Spirit  says 
it  is  time  for  Black  Hawk  to  sing  his  death  song."  Presenting 
him  hith  a  hunting  shirt  and  some  eagle's  feathers,  he  added : 
"Accept  these,  my  brother;  I  have  given  some  like  them  to  the 
White  Beaver;  accept  them  as  a  memorial  of  Black  Hawk.  When 
he  is  far  away  they  will  serve  to  remind  you  of  him." 

From  Fortress  Monroe  they  were  taken  to  Baltimore,  where  they 
had  another  interview  with  the  President,  who  informed  them  that 
Gen.  Atkinson  and  Keokuk  their  principal  chief  were  anxious  for 
their  return  home,  and  that  he  had  ordered  Major  Garland,  who 
would  accompany  them  thither,  first  to  conduct  them  through 
some  of  the  principal  cities,  that  they  might  witness  the  power  ot 
the  United  States  and  learn  their  owu  inability  to  cope  with  them 
in  war.  "  Go  back,"  said  he,  "  and  listen  to  the  counsel  of  Keo 
kuk  and  other  chiefs;  bury  the  tomahawk  and  live  iu  peace  with 
the  frontiers,  and  I  pray  the  Great  Spirit  to  give  a  smooth  path 
and  a  fair  sky  for  your  return." 

Leaving  Baltimore  they  reached  Philadelphia  on  the  10th  of 
June,  and  remained  long  enough  to  see  the  principal  objects  of  in 
terest  in  the  city  and  exhibited  themselves  to  the  curious  thou- 


BLACK   HAWK  WAR.  411 


sands  who  flocked  to  see  them.  Black  Hawk  in  referring  to  his 
conduct  with  the  United  States,  said  to  the  multitude  about  him: 
"  My  heart  grew  bitter  against  the  whites  arid  my  hands  strong. 
I  dug  up  the  tomahawk  and  led  my  warriors  on  to  battle.  I 
fought  hard  and  much  blood  was  shed,  but  the  white  men  were 
mighty;  they  were  many  and  my  people  failed.77  On  the  morning 
of  the  14th  they  started  for  Xew  York  and  arrived  at  the  Battery, 
in  the  midst  of  a  vast  assemblage  of  people  who  had  been  drawn 
together  to  witness  the  ascent  of  a  balloon.  This  novel  spec 
tacle  greatly  astonished  the  Indians,  and  one  of  them  asked 
the  prophet  if  the  aeronaut  was  going  to  the  Great  Spirit.  On 
landing,  the  press  of  the  multitude  which  crowded  to  see  them  was 
so  great  that  they  could  not  reach  the  hotel  till  they  were  placed 
in  carriages  and  committed  to  the  care  of  the  police.  While  in 
the  city  they  were  treated  with  marked  civility,  being  conducted 
with  ceremony  to  theatres,  public  gardens,  and  other  places  of  in 
terest,  and  receiving  many  handsome  presents. 

Major  Garland  had  been  directed  to  conduct  the  prisoners  as 
far  north  as  Boston,  but  while  in  ^Xew  York  he  was  ordered  to  as 
cend  the  Hudson  and  proceed  with  them  directly  to  their  home  in 
the  West.  In  pursuance  of  the  arrangements,  on  the  22d  of  June 
the  party  started  westward,  to  the  great  disappointment  of  the 
Bostonians,  who  wanted  an  opportunity  to  see  and  lionize  the  sav 
age  disturbers  of  the  Xorthwest.  At  Albany,  Buffalo,  Detroit, 
and  other  places  along  the  route,  the  attentions  paid  them  ren 
dered  their  progress  through  the  country  a  triumphal  procession, 
instead  of  the  custody  of  prisoners  in  the  hands  of  an  officer.  In 
passing  the  site  of  the  old  Sac  village  at  the  mouth  of  liock  river, 
Black  Hawk  became  melancholy  and  expressed,  many  regrets  at 
the  causes  which  compelled  him  as  an  exile  to  leave  it.  The  host 
of  warriors  whom  he  delighted  to  lead  to  battle  were  now  no  more ; 
his  village  was  reduced  to  ashes,  his  family  was  dispersed  among 
strangers,  and  he  a  suppliant  for  a  home  in  a  foreign  country. 
Finally,  about  the  1st  of  August,  the  party  reached  liock  Island, 
which  had  been  selected  by  Major  Garland  as  a  suitable  place  for 
the  liberation  of  the  captives.  The  river  at  this  place  is  a  beau 
tiful  sheet  of  clear,  swift  running  water,  a  mile  wide  and  divided 
near  the  centre  by*  Rock  Island,  which  rises  to  a  considerable 
height  above  the  surface  and  stretches  several  miles  up  and  down 
the  river.  It  originally  produced  nuts  and  a  variety  of  other  wild 
fruits,  and  being  in  the  rapids,  it  was  a  favorite  resort  for  Indian 
fisherman  who  caught  large  quantities  of  excellent  fish  in  the 
swift,  pure  waters  that  wash  its  rocky  base.  There  was  an  Indian 
tradition  that  the  island  was  inhabited  by  a  good  spirit  which 
dwelt  in  a  cave  among  the  rocks.  It  had  a  plumage  white  as 
snow,  wings  much  larger  than  those  of  the  swan,  and  its  voice  in 
the  Sac  language  was  the  sweetest  music.  The  good  spirit  had 
sent  it  to  teach  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  wisdom  and  goodness  and  as 
a  guardian  divinity  to  preside  over  the  destinies  of  the  nation.  In 
former  times  it  had  frequently  been  seen,  but  alarmed  at  the 
building  of  Fort  Armstrong  and  the  wickedness  of  the  white  men, 
it  spread  its  snowy  pinions  and  was  seen  no  more. 

The  white-washed  walls  of  the  fort  loomed  up  from  the  high 
bluifs  at  the  lower  extremity  of  the  island,  giving  to  the  fortress 
the  appearance  of  an  enchanted  castle  when  seen  from  a  distance 


412  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

in  the  beauty  of  the  surrounding'  scenery.  From  its  towers  could 
be  seen  the  blue  hills,  which  rising  by  a  gentle  acclivity  from  the 
river  follow  its  meandering  course  and  bound  the  valley  through 
which  it  flows.  The  valley  is  several  miles  in  width,  and  at  that 
time  was  interspersed  with  groves  of  timber,  which  gave  it  a  ver 
nal  sweetness  and  beauty  rarely  equalled.  Kock  river  could  be 
seen  in  the  distance,  forcing  its  pure  waters  over  a  rocky  rapid 
into  the  floods  of  the  Mississippi.  On  the  north  bank  of  the  for 
mer  was  the  site  of  the  Sac  village,  and  directly  opposite,  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  latter,  that  of  the  Foxes,  which  time  had  con 
secrated  as  the  Jerusalem  of  these  tribes.  No  other  locality  could 
have  awakened  in  the  mind  of  Black  Hawk  so  many  painful 
memories.  Here  he  had  gamboled  away  his  youth  in  its  wooded 
haunts  ;  for  half  a  century  it  had  witnessed  his  power  and  influ 
ence,  and  now  it  was  to  become  the  scene  of  his  submission  to  a 
hated  rival. 

Immediately  after  his  arrival,  Major  Garland  sent  out  runners 
to  summon  the  neighboring  Indians  to  meet  him  in  council.  Keo- 
kuk  and  his  braA^es  had  been  out  on  a  buffalo  hunt,  and  were  about 
20  miles  below  on  their  way  to  the  fort  in  anticipation  of  meeting 
the  captives.  He  informed  the  messengers  that  he  would  be  at 
Kock  Island  at  noon  the  following  day,  and  accordingly,  at  the 
appointed  time  his  fleet  was  seen  ascending  the  river,  the  wild 
songs  and  shouts  of  his  men  echoing  from  shore  to  shore.  A  large 
craft,  covered  with  a  spacious  canopy  and  bearing  the  American 
flag,  moved  in  the  van,  carrying  Keokuk  and  his  three  wives. 
About  20  more  canoes  in  the  rear,  each  containing  several  war 
riors,  completed  the  imposing  pageant  which  gallantly  moved 
over  the  still  waters.  After  ascending  the  stream  some  distance 
above  the  fort  and  returning,  a  landing  was  effected  on  the  east 
ern  bank  opposite  the  encampment  of  Black  Hawk,  where  the 
warriors  spent  several  hours  in  painting  their  faces  and  equiping 
themselves  with  implements  of  war.  These  preparations  being 
completed,  the  party  passed  directly  across  the  river,  and  Keokuk 
landing  first  turned  to  his  warriors  and  said  :  '-The  Great  Spirit 
has  sent  our  brother  back  tons,  let  ns  shake  hands  Avith  him  in 
friendship.  Then  fully  armed  he  slowly  approached  and  saluted 
Black  Hawk,  who  was  leaning  on  his  staff  in  front  of  his  lodge. 
His  followers,  in  like  manner,  having  taken  the  old  man  by  the 
hand,  the  pipe  was  introduced,  and  after  an  hour  of  pleasant  civ- 
ilties,  Keokuk  and  his  braves  arose  and  took  leave  of  the  captives, 
promising  to  see  them  again  at  the  council.  The  fort  in  the  mean 
time  had  been  fitted  up  for  this  purpose.  A  grand  convocation  of 
Indians  assembled  the  next  day  to  witness  the  liberation  of  the 
prisoners.  At  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  Keokuk  and  100  war 
riors  proceeded  to  the  fort  and  were  shown  seats  in  the  coun 
cil  rooms.  Not  long  after  the  captives  made  their  appearance,  and 
as  they  entered  the  room  the  chiefs  who  had  preceded  them  gave 
them  a  cordial  greeting.  Black  Hawk  and  his  son,  who  had  pre 
viously  objected  to  the  council  as  unnecessary  and  painful  to  their 
feelings,  seemed  much  dejected.  In  the  midst  of  the  profound 
silence,  which  for  a  time  prevailed  in  the  hall,  Major  Garland  arose 
and  said  to  the  assembled  chiefs  that  he  was  much  pleased  at  the 
fraternal  feeling  which  they  had  extended  to  the  prisoners  since 
their  arrival,  and  he  trusted  that  this  would  continue,  and  there- 


BLACK  HAWK  WAR.  413 


after  they  would  dwell  together  in  harmony  and  peace.  He  then 
caused  a  letter  from  the  President  to  be  read,  admonishing  the 
captives  to  cultivate  the  friendship  of  their  neighbors,  to  hunt  and 
support  their  families,  and  threatening  the  severest  penalties  if 
they  again  disturbed  the  frontiers.  Keokuk  replied:  "We  re 
ceive  our  brothers  in  friendship.  Our  hearts  are  good  towards 
them.  They  have  listened  to  bad  counsel;  now  their  ears  are 
closed.  I  give  my  hand  to  them;  when  they  shake  it  they  shake 
the  hands  of  all.  I  will  shake  hands  with  them  and  their  I  am 
done." 

Major  Garland,  to  be  more  explicit,  again  arose  and  stated  that 
it  must  be  distinctly  understood  that  the  two  bands  of  the  Sacs 
and  Foxes  must  now  be  merged  into  one;  that  Black  Hawk  must 
listen  to  the  council  of  Keokuk,  and  that  the  President  would 
hereafter  recognise  the  latter  as  the  principal  chief  of  the  nation. 
"When  Black  Hawk  understood  that  he  was  required  to  conform  to 
the  advice  of  his  rival,  he  became  deeply  agitated  and  his  excited 
passions  burst  forth  with  uncontrollable  violence.  With  intense  in 
dignation  of,  countenance  and  the  vehemence  which  characterizes 
the  savage  when  roused  to  action,  as  soon  as  he  could  control  his 
feelings  sufficient  to  articulate,  he  exclaimed  :  "I  am  a  man;  I  will 
not  conform  to  the  counsel  of  any  one.  I  will  act  for  myself;  no 
one  shall  govern  me.  I  am  old ;  my  hair  is  gray.  I  once  gave 
counsel  to  my  young  men ;  am  I  now  to  conform  to  others  ?  1  will 
soon  go  the  Great  Spirit  where  I  shall  be  at  rest.  What  I  said  to 
our  great  father  in  Washington  I  say  again.  I  will  always  listen 
to  him.  I  am  done."  Keokuk  apologized  for  his  indiscretion,  say 
ing:  "  Our  brother  who  has  come  to  us  has  spoken,  but  he  did  it 
in  wrath;  his  tongue  was  double  and  his  words  were  not  like  a 
Sac.  He  knew  they  were  bad.  He  trembled  like  the  oak  whose 
roots  have  been  wasted  by  many  rains.  He  is  old  ;  what  he  said 
let  us  forget.  He  says  he  did  not  mean  it;  he  wishes  it  forgot 
ten.  I  have  spoken  for  him.  What  I  have  said  are  his  own  words." 

Major  Garland  now  informed  the  humbled  chieftain  that  he  was 
satisiied  that  his  conduct  in  the  future  would  be  acceptable  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  and  that  he  and  his  fellow  prisoners 
might  now  consider  themselves  at  liberty.  The  council  then  ad 
journed,  and  early  the  next  morning  the  Indians  crossed  the  Mis 
sissippi  and  dispersed  to  their  respective  homes  in  the  forest. 

A  violent  war  having  subsequently  broken  out  between  the 
Sacs  and  Foxes  and  Sioux,  in  the  autumn  of  1837  Black  Hawk 
again  visited  Washington  with  a  deputation  of  chiefs  who  had 
been  invited  thither  by  the  President,  for  the  purpose  of  adjusting 
their  difficulties.  After  their  return  he  settled  in  wrhat  is  IIOAV  Lee 
county,  Iowa,  where  he  spent  the  Avinter.  In  the  spring  of  1838 
he  moved  his  family  to  the  Des  Moines,  and  built  him  a  dwelling 
near  the  village  of  his  tribe,  20  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  river. 
He  furnished  his  new  wigwam  after  the  manner  of  the  whites,  cul 
tivated  a  few  acres  in  corn,  melons  and  other  vegetables,  and 
when  visited  by  the  Americans  entertained  them  with  true  Indian 
hospitality.  The  following  autumn  he  visited  an  Indian  trader, 
near  Burlington,  and  as  the  result  of  exposure,  on  his  return  he 
contracted  a  disease  which  terminated  his  life.  His  countrymen 
with  the  reverential  respect  which  they  had  for  the  dead,  asseni- 


414  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


bled  to  bury  the  mortal  remains  of  their  departed  chief.  The 
body  dressed  in  a  uniform  which  had  been  presented  to  him  in  one 
of  his  eastern  tours  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  was  born  to  its  last 
resting  place  by  four  of  his  warriors.  Tlue  grave  was  an  excavation, 

0  feet  deep,  and  into  this  the  body  was  deposited  in  an  upright  pos 
ture,  with  the  right  hand  resting  on  a  cane  which  had  been  pre 
sented   to  him  by  Henry  Clay.     A  mound  several  feet  high  was 
thrown  up  over  the  grave,  at  the   head  of  Avhich  was  planted  a 
staff  bearing  the  flag  of  the  United  States,  and  at  the  foot  a  post 
on  which  was  carved  in  Indian  characters,  the  age  of  the  deceased. 
Those  in  attendance  tit  the  funeral  expressed  their   sorrow  after 
the  usual  manner  of  the  tribe,  by  slinking  hands  and  uttering 
prayers  that  the   spirit   of  the  chief  might  have  a  safe  entrance 
into  the  land  prepared  for  the  reception  of  souls. 

Thus,  after  an  adventurous  and  shifting  life  of  72  years,  Black 
Hawk  was  gathered  to  his  fathers.  The  banner  of  war  fell  nerve 
less  from  his  grasp;  his  voice  at  the  council  fire  was  heard  no 
more,  and  his  restless  ambition  was  stilled  in  the  sleep  of  death. 
While  the  rustling  October  leaves,  moved  by  the  sighing  winds, 
chanted  a  requiem  over  his  ashes,  the  liberated  shade  sped  to 
the  happy  hunting  grounds  beyond  the  setting  sun,  which,  ac 
cording  to  Indian  theology,  only  the  good  and  the  brave  are  per 
mitted  to  enter. 

Perhaps  no  one  of  his  race  excelled  Black  Hawk  in  humanity 
and  love  of  country.  He  always  repelled  with  indignation  the 
charge  that  he  murdered  women  and  children,  or  mistreated  his 
prisoners.  His  patriotism  is  seen  in  the  last  speech  he  ever  made 
in  the  presence  of  the  Americans,  who  had  driven  him  from  the 
ancestral  seat  of  his  tribe:  ulioek  river  was  a  beautiful  country. 

1  like  my  towns,  my  cornfields,  and  the  home  of  my  people.     1 
fought  for  it;  it  is  now  yours;  it  will  produce  you  good  crops." 
These  sentiments  were  not  only  creditable  to  the   heart  of  the 
speaker,  but  essential  in  forming  a  just  estimate  of  his  motives 
in  contesting  the  removal  of  his  people  from  their  native  land. 
In  his  domestic  relations,  he  was  kind  and  effectionate,  and  unlike 
other  chiefs,  never  had  but  one  wife.*     After  his  campaign  in  the 
British  army,   his   first   act  Avas   to   visit  his  family.     "I  have 
started,"  says  he,  "to  visit  my  wife  and  children.     I  found  them 
well,  and  my  boys  growing  finely.     It  is  not  customary  for  us  to 
say  much  about  our  women,  as  they  generally  perform  their  part 
cheerfully,  and  never  interfere  with  the  business  belonging  to  the 
men.     This  is  the  only  wife  I  ever  had,  or  ever  will  have;  she  is  a 
good  woman,  and  teaches  my  boys  to  be  brave."    In  his  private 
relations  his  integrity  was  not  questioned,  and  when  in  a  public 
capacity  he    disregarded  treaties,   he   was   actuated  rather    by 

*It  is  said,  however,  upon  good  authority,  that  on  a  certain  occasion,  his  vow  of 
exclusive  devotion  to  one  wife  had  well  nigh  been  broken.  While  visiting  a  respec 
table  frontier  settler,  many  years  since,  he  became  pleased  with  the  comely  daughter 
of  his  host,  and  having  seriously  contemplated  the  matter,  decided  in  favor  of  the 
expediency  of  adding  the  pale-faced  beauty  to  the  domestic  circle  of  his  wigwam.  He 
accordingly  expr-essed  his  wishes  to  the  father  of  the  young  lady,  and  proffered  to 
give  him  a  horse  in  exchange  for  his  daughter,  but  to  his  surprisfc,  the  offer  was  declin 
ed.  Some  days  afterward,  he  returned  and  tendered  two  line  horses,  but  still  the 
father  refused  to  make  the  arrangement.  The  old  chief's  love  for  the  young  lady, 
growing  stronger,  in  proportion  to  the  difficulty  of  gaining  her  father's  consent,  sub 
sequently  he  offered  six  horses  for  her,  but  even  this  munificent  price  was  rejected  by 
the  mercenary  father.  Black  Hawk  now  gave  up  the  negotiation,  not  a  little 
surprised  at  the  high  value  which  the  white  men  placed  upon  their  daughters 


BLACK  HAWK  WAR.  415 


wrongs  which  he  had  suffered,  than  want  of  respect  for  his  obliga- 
ious.  A  dispassionate  view  of  the  Avar  and  its  causes,  will  show 
that  he  had  grievances,  and  when  it  was  impossible  to  redress 
them  in  a  peaceable  manner,  appealed  to  arms  as  the  only  arbi 
trament. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 
1834-1838— ADMINISTRATION  OF    GOVERNOR  DUNCAN. 

The  Campaign — Life  and  Character  of  Duncan — More  State  Banks 
and  what  became  of  them — Slavery  Agitation  by  Lovejoy — His 
Death. 


At  the  general  election  of  August  1834,  Joseph  Duncan  was 
elected  governor  of  the  State.  His  principal  opponent  was  ex- 
Lieut.  Gov.  Kinney,  who  was  again  an  aspirant  for  gubernatorial 
honors.  Duncan  was  elected  by  a  handsome  majority:  17,330  votes 
to  Kinney's  10,224 ;  Eobert  McLaughlin  received  4,320  and  James 
Adams  887  votes  for  the  same  office.  The  candidates  for  lieutenant- 
governor  were  Alexander  M.  Jenkins,  who  received  13,795  votes ; 
James  Evans,  8,009 ;  William  B.  Archer,  8,573,  and  Samuel  Web 
ster,  69. 

Gov.  Duncan  was  born  at  Paris,  Kentucky,  February  23d,  1794. 
We  have  already  noted  his  services  in  the  war  of  1812,  under  Col. 
Croglian  at  Fort  Stephenson,  when  he  was  yet  quite  young.  In 
Illinois  he  first  appeared  in  a  public  capacity  as  major-general  of 
the  militia,  a  position  which  his  military  fame  procured  him.  Sub 
sequently  he  became  a  State  senator  from  Jackson  county,  and  is 
honorably  mentioned  for  introducing  the  first  bill  providing  for  a- 
free  school  system.  In  182G,  as  we  have  seen,  he  gained  great 
eclat  by  beating  Daniel  P.  Cook  for  Congress,  when  in  previous 
contests  with  the  latter,  such  men  as  John  Mc'Lean,  Eli  as  K. 
Kane,  and  Gov.  Bond  had  met  with  disaster.  From  that  time 
down  to  his  election  as  governor,  Duncan  retained  his  seat  in  Con 
gress.  The  first  and  bloodless  year  of  the  Black  Hawk  war  he 
was  appointed  by  Gov.  Keynolds  brigadier-general  of  the  volun- 
unteers,  and  conducted  his  brigade  to  Rock  Island.  Duncan  was 
a  man  of  limited  education,  but  with  naturally  fine  abilities  he 
profited  greatly  by  his  various  public  services,  and  gathered  a  store 
of  knowledge  regarding  public  affairs  which  served  him  a  ready 
purpose.  He  possessed  a  clear  judgement,  decision,  confidence  in 
himself  and  moral  courage  to  carry  out  his  convictions  of  right. 
In  his  deportment  he  was  well  adapted  to  gain  the  admiration  of 
the  people.  His  intercourse  with  them  was  affable,  courteous  and 
dignified.  He  inspired  confidence  and  attached  to  himself  un 
swerving  friends.* 

During  the  gubernatorial  campaign  Duncan  was  absent  in  W7ash- 
ington  attending  congress,  and  did  not  personally  participate  in 

*His  portrait  at  the  Governor's  mansion  presents  him  with  swarthy  complexion,  high 
cheek  bones,  broad  forehead,  piercing  black  eyes  and  straight  black  hair. 

416 


DUKOAS'S   ADMINISTRATION.  417 

it,  but  addressed  circulars  to  Ms  constituents.  His  election  was 
attributed  to  the  circumstance  of  his  absence,  because  his  estrang- 
inent  from  Jackson — erst  his  political  idol — and  the  Democracy, 
largely  in  ascendency  in  the  State,  was  really  complete ;  but  while 
his  defection  was  well  known  to  his  Whig  friends,  and  also  to 
the  leading  Jackson  men  of  this  State,  the  latter  were  unable  to 
carry  conviction  of  the  fact  to  the  masses.  The  dissemination  of 
public  events  was  not  then  facilitated  by  means  of  the  telegraph 
and  press,  as  now.  President  Jackson  had  crushed  the  U.  S.  Bank 
with  an  arbitrary  if  not  tyranical  hand;  he  had  vetoed  bills  con 
taining  appropriations  for  improving  the  channel  of  the  great 
Wabash  river  and  for  the  harbor  at  Chicago.  These  were  West 
ern  measures  which  Duncan  had  greatly  at  heart,  and  hence  he 
refused  to  longer  follow  the  dictatorial  course  of  the  "  Military 
Chieftain."  His  personal  admiration  of  the  old  hero  was  changed 
to  hatred  of  his  acts.  This  course,  so  far  as  his  political  for 
tune  was  concerned,  was  an  error;  but  no  one  could  say  that 
the  step  thus  taken  was  not  sincere.  He  had  preferment  to  gain 
by  remaining  attached  to  the  dominant  party,  and  nothing  but 
disappointment  to  look  forward  to  in  breaking  with  it.  He  com 
mitted  the  unpardonable  sin  in  politics,  and  was  charged  with  in 
consistency  and  betrayal  of  his  former  supporters.* 

These  will  ever  be  the  the  fossilized  views  of  men  regarding 
party  ties  or  affiliations.  Under  such  circumstances  no  concession 
is  made  by  old  party  associates  for  the  changed  condition  of  the 
times;  for  the  death  of  former  issues  or  the  obtrusion  of  live  ones, 
u n encountered  in  past  strifes.  Ko  leniency  for  new  public  ques 
tions  is  extended  between  violent  partisans  ;  every  man  is  guaged 
by  a  party  standard,  irrespective  of  the  principles  he  advocates. 
Duncan  stood  bravely  to  his  new  colors  and  never  regretted,  it  is 
said,  his  change,  made  upon  careful  and  candid  examination  of  the 
Jackson  measures. 

In  his  inaugural  message,  which  was  largely  devoted  to  the  dis 
cussion  of  national  politics,  Duncan  threw  off  the  mask  and  took 
a  bold  stand  against  the  course  of  the  President.  Notwithstand 
ing  his  defection,  and  the  fact  of  a  large  majority  in  the  legisla 
ture  being  opposed  to  him,  his  recommendations  relating  to  State 
affairs  were  most  fully  seconded  and  carried  out.  The  laying  out 
of  public  highways  while  the  State  was  unsettled  and  they  could 
be  made  straight  between  most  of  the  important  points  with  little 
expense  or  difficulty,  as  urged  by  him,  was  responded  to  by  the 
enactment  of  laws  not  only  giving  authority  to  county  commis 
sioners  for  these  purposes,  but  by  granting  42  State  roads  be 
sides,  and  at  the  special  session  of  the  year  following  40  more 
were  added.  Equally  liberal  were  they  with  reference  to  the  canal 
and  charters  for  railroads. 

To  the  subject  of  banking  he  called  attention  as  follows: 
"  Banks  may  be  made  exceedingly  useful  in  society,  not  only  by 
affording  an  opportunity  to  the  widow,  the  orphan  and  aged,  who 
possess  capital  without  the  capacity  of  employing  it  in  ordinary 

*  Tt  Is  related  that  an  old  constituent  rebuked  him  as  follows:  "Now  Gov.  Duncan, 
we  Jackson  men  took  you  up  when  you  was  poor  and  friendless ;  we  put  you  in  high 
office  and  enabled  you  to  make  a  fortune,  and  for  all  this  you  have  desei-ted  us  and 
gone  to  the  Adams  men.  You  was  like  a  poor  colt ;  we  caught  you  up  out  of  a  thicket, 
fed  you  on  the  best,  combed  the  burrs  out  of  your  mane  and  tail,  and  made  a  fine  horse 
of  you  ;  and  now  you  have  strayed  away  from  your  owners." — Ford's  History. 


418  HISTORY   OF    ILLINOIS. 


business,  to  invest  it  in  such  stocks;  but  by  its  use  the  young  and 
enterprising  mechanic,  merchant  and  tradesman  may  be  enabled 
more  successfully  to  carry  on  his  business  and  improve  the  coun 
try." 

To  this  the  willing  Legislature,  taking  no  lesson  of  the  disas 
trous  past,  also  responded  by  chartering  a  new  State  bank  with  a 
capital  of  $1,500,000,  and  the  privilege  to  increase  its  stock 
$1,000,000  more.  Six  branches  were  authorized ;  and  the  old  ter 
ritorial  Bank  of  Illinois,  at  Shawneetown,  which  had  suspended 
business  for  upwards  of  12  years,  was  revived  with  a  capital  of 
$300,000.  In  lieu  of  all  taxes  whatsoever,  the  State  Jmnk  was 
to  pay  ^  of  1  per  cent,  on  capital  actually  paid  in. 

The  legislature  was  not  elected  with  reference  to  the  creation  of 
a  new  bank.  It  was  not  dreamed  of  by  the  people,  who  with  much 
unanimity  were  averse  to  local  banks,  since  the  signal  failure  of 
the  bank  of  1821,  the  winding  up  of  which,  at  a  heavy  loss  to  the 
State,  had  but  four  years  before  been  provided  for  by  the  unpopu 
lar  Wiggins'  loan.  The  chartering  of  these  banks  was  the  open 
ing  of  a  Pandora's  box  out  of  which  rushed  that  multitude  of 
evil  legislation  which  followed  with  a  prompt  step  in  the  next  few 
years,  and  which  overwhelmed  the  State  with  debt  and  almost 
financial  ruin.  President  Jackson  had  vetoed  the  bill  to  re-char 
ter  the  U.  S.  Bank,  which  he  regarded  as  u  a  permanent  election 
eering  machine."  Its  old  charter  was  about  to  expire  and  an  in 
adequate  supply  of  currency  Avas  dreaded  ;  to  meet  which  the 
Secretary*  of  the  Treasury  "  had  encouraged  the  State  and  local 
banks  liberally."  This  afforded  to  Democrats  the  pretext  that  Presi 
dent  Jackson,  while  he  opposed  a  concern  of  such  magnitude  and 
"  electioneering  influence"  as  the  U.  S.  bank,  was  really  in  favor  of 
multiplying  Jocal  banks.  But  the  bank  party  was  not  without 
other  arts  and  plots  to  pass  this  measure.  Every  string  of  the 
human  heart  was  played  upon.  A.  bitter  feeling  existed  among 
the  people  in  some  portions  of  the  State  toward  non-resident  land 
owners,  who  held  their  lands  at  exhorbitant  prices,  while  every 
improvement  made  in  the  vicinity  added  to  their  A^alue. 

The  desire  was  to  burden  these  lands  with  taxes  and  force  them 
into  the  market  at  purchasable  prices.  The  vote  of  an  honorable 
senator,  violently  opposed  to  banks  from  principle,  was  obtained 
in  consideration  of  the  passage  of  a  law  to  levy  a  tax  for  road 
purposes,  in  the  military  tract,  where  the  great  body  of  non-resi 
dent  lands  were  located.*  In  the  house,  where  the  bank  bill 
passed  by  a  bare  majority — 27  yeas  to  20  nays — a  vote  is  said  to 
have  been  obtained  from  a  member  opposed,  in  consideration  of 
his  election  to  the  office  of  State's  attorney.*  Thus,  says  Gov. 
¥orcl,  the  making  of  a  State's  attorney  made  a  State  bank,  and  it 

*[NOTE  —The  feeling  of  hostility  toward  non-residents  found  vent  also,  it  is  said,  in 
trespasses  upon  their  lands  for  timber,  which  was  taken  as  if  common  property.  The 
agents  of  the  owners  (the  most  unpopular  men  of  the  country)  found  no  redress  in  the 
law,  bee  i  use  with  witnesses,  jurors,  and  the  sympathy  of  the  court  all  on  the  same  side, 
the  blind-folded goddess  of  justice,  in  these  cases  blinded  with  prejudice,  was  (•!'  course 
with  them.  In  this  strait  the  distant  land  owners  adopted  the  missionary  plan,  and 
sought  to  eradicate  the  sin  of  timber  thieving-,  and  to  conciliate  the  favor'of  the  peo 
ple,  through  the  gentle  ministrations  of  the  gospel,  for  which  purpose  preachers  were 
sent  out,  the  c  »untr.v  divided  into  circuits  and  duly  assigned  But  the  inhabitants  were 
incorrigible  their  feelings  obdurate,  and  if  they  did  not  reject  the  gospel,  they  never 
theless  continued  to  take  the  timber.  To  the  land  owners  the  gospel  proved  as  ineffec 
tual  a  protection  as  the  law.  —Ford's  Hist.] 

•(•The  Journal  shoAvs  that  our  late  lieutenant  governor,  John  Dougherty,  was  chosen 
to  that  office  on  the  folio  wing  day. 


DUNCAN'S  ADMINISTRATION.  410 

may  be  added,  the  bank  was  the  incipient  measure  which  led 
to  others,  and  Drought  unnumbered  woes  upon  the  people  of  the 
State.  The  banks  were  not  originally  party  measures. 

One  million  tour  hundred  thousand  dollars  of  the  capital  stock 
of  the  State  bank  were  to  be  subscribed  by  individuals,  and  $100,- 
000  were  reserved  for  the  State  to  take  in  such  amounts  as  the 
legislature  should  at  any  time  deem  proper.  Shares  were  $100 
each.  The  bank  had  the  usual  power  to  receive  deposits,  deal  in 
bills,  gold,  and  silver,  etc.,  but  was  prohibited  from  dealing  in  real 
estate  or  personal  property,  other  than  to  dispose  of  such  as  it 
might  be  compelled  to  buy  or  bid  in  at  sales  upon  judgments. 
But  it  had  power  to  borrow  a  million  dollars  to  loan  out  on  real 
estate  mortgages  for  five  years.  This  provision  was  to  conciliate 
fanners,  and  extend  to  them  long  time  accommodations.  The 
principal  bank  was  located  at  Springfield,  with  a  branch  at  Van- 
dalia;  other  branches  might  be  established  and  discontinued  as 
the  officers  should  determine.  Business  was  not  to  be  commenced 
until  .$(500,000  was  paid  in  in  specie.  Commissioners  to  open  sub 
scription  books  for  the  capital  stock,  were  appointed  all  over  the 
State.  Nine  directors,  one  of  whom  was  to  be  chosen  president, 
were  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  corporation.  The  circulation 
was  not  to  exceed  two  and  a  half  times  the  paid  up  capital  stock. 
Xo  hills  were  to  be  issued  of  a  less  denomination  than  $5.  If  the 
bank  refused  to  redeem  for  ten  days  after  demand,  it  was  to  be 
closed  and  wound  up.  Such  were  some  of  the  provisions  of  its 
charter,  which,  rightly  carried  out,  were  not  so  bad. 

The  stock  was  eagerly  taken,  the  subscriptions  greatly  exceed 
ing  the  limits  of  the  charter.  Shortly  after  the  passage  of  the 
bank  act,  Thomas  Mather,  of  Kaskaskia,  John  Tillson.  of  Hillsboro, 
Samuel  Wiggins,  of  Cincinnati,  T.  W.  Smith,  associate  judge  of  the 
supreme  court,  and  Godfrey,  Oilman  &  Co.,  of  Alton,  negotiated 
for  large  sums  of  money  in  the  east  to  invest  in  the  stock.  The 
charter  provided  for  the  opening  of  the  books  in  this  State  for  20 
days  before  elsewhere,  and  to  guard  against  undue  influence  from 
large  stockholders,  as  their  number  of  shares  increased,  it  propor 
tionately  lessened  their  votes  for  directors.  To  preserve  the  full 
vote  of  the  stocks,  therefore,  it  became  desirable  to  obtain  small 
subscriptions  by  citizens  of  this  State,  while  they  had  the  exclusive 
opportunity.  With  the  view  to  engross  enough  stock  to  direct  the 
bank,  these  parties  procured,  through  numberless  agents  scattered 
over  the  State,  powers  of  attorney,  from  any  person  disposed  to 
make  them,  empowering  them  respectively  to  subscribe  bank 
stock  for  them  and  to  absolutely  manage  if  subsequently.  Thus 
there  were  many  thousands  of  such  subscriptions  made  by  persons 
whom  it  never  cost  a  cent  to  own  bank  stock,  and  who  remained, 
perhaps,  ignorant  of  the  fact  they  ever  were  bankers.  The  stock 
ran  up  to  a  premium  of  13  per  centum  above  par  value.* 

When  the  commissioners  convened  to  award  the  stock,  it  was 
moved  that  subscriptions  made  for  residents  should  have  prece 
dence  over  those  of  non-residents,  and  that  holders  of  proxies  be 
required  to  make  oath  as  to  the  actual  residence  of  the  principals. 
This  proposition  was  supported  by  Judge  T.  W.  Smith,  between 
whom  upon  the  one  hand,  and  the  rest  of  the  parties  named  upon 
the  other,  the  contest  for  the  control  of  the  institution  obtained*. 

'  *  D 1 1  r. cun's  Message,  1830 


420  HISTORY  OF   ILLINOIS. 

It  is  said  that  he,  of  impeachment  fame,  was  prepared  to  take 
such  oath,  and  that  he  had  in  good  faith  paid  for  all  his  proxies 
out  of  his  own  money;  but  the  others  could  not  thus  swear.  The 
resolution  therefore  did  not  prevail ;  and  Mather,  Tillson,  Godfrey, 
Oilman  &  Co.,  and  Wiggins  united  against  Smith,  controlled  the 
bank,  and  elected  a  directory  in  their  interest,  with  Mather  as  the 
president.  The  bank  was  in  Whig  control — just  enough  demo 
crats  were  chosen  as  directors  to  give  a  semblance  of  fairness  to 
the  proceedings. 

At  that  time  nearly  the  entire  trade  of  the  Upper  Mississippi, 
including  that  of  the  lead  mines  of  Illinois,  was  controlled  by  St. 
Louis.  The  ambition  prevailed  to  build  up  Alton,  within  our 
own  State,  as  the  commercial  rival  of  St.  Louis.  Alton,  in  1834, 
had  been  elected  as  the  seat  of  government  after  the  20  years 
limitation  at  Yandalia  should  expire;  but  this  honor  she  now 
readily  yielded  in  consideration  of  becoming  the  great  emporium 
of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  The  Alton  interest  in  the  new 
bank  was  so  large  that,  without  a  combination  of  all  the  residue 
of  the  stock,  it  possessed  a  controlling  influence.  The  bank 
therefore  loaned  its  aid  to  the  building  up  of  Alton,  and  to  the 
diversion  of  the  trade  of  the  west  to  it.  Godfrey,  Gilinan  &  Co., 
merchants,  wrere  accommodated  to  the  amount  of  $800,000  to  con 
trol  and  divert  to  Alton  the  immense  lead  trade  of  the  mines  on 
Fever  river.  The  price  of  that  commodity  advanced  directly  50 
to  75  per  cent.,  by  reason  of  local  competition  alone.  To  exclude 
further  competition  several  hundred  thousand  dollars  were  prodi 
gally  invested  in  mines  and  smelting  establishments.  The  agent 
of  the  firm  did  not  stop  with  this,  but  as  if  furnished  with  the 
purse  of  Fortunatus,  recklessly  extended  his  investments  to  Galena 
lots,  which  under  the  enchantment  advanced  in  a  short  time,  it  is 
said,  2000  per  cent.  But  this  lavish  enterprise  to  secure  the  lead 
trade  for  Alton  failed  to  have  a  corresponding  eflect  upon  eastern 
markets.  After  holding  the  lead  a  long  time  in  store  in  the  east 
for  an  advance,  sale  had  finally  to  be  made  under  accumulated 
charges  at  a  ruinous  sacrifice.  To  Stone,  Manning  &  Co.,  of 
Alton,  several  hundred  thousand  dollars  were  advanced  to  operate 
in  produce;  and  Sloo  &  Co.  received  accommodations  for  like  pur 
poses,  all  proving  equally  disastrous.  It  was  estimated  that  the 
bank  lost  by  the  Alton  operations  $1,000,000 ;  but  these  reverses 
were  not  generally  known. 

The  legislature  was  convened  in  extraordinary  session,  Dec.  7, 
1835,  and  sat  till  Jan.  18th,  following.  In  his  message,  among 
other  measures,  Gov.  Duncan  called  attention  to  the  subject  of 
the  banks,  and  recommended  the  subscription,  by  the  State,  of  one 
million  dollars  provided  for  in  the  second  section  of  the  bank  act, 
for  which  no  steps  had  as  yet  been  taken  by  the  president  and 
directors,  and  no  vested  right  had  yet  accrued  to  any  one.  His 
Excellency,  in  his  sanguine  expectations,  stated  that  by  so  doing 
the  State  treasury  would  realize  $300,000  in  premiums  on  the 
$1,000,000;  that  the  stock  of  the  bank  was  then  at  a  premium  of 
13  per  centum  and  that  it  would  speedily  rise  to  30.  The  legisla 
ture  did  not  fully  fall  in  with  his  extraordinary  expectations,  but 
by  act  of  Jan.  10,  1836,  the  $100,000  of  the  capital  stock  reserved 
for  the  State  Avas  authorized  to  be  sold;  additional  branches 
of  discount  and  deposit,  not  more  than  three,  were  also  authorized; 


DUNCAN'S   ADMINISTRATION.  421 

ami  50  days  in  addition  to  tlie  10  were  allowed  for  the  redemption 
of  notes.  These  provisions  were  not  to  take  effect  until  the  bank 
first  contracted  with  the  governor  to  redeem  the  Wiggins'  loan. 
j>\  another  act  of  the  same  date,  the  bauk'paper  was  authorized  to 
be  received  in  payment  of  the  revenue  of  the  State,  college,  school 
and  seminary  debts. 

But  the  following  year  the  legislature  did  not  hesitate.  At  this 
session  were  authorized  all  those  extravagant  measures  of  internal 
improvement,  which  in  a.  few  years  entailed  upon  the  young  State  a- 
debt  so  vast  as  nearly  to  bankrupt  it.  But  of  this  farther  along. 
By  act  of  March  4,  1837,  the  capital  stock  of  the  State  bank  was  in 
creased  $2,000,000,  the  whole  to  be  subscribed  for  the  State  by 
the  fund  commissioners,  an  executive  body  of  the  internal  im 
provement  system.  The  capital  stock  of  the  Bank  of  Illinois, 
located  at  Sliawueetown,  was  in  like  manner  •  authorized  to  be 
increased  81,400,000,  $1,000,000  being  reserved  for  the  State,  and 
§400,000  for  private  subscription.  The  consent  of  the  banks 
was  tirst  to  be  obtained,  but  either  might  accept  the  State 
subscription,  to  the  amount  authorized.  In  subscribing,  the  State 
was  to  advance  the  same  per  centum — $5  a  share — as  originally 
paid  by  private  stockholders.  The  fund  commissioners  Avere 
authorized  to  sell  the  State's  certificate  of  stock,  and  to  use  the 
surplus  revenues  of  the  United  States  from  the  sale  of  lands,  as 
money  might  be  needed  from  time  to  time  for  subscriptions.  Five 
additional  directors  for  the  State  bank  were  also  provided,  on  be 
half  of  the  State,  to  be  elected  by  the  legislature,  which  still  left 
a  majority  to  private  stockholders,  although  the  State  owned  a 
majority  of  the  stock  by  exceeding  20  per  centum.  The  same 
was  true  of  the  Shawneetown  bank,  which  was  to  have  nine 
directors.  This  bank  was  also  authorized  to  establish  three 
branches,  one  at  Jacksonville,  at  Alton  and  at  Lawrenceville, 
with  each  such  amount  of  capital  as  the  mother  bank  could  safely 
supply.  The  banks  were  designated  as  the  places  of  deposit  of 
all  the  public  revenues,  and  the  moneys  borrowed  by  the  fund 
commissioners  to  carry  on  the  internal  improvements  of  the  State. 
They  were  to  render  quarterly  statements  of  their  financial  condi 
tion  to  the  commissioners,  and  the  legislature  might  institute  such 
examinations  into  their  affairs,  from  time  to  time,  as  might  be 
deemed,  requisite.  No  charges  for  disbursements  were  to  be  made 
by  the  State  banks.  The  dividends  accruing  upon  the  State's 
stock,  were  first  to  be  applied  in  payment  of  the  interest  upon 
loans;  and  the  premium  from  State  bonds,  fondly  expected  to  be 
at  least  10  per  centum,  was  to  constitute  a  fund  to  be  held  inviola 
ble  for  the  payment  of  interest  on  loans  effected  to  carry  on  the 
internal  improvements.  Many  were  the  ingenious  arguments, 
deduced  from  the  fact  that  the  first  $1,500,000  had  with  great 
avidity  been  taken  in  the  spring  of  1835 — the  premium  rising  to 
13  per  centum — that  the  present  stock  would  readily  command  ten 
per  centum,  and  that  the  State's  bank  stock  would  yield  a  suffi 
cient  dividend  to  pay  all  interest  on  the  bank  bonds  and  leave  a 
margin  besides.  When  the  State  bonds  were  exposed  in  market 
by  the  commissioners,  it  was  found  that  they  would  not  only  not 
bring  a  premium,  but  could  not  be  negotiated  even  at  par.  In  this 
8tra.it  the  banks  themselves  came  to  the  rescue,  and,  rather  than  the 
scheme  should  fail,  took  the  bonds  at  par,  amounting  to  $2,005,000. 


422  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

The  Shawneetown  bank  effected  a  sale  of  its  share  ($900,000),  but 
the  balance  $1,705,000  taken  by  the  State  bank,  was  not  disposed 
of  5  they  however  served  the  purpose  of  a  capital  for  the  bank,  and 
its  business  was  amplified  correspondingly. 

The  banks,  throughout  their  career,  met  with  persistent  opposi 
tion  from  influential  party  managers.  This  was  greatly  augnien- 
ted  by  the  fact  that  their  officers,  the  president,  cashiers,  and  a 
large  majority  of  the  directors,  were  whigs,  which  aroused  I'm* 
jealousy  of  democrats,  causing  them  to  charge  that  the  banks 
were  political  concerns,  operated  for  the  advancement  of  party 
affairs.  Jackson's  expression  respecting  the  United  States  bank 
— that  it  was  a  "gigantic  electioneering  machine" — was  not  forgot  - 
ton.  Judge  T.  W.  Smith,  who  had  drafted  the  charter  of  the  State 
bank,  and  worked  earnestly  with  democrats  for  its  passage  in  the 
legislature,  had  ever  since  his  defeat  for  its  control,  animated  by 
that  spirit  which  if  it  cannot  rule  is  bent  upon  ruin,  made  war  up 
on  it,  and  now  hesitated  not  to  pronounce  its  charter  unconstitu 
tional.  He  was  joined  by  many  other  sore  party  leaders. 

By  an  act  of  congress,  passed  at  the  preceding  session,  it  was 
provided  that  the  surplus  revenue  of  the  United  States,  arising 
from  the  sale  of  public  lands,  &c.,  might  be  deposited  with  the 
different  States.  The  bank  accordingly  solicited  tlie  tivasury 
department  at  Washington  to  become  the  depository  of  the  pub 
lic  moneys,  but  the  credit  of  the  State  had  been  stabbed  in  the 
back,  by  its  own  disappointed  citizens  furnishing  statements  so 
derogatory,  that  the  secretary  declined  the  request.  Among  the 
more  influential  opponents  of  the  banks  was  Judge  McRoberts, 
then  receiver  of  the  public  moneys  at  Danville.  Party  malice 
and  private  resentments  outweighed  the  public  good.  The  bills 
fell  bek)w  par  and  from  that  time  steadily  depreciated.  The  notes 
of  the  bank  were  gathered  up  and  presented  for  specie  to  enter 
land.  Had  the  specie  been  re-deposited  by  the  government,  the 
relief  from  this  annoyance  would  have  been  very  great.  But 
this,  through  the  vengeful  machinations  of  disappointed  parti 
sans,  was  not  to  be.  The  bank,  to  retard  the  constant  ebb  of 
specie  from  its  vaults,  had  recourse  to  the  plan  of  exchanging 
issues  between  the  respective  branches,  and  thus  throwing  the  cir 
culation  as  far  from  the  place  of  redemption  as  possible. 

Hardly  were  the  banks  in  operation,  with  their  enormously 
augmented  capital  stocks,  when  the  disastrous  financial  revulsion 
of  1837  occurred.  In  May  the  banks  of  Illinois  suspended  specie 
payments.  They  were  solvent,  but  the  drain  of  specie  at  that 
time  could  not  be  borne.  The  charters  provided  that  if  redemp 
tion  in  specie  was  refused  for  CO  days  together,  they  were  to  be 
come  forfeited  and  the  banks  should  go  into  liquidation.  They 
were  the  depositories  of  the  moneys  raised  b3~  the  sale  of  State 
bonds;  of  the  State  revenue;  in  a  word  the  fiscal  agents  of  the 
State,  and  their  suspension  would  involve  the  State  and  all  its 
splendid  scheme  of  internal  improvements  in  common  ruin.  In 
this  dileinna,  the  governor  was  urged  by  the  canal  commissioners 
to  convene  the  legislature  to  legalize  an  indefinite  suspension  of 
specie  payments  by  the  banks.  A  special  session  was  called 
July  10th,  1837,  and  the  bank  suspensions  were  legalized.  But  to 
his  excellency's  urgent  appeal  to  repeal  the  pernicious  system  of 


DUNCAN'S  ADMINISTRATION.  423 

internal  improvements  by  the  State,  and  remit  the  same  to  private 
enterprise  duly  encouraged,  the  legislature  turned  a  deaf  ear. 

Parties  in  Illinois  became  almost  divided  upon  the  subject  of 
the  banks.  Nearly  all  the  leading  democrats  opposed  them  and 
tiie  acts  legalizing  their  suspensions,  although  they  were  author 
ized  and  their  capital  stocks  were  increased  irrespective  of  party. 
The  whigs  were  called  bank- vassals  and  rag-ocracy,  and  charged 
to  be  bought  and  owned  by  British  gold.  The  bank  officers  were 
sarcastically  denominated  rag-barons ;  and  the  money  was  called 
rags  and  printed  lies.  The  whigs  retorted  that  the  democrats 
were  disloyal,  and  destructive  of  their  own  government ;  that  the 
banks  were  the  institution  of  the  State,  and  to  make  war  upon  the 
currency  was  to  oppose  its  commerce  and  impede  its  growth  and 
development.  Although  parties  were  in  a  measure  divided  upon 
the  banks,  with  the  democrats  largely  in  the  majority,  this  was 
not  without  benefit  to  those  institutions.  It  gave  them  unswerv 
ing  friends.  Besides,  the  merchants  and  business  men  of  that 
day  were,  with  rare  exceptions,  whigs,  who  gave  currency  or  not  to 
the  money  as  they  pleased.  Partisan  zeal  led  them  to  profess 
that  the  banks  were  not  only  solvent,  but  that  they  were  unduly 
pursued,  and  that  the  opposition  to  them  was  nothing  but  absurd 
party  cry. 

When  the  suspensions  of  the  banks  was  legalized  again  in 
1839,  it  was  to  extend  until  the  end  of  the  next  general  or  special 
session  of  the  general  assembly.  The  legislature  for  1840-41  was 
convened  two  weeks  before  the  commencement  of  the  regular  ses 
sion  to  provide  means  to  pay  the  interest  on  the  public  debt,  due 
on  the  first  of  January  following.  The  influence  and  power  of  the 
banks  over  members  were  very  considerable.  The  democrats  now, 
however,  thought  that  their  time  of  triumph  had  arrived.  It  was 
by  them  contended,  that  that  portion  of  the  session  preceding  the 
time  fixed  for  the  regular  session  to  begin,  constituted  a  special 
session,  and  if  the  suspension  was  not  further  extended,  the  banks 
would  be  compelled  to  resume  specie  payment  on  the  day  the 
regular  session  should  begin  or  forfeit  their  charters  and  stop 
business.  Upon  the  other  hand,  it  was  contended  that  the  whole 
constituted  but  one  session.  Much  party  animosity  was,  besides, 
manifested  at  this  session.  The  fate  of  the  banks  seemed  to  hang 
upon  the  motion  pending  to  adjourn  the  first  part  of  the  session 
sine  (Ue.  It  was  perceived  that  the  motion  would  prevail.  To 
defeat  it  in  the  House,  the  whigs  now  essayed  to  break  the 
quorum.  But  the  doors  were  closed,  a  call  of  the  House  ordered, 
and  the  sergeant  at  arms  sent  in  quest  of  the  absentees.  The 
whigs,  being  thus  cut  off  from  the  usual  avenues  of  retreat, 
bounded  pell  mell  out  of  the  windows,  but  without  avail — enough 
were  held  in  durance  to  make  a  quorum,  and  the  sine  die  adjourn 
ment  was  carried.  Among  the  members  of  the  House  we  find 
the  names  of  some  of  the  most  notable  men  in  the  annals  of  Illin 
ois  :  John  J.  Hardin,  Abraham  Lincoln,  Josiah  Francis,  &c.,  but 
whether  these  whigs  participated  in  the  window  escapade  is  not 
definitely  known.  The  session  was  the  first  in  Springfield,  and 
the  house  occupied  what  is  now  the  old  2nd  Presbyterian  church, 
north  of  the  new  edifice  occupied  by  the  legislature  in  1871. 

The  banks  were  now  thought  to  be  dead,  and  that  nothing 
remained  to  be  done  but  to  wind  up  their  affairs.  But  their  ene- 


424  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

mies  reckoned  without  their  host.  The  splendid  triumph  of  the 
democrats  proved  a  barren  victory.  The  regular  session  began 
on  the  1st  Monday  in  December,  with  the  same  members,  and 
before  the  close  of  the  month  the  banks  obtained  not  only  a 
further  lease  of  life,  and  license  to  suspend  specie  payment,  but 
were  authorized  to  issue  one,  two,  and  three  dollar  bills  besides,  to 
effect  change — silver  having  been  driven  out  of  circulation  by  the 
depreciated  paper.  The  debtors  of  the  bank  were  again  allowed 
to  give  new  notes  by  paying  ten  per  cent,  interest  on  their  indebt 
edness.  By  what  potency  these  additional  privileges  were  pro 
cured  must  be  left  to  conjecture.  The  State  bank  was  the 
custodian  of  the  public  moneys  and  revenues  of  the  State,  as  it 
were,  a  substitute  for  the  treasury.  Auditor's  warrants,  at  a  dis 
count  of  50  per  cent,  were  drawn  upon  the  bank  and  paid  in  its 
currency,  worth  a  good  deal  more  than  the  warrants,  both  in  and 
outside  of  the  State.  All  the  State  officers,  including  the  mem 
bers  of  the  assembly,  were  for  their  pay  in  the  power  of  the  bank, 
and  if  these  would  do  nothing  to  uphold  the  credit  of  that  insti 
tution — their  own  creature — the  honorable  gentlemen  might 
return  to  their  constituents  without  other  in  their  pockets  than 
auditor's  warrants !  This,  together  with  such  judicious  and  timely 
accommodations  to  impecunious  party  leaders  as  the  exigency 
dictated,  enabled  the  bank  to  render  the  glorious  democratic 
victory  barren  of  results. 

But  the  new  lease  of  power  did  not  last  long.  There  were  other 
influences  arising  from  the  inevitable  laws  of  finance,  more  potent 
in  their  effects  than  acts  of  the  legislature.  When  money  is 
abundant  credit  is  extended  without  stint.  With  the  vast  system 
of  internal  improvements  and  the  large  circulation  of  the  banks, 
this  was  the  condition  of  Illinois.  The  people  were  largely  in  debt 
on  account  of  speculations  which  proved  delusions,  and  also  to 
the  merchants  5  the  latter  in  turn  had  received  either  accommoda 
tions  at  the  banks  or  owed  for  goods  abroad  5  contracts  matured 
but  nobody  paid.  The  State  revenues  being  inadequate  to  meet 
its  expenditures — the  people  averse  to  higher  taxation,  and  the 
legislators,  with  a  tender  regard  to  personal  consequences,  disin 
clined  to  impose  them — the  bank,  to  gain  the  favor  of  the  legisla 
ture,  taxed  its  resources  to  redeem  the  outstanding  auditors 
warrants,  amounting  to  near  $300,000.  Its  bills  had  gradually 
declined  to  12  and  15  per  cent,  discount.  Now  came  the  bank 
directors  themselves,  as  contractors  to  build  the  Northern  Cross 
railroad,  and  added  the  last  feather  to  the  camel's  back.  For  the 
building  of  the  railroad  they  were  to  receive  in  payment  canal 
bonds,  which  were  at  that  juncture  not  negotiable.  To  obtain 
accommodations  from  the  banks,  these  directors  defeated  a  pro 
posed  order  against  expansion  during  the  suspension.*  Keceiv- 
iug  loans  for  themselves  to  carry  forward  the  public  works  on 
their  contracts,  they,  to  be  consistent,  voted  like  favors  to  others. 
The  credit  of  the  bank  was  put  to  its  utmost  tension.  Its  volume 
of  money,  further  swollen,  sank  to  a  lower  discount.  And  in 
Febuary  1842,  the  monster  institution,  with  a  circulation  exceed 
ing  $3,000,000,  snapped  its  thread  of  life  and  passed  into  dissolu 
tion,  spreading  devastation  upon  every  hand,  far  and  wide. 

*See  Gov.  Ford's  mistake  as  to  this  in  his  History  of  Illinois,  223-4. 


DUNCAN'S  ADMINISTRATION.  425 

The  Bank  of  Illinois,  at  Shawneetown,  Avas  similarly  involved. 
It  loaned  to  the  State,  in  the  first  place,  880,000  to  complete  the 
ne\v  State  House  at  Springfield  ;  early  in  the  autumn  of  1839,  upon 
the  earnest  solicitation  of  Gov.  Carlin  and  his  engagement  to  de 
posit  as  a  pledge  $500,000  in  internal  improvement  bonds,  the 
bank  advanced  the  Commissioners  of  Public  Works  $200,000. 
The  collateral  deposit  was,  however,  never  made  nor  the  sum  bor 
rowed  ever  repaid.  In  June  following,  with  a  circulation  of  some 
$1,700,000,  it  also  collapsed.  The  people  were  left  destitute  of  an 
adoquate  circulating  medium,  and  were  not  supplied  until  the  or 
dinary  processes  of  their  limited  commerce  brought  in  gold  and 
silver,  and  the  bills  of  solvent  banks  from  neighboring  States, 
which  was  tardy  enough,  there  being  but  little  emigration  to  Illi 
nois  at  that  time.  The  banks  and  the  State  had  been  partners 
in  speculation  and  they  were  now  partners  in  embarrassment. 
The  revenues  were  payable  in  the  notes  of  these  broken  banks  ; 
the  State  paid  no  interest  on  her  bonds,  of  which  the  banks  held 
a  large  amount,  and  they  were  worth  in  market  but  14  cents  on  the 
dollar. 

But  the  old  firm  of  Banks  and  State  was  to  be  speedily  dissolved. 
By  act  of  January  24,  1843,*  to  "  diminish  the  State  debt  and  put 
the  State  Bank  into  liquidation,"  the  bank  was  given  4  years  to 
wind  up  its  business,  but  it  was  required  to  go  into  immediate 
liquidation  and  pay  out  all  its  specie  pro  ratct  to  its  bill  holders 
and  depositors,  and  issue  to  them  certificates  of  indebtedness  for 
the  unpaid  balances;  $15,000  in  specie,  being  however  first  re 
served  to  the  bank  to  pay  the  expenses  of  winding  up  its 
affairs.  The  new  certificates  were  to  be  registered  by  the  com 
missioner  and  made  receivable  in  payment  of  any  debt  due  the 
bank,  or  for  the  redemption  of  lands  purchased  by  the  bank  under 
execution.  The  debtors  of  the  bank  upon  paying  instalments  of 
1-5  principal  and  interest,  were  authorized  to  execute  new  notes 
from  time  to  time  for  their  indebtedness.  The  bank  was  to  deliver 
within  five  days  to  the  Governor,  State  bonds,  scrip  and  other  evi 
dences  of  debt  equal  to  $2,050,000,  he  to  surrender  to  the  bank  a 
like  amount  of  State  Bank  stock,  $50,000  being  reserved  for  the 
final  winding  up  of  the  affairs  of  the  bank.  All  its  banking 
privileges,  other  than  those  necessary  to  wind  up  its  business,  were 
to  immediately  cease ;  no  property  of  the  bank  was  to  be  sold  on 
execution  or  otherwise,  except  for  two-thirds  of  its  appraised 
value.  The  bank  might  reserve  from  its  sale  such  real  estate  as 
it  deemed  proper.  Three  days  were  allowed  to  file  its  acceptance 
with  the  Secretary  of  State.  "  It  was  a  very  favorable  act  for  the 
bank  and  an  administration  measure  strongly  seconded  by  a  few 
leading  Democrats,  which  caused  it  to  prevail,  as  we  shall  see. 

A  somewhat  similar  bill,  under  the  high  sounding  title  of  "  An 
act  to  reduce  the  public  debt  one  million  dollars  and  put  the  Bank 
of  Illinois  into  liquidation,"  passed  at  the  same  session,  in  relation 
to  the  Shawneetown  bank.  It  was  to  surrender  State  stocks  orother 
liabilities  of  the  State  equal  on  their  faces  to  $1,000,000,  half  in  five 
days  and  half  in  12  months,  when  the  governor  was  to  assign 
to  it  an  equivalent  of  State  Bank  stock.  The  charter  of  the  Cairo 
bank  was  repealed.  By  these  acts  the  immediate  extinguishment 
of  $2,206,000  was  provided.  But  these  acts  were  not  passed  with- 

~~«~See  llouse  Reports,  1842-3,  20:1-4-5. 


426  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

out  considerable  opposition.  The  disposition  on  the  part  of  many 
was  to  crush  the  banks,  to  which  all  the  woe  of  the  struggling 
country  was  ascribed,  with  one  fell  blow  by  a  direct  repeal  of  their 
charter,  which  they  had  frequently  forfeited,  however  it  might  in 
volve  the  best  interests  of  the  State  in  their  disaster. 

Prior  to  this,  and  in  anticipation  of  this  compromise  legislation 
and  the  surrender  by  the  State  of  her  bank  stock  in  exchange  for 
her  bonds,  after  the  failure  of  the  Bank  of  Illinois  in  1842,  the 
whole  concern  was  purchased  as  a  speculation  by  a  company  of 
sharpers,  who  elected  themselves  its  officers.  Some  of  the  direc 
tors  then  secretly  borrowed  from  the  bank  $100,000  in  specie, 
which  was  transmitted  to  New  York  and  purchased  State  scrip 
and  $333,000  of  the  $804,000  of  interest  bonds  hypothecated  with 
Macallister  and  Stebbius  in  1841  by  Fund  Commissioner  White- 
sides,  for  $261,500,  contrary  to  law.  Under  the  law  these  bonds 
were  to  be  sold  for  what  they  would  bring,  but  could  not  be  hy 
pothecated,  as  the  recipients  well  knew.  The  favored  director's, 
by  connivance  of  the  board,  first  paid  the  specie  borrowed  from 
the  bank  with  $100,000  of  these  bonds,  which  cost  them  30  cents 
on  the  dollar.  Their  unpaid  stock  notes  were  similarly  discharged. 
A  member  of  the  legislature,  tierce  in  his  denunciation  of  bank 
corruption,  availed  himself  of  these  bonds  and  paid  a  $10,000 
note  to  the  bank.  After  the  bonds  and  scrip  had  passed  into  the 
control  of  the  bank,  they  were,  in  1844,  tendered  to  Governor  Ford 
in  payment  of  the  half  million  dollars  of  the  State's  bank  stock, 
which  was  to  be  surrendered  in  12  months  after  the  passage  of  the 
Bank  Liquidation  law  of  1843.  The  governor  refused  at  first  to 
receive  these  bonds  ;  a  law  had  been  passed  to  settle  with  Macal 
lister  and  Stebbius  by  paying  interest  on  the  sum  actually  ad 
vanced  Jby  them,  and  their  surrender  of  the  hypothecated  bonds, 
making  about  28  cents  on  the  dollar;  to  have  received  a  large 
share  of  these  bonds  at  their  face  value  would  have  defeated  the 
law  for  this  adjustment.  Later  it  became  patent,  however,  that 
Macallister  and  Stebbins  had  parted  with  many  more  of  the  bonds 
than  the  Bank  of  Illinois  had  received,  and  that  they  were  unable 
to  comply  with  the  law  if  they  had  the  will,  and  as  the  condition 
of  the  bank  became  constantly  more  hopeless  and  the  president 
intended  to  return  these  bonds  to  New  York,  the  governor,  in  the 
fall  of  1844,  received  them  conditionally,  subject  to  the  approval 
of  the  legislature.  That  body,  unwilling  to  countenance  the  kna 
very  of  the  bank  officers,  at  first  refused  to  ratify  the  contract  of 
the  governor,  but  at  the  succeeding  session,  1846-'47,  compro 
mised  by  receiving  the  bonds  at  48  cents  on  the  dollar.* 

Subsequently  the  State  Bank  of  Missouri,  jointly  with  several 
other  creditors,  brought  a  chancery  suit  in  the  United  States7 
court  for  the  district  of  Illinois  against  the  Bank  of  Illinois,  its 
officers  and  agents.  By  the  decree  in  the  cause,  three  receivers  were 
appointed  to  take  charge  of  the  bank's  assets,  make  sale  and  apply 
the  proceeds  in  payment  of  the  debts,  the  redemption  of  its  issues, 
and  to  settle  its  affairs  generally.  By  agreement  but  one  of  these 
trustees,  Albert  G.  Calwell,  qualified.  Upon  his  death,  soon  after, 
Judge  W.  Thomas  of  Jacksonville,  was  appointed  in  his  place, 
who  acted  in  that  capacity  some  20  years.  Early  in  the  fall  of 
1871  he  remitted  to  W.  H/Bradly,  clerk  of  the  U.  S.  district  court 

*  This  chapter  has  in  great  part  been  gathered  from  Ford's  History. 


DUNCAN'S  ADMINISTRATION.  427 

at  Chicago,  the  special  auditor,  a  batch  of  notes  ami  certificates  of 
$700  for  cancellation.  This  it  was  supposed,  would  be  about  the 
last  to  be  presented  for  redemption,  and  that  the  trust  would  be 
finally  closed  shortly  after. 

SLAVERY   AGITATION — DEATH    OF   LOVEJOY. 

The  year  1837  is  memorable  for  the  death  of  Illinois'  first  martyr 
to  liberty,  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy.  He  was  born  at  Albion,  Kenebec 
county,  Maine,  Nov.  9,  1802.  At  the  age  of  21  he  entered  Water- 
ville  college,  and  after  graduating  with  the  first  honors  of  his 
class,  removed  tu  St.  Louis  and  commenced  teaching.  A  year  or 
t\vo  afterward  he  exchanged  the  occupation  of  a  teacher  for  that 
of  the  journalist,  became  the  editor  of  the  St.  Louis  Times,  and 
advocated  the  election  of  Henry  Clay  as  president  of  the  United 
States.  Not  long  after  he  had  entered  this  new  field  of  labor,  he 
united  with  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  determined  to  abandon 
it  also  for  the  clergical  profession.  Accordingly  at  the  age  of  30 
he  repaired  to  the  theological  school  at  Prineetown,  X.  J.,  entered 
Avith  great  ardor  upon  his  studies,  and  in  1833  was  licensed  to 
preach  by  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.  The  following  summer 
was  spent  in  preaching  in  Newport,  lihode  Island,  and  at  Spring 
Church,  X.  Y.,  after  which  he  returned  to  St.  Louis.  Here  he 
again  assumed  the  editorial  chair  and  issued  the  first  number  of  the 
St.  Lmiix  Observer,  a  religious  newspaper,  ]Sov.  22d,  1833.  Soon 
after  lie  incurred  the  ill-will  of  the  Catholic  Church,  by  character 
izing  their  proceedings  in  laying  the  corner  stone  of  a  cathedral 
on  the  Sabbath  as  a  desecration  of  the  day,  and  charging  that 
the  use  of  the  United  States  artillery  and  cavalry,  which  were 
brought  in  requisition  to  give  prestige  to  the  occasion,  was  a  pros 
titution  of  the  purposes  for  which  they  were  intended.  From  the 
clerical  rancor  excited  by  this  out-spoken  expression  of  opinion, 
he  thought  proceeded  the  persecutions  which  he  subsequently 
encountered,  though  masked  in  the  guise  of  abolition.  The  ques 
tion  of  slavery  even  at  that  early  day  was  one  of  absorbing 
interest,  and  it  was  impossible  for  a  person  with  Lovejoy's  vigorous 
intellect  and  fearless  manner  of  speaking,  not  to  become  involved 
in  its  discussion  and^iot  incur  the  hatred  of  its  advocates.  The 
subject  having  arrested  his  attention  he  wrote  an  editorial  on  it, 
and  left  the  city  to  attend  a  Presbyterian  synod.  During  his 
absence  it  made  its  appearance  in  the  columns  of  the  Observer, 
and  such  was  the  commotion  it  excited,  that  the  owners  of  the 
press  were  compelled  to  publish  a  card  to  allay  the  excitement  and 
prevent  a  mob  from  destroying  their  property.  On  his  return  a 
paper  was  presented  him  by  a  number  of  leading  citizens  and  the 
minister  who  received  him  into  the  church,  in  which  they  expressed 
the  opinion  that  slavery  is  sanctioned  by  the  bible,  and  asked  him 
to  desist  from  its  further  discussion.  Though  the  authors  of  this 
request  represented  the  intelligence  and  morality  of  St.  Louis,  if 
honest,  how  little  they  understood  the  personal  rights  of  mankind, 
and  how  little  they  supposed  this  question  was  destined  in  less 
than  half  a  century  to  shake  the  continent  with  civil  commotion. 
This  paper  was  inserted  in  the  Observer  and  also  a  reply  from  Mr. 
Lovejoy,  in  which  he  claimed  the  right  to  publish  his  honest  con 
victions.  In  answer  to  the  biblical  view  given  of  slavery,  he 


428  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

reminds  his  censors  of  the  golden  rule — make  not  slaves  of  others 
it'  you  do  not  wish  to  be  made  slaves  of  yourselves.  His  state 
ments,  although  couched  in  the  most  inoffensive  language,  again 
excited  the.  ire  of  the  citizens,  and  the  proprietors  of  the  press 
took  possession  of  it  to  prevent  a  recurrence  of  the  disturbance. 
A  friend,  however,  interposed  and  agreed  to  restore  the  press  to 
him,  provided  he  would  remove  it  to  Alton,  where  he  might  use  it 
safely.  The  offer  was  accepted,  but  after  he  had  gone  thither  to 
make  arrangements  for  publishing  the  paper,  he  was  invited  to 
return  to  St.  Louis.  On  going  back  he  resumed  his  editorial  labors 
and  continued  them  until  the  summer  of  1835,  when  he  again  be 
came  involved  in  difficulties. 

On  the  23d  of  April,  the  police  arrested  a  negro  by  the  name  of 
Mclntosh,  who,  while  on  the  way  to  prison,  drew  his  knife  and 
killed  one  and  badly  wounded  another  of  the  officers  having  him 
in  charge.  In  consequence  of  the  murderous  assault,  a  large 
crowd  surrounded  the  jail  in  which  he  was  imprisoned,  and  taking 
him  thence  they  bound  him  to  a  stake  and  burnt  him  to  death. 
The  community  being  largely  in  sympathy  with  the  perpetrators 
of  this  unlawful  and  fiendish  act,  it  was  a  long  time  before  they 
were  brought  to  trial.  When  at  length  the  matter  was  presented 
to  a  grand  jury,  the  judge,  by  the  most  gross  perversion  of  facts, 
informed  them  that  the  Observer  had  caused  the  negro  to  murder 
the  policeman,  and  that  there  was  no  law  for  punishing  them  who 
burnt  him  at  the  stake.  A  succeeding  number  of  this  sheet 
repelled  the  flagrant  charge  made  by  the  judge,  alluded  to  the 
fact  that  he  was  a  Catholic,  and  intimated  that  his  views  respect 
ing  the  enforcement  of  the  law  could  only  result  from  Jesuitical 
teaching.  The  editor,  aware  that  the  statement  Avould  be  followed 
by  another  outburst  of  indignation  and  an  attempt  to  destroy  the 
press,  immediately  caused  it  to  be  shipped  to  Alton,  whither  it 
arrived  July  21st,  182(5.  "The  day  being  the  Sabbath,  Mr.  Lovejoy 
proposed  to  let  it  remain  on  the  wharf  till  Monday,  but  the 
ensuing  night  it  was  secretly  visited  by  a  number  of  persons,  who 
broke  it  into  pieces  and  threw  it  into  the  river.  When  this 
dastardly  act  became  known  the  next  day,  the  people  became 
excited  and  the  ensuing  evening  a  large  meeting  assembled  in  the 
Presbyterian  church,  to  listen  to  addresses  by  Mr.  Lovejoy  and 
other  speakers.  The  former  stated  that  he  had  come  to  Alton  to 
establish  a  religious  newspaper,  that  heAvas  pleased  with  the  town, 
and  as  most  of  his  subscribers  resided  in  Illinois,  it  would  be  best 
for  him  to  make  it  his  future  home;  that  he  regretted  his  presence 
had  caused  so  much  excitement,  and  the  people  must  have  a 
wrong  appreciation  of  his  object;  that  lie  was  not  an  abolitionist, 
and  had  been  frequently  denounced  by  Garrison  and  others  as 
being  pro-slavery  because  he  was  not  in  favor  of  their  measures  ; 
that  he  was  opposed  to  slavery,  ever  had  been  and  hoped  he 
always  would  be.  This  statement  corresponds  with  his  previous 
declarations  and  position  in  regard  to  slavery.  He  always  mani 
fested  a  strong  sympathy  for  the  oppressed,  and  in  common  with 
a  large  and  intelligent  class  of  persons  at  that  time,  in  both  the 
north  and  south,  regarded  colonization  as  the  best  means  of  free 
ing  the  country  from  the  curse  of  slavery.  With  the  progress  of 
events,  this  scheme,  though  it  had  enlisted  the  regard  of  statesmen 
and  philanthropists,  was  abandoned  for  more  practical  views.  Mr. 


DUNCAN'S  ADMINISTRATION.  429 

Lovejoy,  who  never  permitted  himself  to  fall  behind  the  march  of 
ideas,  also  took  a  more  advanced  position.  In  the  same  meeting 
lie  also  said  that  "he  was  now  removed  from  slavery  and  could 
publish  a  newspaper  without  discussing  it,  and  that  it  looked  like 
cowardice  to  liee  from  the  place  where  the  evil  existed  and  come 
to  a  place  where  it  did  not  exist  to  oppose  it."  With  these  decla 
rations,  extorted  to  a  great  extent  by  the  tyranical  censorship  of 
the  slave  power,  he  no  doubt  after  his  arrival  at  Alton  intended 
to  comply.  Indeed  he  might  justly  have  concluded  that  it  was  use 
less  to  waste  his  time  and  energy  in  endeavoring  to  benefit  a 
community  which  was  endeavoring  to  exercise  over  him  a  bondage 
worse  than  that  which  fettered  the  body  of  a  slave.  Yet,  as  the 
contest  between  freedom  and  slavery  grew  warmer  and  earnest 
champions  were  needed  to  contend  for  the  right,  Mr.  Lovejoy 
concluded  that  duty  required  him  to  again  enter  the  arena  of 
discussion. 

As  the  result  of  the  meeting,  funds  were  raised,  another  press 
was  sent  for,  and  the  first  number  of  the  Alton  Observer  was  issued 
Sept.  8,  183(3.  Its  editor,  gifted  with  more  than  ordinary  ability, 
soon  extended  its  circulation,  its  discussions  at  first  being  mostly 
confined  to  subjects  of  a  moral  and  literary  character.  By  and 
by  the  question  of  slavery  was  also  broached.  Mr.  Lovejoy,  no 
doubt  smarting  under  the  unjust  surveillance  to  which  he  was 
subjected  at  the  starting  of  his  paper,  seemed  now  determined  to 
exercise  his  constitutional  rights  to  free  speech,  being  willing 
that  the  laws  of  his  country,  not  the  dictation  of  ruffians,  should 
decide  as  to  whether  he  abused  this  privilege. 

In  the  issue  of  June  29,  1837,  at  the  instance  of  the  American 
Anti-slavery  Society,  he  favored  the  circulation  of  a  petition  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  in  the  suc 
ceeding  number  he  speaks  of  the  importance  of  organizing  an  anti- 
slavery  society  for  the  State  of  Illinois.  In  the  same  paper  he  also 
indulged  the  following  reflections,  suggested  by  the  4th  of  July: 
"  This  day  reproaches  us  for  our  sloth  and  inactivity.  It  is  the 
day  of  our  nation's  birth.  Even  as  we  write  crowds  are  hurrying 
past  our  window  in  eager  anticipation  to  the  appointed  bower,  to 
listen  to  the  declaration  that  'All  men  are  created  equal;'  to  hear 
the  eloquent  orator  denounce,  in.  strains  of  manly  indignation,  the 
attempt  of  England  to  lay  a  yoke  on  the  shoulders  of  our  fathers 
which  neither  they  nor  their  children  could  bear.  Alas  what  bit 
ter  mockery  is  this.  We  assemble  to  thank  God  for  our  own  free 
dom,  and  to  eat  with  joy  and  gladness  of  heart  while  our  feet  are 
on  tlie  necks  of  nearly  3,000,000  of  our  fellow-men.  Not  all  our 
shouts  of  self- congratulation  can  drown  their  groans;  even  thafc 
very  flag  which  waves  over  our  head  is  formed  from  material  cul 
tivated  by  slaves,  on  a  soil  moistened  by  their  blood,  drawn  from 
them  by  the  whip  of  a  republican  task-master."  As  soon  as  this 
was  read,  the  pro-slavery  men  assembled  in  the  market  house  and 
passed  a  number  of  resolutions,  in  which,  with  strange  incongruity, 
they  claim  the  right  of  free  speech  for  themselves,  while  they 
plot  to  deprive  another  of  the  same  privilege.  A  committee  was 
appointed  to  inform  Mr.  Lovejoy  that  he  must  cease  agitating  the 
question  of  slavery,  and  they  accordingly  dropped  a  letter  in  the 
post-office,  containing  a  demand  to  that  effect.  The  editor  replied 
to  the  communication,  by  denying  their  right  to  dictate  to  him 


430  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


what  it  was  proper  to  discuss,  and  at  the  same  time  tendered  them 
the  use  of  his  paper  to  refute  his  opinions  if  they  were  wrong. 
They,  however,  chose  a  more  summary  manner  for  ending1  the  con 
troversy.  On  the  night  of  the  25th  of  August  a  mob  made  an  as 
sault  on  the  office  of  the  Observer,  with  stones  and  brickbats,  and 
after  driving  out  the  employes  entered  and  completely  demolished 
the  press.  Mr.  Lovejoy  himself  was  afterward  surrounded  in  the 
street  by  a  number  of  ruffians,  it  was  believed,  for  the  purpose  of 
offering  him  violence.  These  outrages  were  boldly  committed, 
without  any  attempt  being  made  by  the  city  officials  to  bring  the 
rioters  to  justice.  The  anti-slavery  party  of  the  town,  of  course, 
were  justly  incensed  at  this  wanton  outrage  and  willful  disregard 
of  individual  rights,  but  being  largely  in  the  minority,  all  they 
could  do  was  to  quietly  submit  and  send  for  a  new  press.  This, 
however,  the  proscribed  editor  was  never  to  see.  Leaving  Alton 
shortly  after  to  attend  a  presbytery,  the  press  arrived  Septem 
ber  21st,  and  in  his  absence  it  was  demolished  and,  like  its  prede 
cessor,  thrown  into  the  Mississippi.  These  unlawful  proceedings 
had  now  been  perpetrated  so  often  in  St.  Louis  and  Alton  with 
impunity,  that  not  only  these  localities  but  other  places  were  rap 
idly  becoming  demoralized.  Not.  long  after  the  destruction  of  the 
third  press  Mr.  Lovejoy  visited  his  mother-in-law  at  St.  Charles, 
Mo.  Here  he  was  violently  assailed  by  a  crowd  of  ruffians,  Avith 
the  avowed  object  of  taking  his  life,  and  it  was  only  at  the  inter 
position  of  his  heroic  and  devoted  wife  that  he  escaped  their  mur 
derous  intent. 

In  the  meantime  the  friends  of  Mr.  Lovejoy  sent  for  a  fourth 
press,  and  it  was  in  connection  with  this  that,  the  tragedy  occurred 
which  cost  him  his  life.  In  anticipation  of  its  arrival  a  series  of 
meetings  were  held  in  which  both  the  friends  of  freedom  and  sla 
very  were  represented.  The  object  of  the  latter  was  to  effect  a 
compromise,  but  it  was  one  in  which  liberty  was  to  make  conces 
sions  to  oppression  j  in  which  the  proprietors  of  the  Observer  were 
to  forego  the  legitimate  use  of  their  property  to  appease  an  igno 
rant  mob,  and  in  which  right  and  modern  progress  were  required  to 
submit  to  injustice  and  the  exploded  ideas  of  the  past.  Mr.  Hogan, 
the  Methodist  minister,  endeavored  to  prove  from  the  Bible  the 
inexpediency  of  the  course  pursued  by  Mr.  Lovejoy  and  his  friends, 
in  which  he  remarked:  "  The  great  apostle  had  said  all  things 
are  lawful  for  him,  but  all  things  are  not  expedient;  if  Paul  yielded 
to  the  law  of  expediency  would  it  be  wrong  for  Mr.  Lovejoy  to  fol 
low  his  example  ?  The  spirit  of  God  did  not  pursue  Paul  to  his 
destruction  for  thus  acting,  but  on  the  contrary  commended  his 
course ;  Paul  had  never  taken  up  arms  to  propagate  the  re 
ligion  of  his  master,  nor  to  defend  himself  from  the  attacks  of  his 
enemies  ;  the  people  of  Damascus  were  opposed  to  Paul,  but  did 
he  argue  with  the  populace  the  question  of  his  legal  right;  did  he 
say  I  am  a  minister  of  Christ  and  must  not  leave  the  work  of  my 
master  to  flee  before  the  face  of  a  mob." 

This  Avas  strange  advice  to  come  from  the  abettor  of  a  faction, 
first  to  inaugurate  violence,  and  at  that  very  time  conspiring 
against  the  life  of  one  who  was  legally  void  of  offense.  The  rev 
erend  gentleman  seemed  to  think  the  aggrieved  should  exercise 
forbearance,  while  the  mob  might  insult  and  destroy  with 
impunity.  Mr.  Beecher,  president  of  Illinois  College,  was 


DUNCAN'S   ADMINISTRATION.  431 

present  and  delivered  addresses,  in  which  he  took  a  position 
almost  as  objectionable  as  that  of  Mr.  Hogan.  He  believed  that 
slavery  was  morally  wrong,  and  should  not  be  tolerated  for  a 
moment.  He  contended,  that  if  the  constitution  sanctioned 
iniquity,  it  was  also  wrong,  and  could  not  be  binding  upon  the 
people,  that  for  his  part  he  did  not  acknowledge  obedience  to  the 
constitution,  and  as  long  as  it  tolerated  slavery,  he  could  not. 
But  when  he  came  to  urge  the  rights  of  his  friends  to  freedom  of 
speech  and  the  peaceable  use  of  their  property,  he  invoked  all 
the  guaranties  of  the  constitution  and  government  to  protect 
them  in  the  enjoyment  of  these  privileges.  He  would  nowr  have 
others  to  submit  to  the  law,  while  he  was  unwilling  to  do  it  him 
self.  Mr.  Lovejoy,  who  was  more  consistent  than  either  of  these 
gentlemen,  contended  only  for  his  undoubted  rights,  and  express 
ed,  in  a  conciliatory  manner  his  unalterable  determination  to  main 
tain  them.  "Mr.  Chairman,"  said  he,  "what  have  I  to  compromise! 
If  freely  to  forgive  those  who  have  so  greatly  injured  me ;  if  to 
pray  for  their  temporal  and  eternal  happiness;  if  still  to  wish  for 
the  prosperity  of  your  city  and  State,  notwithstanding  the 
indignities  I  have  suffered  in  them  ;  if  this  be  the  compromise 
intended,  then  do  I  willingly  make  it.  I  do  not  admit  that  it  is 
the  business  of  any  body  of  men  to  say,  whether  I  shall  or 
shall  not  publish  a  paper  in  this  city.  That  right  was  given  to 
me  by  my  Creator,  and  is  solemnly  guaranteed  by  the  constitutions 
of  the  United  States  and  this  State.  But  if  by  compromise  is  meant 
that  I  shall  cease  from  that  which  duty  requires  of  me,  I  cannot 
make  it,  and  the  reason  is,  that  I  fear  God  more  than  man.  It  is 
also  a  very  different  question,  whether  I  shall  voluntarily,  or  at 
the  request  of  my  friends,  yield  up  my  position,  or  whether  I  shall 
forsake  it  at  the  demand  of  a  mob.  The  former  I  am  ready  at  all 
times  to  do  when  the  circumstances  require  it,  as  I  will  never  put 
my  personal  wishes  or  interests  in  competition  with  the  cause  of 
that  master  whose  minister  I  am.  But  the  latter,  be  assured  I 
never  will  do.  You  have,  as  the  lawyers  say,  made  a  false  issue. 
There  are  no  two  parties  between  whom  there  can  be  a  comprom 
ise.  I  plant  myself  down  on  my  unquestionable  rights,  and  the 
question  to  be  decided  is,  whether  I  shall  be  protected  in  those 
rights  ?  that  is  the  question.  You  may  hang  me,  as  the  mob  hung 
the  individuals  at  Vicksburg.  You  may  burn  me  at  the  Stake,  as 
they  did  old  Mclntosh  at  St.  Louis,  or  you  may  tar  and  feather 
me,  or  throw  me  into  the  Mississippi,  as  you  have  threatened  to 
do,  but  you  cannot  disgrace  me.  I,  and  I  alone,  can  disgrace  my 
self,  and  the  deepest  of  all  disgrace  would  be  at  a  time  like  this 
to  deny  my  Maker  by  forsaking  his  cause.  He  died  for  me,  and  I 
were  most  unworthy  to  bear  his  name  should  I  refuse,  if  need  be, 
to  die  for  him. 

The  boat  having  the  obnoxious  press  on  board  arrived  early  in 
the  morning,  Nov.  7th,  1837,  and  the  latter  was  immediately 
removed  to  the  stone  warehouse  of  Godfrey,  Gilmaii  &  Co.  The 
proprietors  and  their  friends  now  assembled  with  arms  to  defend 
it.  No  violence  was  offered  till  the  ensuing  night,  when  a  mob  of 
about  30  persons  came  from  the  drinking  saloons  and  demanded 
the  press.  This  insolent  and  unjust  demand  was  of  course 
refused,  when  the  assailants,  with  stones,  brickbats  and  guns, 
commenced  an  attack  on  the  building.  Those  within,  among 


432  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

wliom  was  Mr.  Lovejoy,  returned  they  fire,  by  which  one  of 
the  mob  was  killed  and  several  others  wounded.  This  warm 
reception  caused  them  to  retire,  some  to  bear  away  the  dying 
man,  others  to  summon  reinforcements,  but  the  most  of  them 
visited  the  adjacent  grog-shops  for  the  purpose  of  reviving  their 
courage.  Soon  after,  the  bells  of  the  city  were  rung,  horns  were 
blown,  and  an  excited  multitude  came  rushing  to  the  warehouse, 
some  urging  on  the  drunken  and  iinbruted  mob,  and  others  per 
suading  them  to  desist.  Ladders  were  placed  against  the  side  of 
the  building,  without  windows,  Avhere  there  was  no  danger  from 
within,  and  several  persons  ascended  to  tire  the  roof.  Mr.  Lovejoy 
and  some  others  on  learning  their  danger,  rushed  out  and  firing 
upon  the  incendiaries  drove  them  away.  After  returning  to  the 
inside  and  reloading  their  pieces,  Mr.  Lovejoy,  with  two  or  three 
companions,  not  seeing  any  foe  on  the  south  side,  again  stepped 
out  to  look  after  the  roof.  Concealed  assassins  were  watching, 
and  simultaneously  firing,  five  bullets  entered  his  body,  when  he 
exclaimed,  "My  God!  I  am  shot,"  and  expired.  With  the  fall  of 
the  master  spirit,  the  defenders  of  the  press  surrendered  it  to  the 
mob,  who  broke  it  into  fragments  and  threw  them  into  the  river. 

The  following  day  a  grave  was  dug  on  a  high  bluff,  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  city,  and  the  body,  without  ceremony,  was 
thrown  into  it  and  covered  up.  Some  years  afterward,  the  same 
elevation  was  chosen  as  the  site  of  a  cemetery,  and  in  laying  out 
the  grounds,  the  main  avenue  chanced  to  pass  over  the  grave  of 
Lovejoy.  To  obviate  the  difficulty,  his  ashes  were  interred  in  a 
new  locality,  and  within  a  few  years  past,  a  simple  monument  was 
erected  over  the  spot,  bearing  the  inscription:  Hicjacet  Lovejoy ; 
jam  parce  sepulto. 

Of  those  who  participated  in  this  infamous  crime,  it  may  be 
mentioned  that  the  leader  of -the  outlaws  finally  became  a  prisoner 
in  the  Ohio  penitentiary ;  the  person  most  instrumental  in  com 
mitting  the  murder  was  killed  in  a  brawl  in  New  Orleans,  while 
many  others,  it  is  said,  ended  their  lives  in  violence  and  dis 
grace. 

The  aggressive  life  and  tragic  death  of  Mr.  Lovejoy,  furnishes  a 
subject  for  profitable  reflection.  In  common  with  all  true 
reformers,  he  possessed  a  grasp  of  intellect  which  enabled  him  to 
see  and  act  in  advance  of  his  time,  and  hence  was  unappreciated 
by  his  less  gifted  cotemporaries.  The  world  has  often  murdered 
the  authors  of  its  progress,  and  it  is  not  strange  that  he  lost  his 
life.  Every  considerable  advance  in  theology  has  had  its  persecu 
tions  and  martyrs.  The  magna  chartaof  English  liberty  was  wrung 
from  the  grasp  of  tyranny  by  the  death  of  patriots.  France  has 
battled  and  bled  for  republican  government,  yet  her  object  is  only 
half  attained.  The  cause  for  which  Lovejoy  died  finally 
triumphed,  yet  it  cost  one  of  the  most  bloody  civil  Avars  known  to 
history.  Such  has  been  in  general  the  past  history  of  reform. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
STATE   INTERNAL   IMPROVEMENT  SYSTEM. 


In  his  message  to  the  legislature  at  the  special  session  begun 
December  7,  1835,  Gov.  Duncan  said:  "When  we  look  abroad 
and  see  the  extensive  lines  of  inter-communication  penetrating 
almost  every  section  of  our  sister  States — when  we  see  the  canal- 
boat  and  the  locomotive  bearing,  with  seeming  triumph,  the  rich 
productions  of  the  interior  to  the  rivers,  lakes  and  ocean,  almost 
annihilating  time,  burthen  and  space,  what  patriot  bosom  does  not 
beat  high  with  a  laudable  ambition  to  give  to  Illinois  her  full 
share  of  those  advantages  which  are  adorning  her  sister  States, 
and  which  a  magnificent  Providence  seems  to  invite  by  the  won 
derful  adaptation  of  our  whole  country  to  such  improvements." 
Pennsylvania  and  other  States  were  at  the  time  engaged  in  exten 
sive  works  of  internal  improvement.  The  legislature  responded 
to  the  ardent  words  of  the  governor  in  a  liberal  manner,  by  char 
tering  a  great  number  of  railroads,  almost  checkering  the  map  of 
the  State,  and  pledging  its  faith  for  $500.000  of  the  canal  loan; 
but  further  than  this  they  did  not  go;  the  supreme  folly  of  the 
period  being  left  for  their  successors  to  enact.  After  the  adjourn 
ment,  when  the  people  contemplated  the  project  of  a  vast  system 
of  internal  improvements,  as  portrayed  by  His  Excellency,  they 
were  fired  with  an  inordinate  desire  to  have  it  speedily  in  successful 
operation. 

They  were  already  inoculated  with  the  fever  of  speculation, 
then  rife  throughout  the  west.  Chicago,  a  mere  trading  post  in  1830, 
had  in  a  few  years  grown  into  a  city  of  several  thousand  inhabi 
tants.  This  remarkable  city  had  now  started  upon  her  wonderful 
career  of  improvement,  unsurpassed  by  individual  effort  in  the 
annals  of  the  world,  steadily  maintained  to  this  day;  and  at 
present,  after  her  terrible  visitation  by  the  fire  fiend,  also  unsur 
passed  in  the  annals  of  the  world  for  the  magnitude  of  its 
destructiveness,  since  the  days  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  she  bids 
fair  to  eclipse  all  her  former  rapidity  of  growth.  The  story  of 
speedy  fortunes  made  in  Chicago,  which  excited  wonder  and  adven 
ture  36  years  ago,  is  still  fraught  with  marvels.  Early  reports 
of  the  rapid  advance  of  property  in  Chicago,  spread  to  the  east. 
Every  vessel  came  crowded  with  immigrants,  bringing  their 
money,  enterprise  and  industry  to  the  enchanted  spot  of  sudden 
opulence.  They  have  not  been  disappointed.  The  rapid  develop 
ment  of  the  town  inspired  emulation.  Throughout  the  State, 
towns,  and  additions  were  plotted  with  the  hope  of  profiting  by 
the  influx  of  emigrants.  In  some  cases  maps  of  splendidly  situated 
towns  would  be  taken  to  Chicago,  to  attract  the  attention  of  the 
28  433 


434  HISTOBY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

emigrant,  and  auction  sales  of  lots  would  be  made  far  from  the 
place  of  location.  Others  were  sent  east.  It  was  said  at  the 
time  that  the  staple  articles  of  Illinois  export  were  town  plots,  and 
that  there  Avas  danger  of  crowding  the  State  with  towns  to  the 
exclusion  of  land  for  agriculture.*  During  the  year  1830,  lands 
to  the  amount  of  $5,000,000  were  entered  in  Illinois.  From  this 
it  was  not  unreasonably  deduced  that  an  extraordinary  tide  of 
emigration  would  speedily  set  into  this  State.  Even  the  sober 
judgment  of  careful  business  men  and  staid  farmers  fluctuated, 
and  they  became  fired  with  the  idea  of  leaping  into  sudden  fortune. 
The  genius  of  speculation  overspread  the  State  with  her  golden 
wings,  casting  dazzling  beams  of  bright  promise  across  the  paths 
of  our  people,  beyond  which  it  was  difficult  to  see.  They  invested 
to  the  utmost  of  their  credit,  which  at  that  time  of  bank  expan 
sion,  was  almost  unlimited.  To  prevent  their  extensive  purchases 
from  becoming  a  drug  upon  their  hands,  and  to  further  invite 
immigration  and  place  the  prosperity  of  the  State  upon  a  firm 
basis,  by  developing  its  resources — bringing  its  interior  within  the 
range  of  markets;  settling  it  up  ;  building  up  its  towns  and  cities; 
having  the  muscle  to  wring  from  its  vigorous  soil  the  products  of 
wealth,  and  enhance  the  price  of  property,  was  a  great,  a  grand 
disideratum.  All  this  could  be  accomplished,  it  was  ingeniously 
argued,  and  doubtless  demonstrated  to  many,  by  a  general  system 
of  internal  improvements,  based  on  the  faith  and  credit  of  the 
State.  A  new  legislature  was  to  be  elected  in  August  of  that 
year,  1836.  The  dazzling  scheme  was  now  vigorously  agitated. 
The  press  espoused  the  project.  Public  meetings  were  held  all 
over  the  State,  and  resolutions,  as  the  expressions  of  the  people 
in  favor  of  the  scheme,  were  adopted.  The  subject  was  kept 
alive.  *  The  great  natural  surface  advantages  of  the  State  for  the 
building  of  railroads  were  dilated  upon ;  the  State  Avhich  already 
possessed  every  element  of  greatness — extent  of  territory,  rich 
ness  of  soil,  variety  of  climate,  almost  bounded  by  navigable 
waters — lacked  only  these  improvements  to  reach  and  develope  its 
vast  and  inaccessible  interior.  Its  broad  and  fertile  prairies  lay 
ready  prepared,  awaiting  only  population  and  the  hand  of  industry 
to  respond  with  abundant  products,  to  freight  these  avenues  of 
commerce  connecting  them  with  the  markets  of  the  world.  That 
these  views  were  in  the  main  correct  has  by  this  time,  with  our 
7000  miles  of  completed  railroads,  been  demonstrated;  but  that 
the  State  should  carry  forward  the  herculean  project  was  most 
vissionary,  and  proved  most  disastrous. 

The  legislature  elected  August  183G,  was  supplemented  by  an 
internal  improvement  convention,  composed  of  many  of  the  ablest 
men  of  the  State,  which  was  to  meet  at  the  seat  of  government 
simultaneously  with  the  legislature.  It  is  probable  that  the  more 
zealous  advocates  of  the  project  entertained  doubts  regarding  the 
stamina  of  the  honorable  members  of  the  legislature,  when  the 
vast  project  should  be  fully  brought  forward  for  action.  The  con 
vention  devised  a  general  system  of  internal  improvements,  the 
leading  characteristics  of  which  was  "that  it  should  be  commen 
surate  with  the  wants  of  the  people."  It  was  an  irresponsible 
body,  determined  to  succeed  in  its  one  object,  regardless  of  con 
sequences.  The  wildest  reasoning  was  indulged.  Everj7  theory 

*Ford's  History. 


DUNCAN'S  ADMINISTRATION.  435 

that  the  teeming  brain  of  man  could  suggest  was  brought  into 
requisition  to  further  the  success  of  the  scheme.  Possibilities 
were  argued  into  probabilities,  and  the  latter  into  infalibilities. 
Doubts  regarding  the  advantages  of  the  system  were  scouted; 
the  resources  of  the  State  magnified  a  hundred  fold,  and  the  ulti 
mate  ability  of  the  works  to  meet  all  their  liabilities  without  det 
riment  to  the  State,  predicted  with  a  positiveness  as  if  inspired 
by  the  gift  of  prophecy.  Governor  Duncan  in  his  message  reiter 
ated  his  recommendation  to  establish  a  general  and  uniform  sys 
tem  of  internal  improvements,  in  which  the  State  might  take  a 
third  or  half  interest  to  hasten  the  works  to  completion,  which 
would  secure  to  her  a  lasting  and  abundant  revenue,  to  be  ap 
plied  upon  the  principles  of  the  plan  proposed,  "until  the  whole 
country  shall  be  intersected  by  canals  and  railroads,  and  our 
beautiful  prairies  enlivened  by  thousands  of  steam  engines,  draw 
ing  after  them  lengthened  trains,  freighted  with  the  abundant 
productions  of  our  fertile  soil."  The  production  of  the  conven 
tion  was  confided  to  the  hands  of  Edward  Smith,  of  Wabash,  chair 
man  of  the  committee  on  internal  improvements  in  the  legislature, 
who,  after  the  introduction  of  a  set  of  resolutions  covering  the  same 
ground,  on  the  9th  of  January,  1837,  made  a  report  on  the  memo 
rial  and  the  governor's  message  relating  to  the  same  subject, 
which  it  may  safely  be  asserted  is  one  of  the  most  assuring,  ex 
pectant,  and  hopeful  papers  to  be  found  among  the  archives  of 
Illinois.  It  occupies  some  12  pages,  and  is  replete  with  specious 
reasoning.  The  committee  argued  that  public  expectation,  both 
at  home  and  abroad,  would  be  greatly  disappointed  if  some  system 
of  internal  improvement  was  not  adopted  at  the  present  ses 
sion  ;  that  the  internal  trade  of  a  country  was  the  greatest 
lever  of  its  prosperity  ;  that  it  was  the  legislator's  duty,  by  his  ex 
ample,  to  calm  the  apprehension  ot  the  timorous  and  meet  the 
attacks  of  calculating  opposers  of  measures  which  would  multi 
ply  the  population  and  wealth  of  the  State;  that  the  surface  of 
the  State  was  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  construction  of  railroads, 
and  that  the  practicability  of  removing  obstructions  to  the  navi 
gation  of  our  rivers  could  not  be  doubted  ;  that  a  general  .system 
of  internal  improvements  was  then  within  the  policy  and  means 
of  the  State,  demanded  by  the  people  as  expressed  by  their  highly 
talented  delegates,  lately  assembled  in  convention,  and  also  looked 
forward  to  by  the  people  abroad  who  had  purchased  lands  here 
with  a  view  to  settlement,  and  whose  expectations  ought  not  to  be 
disappointed  by  over  cautious  legislation,  which  would  divert  emi 
gration  to  other  States;  that  the  cost  of  building  railroads,  from 
the  uniformity  of  the  country,  and  by  analogy  Avith  similar  works 
in  other  States,  could  be  calculated  with  the  utmost  precision 
without  previous  surveys,  ($<S,000  per  mile  being  the  estimate) ; 
than  an  internal  improvement  fund  should  be  constituted  of  all 
moneys  arising  from  loans,  sale  of  stocks,  tolls,  rents  of  land  and 
hydraulic  powers,  interest  on  stocks,  sale  of  State  lands  entered  for 
the  works,  a  portion  of  the  deposits  received  from  the  national 
treasury,  and  portions  of  the  annual  land  tax;  that  with  the  ex 
piration  of  the  government  exemption  in  five  yours  time,  there 
would  be  12,000.000  acres  of  land  to  tax;  that  by  the  disbursements 
of  large  sums  of  money,  means  would  speedily  be  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  people  to  enable  them  to  purchase  their  homes ; 


436 


HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


that  the  railroads- as  fast  as  completed  both  ways  from  the  cross 
ings  of  rivers  and  important  towns,  would  yield  the  interests  on 
their  costs ;  that  in  the  advance  of  the  routes  of  improvements  the 
State  should  enter  lands  to  re-sell  at  an  enhanced  price ;  that  a 
board  of  fund  commissioners  should  be  elected,  to  consist  of  such 
eminent  financiers  as  to  reflect  great  credit  upon  the  State,  and 
thus  add  to  its  financial  resources ;  and  that  with  these  active 
resources  at  command  no  great  financial  skill  was  required  of  fu 
ture  legislatures  to  provide  the  ways  and  means  to  carry  to  com 
pletion  the  public  works  without  burthening  the  people  with  taxa 
tion.  The  works  recommended,  together  with  the  estimated  costs, 
were  as  follows : 

$100,000 
100,000 
100,000 
50,000 
50,000 
100,000 


1st. 

2d. 

3d. 

4th. 

5th. 

6th. 

7th. 

8th. 
9th. 


ImprcAement-of  the  Great  Wabash  river 
Illinois  river 
Rock  river 
Kaskaskia  river 
Little  Wabash  river 
Great  Western  Mail  Route      - 
Central  Railroad  from  mouth  of  the 

Ohio  to  Galena 
Southern  Cross  railroad 
Northern  Cross  railroad 


3,500,000 
1,600,000 

1,850,000 


$7,450.000 

A  bill  covering  these  provisions  was  submitted  by  the  commit 
tee,  who  concluded : 

"The  maxim  is  well  understood  by  political  economists,  that  the 
wealth  of  a  country  does  not  consist  so  much  in  the  abundance  of  its 
coffers  as  in  the  number  and  general  prosperity  of  its  citizens.  In  the 
present  situation  of  the  country,  the  products  of  the  interior  by  reason 
of  their  remoteness  from  market,  are  left  upon  the  hands  of  the  produ 
cer,  or  sold  barely  at  the  price  of  the  labor  necessary  to  raise  and  prepare 
them  for  sale.  But  if  the  contemplated  system  should  be  carried  into 
effect,  these  fertile  and  healthy  districts  which  now  languish  for  the 
want  of  ready  markets  for  their  productions,  would  find  a  demand  at 
home  for  them  during  the  progress  of  the  works,  and  after  their  comple 
tion  would  have  the  advantage  of  a  cheap  transit  to  a  choice  of  markets 
on  the  various  navigable  streams.  These  would  inevitably  tend  to  build 
towns  and  cities  along  the  routes  and  at  the  terminal  points  of  the  re 
spective  railroads.'7 

The  legislature,  in  adopting  "An  act  to  establish  and  maintain 
a  general  system  of  internal  improvement,"  approved  February 
27,  1837,  not  only  came  fully  up  to  the  requirements  of  the  con 
vention,  as  reported  by  the  committee,  but  went  over  two  million 
and  a  quarter  beyond — $10,230,000,  as  follows:  Toward  the  im 
provement  of  the  Great  Wabash,  $100,000;  the  Illinois  river, 
$100,000;  Rock  river,  $100,000;  Kaskaskia,  $50,000;  Little  Wa 
bash,  $50,000  ;  Great  Western  Mail  Route  from  Yiucenues  to  St. 
Louis,  $250,000,  as  follows:  on  the  Purgatory  swamp,  opposite 
Vincennes,  $30,000 ,  Little  W abash  river  bottoms,  $15,000.  on  the 
American  bottom  opposite  St.  Louis,  $30,000,  the  balance  on 
bridges  and  repairs ;  for  the  Central  railroad  from  Cairo  to  the 
Illinois  and  Michigan  canal  and  railroads  from  Alton  to  Mt.  Car- 
.mel  (Southern  cross-road)  and  Alton  to  Shawneetowu,  $1,000,000; 
Northern  cross-railroad  from  Quincy  to  Indiana  State  line  (present 
T.  W.  &  W.),  $1,800,000;  a  branch  of  the  Central  from  Hillsboro' 
via  Shelby viDe  and  Charleston  to  Terre  Haute,  $G50,000;  from 
Peoria  via  McComb  and  Carthage  to  Warsaw,  $700,000;  from 


DUNCAN'S   ADMINISTRATION.  437 

Alton  to  Hillsboro,  and  the  Central  railroad,  $000,000;  from 
Belleville  via  Lebanon  to  intersect  the  Southern  cross-railroad, 
$150,000;  from  Bloomington  to  Mackinaw  in  Tazewill  county, 
thence  a-  branch  to  Pekiu,  $350,000;  and  finally,  of  the  first 
moneys  obtained,  $200,000  were  to  be  distributed  among  those 
counties  through  which  no  roads  or  improvements  were  projected. 

A  board  of  fund  commissioners  was  provided  to  consist  of  three 
members,  who  should  "  be  practical  and  experienced  financiers," 
u  who  were  to  contract  for  and  negotiate  all  loans  authorized  by 
the  legislature  on  the  faith  and  credit  of  the  State  for  objects  of 
internal  improvements  on  the  best  and  most  favorable  terms," 
sign  and  execute  bonds  or  certificates  of  stocks,  receive,  manage, 
deposit  and  apply  all  moneys  arising  from  said  loans;  make  quar 
terly  reports,  &c.,  and  keep  a  .complete  record  of  all  their  fiscal 
transactions.  The  commissioners  chosen  at  this  session  by  joint 
vote  of  both  houses,  were:  Charles  Oakley,  M.  M.  Rawlings,  and 
Thomas  Mather.  Their  trust  was  enormous,  and  while  they  han 
dled  millions  of  the  people's  money,  a  bond  was  exacted  of  only 
850.000.  They  were  allowed  a  secretary  and  a  per  diem  compen 
sation  of  $5.  For  the  purpose  of  promoting  and  uniting  the  va 
rious  branches  of  improvement,  a  board  of  "  Commissioners  of 
Public  Works"  was  created,  consisting  of  seven  members,  one 
from  each  judicial  district,  to  be  elected  biennially  by  joint  vote  of 
the  General  Assembly,  and  to  continue  in  office  for  two  years. 
An  oath  of  office  and  a  bond  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  was  re 
quired  of  each;  no  commissioner  was  permitted  to  retain  in  his 
hands  more  than  $20,000  at  any  one  time.  Both  commis 
sioners  and  engineers  were  required  to  take  an  oath  to  keep 
secret,  for  the  benefit  of  the  State,  all  information  they  might  re 
ceive  relating  to  lands  or  choice  town  sites,  that  other  persons 
might  not  enter  or  purchase  them  to  the  detriment  of  the  State. 
A  violation  of  this  provision  was  to  be  deemed  a  misdemeanor, 
punishable  by  fine  not  exceeding  $5,000  and  incapacity  of  hold 
ing  office.  The  commissioners  were  authorized  to  locate,  su 
perintend,  and  construct  all  the  public  works  for  the  State,  except 
the  canal.  They  were  to  organize  and  meet  semi-annually  at  the 
seat  of  government,  at  which  times  the  general  outlines  of  the 
operations  were  to  be  determined;  examine  and  audit  the  ex 
penditures  of  moneys  on  the  works;  make  estimates  of  probable 
costs;  serve  authenticated  copies  on  the  fund  commissioners,  and 
make  out  a  report  of  their  proceedings  for  the  governor  to  lay  be 
fore  the  legislature.  Certain  duties  or  divisions  of  the  work  might 
be  assigned  among  themselves  ;  they  were  to  cause  examinations 
and  surveys  of  rivers  to  be  made,  and  generally  to  let  the  works  to 
the  lowest  bidders,  for  which  due  notice  was  to  be  published  and 
sealed  proposals  received ;  contracts  were  to  provide  for  forfeiture 
in  case  of  non-compliance,  abandonment,  &c.,  by  contractors  ;  no 
sub-letting  was  permitted. 

Any  vacant  lands  lying  within  5  miles  of  any  probable  routes  of 
the  works  were  to  be  entered  for  the  State.  The  railroads  were  to 
be  built  on  the  most  direct  and  eligible  routes  between  their  speci-* 
fied  termini.  Individuals  or  private  companies  might  connect 
any  railroads  or  branches  with  the  State  works.  Finally  the 
board  of  public  works  were  empowered  to  adopt  and  enforce  all 


438  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

such  rules  and.  regulations  as  they  might  deem  necessary  and 
expedient,  to  carry  into  full  effect  the  objects  of  the  act. 

The  Northern  Cross  railroad,  from  Jacksonville  to  Spring-field, 
was  to  be  immediately  constructed ;  but  with  regard  to  the  other 
railroads,  it  was  provided  in  section  25  of  the  act,  that  the  work 
should  be  commenced  simultaneously  at  each  end,  at  important 
trading'  towns,  and  at  their  intersections  with  navigable  streams, 
to  be  thence  built  in  both  directions.  This  provision,  which  has 
been  called  the  crowning  folly  of  the  entire  system,  was  the  result 
of  those  jealous  combinations,  emanating  from  the  fear  that 
advantages  might  accrue  to  one  section  over  another  in  the  com 
mencement  and  completion  of  the  works,  which  evince,  both  the 
weakness  and  short-sightedness  of  human  nature.  We  can  appre 
ciate  the  magnitude  and  enormity  of  the  "grand  system"  better 
perhaps,  by  applying  facts  and  figures  to  it.  The  census  taken  in 
1835,  returned  the  population  of  the  State  271,727 ;  in  1870  it  is 
2,539,891,  or  nearly  ten  times  greater.  The  ratio  of  increase  hi 
the  wealth  of  the  State  as  fully  as  great.*  The  debt  authorized 
for  these  improvements  in  the  first  instance  was  $10,230,000. 
But  it  was  shortly  found,  that  the  estimates  of  the  cost  of  the 
works  were  too  low  by  half.  We  may  with  certainty  assert,  there 
fore,  that  the  State  was  committed  to  a  liability  of  $20,000,000, 
equivalent  to  $200,000,000  at  the  present  time,  with  ten  times  the 
population,  and  more  than  ten  times  the  wealth.  Yet  what  would 
be  the  indignation  of  the  people,  if  any  legislature  should  now 
dare. to  impose  the  enormous  liability  of  $200,000,000,  or  even 
half  that  sum,  upon  the  State,  notwithstanding  its  great  wealth 
and  resources  $ 

The  bill  did  not  meet  the  approbation  of  the  council  of  revision. 
It  was  assigned  as  a  reason,  "that  such  works  can  only  be  made 
safely  and  economically  in  a  free  government,  by  citizens  or  by 
independent  corporations,  aided  or  authorized  by  government." 
Allusions  was  also  made  to  the  undue  influence  over  legislation  that 
such  vast  public  works  would  exercise.  Notwithstanding  these 
objections  the  bill  was  again  passed  by  the  constitutional  major 
ity  and  became  a  law.  Messrs.  E.  B.  Webb  and  John  McCown, 
members  of  the  House  from  White  county,  entered  their  solemn 
protest  again t  its  passage,  setting1  forth  their  reasons  at  large, 
which  were  spread  iipon  the  journal. 

Various  combinations,  or  what  is  in  modern  r>arlence  termed 
"rings,"  were  formed  in  the  legislature  to  effect  'the  passage  of 
the  act.  Previous  to  this  all  estimates  of  the  cost  of  the  canal, 
then  in  course  of  construction,  were  upon  too  low  a  scale.  Its 
completion  was  very  much  desired  by  a  large  portion  of  the  peo 
ple,  and  it  had  been  regarded  as  a  work  of  great  public  utility 
with  much  unanimity  among1  public  men,  but  now  farther  aid  was 
menaced  to  be  withheld  if  other  portions  of  the  State  were  refused 
the  improvements  which  their  situations  demanded.  The  canal 
was  therefore  connected  with  the  general  system,  and  a  provision 
made  pledging  the  faith  of  the  State  for  a  loan  of  $500,000  toward 
•it.  The  canal  is  not  yet  done  playing  an  important  part  in  obtain 
ing  appropriations  from  the  State  treasury.  To  enlist  the  requis 
ite  number  of  members  for  its  passage  of  the  bill,  provision  was 

*The  taxable  wealth  of  the  Stute  in  1839  was  only  5558,889,525,  now  it  exceeds  $500,(JOO, - 


DUNCAN'S  ADMINISTRATION.  439 

made  for  improvements  in  almost  every  part  of  the  State,  and 
those  out-of-the-way  counties  which  could  not  be  reached,  were  to 
share  in  a  fund  of  8200,000,  first  to  be  raised.  Alton,  then  muni 
ficently  supplied  with  millions  by  the  State  bank  to  build  her  up 
as  the' mercantile  center  and  metropolis  of  the  west,  would  not  be 
satisfied  with  less  than  the  termini  of  three  railroads.  In  1834, 
she  had  received  the  highest  number  of  votes  as  the  seat  of 
government,  after  the  20  years  limitation  at  Vandalia  should  ex 
pire  ;  but  upon  this  she  did  not  now  insist — she  preferred  rail 
roads.  Several  efforts  were  made  to  cut  down  the  scheme  to  less 
dimensions,  with  failures  each  time,  and  not  unfrequently  more 
works  added.  Although  the  internal  improvement  convention 
had  long  since  adjourned,  there  was  still  a  powerful  lobby  busily 
engaged  applying  the  pressure  to  pliant  members  of  the  legislature. 
The  lobbies  witnessed  many  oratorical  efforts  of  ingenious  and 
logical  argument. .  The  manifest  destiny  of  government  Avas  pro- 
trayed  in  glowing  colors ;  deductions  from  similar  systems  in  pro 
gress  in  other  States  were  made  applicable  to  Illinois,  and  their 
certain  success  driven  home  and  clinched  with  predictions ;  and 
who  can  argue  against  prophecy  ?  The  subsequent  facts  of  signal 
and  disastrous  failure,  were  then  hidden  in  the  womb  of  time. 
What  appears  ridiculous  and  absurd  now,  was  then  by  many 
confidently  believed,  because  there  were  no  facts  to  gainsay  it,  but 
much  positive  asservation  that  it  would  be  a  success. 

The  question  of  removing  the  seat  of  government  from  Vandalia, 
the  20  years  limitation  under  the  constitution  having  nearly  ex 
pired,  played  no  inconsiderable  part  in  the  passage  of  this 
measure.  Sangamon  county,  then  the  most  populous  in  the  State, 
was  represented  by  two  senators  and  seven  representatives, 
familiarly  known  as  the  "long  nine,"  all  whigs  but  one.  Says 
Gov.  Ford : 

"Amongst  them  were  some  dexterous  jugglers  and  managers  in 
politics,  whose  whole  object  was  to  obtain  the  seat  of  government  for 
Springfield.  This  delegation,  from  the  beginning  of  the  session,  threw 
itself  as  a  unit  in  support  of,  or  opposition  to,  every  local  measure  of 
interest,  but  never  without  a  bargain  for  votes  in  return  on  the  seat  of 
government  question.  Most  of  the  other  counties  were  small,  having 
but  one  representative,  and  many  of  them  with  but  one  for  the  whole 
district ;  and  this  gave  Sangamon  county  a  decided  preponderance  in  the 
log-rolling  system  of  those  days.  It  is  worthy  of  examination  whether 
any  just  and  equal  legislation  can  ever  be  sustained  where  some  of  the 
counties  are  great  and  powerful  and  others  feeble.  But  by  such  means 
'the  long  nine'  rolled  along  like  a  snow  ball,  gathering  accessions  of 
strength  at  every  turn,  until  they  swelled  up  a  considerable  party  for 
Springfield,  which  party  they  managed  to  take  almost  as  a  unit  in  favor 
of  the  internal  improvement  system,  in  return  for  which  the  active  sup 
porters  of  that  system  were  to  vote  for  Springfield  to  be  the  seat  of  gov 
ernment.  Thus  it  was  made  to  cost  the  State  about  $6, 000, 000,  to  remove 
the  seat  of  government  from  Vandalia  to  Springfield,  half  of  which  sum 
would  have  purchased  all  the  real  estate  in  that  town  at  three  prices;  and 
thus  by  log-rolling  on  the  canal  measure,  by  multiplying  railroads,  by 
terminating  three  railroads  at  Alton,  that  Alton  might  become  a  great 
city  in  opposition  to  St.  Louis,  by  distributing  money  to  some  of  the 
counties,  to  be  wasted  by  the  county  commissioners,  and  by  giving  the 
seat  of  government  to  Springfield,  was  the  whole  State  bought  up  and 
bribed,  to  approve  the  most  senseless  and  disastrous  policy  which  ever 
crippled  the  energies  of  a  growing  country." 

The  first  board  of  commissioners  of  public  works,  consisted  of 
Murray  McConnell,  William  Kiiiney,  Elijah  Willard,  Milton  K. 


440  HISTORY   OF    ILLINOIS. 

Alexander,  Joel  Wright,  James  W.  Stephen  son,  and  Ebenezer 
Peck.  An  effort  was  made  to  elect  members  of  the  legislature  to 
this  important  place  of  trust.  To  evade  the  provision  of  the  con 
stitution,  that  "no  senator  or  representative  shall,  during  the  time 
for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected,  be  appointed  to  any  civil 
office  under  this  State,"  and  also  the  determination  of  Governor 
Duncan  not  to  commission  any  member  who  might  be  chosen,  a 
law  was  endeavored  to  be  passed  to  over-ride  the  constitution  and 
do  away  with  a  commission,  notwithstanding  the  requirement 
that  all  civil  officers  shall  be  commissioned.  In  the  light  of  a  late 
decision  of  the  supreme  court,  however,  a  commissioner  is  not  an 
officer.  Still,  at  the  joint  meeting  of  the  two  houses  an  effort  was 
made  to  elect  members  as  commissioners,  but  there  were  some 
scruples  in  the  way ;  an  adjournment  for  a  day  was  had,  when 
men  Avere  chosen,  not  members  of  either  house. 

It  was  now  fondly  hoped  by  those  whose  heads  Avere  not  entirely 
turned  that  the  fund  commissioners  would  be  unable  to  negotiate 
the  bonds  of  the  State.  But  this  was  soon  swept  away.  Through 
the  aid  of  the  United  States  bank,  then  trading  in  State  stocks, 
which  served  to  bankrupt  it,  loans  were  effected  in  the  summer 
of  1837 ;  work  was  commenced  at  many  different  points  before 
the  end  of  the  year.  Throughout  the  State  public  expectation 
was  wrought  to  the  highest  pitch  over  the  scheme.  Money  became 
abundant  by  reason  of  local  expenditures  and  in  payments  for 
estimates  upon  works.  It  had  been  confidently  believed  that  the 
bonds  of  the  State  would  bring  ten  per  centum  premium  in 
market.  Gov.  Duncan  had  disposed  of  $100,000  in  canal  bonds 
the  summer  preceding  at  5  per  centum  premium,  which  he  con 
sidered  too  low  and  declined  a  larger  sum  at  that  rate.  But  now 
the  commissioners  could  effect  loans  in  this  country  only  at  par ; 
London  was  tried  with  worse  effect,  "those  in  Europe  were  at  9 
per  cent  discount.  The  bankers  paid  90  cents  on  the  dollar  to  the 
State,  and,  as  is  alleged,  1  per  cent,  to  the  fund  commissioners, 
for  brokerage."*  Besides  which  a  heavy  contract  was  given  for 
railroad  iron  at  a  most  exorbitant  price.  Labor  progressed 
meanwhile  upon  all  the  works. 

*Ford's  History. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 
1838-1842— ADMINISTRATION    OF    GOVERNOR    CARETS'. 

Continuation  of  the  Subject  of  Internal  Improvement — Collapse  of 
the  Grand  System — Hard  Times — Reorganization  of  the  Judiciary 
in  1841. 


While  the  unwieldy  internal  improvement  system  of  the  State 
was  in  full  operation,  with  all  its  expensive  machinery,  amidst 
bank  suspensions  throughout  the  United  States,  a  great  stringency 
in  the  money  market  everywhere,  and  Illinois  bonds  forced  to  sale 
at  a  heavy  discount,  the  general  election  of  1838  was  approach 
ing.  Discreet  men  who  had  cherished  the  hope  of  a  speedy  sub 
sidence  of  the  public  infatuation,  met  with  disappointment.  A 
governor  and  legislature  were  to  be  elected,  and  these  were  now 
looked  forward  to  for  a  repeal  of  the  ruinous  State  policy.  But 
the  grand  scheme  had  not  yet  lost  its  dazzling  influence  upon  the 
minds  of  the  people.  Time  and  experience  had  not  demonstrated 
its  utter  absurdity.  Hence  the  question  of  arresting  its  career 
of  profligate  expenditures  did  not  become  a  leading  one  with  the 
dominant  party  during  the  campaign,  and  most  of  the  old  members 
of  the  legislature  were  returned  at  this  election. 

Of  the  gubernatorial  candidates,  Cyrus  Edwards  (brother  of  the 
late  governor,)  whig,  came  out  strongly  for  the  system;  Avhile 
Thomas  Carlin,  the  democratic  nominee,  well  apprised  of  the  public 
infatuation  not  yet  sobered,  failed  to  declare  an  emphatic  opinion 
either  for  or  against.  This  was  the  first  time  that  the  two  political 
parties  had  the  field  to  themselves  in  a  gubernatorial  campaign, 
unembarrassed  by  other  tickets.  In  December  preceding,  the 
Democratic  State  convention  had  nominated  James  W.  Stephen- 
son  for  governor,  and  John  S.  Hacker  for  lieutenant  governor.  In 
April  following,  Hacker  withdrew  from  the  contest,  and  Stephen- 
son,  who  was  charged  with  being  a  defaulter,  also  withdrew, 
a  sacrifice  to  the  demands  of  party  interests.  The  convention  was 
recalled  and  met  June  4th,  when  Thomas  Carlin  was  nominated 
for  governor,  and  S.  H.  Anderson  for  lieutenant  governor.  Carlin 
was  elected,  receiving  35,573  votes  to  Edwards  29,029.  Anderson 
received  30,335  votes,  to  W.  H.  Davidson,  the  whig  nominee  for 
lieutenant  governor,  28,716. 

Gov.  Carlin  was  born  in  Kentucky,  near  Frankfort,  July  18th, 
1789.  His  father  was  an  Irishman.  The  education  of  young 
Carlin  was  meagre.  In  early  manhood  he  applied  himself  to 
remedy  this  deficiency,  being  his  own  tutor.  He  was  fond  of 
reading  through  life.  In  1803  his  father  removed  to  Missouri, 
then  Spanish,  where  he  died  in  1810.  In  1812  the  subject  of  our 

441 


442  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

sketch  came  to  Illinois  and  participated  in  all  the  "ranging"  ser 
vice  incident  to  the  war  of  that  period,  proving  himself  a  soldier 
of  undaunted  bravery.  He  was  married  to  Rebeca  Huitt  in  1814, 
and  lived  on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi  opposite  the  mouth  of  the 
Missouri  4  years,  when  he  removed  to  Greene  county.  He  located 
the  town  site  of  Carrollton,  and  made  a  liberal  donation  of  land 
for  county  building  purposes  in  1825.  He  was  the  first  sheriff  of 
Greene  county,  and  afterward  was  twice  elected  a  senator  to  the 
legislature.  In  the  Black  Hawk  war  he  commanded  a  spy 
battalion,  a  post  of  considerable  danger.  In  1834  he  was  appointed 
by  President  Jackson  receiver  of  public  moneys  and  removed  to 
Quincy.  After  the  close  of  his  gubernatorial  term  he  removed 
back  to  his  old  home  at  Carrollton,  where  he  spent  the  remainder 
of  his  life,  as  before  his  elevation  to  office,  in  agricultural  pursuits. 
In  1849  he  served  out  the  unexpired  term  of  J.  D.  Fry  in  the 
lower  house  of  the  legislature.  He  died  Feb.  14,  1852,  leaving 
surviving  him  his  wife  and  seven  children,  out  of  thirteen  born  to 
them.* 

Gov.  Carlin  was  a  man  of  remarkable  physical  energy  and 
capacity.  In  stature  he  was  above  the  medium  height;  light  com- 
plexioned,  a  spare  looking  face,  high  forehead,  long  nose,  and  thin 
lips,  giving  to  his  mouth  a  compressed  appearance.  He  was  un 
yielding  if  not  obstinate  in  disposition,  possessed  in  private  life 
an  unblemished  character,  and  was  a  democrat  of  the  straightest 
sect.  While  he  did  not  seek  preferment,  he  did  not  reject  office. 
Mentally  he  was  not  without  vigor.  His  messages  are  smoothly 
and  rather  well  written,  but  he  did  not  attempt  public  speaking. 

The  lieutenant  governor  elect,  Anderson,  was  a  native  of 
Tenness.ee.  He  proved  an  efficient  officer,  and  attached  to  himself 
many  warm  friends  through  life.  He  resided  in  Jefferson  county. 
After  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office,  he  received  from  Presi 
dent  Polk  the  office  of  United  States  Marshal.  In  politics,  it  )s 
needless  to  add,  he  was  a  democrat. 

Upon,  the  meeting  of  the  legislature,  1839,  the  retiring  governor, 
Duncan,  in  his  message  spoke  in  emphatic  terms  of  the  impolicy 
of  the  internal  improvement  system  by  the  State;  presaged  the  evils 
threatened  by  that  measure,  which  experience  had  already  suffici 
ently  shown  would  have  a  most  deleterious  effect  upon  the  property 
of  the  State;  and  urged  that  to  correct  the  mistake,  without  too 
great  a  sacrifice  of  public  or  private  interests,  should  occupy  the 
most  serious  and  patriotic  deliberation  of  the  legislature.  But  the 
incoming  governor,  contrary  to  the  hope  of  many  wise  and  discrete 
men,  while  he  strongly  assailed,  in  true  Jacksoniau  style,  the 
banks  and  their  suspensions,  Avhich  had  been  legalized,  held  the 
following  language  on  the  subject  of  internal  improvements: 

"The  signal  success  which  has  attended  our  sister  States  in  the  con 
struction  of  their  extensive  systems  of  improvements  can  leave  DO  doubt 
of  the  wise  policy  and  utility  of  such  works.  They  open  new  channels 
of  commerce  and  trade,  furnish  the  farmer  and  mechanic  the  means  of 
transporting  the  products  of  their  labor  to  market,  develope  the  natural 
and  hidden  resources  of  the  country,  and  stimulate  the  enterprise  and 
industry  of  the  people.  *  *  In  the  principles  and  policy  of  this  plan, 
contrasted  with  that  of  joint  stock  companies  and  private  "corporations,  I 
entirely  concur.  Had  I  occupied  my  present  situation  at  the  establish- 

*From  a  memoir  by  his  daughter,  Mrs.  E.  C .  Woodward. 


CAllLIN'S   ADMINISTRATION.  443 

ment  of  the  system,  I  would  have  recommended  its  adoption  on  a  less 
extensive  scale,  and  the  construction  of  the  most  important  works  first. 
Under  the  present  plan  of  proceeding;,  however,  near  two  million  dollars 
have  been  expended,  and  whatever  diversity  of  opinion  may  now  exist 
as  to  the  expediency  of  the  system  as  originally  projected,  all  must 
admit  that  the  character  and  credit  of  the  State  forbid  its  abandonment." 

It  was,  therefore,  to  be  expected  that  those  who  saw  the  folly  of 
the  State  in  the  prosecution  of  this  system,  and  had  cherished  the 
hope  of  a  change,  would  be  disappointed.  The  new  legislature 
not  only  did  not  repeal  or  modify  the  expensive  project,  but  made 
further  specific  appropriations  and  authorized  additional  works, 
involving  an  out-lay  of  near  a  million  dollars:  $50,000  for  the  im 
provement  of  Rock  river;  $150,000  to  improve  the  navigation  of 
the  Little  Wabash;  $20,000  on  the  western  mail  route;  $100,000 
for  a,  new  railroad  from  Riishvillc  to  Erie,  on  the  bank  of  the  Illinois 
river;  $1*0,000  to  improve  the  navigation  of  the  Embarras  river; 
$20,000  for  the  Big  Muddy;  and  $10,000  for  a  road  from  Cahokla 
Creek  to  Kaskaskia.  Besides  these  specific  amounts,  the  improve 
ment  of  the  navigation  of  the  Illinois  river  was  directed  to  be 
extended  to  Ottawa  (which  according  to  modern  experience  would 
have  taken  many  millions  more)  and  a  lateral  branch  railroad  from 
some  eligible  point  on  the  Alton  and  Shelbyville  railroad  between 
Hillsboro  and  Alton  to  run  to  Carlinville.  The  governor  was  al«o 
authorized  to  negotiate  a  loan  of  $4,000,000  to  prosecute  the  work 
on  the  canal.  The  lands  and  public  works  of  the  State  were  ex 
empted  from  taxation.  So  thoroughly  was  the  legislature  still 
imbued  with  the  idea  of  the  State  exclusively  owning  all  the  public 
works,  that  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Internal  Improve 
ment,  Mr.  Smith,  of  Wabash,  in  reporting  adversely  upon  a  bill 
for  "an  act  to  incorporate  the  Albion  and  Grayville  Railroad 
Company,"  at  this  session,  said:  "In  the  opinion  of  the  com 
mittee,  it  is  inexpedient  for  the  legislature  to  authorize  corporations 
or  individuals  to  construct  railroads  or  canals  calculated  to  come 
in  competition  with  similar  works  now  in  course  of  construction 
under  the  State  system  of  internal  improvements." 

Here  let  us  stop  and  speculate  over  the  probable  future  of  our 
State,  had  this  remarkable  Mr.  Edward  Smith  lived.  As  chairman 
of  the  committee  on  internal  improvements,  he  drafted  that  glow 
ing  report  of  the  committee  which  so  tired  the  honorable  members 
upon  the  subject  of  developing  the  resources  of  the  State  as  to 
cause  them  to  vie  with  each  other  in  actually  doing  more  than 
that  not  very  modest  document  asked;  and  who,  apparently, 
possessed  the  magnetic  power  to  bring  the  members  squarely  up 
to  the  support  of  these  improvement  measures,  like  a  skillful 
general  marshaling  his  hosts  for  victory.  He  seemed  to  be  born  to 
command  in  this  particular  field  of  enterprise.  Unfortunately, 
before  the  next  session,  Mr.  Smith  died,  when  the  splendid  system 
collapsed.  Had  he  remained  in  life,  with  the  peculiar  force  that 
characterized  him  in  pushing  through  these  measures,  the  final 
result  of  this  herculean  undertaking  of  the  State  becomes  a  sub 
ject  of  curious  contemplation.  It  must  have  either  bankrupted 
the  State  beyond  all  hope  of  redemption,  or  made  her  treasury  the 
recipient  of  all  the  immy  millions  of  annual  earnings  of  the  vast 
net- work  of  nearly  7,000  miles  of  completed  railroads  at  the  present 
time,  which  now  find  their  way  into  the  coffers  of  private  corpora- 


444  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

tions,  enriching  them  to  an  unlimited  and  uncontrollable  extent. 
With  such  an  enormous  income  by  the  State,  the  burthen  of  taxa 
tion  would  be  entirely  removed;  we  would  be  enabled  doubtless 
to  ship  our  produce  to  market  for  half  of  the  present  rates,  which 
would  double  the  value  of  crops  and  farms,  and  incidentally  all 
other  real  and  personal  property;  the  cheapening  of  travel  in  a 
corresponding  ratio  would  double  the  amount  of  it;  we  would 
visit  our  distant  friends  oftener,  cultivate  an  extensive  social  inter 
course  by  rail — indeed  the  whole  country  would  be  much  as  a  city 
now  is  with  its  street  railroads .;  promote  harmony  and  good  fellow 
ship  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  State — in  a  word, 
have  a  very  millenium  in  Illinois! 

We  have  noted  the  fact  that  of  the  governor  being  authorized 
at  the  session  of  1838-9  to  negotiate  a  further  loan  of  $4,000,000 
for  the  canal.  Money  was  stringent  at  the  time  both  in  Europe 
and  America.  The  fiscal  negotiations  of  the  fund  commissioners, 
made  in  Europe  prior  to  this,  were  anything  but  satisfactory. 
Gov.  Carlin,  therefore,  unwilling  to  put  the  new  canal  loan  in  the 
hands  of  these  agents,  and  ambitious  doubtless  for  the  glory  of  his 
administration,  commissioned  ex-Governor  Ileynolds,  the  very  last 
public  man  in  the  State,  perhaps,  for  a  duty  so  responsible  and 
delicate,  requiring  an  extensive  and  accurate  knowledge  of 
domestic  and  foreign  fiscal  affairs.  The  latter  urged  the  associa 
tion  with  himself  of  E.  M.  Young,  then  a  senator  in  congress,  to 
which  the  governor  ultimately  acceded.  In  their  over-weening 
desire  to  raise  money  to  carry  forward  the  public  works,  both  the 
fund  commissioners  and  Gov.  Carlin's  financial  agents  made  some 
very  ill-advised  and  bungling  loans,  attended  with  heavy  losses  to 
the^State. 

Keyilolds  hurried  immediately  forward  to  New  York,  where  he 
met  and  obtained  the  advice  and  assistance  of  Mr.  Ilawlings,  one 
of  the  fund  commissioners.  They  sold  to  Mr.  Delafield,  of  X.  Y., 
April  23,  1839,  300  bonds  of  $1,000  each,  bearing  0  per  cent, 
interest,  payable  half-yearly  at  Philadelphia  and  New  York — the 
principal  becoming  due  in  1800.  In  this  the  law  was  exceeded, 
because  it  provided  only  for  annual  interest.  The  whole  of  the  300 
bonds  were  delivered,  and  payment  was  stipulated  as  follows : 
$50,000  within  15  days  into  the  bank  of  the  New  York  Banking 
Company,  thence  to  be  drawn  out  on  not  less  than  ten  days  sight 
drafts,  in  forty  different  installments;  the  next  payment  of  $50,- 
000  was  not  to  be  made  till  the  1st  of  August,  1839,  in  the  notes 
of  some  bank  or  banking  association  of  New  York  city,  of  a 
denomination  not  exceeding  $10;  and  in  like  manner  the  remainder, 
commencing  October  1st,  in  monthly  installents  of  $50,000  each. 
Here  was  a  sale  of  interest-bearing  bonds  made  in  April,  the 
bonds  all  immediately  delivered,  and  yet  they  were  not  finally  to 
be  paid  for  until  the  following  January,  1840. 

April  29,  1839,  the  same  gentlemen  contracted  with  Thomas 
Dunlap  (whose  performance  was  guaranteed  by  the  United  States 
bank  of  Pennsylvania,)  to  sell  him  10  00  bonds  due  in  ]  870  of 
£225  each,  annual  interest  6  pel- cent.;  and  both  principal  and 
interest  payable  in  London,  "at  the  rate  of  4s.  6d.  sterling  to  the 
dollar."  Payment  for  the  bonds  sold  was  to  be  made  in  ten  equal 
monthly  installments  of  $100,000  each,  without  interest,  in  $10 
notes.  This  million  dollars  it  was  estimated  by  the  house  com- 


CARLIN'S  ADMINISTRATION.  445 

mitt.ee  of  the  Illinois  assembly,  could  be  redeemed  with  250,185 
sovereigns,  11s.  2d.,  instead  of  £2-25,000,  realizing  a  gain  of  18,- 
314  sovereigns,  8s.  lOd.  to  the  purchasers,  equal  to  a  loss  of 
$91,250.34  to  the  State  of  Illinois.  The  contract  was,  besides,  a 
glaring  departure  of  the  law,  because  the  commissioners  bound 
the  State  to  pay  in  British  coin  £225,000,  instead  of  $1,000,000; 
and  while  the  State  was  paying  interest  on  her  bonds  she  not  only 
did  without  the  money  for  ten  months  but  got  no  interest  for  that 
time.  The  money  was  to  be  paid  in  bills  of  the  United  States 
bank,  but  before  the  State  actually  received  it,  it  became  depre 
ciated  10  per  cent.,  making  a  loss  of  $100,000  on  the  amount. 
The  total  loss  of  this  one  transaction  was  near  $200,000.  The 
law  required  ready  payment  in  cash  for  all  bonds  sold. 

These  transactions  with  Delafield  and  Dunlap,  amounting  to 
$1,300,000  in  Illinois  bonds,  became  in  part  the  basis  for  start 
ing  into  operation  the  New  York  free  banking  system,  about  that 
time  authorized,  which  required  a  deposit  of  State  stocks,  in 
double  value  of  the  circulation,  together  with  a  small  percentage 
of  specie  in  the  bank  vaults.  Our  financiers  thus  enable  several 
of  the  "wild-cat"  institutions  to  start  business,  by  furnishing  them 
Illinois  bonds  on  credit,  and  receiving  in  payment  the  money — 
after  proper  exchange  with  other  banks  doubtless — issued  in 
pursuance  of  the  charters,  Illinois  meanwhile  paying  interest  for 
the  privilege  of  advancing  their  bonded  capital! 

After  the  negotiations  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  the  gov 
ernor's  agents,  ex-Gov.  Reynolds,  and  two  of  the  fund  commis 
sioners,  Gen.  Rawlings  and  Col.  Oakley,  in  May,  1839,  repaired  to 
Europe  to  effect  further  loans  for  the  State.  Judge  E.  M.  Young, 
the  other  agent  of  Gov.  Carlin,  in  custody  of  the  bonds,  subse 
quently  joined  them  in  London.  The  money  market  in^  Europe 
was  tight,  but  the  commissioners,  whom  the  law  required  to  be 
"experienced  and  skilled  in  finance,"  were  not  to  be  baffled.  After 
considerable  delay,  Messrs.  Young  and  Reynolds,  on  October  30th, 
1839,  deposited  with  John  Wright  &  Co.,  of  London,  1,000  bonds, 
representing  $1,000,000,  to  be  again  reckoned  in  British  coin  of 
£225  each,  authorizing  them  to  sell  or  negotiate  the  bonds  at  a 
rate  of  not  less  than  £91  for  the  £100.  If  more  than  91  per  cent, 
could  be  obtained  for  them,  the  surplus,  not  exceeding  4  per  cent, 
was  to  be  retained  by  Wright  &  Co.  as  commissioners;  any  excess 
beyond  95  per  cent,  for  said  bonds,  was  to  be  equally  divided  be 
tween  the  State  and  the  said  brokers.  On  this "  con  tract  the 
brokers  agreed  to  advance  £30,000. 

The  law  under  which  the  financial  agents  acted,  we  will  reiterate, 
expressly  required  ready  paymentin  cash  for  all  bonds  negotiated, 
and  that  none  should  be  sold  for  less  than  par.  Although  the 
bonds  might  be  hypothecated,  yet  when  the  agents  authorized 
Messrs.  Wright  &  Co.  to  sell  them  at  91  per  cent.,  they  acted 
without  warrant  of  law.  The  brokers  sold  about  half  a  mill  ion 
dollars  worth  of  the  bonds,  when  they  failed,  with  both  the  pro 
ceeds  of  these  sales  and  the  remainder  of  the  bonds  in  their 
hands.  The  unsold  bonds,  being  the  property  of  the  State,  were 
afterward  returned  by  the  receivers,  but  the  money  received  on 
those  sold  was  adjudged  as  assets  of  the  firm,  in  which  the  State 
was  compelled  to  share  pro  rata  with  other  creditors,  amounting  to 
a  few  shillings  on  the  pound. 


446  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

The  Hon.  E.  B.  Webb,  from  the  house  judiciary  committee,  to 
whom  the  accounts  for  the  sales  of  bonds  were  referred,  reported 
Jan.  29,  1840,  saying:  "The  anxiety  of  the  agents  to  procure 
money  for  the  State,  or  their  eagerness  to  succeed  in  eifecting 
sales  where  others  had  tailed,  induced  them  to  enter  into  contracts 
injurious  to  the  best  interests  of  the  State,  derogatory  to  her  dig 
nity,  and  in  every  way  calculated  to  depreciate  her  securities." 
Resolutions  were  adopted  by  the  house-,  disapproving  of  these 
transactions,  whereby  the  State  was  required  to  receive  in  pay 
ment  local  bank  bills,  as  under  the  contracts  with  Delatield  and 
Dunlap,  and  the  sales  made  on  credit;  condemning,  as  in  contra 
vention  of  la\v,  the  hypothecation  of  bonds  with  John  Wright  & 
Co.,  to  be  sold  at  91  per  cent. ;  declaring  that  the  agents  had  tran 
scended  the  powers  vested  in  them,  and  that  their  London  nego 
tiation  was  void,  copies  were  to  be  transmitted  to  J.  Wright  &  Co., 
Covent  Garden,  London.  By  this  time  it  had  become  patent  that 
no  more  loans  could  be  effected  at  par,  as  the  law  required. 
The  dark  cloud  of  infatuation  which  obscured  the  vision  of  the 
people  began  also  to  be  dissipated,  and  as  glimmers  of  light  shone 
through  they  became  clamorous  against  the  large  extent  in  which 
the  works  were  feebly  prosecuted  simultaneously  at  all  points. 
The  ideas  of  Governor  Carlin,  in  one  short  year's  time,  underwent 
a  total  revolution  with  regard  to  the  grand  system  of  internal  im 
provement.  He  now  found  from  correct  data,  that  the  State  would 
speedily  impose  upon  herself  a  debt  of  not  less  than  $21,746,444, 
at  an  annual  interest  of  $1,310,776,  with  a  revenue  of  less  than 
one  sixth  that  amount— $200,000  ;  that  the  then  debt  of  the  State 
exceeded  already  $14,000,000,  which  rested  upon  a  community  of 
less  than  half  million  souls,  remote  from  markets,  and  with  little 
commerce  to  bring  in  money.  The  giddy  magnitude  of  the  idea 
became  appalling  to  his  excellency,  and  he  convoked  the  legisla 
ture  in  extraordinary  session  for  December  9th,  1839. 

In  his  message,  after  alluding  to  the  spirit  of  speculation  so 
rife  in  1836,  whereby  not  only  individuals  but  deliberative  bodies 
were  lured  from  the  paths  of  prudence  and  economy  by  this  over 
weening  delusion,  he  says: 

"  At  this  critical  and  most  important  crisis,  a  bill  was  introduced  into 
the  legislature,  providing  for  a  general  system  of  internal  improve 
ments  by  the  -construction  of  nearly  1,300  miles  of  railroad,  and  the 
improvement  of  various  rivers  ;  and  such  was  the  zeal  with  which  it 
was  urged,  and  so  numerous  and  powerful  were  its  friends,  that  it  passed 
through  botli  houses  by  large  majorities.  No  fear  seemed  to  be  enter 
tained  by  its  advocates,  but  the  ability  and  resources  of  the  State  would 
prove  equal  to  the  accomplishment  of  such  a  herculean  task,  and  they 
pointed  with  pride  and  exultation  to  that  high  rank  in  the  scale  of 
wealth  to  which  the  measure  would  finally  elevate  us." 

His  excellency,  now  discovering  impending  ruin  and  dishonor, 
invoked  the  legislature  to  the  exercise  of  wisdom  and  unity  of 
action  in  the  adoption  of  such  measures  of  reform  as  would  best 
subserve  the  public  welfare  and  save  the  State  from  bankruptcy 
and  degradation. 

The  legislature,  whose  ruthless  hand  was  destined  to  destroy 
the  stupendous  system,  was  composed  in  the  main  of  the  same 
members  who  had  originally  passed  it;  who  had  but  one  short  year 
before  supplemented  and  endorsed  it  by  the  addition  of  works  in 
volving  a  further  expenditure  of  $1,000,000,  now  by  their  delib- 


CARLIN'S  ADMINISTRATION.  447 

erate  action  to  place  the  seal  of  condemnation  upon  their  cher 
ished  offspring",  was  certainly  most  humiliating,  and  they  hesitated 
in  their  course.  If  they  could  have  wiped  the  system  out,  leaving 
no  debt  or  memory  of  it  behind,  it  would  not  have  been  so  disa 
greeable,  but  when  they  reflected  that  their  folly  would  cost  the 
people  $150,000  for  every  member,  the  politicians  were  smitten 
with  fear  regarding  the  future  of  their  preferments.  But  thanks, 
the  unpalatable  task  was  performed.  By  the  two  acts  of  February 
1840,  it  was  provided  that  the  board  of  fund  commissioners  and 
commissioners  of  public  works  be  abolished;  one  fund  com 
missioner  was  provided  to  perform  the  same  duties  as  before  re 
quired  of  the  board,  "  except  that  he  shall  not  be  authorized  to 
sell  State  bonds  or  borrow  money  on  behalf  of  the  State."  He 
was  to  receive  and  take  charge  of  the  railroad  iron  purchased  in 
Europe  and  pay  the  duty  on  it;  receive  back  all  bonds  from  per 
sons  failing  to  comply  with  their  contracts,  and  register  and  burn 
the  same;  to  audit  and  settle  the  accounts  of  the  late  board  of 
fund  commissioners  and  the  late  board  of  public  works,  and  bring 
suit  against  each  member  in  arrears  in  the  Sangamon  circuit  court, 
for  which  purpose  jurisdiction  was  given  it  to  any  county.  Three 
instead  of  seven  commissioners  of  public  works  were  now  provi 
ded  who  were  to  settle  and  adjust  all  liabilities  under  the  internal 
improvement  system,  and  give  drafts  for  the  amounts  due  con 
tractors  on  the^ Fund  Commissioners,  whereupon  such  contracts 
were  to  be  regarded  as  cancelled.  If  the  drafts  could  not  be 
wholly  cashed,  the  amount  paid  was  to  be  endorsed,  and  the  resi 
due  to  draw  interest.  All  engineers  and  agents  whose  services 
were  not  indispensible  to  ascertain  the  amounts  due  contractors, 
were  to  be  immediately  discharged.  The  board  was  to  secure  and 
operate  such  roads  or  parts  of  roads  as  were  completed,  fix  and 
establish  tolls,  and  provide  for  their  collection  and  payment  over 
to  the  fund  commissioners. 

The  progress  of  the  work  on  the  canal  was  not  arrested ;  but 
of  the  remainder  of  the  works  of  the  grand  system  (with  the 
exception  of  a  part  of  the  Northern  Cross  railroad)  simultaneous 
ly  begun  in  various  parts  of  the  State,  nothing  was  ever  done, 
except  in  detached  parcels  on  every  road,  where  excavations  and 
embankments  may  even  yet  be  seen — memorials  of  supreme  legis 
lative  folly.  That  portion  of  the  Northern  Cross  Kailroad  from 
Meredosia  to  Springfield,  was  afterwards  finished  at  a  cost  to  the 
State  of  $1,000,000 ;  its  income  proved  insufficient  to  keep  it  in 
repair  and  it  was  subsequently  sold  for  $100,000  in  State  indebt 
edness.  Of  this  road  some  8  miles  of  track  was  laid  in  1838,  from 
Meredosia  east,  the  first  rail  being  laid  May  9th.  The  first 
locomotive  that  ever  turned  a  wheel  in  the  great  valley  of  the 
Mississippi  was  put  on  the  track  of  this  road  at  Meredosia,  Nov. 
8th,  1838.  George  W.  Plant,  afterward  a  prominent  business 
man  of  St.  Louis,  was  the  engineer.  The  locomotive  ran  over 
the  track  8  miles  and  back,  carrying  Gov.  Duncan^  Murray  Mc- 
Connel,  one  'of  the  commissioners  of  the  public  works,  James 
Dunlap  and  Thos.  I.  January,  contractors,  Charles  Collins  and 
Miron  Leslie  of  St.  Louis,  and  the  chief  engineer,  Geo.  P.  Plant. 
Twelve  years  before  only,  1826,  the  first  railroad  in  the  United 
States  was  built,  connecting  Albany  and  Schenectady,  in  New 
York.  Her  eager  desire  in  the  race  of  empire  now  gave  to  Illinois 


448  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

a  check  for  12  years  before  another  railroad  was  built.  This 
was  the  Chicago  and  Galena,  finished  as  far  as  Elgin  in  1850. 
Then  dawned  upon  the  State  the  great  railroad  era  which  has 
since  covered  her  surface  with  a  net- work  of  these  iron  arteries  of 
commerce,  affording  rapid  and  easy  communication  with  almost 
every  county. 

Thus,  in  1840,  after  a  short  but  eventful  life  of  less  than  three 
years,  fell  by  the  hands  of  its  creator  the  most  stupendous, 
extravagant  and  almost  ruinous  folly  of  a  grand  system  of  inter 
nal  improvements,  that  any  civil  community,  perhaps,  ever  engag 
ed  in,  leaving  a  debt  of  $14,237,348.  While  great  disappointment 
pervaded  the  people  at  the  failure  of  the  splendid  scheme,  they  were 
not  surprised  nor  crushed  with  the  news  of  its  repeal.  Indeed, 
their  sobered  senses  had  for  some  time  taught  them  that  to  this 
extremity  it  must  come  at  last,  and  they  felt  that  sort  of  relief  a 
man  feels  at  the  loss  of  half  his  fortune — he  has  learned  his  fate 
and  is  thankful  it  is.  no  worse;  possibly  he  learns  a  profitable 
lesson  at  the  same  time.  While  they  felt  chagrined,  there  was  no 
one  to  blame  in  great  part  but  themselves,  for  in  many  cases  their 
representatives  had  but  obeyed  the  voice  of  the  people,  as  the 
voice  of  God.  Many  names  since  prominent,  honored  and  great, 
are  recorded  in  favor  of  the  original  passage  of  the  measure,  as 
may  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  journal  of  the  assembly  of  1837. 

Illinois  was  not  the  only  State  which  embarked  in  these  wild 
schemes  of  State  undertakings.  Indiana,  in  1837,  pursued  the 
same  course.  Her  bonds  to  upward  $11,000,000  were  disposed  of, 
and  after  expending  the  proceeds  improvidently,  extraAagantly, 
and  doubtless  fraudulently,  there  remained  nothing  to  show  for  it 
but  40  miles  of  railroad,  pieces  of  canal,  and  some  unfinished 
turnpikes.  Pennsylvania  had  taken  the  lead  in  like  schemes  of 
developing  the  State,  for  which  she  at  one  time  owed  a  debt  of 
$40,000,000,  part  of  which  was  paid  by  the  sale  of  the  works. 
The  same  held  good  with  Ohio  ;  and  Missouri,  more  recently,  for 
the  purpose  of  building  railroads  and  other  works  of  internal 
improvement,  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion,  found  herself 
loaded  with  a  debt  exceeding  a  score  of  millions  of  dollars. 

Hard  Times.— With  the  collapse  of  the  great  internal  improve 
ment  system,  the  suspension  of  banks  and  a  depreciated  currency, 
hard  times  obtained.  The  total  debt  of  the  State  was  as 
follows : 

For  bank  stock,  -  -  $5,614,196  94 

On  account  of  internal  improvements,  -  -  5,614,196  94 

Canal  debt,  -  -  4,338,907  71 

State  house,  -  -  116,000  00 

School,  college  and  seminary  fund  (borrowed)  -  808,085  00 

Due  State  bank  for  auditor's  warrants,  -  294,190  00 

Annual  interest  upon  this  amount  ($13,836,377,65)      -  830,18877 

Total,  $14,666,562  42 

To  meet  this  debt,  outside  of  taxation,  the  State  owned  42,000 
acres  of  land,  bought  under  requirements  of  the  internal  improve 
ment  law  ;  230,467  acres  of  canal  donation  remained  undisposed  of, 
besides  3,491  town  lots  in  Ottawa,  Chicago,  and  other  places 
along  the  line  of  the  canal ;  the  State  obtained  shortly  after  by 
the  distribution  act  of  congress  of  1841,  210,000  acres  of  land 


CAKLIN'S  ADMINISTRATION.  449 

more  from  that  source.  These,  together  with  the  ill-advised 
European  purchase  of  railroad  iron,  and  the  various  pieces  of 
unfinished,  railroads  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  almost  worth 
less,  constituted  the  resources  of  the  State  to  discharge  a  debt, 
which,  considering  our  population  (488,929  in  1840),  as  one-sixth 
of  what  it  is  uo\v,  our  wealth,  ($58,752,108  in  1840),  as  one-eighth 
of  what  it  is  now,  and  the  value  of  money  then  and  now  at  a 
difference  of  100  per  cent,  which,  owing  to  the  large  yields  from 
the  California,  Australia,  and  other  mines  since,  is  an  estimate 
perhaps  not  out  of  the  way,  was  equal  to  a  debt  upon  the  State 
at  the  present  of  at  least  $150,000000.  This  was  indeed  a  heavy* 
burden.  The  annual  revenues — $117,821,  in  1840 — were  no  more 
than  would  meet  the  ordinary  expense  of  the  State  government, 
leaving  a  deficit  annually  to  the  amount  of  the  interest  on  the 
debt  —  $830,182,  —  to  further  yearly  augment  the  debt.  The 
State  had  sold  and  hypothecated  its  bonds  until  its  credit  was 
well  nigh  exhausted;  the  people  were  both  unable  and  unwilling 
to  pay  higher  taxes,  and  they  were  besides  largely  indebted  to  the 
merchants;  the  merchants  to  the  banks,  or  for  goods  purchased 
abroad ;  while  the  banks,  on  account  of  suspending  specie  pay 
ment,  owed  every  body  who  carried  one  of  their  rags  in  his  pocket. 
None  could  pay  in  par  funds,  for  they  were  not  to  be  had. 

In  this  condition  of  the  State,  it  required  great  unanimity 
of  action  and  harmony  in  counsel  to  carry  it  safely  over  the 
financial  crisis.  This  did  not  wholly  obtain.  The  character  and 
gen  ions  of  the  people  were  very  incongruous.  Wide  differences, 
social  and  political,  of  the  two  great  geographical  sections 
of.  the  State,  have  prevailed  even  down  to  this  day.  The  disparity 
in  wealth  between  the  north  and  south,  the  rapid  settlement  of 
the  former  after  the  close  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  were  not  with 
without  jealousy,  of  which  public  men  partook  and  carried  into 
the  counsels  of  the  State.  This  mutual  misunderstanding  of 
character  and  purposes  was  a  stumbling  block  in  the  way  of 
united  and  harmonious  action  in  the  adoption  of  the  wisest  meas 
ures  for  public  relief.  The  canal,  as  it  afterward  proved,  afforded 
the  best  and  only  avenue  leading  out  of  the  financial  embarras- 
ments,  and  toward  restoring  the  credit  of  the  State.  It  stood 
independent,  to  a  certain  extent,  of  the  other  works  of  internal 
improvement,  upon  a  landed  capital  of  its  own,  the  gift  of  the 
nation,  and  when  the  latter  were  abandoned,  the  work  upon  it 
was  still  more  or  less  prosecuted.  But  the  canal,  from  the  want 
of  unity  in  the  sentiments  of  the  people,  now  became  the  sub 
ject  of  bitter  attack,  for  no  other  reason  that  it  was  in  the  north 
ern  part  of  the  State. 

Besides,  there  did  not  obtain  with  the  people  a  clear  conception 
of  State  policy.  Men  were  elected  to  the  legislature  with  refer 
ence  to  their  national  politics,  greatly  intensified  by  the  excit 
ing  contest  of  1840,  and  hot  with  regard  to  the  affairs  of  the 
State,  then  of  deepest  concern  to  the  welfare  of  the  people. 
Politicians  were  better  acquainted  with  the  devious  ways  of 
obtaining  office  than  qualified  to  discharge  its  duties  in  accord 
ance  with  enlarged  principles  of  statesmanship.  This  is  too  much 
the  case  at  the  present  time;  people  in  the  election  of  officers  are 
actuated  by  a  desire  to  confer  favor  upon  the  man,  rather  than 
choosing  a  servant  who  is  to  perform  a  service  for  them  and  the 
29 


450  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

public  at  large  with  wisdom  and  impartiality.  It  was  therefore 
difficult  to  make  the  questions  of  present  embarrassment  and 
future  State  prosperity  paramount,  in  a  broad  view,  to  all  other 
considerations. 

By  various  expedients,  means  were  provided  to  meet  the  accru 
ing  interest  of  1841,  on  canal  loans  in  New  York  and  London,  but 
not  so  with  regard  to  the  interest  on  the  State  debt  generally. 
The  fund  commissioner,  in  his  report,  stated  the  difficulty  of 
meeting  that  which  would  fall  due  January  1st,  1841 ;  the  legisla 
ture,  elected  in  August  previous,  was  convoked  some  weeks  earlier 
than  the  time  of  the  regular  session,  for  the  express  purpose  of 
devising  means  to  this  end.  This  was  the  session  by  the  sine  die 
adjournment  of  which  it  was  attempted  to  crush  the  State  banks, 
or  compel  them  to  resume  specie  payments — a  thing  impossible 
for  them  to  do.  Much  conflict  of  opinion  obtained  among  mem 
bers  and  found  expression  in  a  flood  of  resolutions,  as  usual  at  the 
outset  of  a  session.  The  questions  of  difference  were  as  to  not 
paying  interest  at  all,  or  withholding  it  only  on  bonds  for  which, 
by  the  mismanagment  of  the  financial  agents,  the  State  had  either 
received  less  than  par,  or,  as  in  some  cases,  nothing.  To  the 
credit  of  the  State  it  is  to  be  recorded,  that  no  idea  of  repudia 
tion  obtained  among  a  large  majority  of  the  members.  On  the 
contrary,  the  desperate  remedy  was  proposed  of  issuing  more 
bonds  and  hypothecating  them  for  what  they  would  fetch  in 
market.  The  course  pursued  by  the  financial  agents  of  the  State 
in  disposing  of  bonds  contrary  to  law,  at  less  than  par  value  on 
credit,  was  severely  animadverted,  and  that  the  State  should  pay 
interest  only  on  what  money  she  had  actually  received  on  her 
bonds  was  strenuously  insisted  upon.  The  opponents  of  this  view 
contended  that  bonds  were  articles  of  commerce,  against  which  no 
equities  could  arise  while  in  the  hands  of  innocent  purchasers ; 
that  the  State  must  be  held  responsible  for  the  conduct  of  its 
agents;  that  the  legislature  in  the  selection  of  the  fund  commis 
sioners,  and  the  governor  in  the  appointment  of  Messrs.  Young 
and  Reynolds,  had  fully  committed  the  credit  of  the  State  to  their 
hands,  and  if  they  blundered,  the  State  was  bound  nevertheless 
by  their  acts — she  should  have  chosen  agents  more  ''skilled  in 
finance."  In  this  conflict  of  views,  legislation  was  well-nigh  de 
feated  altogether.  Alfred  W.  Cavarly,  of  Green,  now  discovered 
the  happy  expedient  by  which  to  extricate  the  legislature  from  its 
dilemna.  He  prepared  a  bill  of  two  sections,  which  became  a  law 
Dec.  16th,  1840,  empowering  the  fund  commissioner  to  hypothe 
cate  not  exceeding  $300,000  of  the  State  internal  improvement 
bonds,  to  raise  a  sufficient  sum  of  money  to  pay  the  interest  which 
would  legally  fall  due  on  the  internal  improvement  debt  in 
January  1841 ;  the  bonds  were  to  be  redeemed  any  time  before 
1843,  and  not  to  draw  interest  unless  forfeited.  Thus  was  the 
question  of  contention  taken  out  of  the  halls  of  legislation,  and 
the  decision  of  the  legality  of  the  loans  imposed  upon  the  commis 
sioners — not  an  unfrequent  expedient  of  deliberative  bodies.  The 
legislature  further  authorized  the  issuance  of  State  interest  bonds, 
to  be  sold  in  market  for  what  they  would  bring,  the  proceeds  to 
be  applied  to  the  payment  of  interest  and  the  redemption  of  hypo 
thecated  bonds — a  most  execrable  measure.  By  another  act,  Feb. 
27th,  1841,  an  additional  tax  of  10  cents  on  the  $100  worth  of 


CARLO'S  ADMINISTRATION.  451 

property  was  imposed,  to  be  set  apart  exclusively  as  an  "interest 
fund,"  pledged  to  pay  the  interest  on  these  bonds;  and  the  mini 
mum  assessment  of  all  lands  was  to  be  $3  per  acre.  The  fund 
commissioner,  Mr.  Barrett,  by  hypothecating  internal  improve 
ment  bonds,  paid  off  the  January  interest,  1841 ;  but  by  the  time 
the  July  interest  was  to  be  raised,  Illinois  stocks  had  depreciated 
in  market  so  that  Mr.  J.  D.  Whitesides,  the  new  fund  commis 
sioner,  hypothecated  with  Macallister  and  Stebbins,  of  ^"ew  York, 
$804,000  in  interest  bonds  for  $321.000,  as  was  promised  him,  but 
of  which  amount  only  $201,460  was  ever  by  them  paid.  This  was 
the  origin  of  the  notorious  "Macallister  and  Stebbins  bonds,"  of 
which  more  hereafter.  Another  law,  showing  the  extremity  to 
which  this  legislation  went,  was  that  of  Feb.  27th,  1841.  regula 
ting  the  sale  of  property  under  execution.  This  serves  to  illus 
trate  both  the  hard  times  and  the  inconsiderate  and  unjust 
legislation  to  afford  relief  to  the  debtor  class  at  the  expense  of 
the  creditor.  It  provided  that  property  levied  upon  should  be 
valued  as  in  "ordinary  times,"  to  be  made  by  three  householders 
summoned  by  the  officers,  of  whom  the  creditor,  debtor,  and 
oilicer  should  each  choose  one — placing  it  in  the  power  of  the 
officer  to  favor  either  party  at  his  option  ;  the  property  was  not  to 
sell  unless  it  brought  two-thirds  of  their  valuation  ;  no  way  was 
provided  by  which  the  creditor,  if  two-thirds  of  the  valuation  was 
not  bid,  could  hold  his  lien — forcing  him  to  stay  collection  or  suffer 
a  discount  of  33£  per  cent.  The  law  was  made  applicable  to  all 
judgments  rendered  and  contracts  accruing  prior  to  the  1st  of 
May,  without  reference  to  the  legal  obligations  of  thejime  when 
contracts  were  entered  into — being  in  violation  of  that  clause  of 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  declaring  that  "no  law  shall 
be  passed  impaling  the  obligations  of  contracts."  In  the  case  of 
McCracken  vs.  Howard,  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States 
subsequently  held  the  law  to  be  unconstitutional.*  The  law  in  the 
meantime  had  been  instrumental,  by  various  arrangements  between 
parties,  in  extinguishing  many  debts.  But  this  species  of  legisla 
tion  seldom  effects  the  benefits  intended.  It  is  apt  to  be  harrass- 
ing  and  vexations  to  both  debtor  and  creditor,  while  experience 
teaches  it  to  be  distinctive  of  all  confidence  between  men  in  busi 
ness,  requiring  prompt  compliance  with  contracts ;  and  it  tends 
further  to  affect  inimically  the  trade  and  commerce  of  the  State. 
These  views  were  enlarged  upon  in  a  solemn  protest  against  its 
passage,  signed  by  such  names  as  John  J.  Hardin,  D.  M.  Wood- 
son,  Lyman  Trumbull,  and  many  others. f 

After  July,  1841,  no  further  effort  was  made  to  pay  interest  on 
the  debt  of  the  State.  Her  bonds  declined  rapidly  in  market  to 
14  cents  on  the  dollar.  In  a  few  months,  Feb.  1842,  from  prox 
imate  causes  already  stated,  the  State  bank,  with  a  circulation 
exceeding  $3,000,000,  finally  went  down  ;  in  June  the  Illinois  bank 
at  Shawneetown,  with  a  circulation  exceeding  $1.500,000,  also 
broke,  thus  rendering  worthless  about  the  only  money  there  had 
been  for  some  time  in  the  country,  and  added  materially  to  the 
pressure  of  the  times.  The  banks  had  managed  to  keep  up  the 
value  of  their  circulation  far  above  the  bonds  of  the  State,  but  to 
conciliate  an  unfriendly  legislature  by  advances  on  auditor's  war- 

»See2d,Howard,608. 
+See  House  Journal,  1841. 


452  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

rants,  for  the  State  house  then  building,  and  to  carry  forward  the 
public  works,  an  unwarranted  expansion  snapped  their  threads  of 
life,  spreading  disaster  round  about  them.  The  condition  of  this 
fair  State,  with  her  calamities  thus  augmented,  was  truly  distress 
ing.  Abroad,  her  name  was  freely  associated  with  dishonor ;  em 
igrants,  dreading  high  taxation,  gave  it  a  wide  berth,  unless  it 
were  those  who,  having  no  character  of  their  own,  cared  little 
for  that  of  the  State  of  their  adoption  j  while  the  people  here 
with  rare  exceptions  were  anxious  to  sell  out  and  flee  a  country 
which  presented  no  alternative  but  dishonor  or  exhorbitant  taxa 
tion.  The  chances  to  sell  were,  however,  in  inverse  ratio  to  the 
desire,  and  while  impending  financial  ruin,  disgrace,  and  the  fear 
of  taxation  kept  the  State  from  gaining  population  as  rapidly  as 
had  been  her  wont,  the  impracticability  of  effecting  sales  saved  her 
against  loss.  In  the  meantime,  an  utter  dearth  and  stagnation  in 
all  kinds  of  business  prevailed.  The  notes  of  the  banks  were 
receivable  in  payment  of  taxes  for  which  purpose  they  had  been 
to  a  small  extent  hoarded  by  the  people  j  but  now  the  governor, 
auditor  and  treasurer,  forbade  their  receipt  by  the  collectors  of 
the  State  revenue,  except  at  specie  rates — 50  cents  on  the  dollar. 
This  step  was  unwarranted  by  the  law,  and  condemned  by  the 
press  and  people  in  public  meetings,  irrespective  of  party  until 
such  a  breeze  was  raised  about  the  ears  of  the  "officers  of  State" 
that  they  were  fain  to  retract  their  pretentious  proclamation,  and 
taking  the  other  extreme,  suspended  the  collection  of  the  taxes 
till  the  meeting  of  the  legislature. 

At  this  crisis  in  the  fair  fame  of  our  State,  there  were  not  want 
ing  men,  in  position  to  aid  in  moulding  public  opinion,  who 
favored  repudiation,  both  by  the  plan  of  omission  and  by  directly 
declaring  this  purpose,  and  "setting  the  moral  sense  of  mankind 
at  defiance.'7  Gov.  Ford  says : 

"It  is  my  solemn  belief  that  when  I  came  into  office,  I  had  the  power 
to  make  Illinois  a  repudiating  State.  It  is  true  I  was  not  the  leader  of 
any  party  ;  but  my  position  as  governor  would  have  given  me  leader 
ship  enough  to  have  carried  the  democratic  party,  except  in  a  few  coun 
ties  in  the  north,  in  favor  of  repudiation.  If  I  had  merely  stood  still 
and  done  nothing,  the  result  would  have  been  the  same.  In  that  case  a 
majority  of  both  parties  would  have  led  to  either  active  or  passive  repu 
diation.  The  politicians  on  neither  side,  without  a  bold  lead  to  the 
contrary,  by  some  high  in  office,  would  never  have  dared  to  risk  their 
popularity  by  being  the  first  to  advocate  an  increase  of  taxes  to  be  paid 
by  a  tax-hating  people." 

Again  he  says : 

"The  people  of  Bond  county,  as  soon  as  the  internal  improve 
ment  system  passed,  had  declared  in  a  public  meeting  that  the 
system  must  lead  to  taxation  and  utter  ruin  ;  that  the  people  were  not 
bound  to  pay  any  of  the  debt  to  be  contracted  for  it ;  and  that  Bond 
county  would  never  assist  in  paying  a  cent  of  it.  Accordingly,  they  re 
fused  to  pay  taxes  for  several  years.  When  the  system  went  down,  and 
had  left  the  State  in  the  ruinous  condition  predicted  by  the  Bond  county 
meeting,  many  people  remembered  that  there  might  be  a  question 
raised  as  to  the  obligation  of  payment.  Public  men  everywhere,  of  all 
parties,  stood  in  awe  of  this  question ;  there  was  a  kind  of  general  silence 
as  to  what  would  be  popular  or  unpopular.  The  two  great  political 
parties  were  watching  each  other  with  eagle  eyes,  to  see  that  no  one 
should  get  the  advantage  of  the  other.  The  whigs,  driven  to  despe 
ration  by  repeated  ill-success  in  elections,  were  many  of  them  in  favor  of 
repudiating,  as  a  means  of  bettering  their  party.  The  Sangamon  Journal 


CARLIN'S  ADMINISTRATION.  453 

and  the  Alton  TtUfirapli,  the  two  leading  whig  newspapers  of  the  State, 
boldly  took  ground  that  the  debt  never  could  and  never  would  be  paid, 
and  that  there  was  no  use  to  say  anything  about  it.*  Very  many  demo 
crats  were  in  favor  of  the  same  course,  for  fear  of  losing  the  power  the 
democratic  party  already  possessed. 

It  was  thought  to  be  a  very  dangerous  subject  to  meddle  with.  At  a 
democratic  convention  which  nominated  Mr.  Snyder  for  governor,  a 
resolution  against  repudiation  offered  by  Mr.  Arnold  of  Chicago,  was 
laid  on  the  table  by  an  overwhelming  vote  of  the  convention,  so  as  not 
to  commit  the  party  one  way  or  the  other.  It  was  evident  that  this  was 
to  be  a  troublesome  question,  and  a  great  many  of  the  politicians  oil 
both  sides  were  as  ready  to  take  one  side  of  it  as  the  other,  and  their 
choice  depended  upon  which  might  finally  appear  to  be  most  powerful 
The  whigs  were  afraid,  if  they  advocated  the  debt-paying  policy,  the 
democrats  would  take  the  other  side,  and  leave  the  whigs  no  chance  of 
ever  coming  into  a  majority;  and  the  democrats  feared  that  if  they 
advocated  a  correct  policy  :  the  other  side  might  be  more  popular,  and 
might  be  taken  by  the  whigs.  I  speak  only  of  the  leaders  of  parties, 
amongst  whom  on  all  sides  there  was  a  strong  suspicion  that  repudiation 
might  be  more  popular  than  taxation." 

REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  JUDICIARY. 

Partisan  Malice  and  Revolutionary  Conduct.  —  By  act  of  Feb.  10, 
1841,  the  legislature  repealed  out  of  office  the  then  9  circuit  judges, 
increased  the  number  of  supreme  judges  from  4  to  9,  and,  in 
addition  to  their  duties  as  a  supreme  court  and  their  functions  asthe 
council  of  revision,  imposed  upon  them  all  the  circuit  court  busi 
ness  iu  the  State.  Since  1835  the  supreme  judges,  relieved  of 
circuit  duty,  had  acted  solely  as  a  court  of  appeals,  errors  and 
revision.  The  present  change  was  a  bitter  partisan  measure,  in 
the  language  of  Gov.  Ford,  "confessedly  violent  and  somewhat 
revolutionary." 

Three  of  the  four  supreme  judges  were  of  the  whig  party  —  the 
minority  party  of  the  State  —  while  Judge  Smith  was  a  democrat. 
iiov.  Ford  says:  "It  is  due  to  truth  here  to  say,  that  AVilson  and 
Lockwood  were  in  e"very  respect  amiable  and  accomplished  gentle 
men  in  private  life,  and  commanded  the  esteem  and  respect  of  all 
good  men  for  the  purity  of  their  conduct  and  their  probity  iu 
official  station.  Wilson  was  a  Virginian  of  the  old  sort,  a  man 
of  good  education,  sound  judgment,  and  an  elegant  writer,  as  his 
published  opinions  will  show.  Lockwood  was  a  2few  Yorker.  He 
was  an  excellent  lawyer,  a  man  of  sound  judgment,  and  his  face 
indicated  uncommon  purity,  modesty,  and  intelligence,  together 
with  energy  and  strong  determination.  His  face  was  the  true 
index  of  his  character.  Brown  was  a  fine,  large,  affable,  and  good 
looking  man,  had  a  tolerable  share  of  tact  and  good  sense,  a  com 
plimentary,  smiling  and  laughing  address  to  all  men,  and  had 
been  elected  and  continued  in  office  upon  the  ground  that  he  was 
believed  to  be  a  clever  fellow.'7 

The  State,  in  the  exciting  party  struggle  of  1840,  had  gone  for 
Van  Buren  and  both  houses  of  the  legislature  were  largely  demo 
cratic.  The  supreme  court  had  two  years  before  offended  the 


"Aftor  the  publication  of  Gov.  Forrt  «  history,  in  ItfU.  more  than  three  years  after 
hisd-ath,  both  the  Alton  Telcyrapli  and  Uliiwl*  State  Journal,  formerly  the  Sanvamon 
.HHirnal,  denied  bavin?  favored  repudiation,  either  directly  or  indirectly  :  that  they 
umtormly  opposed  it  with  zeal,  and  always  advocated  the  liquidation  of  the  entire  pub- 
iK-cU-btatMsetrly  a  day  as  the  means  of  tlie  State  would  justify.—  See  Illinois  State 
Journal,  March  7,  1855. 


454  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

sense  of  supremacy  of  the  dominant  party,  in  deciding  a  case  of 
appointment  to  office  by  the  governor.  Pending  before  the  same 
tribunal  there  was  still  another  case  fraught  with  political  conse 
quences  far  graver,  which  it  was  thence  surmised  would  also  be 
decided  against  the  party  in  power.  When  men  are  themselves 
actuated  by  party  feelings  and  prejudices  in  everything,  they  are 
apt  to  think  others  are  similarly  influenced,  no  matter  what  their 
position  or  how  exalted  in  public  life. 

Alexander  P.  Field  was  and  had  been  secretary  of  State,  since 
his  appointment  by  Gov.  Edwards,  having  served  through  both 
the  administrations  of  Govs.  Reynolds  and  Duncan.  In  politics  he 
was  a  whig,  though  originally,  like  Duncan,  he  had  been  a  violent 
Jackson  man.  When  Gov.  Carlin  came  into  office  in  1838,  he 
claimed  the  power  of  appointing  a  new  secretary  of  State  without 
a  vacancy  existing  in  that  office.  The  claim  was  based  upon  the 
idea  that  a  secretary  of  State  under  our  first  constitution,  like  a 
cabinet  officer  in  the  national  government,  was  a  confidential 
adviser  of  the  governor,  and  for  purposes  of  harmony  in  such 
relation,  should  be  of  the  same  political  party  with  his  excellency. 
The  governor  nominated  John  A.  McClernand,  then  of  Gallatin? 
to  the  senate  for  that  office.  But  the  senate,  although  democratic, 
by  a  vote  of  22  to  18  passed  a  resolution,  " That  the  executive 
does  not  possess  the  power  to  nominate  to  the  sen  ate  a  secretary  of 
State,  except  in  case  of  vacancy  in  that  office,  and  that,  inasmuch 
as  the  senate  has  not  been  advised  of  any  vacancy  in  that  office, 
the  nomination  of  John  A.  McClernand  be  not  advised  and  consented 
to  by  the  senate.'7  They  were  further  of  opinion  that  the 
tenure  of  office  might  be  limited  by  the  legislature;  which  had  not 
been  ^done,  however.  During  the  session,  the  governor  sent  to 
the  senate  several  other  names  for  that  office,  but  all  were 
rejected. 

After  the  adjournment,  he  again  appointed  McClernand  secre 
tary  of  State,  who  thereupon  demanded  possession  of  the  office 
from  the  whig  incumbent,  Mr.  Field,  but  w&s  refused.  McCler- 
nand  then  laid  an  information  in  the  nature  of  a  quo  tcarranto 
before  Judge  Breese,  in  the  circuit  court  of  Fayette  county,  and 
upon  hearing,  that  court  decided  in  favor  of  the  complainant. 
Field  took  an  appeal  to  the  supreme  court,  Avhere  the  cause  was 
reversed.  The  question  decided  by  the  court,  aside  from  the  polit 
ical  or  partisan  bent  given  to  it,  derived  importance  from  the  fun 
damental  principle  of  government  involved.  Quite  an  array  of 
able  counsel  appeared  on  either  side.  For  the  appellant  Field, 
there  were  Cyrus  Walker,  Justin  Buttertield  and  Levi  Davis ;  and 
for  the  appellee  McClernand,  S.  A.  Douglas,  Jas.  Shields  and 
Wickliffe  Kitcheli,  attorney  general.  Three  separate  opinions 
were  written  by  the  judges,  Wilson  and  Lockwood  concurring, 
Smith  dissenting,  and  Brown,  being  connected  by  affinity,  with 
the  relator,  declined  sitting  in  the  cause.*  Chief  Justice  Wilson 
rendered  the  decision  of  the  court  in  language  clear,  cogent  and 
elegant,  which  is  both  exhaustive  of  the  subject  and  convincing 
in  its  conclusions.  The  court  decided  that  the  governor  had  not 
the  constitutional  power  at  his  will  and  pleasure,  to  remove  from 
office  the  Secretary  of  State;  that  when  that  functionary  was 
once  appointed,  the  power  of  appointment  was  suspended  until  a 

'See  2d  Scam.,  III.  reports,  p  70. 


CARLIN'S  ADMINISTRATION.  455 

vacancy  occurred ;  that  when  the  constitution  created  an  office? 
and  left  the  tenure  undefined,  the  officer  held  during*  good  be 
havior,  or  until  the  legislature  by  law  limited  the  tenure  or  author 
ized  some  functionary  of  the  government  to  remove  the  officer  at 
•\\ill.  The  constitution  was  the  charter  of  the  governor's  authority. 
All  the  powers  delegated  to  him,  or  in  accordance  with  that  in 
strument,  he  was  entitled  to  exercise  and  no  other.  While  it  was 
a  limitation  upon  the  powers  of  the  legislative  department,  it  was 
to  be  regarded  as  a  grant  of  powers  to  the  others.  Neither  the 
executive  nor  the  judiciary,  therefore,  could  exercise  any  authority 
or  power,  except  such  as  was  clearly  granted  by  the  constitution. 
In  England  the  king  was  the  source  of  power,  and  all  rights  and 
prerogatives  not  granted  were  adjudged  to  him,  but  here  the 
theory  is  that  the  people  are  sovereign  and  the  source  of  power, 
and  that  the  executive  could  exercise  only  those  powers  specially 
delegated  to  him  ;  and  as  it  was  not  even  pretended  that  any  ex 
press  g?ant  of  this  character  was  to  be  found  in  the  constitution, 
it  must  be  denied.  A  grant  by  implication  could  not  be  main 
tained,  because  the  enumeration  of  the  j)owers  of  a  department  of 
government  operated  as  a  restriction  and  limitation  of  a  general 
grant.  "  The  executive  power  of  the  State  shall  be  vested  in  a 
governor,"  was  a  mere  declaration  of  a  general  rule.  Besides,  the 
power  of  appointment  in  case  a  vacancy  existed,  was  given  to 
the  governor  conjointly  with  the  senate  ;  and  a  nomination  would 
not  confer  office  without  approval  by  the  senate. 

The  decision  caused  a  great  partisan  outcry  against  the  "  whig 
court,1'  as  it  was  called.  The  democrats,  largely  in  the  ascend 
ancy  in  the  State,  were  yet  debarred  from  exercising  uncontrolled 
power  and  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  benefits  and  emoluments  of 
office  to  which  their  ascendancy  entitled  them,  by  this  decision, 
•which  proclaimed  in  their  teeth,  asit  were,  the  existence  of  office 
for  life  incumbents. 

But  the  other  question,  still  pending  and  far  more  important, 
was  fraught  not  only  with  preclusion  from  the  secretary's  office, 
but  with  the  danger  of  losing  political  control  of  the  State,  and 
consequently  all  power  and  patronage.  This  was  the  celebrated 
Galena  alien  case.  The  alien  vote  was  nine-tenths  democratic, 
and  sufficient  in  strength — about  10,000 — that  if  precluded  from 
the  polls  to  determine  the  election  in  favor  of  the  whigs  at  the 
approaching  presidential  election  of  1840.  As  the  McClernand- 
Field  case  was  by  the  unscrupulous  boldly  charged  to  be  partisan, 
it  was  now  doubtless  believed  by  many  that  the  court  in  this  case 
was  prepared  to  violate  a  plain  provision  of  the  constitution.  The 
constitution  provided  that  "in  all  elections,  all  white  male  inhabi 
tants  above  the  age  of  21  years,  having  resided  in  the  State  six 
months  next  preceding  the  election,  shall  enjoy  the  right  of  an 
elector." 

The  idea  had  gained  currency  that  suffrage  and  citizenship  were 
concomitant  and  indispensable  qualifications  to  constitute  a  man 
an  elector,  and  therefore  the  provision  above  quoted,  if  brought 
to  the  test  before  the  proper  tribunal,  would  be  declared  null  and 
void.  An  agreed  case  had  been  made  at  Galena,  where  there  was 
a  large  alien  vote  concentrated  in  and  about  the  mining  region, 
between  two  whigs,  one  of  whom  sued  the  other,  who  had  acted 
as  judge  at  the  August  election  of  1838,  and  in  that  capacity  re- 


456  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

ceived  the  vote  of  aii  alien,  to  recover  $100  under  the  election  law 
of  1829,  for  the  use  of  the  county,  which  it  was  supposed  would 
present  the  constitutional  question  fairly.  The  suit  was  brought 
in  the  circuit  court  at  Galena,  Judge  Dan.  Stone,  presiding;  and 
as  the  case  was  admitted,  he,  without  hearing  argument,  or  prob- 
bly  giving  tJhe  question  much  examination,  decided  that  an  alien, 
unlike  a  citizen,  was  not  entitled  to  exercise  the  election  fran 
chise.  The  decision,  when  it  became  public,  produced  great  ap 
prehension  in  the  ranks  of  the  democracy,  and  steps  were  imme 
diately  taken  to  bring  the  case  before  the  supreme  court. 

In  view  of  the  decision  in  the  McClernand-Field  case,  it  was 
further  imagined  that  that  tribunal  would  affirm  the  decision  be 
low,  and  that  the  remedy  was  the  revolutionary  one  to  reform  the 
supreme  court  by  adding  a  sufficient  number  of  democratic  mem 
bers  to  change  its  political  complexion,  and  thus  either  avoid  the 
fearful  contingency  of  such  a  decision,  or,  if  too  late  for  that,  to 
have  it  overruled.  This  precedent  is  not  without  a  tolerabjy  close 
modern  parallel  in  national  affairs. 

The  case  was  ably  argued  in  the  supreme  court  at  the  Decem 
ber  term,  1839,  upon  its  merits  and  continued  to  the  June  term, 
1840.  This  was  during  the  heat  of  the  presidential  canvass  of 
that  year.  If  the  case  was  now  decided  adversely  to  the  aliens 
the  State  might  be  lost  to  the  democracy.  There  was  a  general 
apprehension  that  such  would  be  the  decision.  And  now  Judge 
Smith,  the  only  democrat  on  the  supreme  bench,  sharing  in  the 
apprehension,  clandestinely  pointed  out  to  counsel  a  defect  in  the 
record,  consisting  in  a  clerical  error.  A  motion  to  dismiss  was 
thereupon  founded,  because  it  appeared  by  the  record  that  the  case 
argue^.  was  alleged  to  have  occurred  at  a  time  when  by  the  laws 
of  the  State,  as  the  court  must  judicially  take  notice,  no  general 
election  could  be  held,  to-wit,  on  the  6th  of  August,  1839,  the  year 
meant  being  1838.  For  the  purpose  of  correcting  the  record,  a 
continuance  was  granted  to  the  December  term,  which  put  it  be 
yond  the  presidential  election  in  November,  1840.  The  achieve 
ment  of  discovering  the  flaw  in  the  record  was  accounted  a  re 
markable  stroke  of  legal  acumen. 

When  the  case  came  up  finally  for  decision  at  the  December 
term,  1840,  it  was  found  that  the  constitutional  question  upon 
which  it  was  expected  the  case  should  turn,  was  not  really  before 
the  court,  but  simply  a  question  under  the  election  law  of  1829 : 
If  any  judge  of  election  shall  knowingly  admit  any  person  to 
vote,  not  qualified  according  to  law,  he  shall  forfeit  and  pay  to  the 
county  the  sum  of  $100;  and  any*  person  presenting  himself  to 
vote,  and  his  qualification  be  suspected,  he  shall  swear  that  he  is 
a  resident  of  the  county;  has  resided  in  the  State  six  months  next 
preceding  the  election;  is  21  years  old  and  has  not  before  voted 
at  that  election.  The  court  held  that,  as  it  was  admitted  that  one 
Kyle,  upon  the  reception  of  whose  vote  the  question  was  made, 
possessed  all  the  qualifications  required  by  the  affidavit,  under  the 
law  of  1829,  it  would  have  simply  been  superogatory  either  to 
challenge  him  or  to  have  administered  the  oath  to  him  ;  and  there 
fore  the  court  below,  in  fining  the  judges  of  election,  erred,  and 
the  case  was  reversed.  The  broad  and  important  question  of  alien 
suffrage  under  the  constitution,  did  not  arise  in  the  case,  and  no 
opinion  of  the  court  was  expressed  upon  it.  Judge  Smith,  how- 


CARLIN'S  ADMINISTRATION.  457 

ever,  not  to  disappoint  partisan  expectation,  took  occasion,  in  a 
separate  opinion  elaborated  at  great  length,  to  argue  the  consti 
tutional  question,  quoting  freely  from  a  speech  of  James  Buchanan 
made  in  Congress  on  the  admission  of  Michigan  as  a  State.* 

Meanwhile  the  bill  to  reorganize  the  Supreme  court  was  pend 
ing  before  the  legislature,  and  with  the  rendition  of  this  decision 
by  the  court,  it  was  circulated  about  by  the  politicians,  and  boldly 
charged  by  Douglas,  in  a  speech  made  in  the  lobby  of  the  house, 
that  the  main  question  had  been  purposely  evaded  by  the  court 
to  allay  the  apprehensions  of  democrats  as  to  the  alien  vote,  and 
to  conciliate  their  favor,  with  the  object  of  defeating  the  bill. 

"  Douglas,"  says  Gov.  Ford,  "  had  been  one  of  the  counsel  for  the 
aliens,  and  it  appeared  from  his  speech,  that  he  and  Judge  Smith  had 
been  in  constant  communication  in  relation  to  the  progress  of  the  case. 
Judge  Smith,  (I  regret  to  say  it  of  a  man  who  is  no  more),  was  an  ac 
tive,  bustling,  ambitious  and  turbulent  member  of  the  Democratic  party. 
He  had  for  a  long  time  aimed  to  be  elected  to  the  U.  S.  Senate:  his  de 
vices  and  intrigues  to  this  end  had  been  innumerable.  In  fact  he  never 
lacked  a  plot  to  advance  himself,  or  blow  up  some  other  person.  He 
was  a  laborious  and  ingenious  schemer  in  politics,  but  his  plans  were 
always  too  complex  and  ramified  for  his  power  to  execute  them.  Being 
always  unsuccessful  himself,  he  was  delighted  with  the  mishaps  alike 
of  friends  and  enemies,  and  was  ever  chuckling  over  the  defeator  blasted 
hopes  of  some  one.  In  this  case  he  sought  to  gain  credit  with  the  lead 
ing  democrats,  by  the*part  he  took,  and  affected  to  take,  in  the  alien  case 
as  he  had  before  in  the  case  of  the  secretary  of  State.  He  it  was  who 
privately  suggested  to  counsel  the  defect  in  the  record  which  resulted  in 
the  continuance  in  June  1840,  and  during  the  whole  time  the  case  was 
pending,  with  the  same  view,  he  was  giving  out  to  Douglas  and  others, 
the  probable  opinion  of  the  court.  He  affirmed  that  the  judges  at  one 
time  all  had  their  opinions  written  ready  to  deliver,  and  all  but  himself 
decided  against  the  aliens;  and  that  the  case  \N  ould  have  been  decided  if 
he  had  not  discovered  the  aforesaid  defect  in  the  record.  Upon  his 
authority  Douglas  denounced  the  court  and  brought  all  these  charges 
against  the  whig  judges,  and  endeavored  to  make  it  appear  that  they 
had  now  onlyevaded  a  decision  for  the  time  being,  in  the  vain  hope  of 
stopping  the  career  of  the  legislature.  The  judges  on  their  part,  denied 
all  these  charges;  and  Judge  Smith  uniting  with  the  Whig  judges,  pub 
lished  their  denial  in  the  Sangamon  Journal  newspaper,  published  at 
Springfield."  Gov.  Ford  further  adds,  "  and  there  is  now  no  doubt  that 
the  whole  of  it  was  false." 

In  this  connection  we  subjoin  the  following  correspondence: 

"  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  SPRINGFIELD,  January  26, 1841. 

11  To  William  Wilson,  Theophilus  W.  Smith,  Thomas  C.  Brown  and  Samuel  D.  Lock- 
wood,  Judges  of  the  Supreme.  Court  of  the  State  of  Illinois: 

"Mr.  McClernand,  a  member  of  this  house,  (who  is  now  speaking) 
has  made  the  following  statements,  in  substance,  in  his  speech  in  favor 
of  the  bill  to  reorganize  the  judiciary  of  this  State.  'I  am  authorized  to 
say,  and  I  do  say  on  my  own  responsibility,  if  any  such  responsibility  is 
needed,  that  the  judges  of  the  supreme  court  prepared  an  opinion  against 
the  right  of  foreigners  to  vote  at  the  last  June  term  of  that  court;  but 
on  account  of  objections  made  by  counsel  to  a  mistake  in  the  record, 
they  withheld  their  opinions,  but  did  so  most  reluctantly. 

"The  opinion  has  gone  abroad  that  these  judges  have  made  the  decision 
recently  delivered  on  the  subject  of  the  right  of  foreigners  to  vote,  in 
order  to  defeat  the  bill  under  consideration  and  to  prevent  these  judges 
from  going  on  the  circuit. 

"This  communication  is  ma^e  to  call  your  attention  to  the  statements, 
and  I  think  it  but  due  to  yourselves  that  an  answer  should  be  made  to 


*  See  case  of  Thomas  Spragins  v.  H.  H.  Houghtonin  the  i.l.  S.  C.  ivi  orts. 


458  HISTORY  OF   ILLINOIS. 

these  [statements],  as  deductions  may  and  will  be  made  from  silence 
which  would  seem  to  imply  an  acquiescence  in  the  truth  of  these  state 
ments. 

"Desiring  to  know  whether  these  allegations  are  true,  I  trust  an 
answer  will  be  given.  Yours, 

"JOHNJ.  HARBIN." 

"SPRINGFIELD,  January  26,  1841. 
11  John  J.  Hardin,  Esq. 

"DEAR  SIR:  Your  letter  of  to-day  has  just  been  received,  and  we  pro 
ceed  to  answer  it  without  hesitation. 

"In  doing  so,  we  cannot,  however,  but  express  our  great  astonishment 
at  the  character  of  the  statement  to  which  you  refer.  You  say  that  Mr. 
McClernand,  a  member  of  the  house  of  representatives,  has  asserted  in 
debate,  in  sustance  [here  follows  a  quotation  of  the  language  as  given  by 
Hardin.] 

"To  this  statement  we  give  the  most  unqualified  denial  in  all  its  parts; 
neither  of  the  members  of  the  court  having  ever  prepared  or  written 
any  opinion  against  the  right  of  aliens  to  vote  at  elections. 

"In  reference  to  the  mistake  in  the  record,  the  error  alluded  to  was 
discovered  by  one  of  the  judges,  and  suggested  to  the  counsel  in  the  cause, 
as  interposing  a  supposed  difficulty  in  coming  to  a  decision,  which,  with 
a  subsequent  motion  made  by  counsel  for  the  plaintiff  in  error  to  dismiss 
the  cause  for, that  reason,  and  for  the  further  reason,  that  the  cause  was  a 
feigned  and  not  a  real  one,  produced  the  continuance  of  the  cause,  as 
will  be  seen  by  a  copy  of  the  motion  herewith  enclosed. 

"As  to  the  insinuation  that  the  decision  was  m  acre  at  this  timeto  defeat 
the  judiciary  bill,  we  reply  that  it  is  in  all  its  parts  equally  unjust,  and 
without  a  pretence  for  its  justification.  Haying  been  repeatedly  urged 
to  come  to  a  decision  of  the  cause,  and  having  been  moreover  assured 
that  individuals  were  industriously  engaged  in  circulating  reports  that 
the  judges  had  opinions  written  against  the  right  of  aliens  to  vote,  and 
that  as  soon  as  the  judiciary  bill  before  the  legislature  was  defeated,  these 
opinions  would  be  delivered.  To  refute  these  groundless  assertions,  on 
this  subject,  we  concluded  to  decide  the  case  without  further  delay, 
having  no  other  means  of  refuting  these  aspersions. 

"We  have  thus  promptly  complied  with  your  request,  and  we  cannot 
close  this  communication  without  remarking  on  the  great  injustice  done 
to  ourselves,  not  only  by  the  statements  referred  to,  but  numerous  other 
slanders  which,  in  our  situation,  we  have  no  means  of  repelling. 
We  have  the  honor  to  be,  respectfully, 
Your  obedient  servants, 

THOS.  W.  SMITH, 
SAMUEL  D.    LOCKWOOD, 
WM.  WILSON, 
THOMAS  C.  BROWN." 

With  this  contradiction,  McClernnnd,  under  date  of  January 
29,  called  upon  his  informant,  Mr.  Douglas,  to  sustain  him — in 
viting  immediate  attention  to  the  subject.  Besides  Douglas,  six 
other  gentlemen,  viz :  A.  E.  Dodge,  V.  Hickox,  J.  H.  lialston, 
John  Pearson,  M.  McConnell,  and  J.  A.  McDougal,  all  of  whom 
derived  their  information  from  Judge  Smith  alone,  furnished 
letters,  some  of  which  state  positively  that  Smith  had  informed 
them  distinctly  that  all  the  judges  had  their  opinions  written  out 
and  ready  to  deliver  at  the  June  term,  and  others  that  they  under 
stood  from  him  that  he  (Smith)  was  thus  prepared.*  There  is  now 
no  doubt  that  Smith  made  the  former  statement,  nor  is  there  any 
doubt  that  it  was  false. 

"As  to  Judge  Smith,'7  says  Gov.  Ford,  "lie  made  nothing  by  all 
his  intrigues.  By  opposing  the  reform  bill,  he  fell  out  and  quar- 

*See  Illinois  State  Register,  Feb.  5, 1841. 


CARLIK'S  ADMINISTRATION.  459 

rolled  with  the  leaders  of  his  party.  He  lost  the  credit  he  had 
gained  by  being  the  democratic  champion  on  the  bench,  and  failed 
to  be  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate;  and  was  put  back  to 
the  laborious  duty  of  holding  circuit  courts.'7 

The  judiciary  bill  produced  much  excitement  and  party 
animosity  at  the  capital,  both  among  members  and  the  goading, 
insatiate  lobby  vultures.  It  was  no  easy  task  for  the  dominant 
party  to  rally  its  force  to  the  -blind  support  of  a  measure  so  purely 
one  of  revenge.  A  great  deal  of  opposition  came  from  the  friends 
and  interests  of  the  9  circuit  court  judges,  every  one  of  whom 
would  be  repealed  out  of  office  and  the  majarity  of  whom  were 
democrats.  However,  the  bill  finally  passed  both  houses.  The 
council  of  revision  returned  it  Avith  their  objections,  urged  at 
length. 

The  council  regarded  the  requirement  that  the  supreme  court, 
with  five  additional  judges,  hold  circuit  courts  in  all  the  counties 
of  the  State;  attend  at  the  seat  of  government,  and  act  as  coun 
cil  of  revision  during  the  sessions  of  the  legislature,  and  preside 
in  the  supreme  court  until  all  the  business  of  that  tribunal  was 
disposed  of,  as  physically  impossible.  %  Owing  to  the  magnitude 
of  the  circuit  court  business,  the  nine  circuit  judges,  for  no  fault 
of  theirs,  had  been  unable  to  attend  to  it  and  fully  subserve  the 
interests  of  the  public.  To  thrust  all  this  business  upon  the  hands 
of  the  supreme  judges,  in  addition  to  their  other  duties,  would 
result  in  such  delay  in  the  administration  of  justice  as  to  be  equiv 
alent  to  a  denial  of  it.  The  law  \voukl  prejudice  the  rights  of 
citizens  and  the  character  of  the  State. 

The  bill,  however,  was  re-passed,  notwithstanding  the  objections 
of  the  council,  in  the  senate,  by  a  large  majority,  but  in  the  house 
by  barih  one.  A  solemn  protest  by  the  undersigned  members, 
many  of  whom  have  since  attained  imperishable  renown,  was 
spread  upon  the  journal,  February  U(>,  1841.  After  stating  their 
objections  at  length,  they  sum  up  as  follows  : 

1st.  The  bill  violates  the  great  principles  of  government  by  subject 
ing  the  judiciary  to  the  legislature. 

2d.  It  is  a  fatal  blow  at  the  independence  of  the  judges,  and  the  con 
stitutional  term  of  their  office. 

3d.     It  is  a  measure  not  asked  for,  or  wished  by  the  people. 

4th.  It  will  greatly  increase  the  expenses  of  our  courts  or  greatly  di 
minish  their  utility. 

5th.  It  will  give  the  courts  a  political  and  partisan  character,  thereby 
impairing-  public  confidence  in  their  decisions. 

6th.  It  will  impair  our  standing  in  the  opinion  of  other  States  and 
the  world. 

7th.  It  is  a  party  measure  for  party  purposes,  from  which  no  practi 
cal  good  to  the  people  can  possibly  arise,  but  which  may  be  the  source  of 
innumerable  evils.  The  blow  had  already  fallen,  but  they  felt  im 

pelled  to  point  out  the  danger  of  the  measure,  its  impolicy  and  its  usur 
pation,  in  order  at  least  that  the  despotism  of  a  momentary  majority 
may  not  become  a  precedent  for  succeeding  enormities,  or  future  crimes. 
We  have  struggled  ineffectually  to  guard  the  principles  of  our  govern 
ment  from  unhallowed  innovation,  and  contended  for  the  supremacy  of 
the  constitution. 

(Signed):  Joseph  Gillespie,  John  J.  Brown,  Leander  Munsell,  Wil 
liam  B.  Archer,  John  F.  Charles,  Isaac  Funk,  Alden  Hull,  John  Dar- 
nielle,  Geo.  W.  Waters,  Cyrus  Edwards,  James  T.  Cunningham,  John 
Bennett,  Thos.  Threlkeld/A.  Lincoln,  J.  M.  McLean,  H.  W.  Thornton, 
Wm.  A.  Marshal,  James  M.  Bradford  John  J.  Hardiu,  Jeremiah  Cox, 
Peter  Menard,  jr.,  W.  H.  Henderson,  James  Reynolds,  W.  W.  Bailey, 


460  ,     HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

D.  M.  Woodson,  E.  B.  Webb,  John  Denny,  Isaac  From  an,  Jas.  A.  P*eal, 
Josiah  Francis,  Daniel  Gray,  James  Parkinson,  John  Canady,  Alexan 
der  Phillips,  James  N.  Brown. 

The  five  additional  supreme  judges  elected  by  the  legislature 
under  this  law  were,  Thomas  Ford,  (subsequently  gov.)  Sidney 
Breese,  Walter  B.  Scates,  Samuel  H.  Treat,  and  Stephen  A. 
Douglas,*  all  democrats.  By  this  means  all  apprehension  was 
allayed  in  the  democratic  breast  regarding  the  continued  support 
of  the  alien  vote,  so  far  as  any  interference  from  the  supreme 
court  was  concerned.  Nor  did  the  majority  of  that  court  now 
question  the  right  of  the  executive  to  appoint  his  own  secretary  of 
State  ;  and  had  the  question  been  now  presented  to  the  court,  the 
McClernand-Field  decision  would  have  been  overruled.  Such  is 
party  influence  upon  the  judiciary.  One  of  the  newly  appointed 
judges,  writing  of  this  reorganization  of  the  court  says :  The  high 
est  courts  are  but  indifferent  tribunals  for  the  settlement  of  great 
political  question;  *  *  when  any  great  political  question  on 
which  parties  are  are  arrayed  comes  up  for  decision,  the  utmost 
which  can  be  expected  of  them  is,  an  able  and  learned  argu 
ment  in  favor  of  their  .own  party,  whose  views  they  must 
naturally  favor.f  The  court,  however,  as  newly  organized,  proved 
not  entirely  acceptable  to  the  dominant  party ;  the  judges  gener 
ally  enjoyed  great  personal  popularity,  but  the  bench  became  the 
subject  of  frequent  malevolent  assaults  by  the  legislature.  That 
body,  fresh  from  an  exultant  constituency,  imbued  often  with  ex 
treme  partisan  views,  could  illy  brook  any  independence  in  the 
other  departments  of  government.! 

At  this  session  of  1844-5,  the  legislature,  ostensibly  as  a  meas 
ure  of  retrenchment,  passed  resolutions  drafted  by  Mr.  Truinbull, 
who  was  not  a  member  though  an  aspirant  for  the  erminif  calling 

*The  last  named  gentleman  had  been  of  counsel  for  the  aliens,  had  derived  his  infor 
mation  of  how  the  case  was  going"  to  be  decided  in  June  preceding-  from  Judge  Smith, 
had  obtained  the  continuance  then  on  the  defect  in  the  record  as  pointed  out  by  him, 
had  made  a  violent  attack  upon  the  old  judges  by  a  characteristic  speech  in  the  lobby, 
and  had  furnished  McClei'nand  the  data  upon  which  the  latter  denounced  the  court ; 
in  view  of  all  of  which,  it  seems  strange  that  he  had  sought  and  obtained  a  position 
side  by  side  with  the  gentleman  he  had  traduced  and  attempted  so  much  to  bring  in 
to  disrepute.  Partisan  scheming  and  the  cravings  of  office  could  not  well  go 
further. 

The  new  judges  were  charged  with  partisan  conduct,  by  the  whig  press  of  the 
period,  iu  the  secret  appointment  of  a  clerk  of  the  supreme  court.  Ebenezer  Peck, 
it  seems,  as  a  member  of  the  legislature  had  originally  opposed  the  judiciary  bill ;  but 
his  position  became  suddenly  changed,  and  the  bill  passed  the  House  by  one  majority 
over  the  objections  of  the  council.  After  taking  their  seats,  the  neAV  members  of  the 
court  had  no  consultation  with  the  old  judges  on  the  subject  of  the  clerkship,  and  not 
a  word  was  said  in  open  court  about  removing  the  incumbant,  Duncan.  Indeed,  one 
of  them  had  given  out  that  to  avoid  the  imputation  of  being  a  partisan  court,  the 
clerkship  was  not  to  be  disturbed.  The  public  astonishment  was  not  inconsiderable, 
therefore,  when  shortly  after  its  adjourement,  Peck  announced  himself  as  the  clerk 
by  appointment  of  the  majority  of  the  court.—  Sanyamvn  Journal. 

tFord's  History. 

t-At  the  session  of  1842-43,  there  was  an  effort  made  to  remove  Judge  Brown,  on  the 
ground  of  incompetency.  This  gentleman,  whose  home  was  at  ShawneetoAvn,  upon 
the  reorganization  of  that  court,  had  been  assigned  to  the  remote  Galena  circuit,  with 
the  view  to  render  his  position  uncomfortable  and  irksorne,  and  worry  him  into  a 
resignation.  This  failing,  four  lawyers  from  his  circuit,  viz  :  C.  S.  Hempstead,  Thoimis 
Drummond,  Thompson  Campbell,  ana  A.  L.  Holmes,  filed  their  specifications  charging 
that  he  had  not  that  natural  strength  of  intellect,  and  lacked  the  legal  and  literary 
lesirning,  requisite  and  indispensable  to  a  proper  discharge  of  the  high  and  responsible 
duties  devolving  upon  him  as  a  judge  of  the  supreme  court;  that  his  opinions  deliv 
ered  in  that  court  were  wi-itten  and  revised  by  others,  and  that  his  decisions  upon  the 
circuit  had  been  the  mere  echo  of  some  favorite  attorney  ;  and  that  by  nature,  educa 
tion  and  habit,  he  was  wholly  unfit  for  his  high  position.  Their  stinging  language 
indicated  something  more  than  a  purpose  to  solely  subserve  the  public  good.  The 
S'  nate  declined  to  participate  in  the  examination  of  the  charges.  The  house  in  com 
mittee  of  the  wh^le  went  several  times  into  the  investigation  of  them,  but  finally  ask 
ed  to  be  discharged  from  their  further  consideration  and  so  the  matter  ended  and 
Judge  Brown  retained  his  seat.— House  Journal,  session  1842-43. 


CARLO'S  ADMINISTRATION.  461 

on  the  judges  and  governor  to  relinquish  a  portion  of  their  sala 
ries.  This  was  refused,  on  the  ground  of  the  principle  involved 
as  to  the  right  of  the  legislature  to  make  such  a  request.  It  im 
plied  a  control  to  a  certain  extent,  of  a  co-ordinate  department  of 
government,  however  the  request  coupled  with  it  the  consent  of 
the  incumbents.  Although  their  salaries  were  fixed,  coercion  was 
in  this  manner  sought  through  the  fear  of  losing  public  favor, 
interest,  and  popularity.  It  was  an  unworthy  means,  and  des 
tructive  of  the  first  great  principle  of  free  constitutional  govern 
ment  — the  independence  of  the  co-ordinate  branches  to  each  oth 
er.  The  supreme  court,  as  constituted  under  the  act  of  Feb.  10th, 
3841.  was  finally  dissolved  by  operation  of  the  constitution  of 
1848,  the  judges  going  out  of  office  December  4th,  that  year. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 
1842— 1846— ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOVERNOR  FORD. 

The  Campaign — Life  and  Character  of  Oov.  Ford — Lieut.  Gov. 
Moore — Means  of  Relief  from  the  Financial  Embarrassments — 
The  State  at  the  Turning  Point — Restoration  of  her  Credit. 


As  early  as  December,  1841,  the  State  democratic  convention 
met  at  Springfield,  and  nominated  Adam  W.  Snyder,  of  St.  Clair, 
and  John  Moore,  of  McLean,  as  their  candidates  for  governor  and 
lieutenant  governor  at  the  election  of  August  1842.  In  the  spring 
following,  ex-Gov.  Joseph  Duncan  and  W.  H.  Henderson  became 
the  candidates  of  the  whig  party  for  the  same  offices.  Charles 
W.  Hunter  and  Frederick  Collins  were  also,  respectively,  candi 
dates  for  the  same  positions.  Mr.  Snyder  was  an  effective  speaker 
and  possessed  an  ostentations  and  plausable  address.  lie  had 
been  a  member  of  congress  and  state  senator,  and  in  the  latter 
capacity,  to  gain  the  favor  of  the  Mormons,  who  were  looming  np 
in  the* State  as  a  considerable  political  power  by  reason  of  their 
unity,  had  been  largely  instrumental  in  the  passage,  of  the 
obnoxious  "  Mormon  charters,"  by  which  that  modern  sect  were 
placed  above  and  beyond  the  laws  of  the  State — constituted  a 
petty  sovereignty  within  their  corporate  limits,  whence  they  issued 
forth,  committed  the'r  depredations  upon  the  neighborhoods  out 
side,  retired  to  their  legal  citadel  of  Nauvoo,  and  defied  the  process 
of  any  court  of  the  county  to  follow  them. 

The  Mormons,  driven  from  Missouri  by  a  democratic  governor, 
denied  protection  by  a  democratic  president,  but  in  congress  coun 
tenanced  by  Messrs.  Clay  and  John  T.  Stuart,  in  1840  had  given 
their  support  to  the  whigs.  But  now  Joe  Smith,  their  prophet, 
issued  his  proclamation  exhorting  his  followers  in  favor  of  Mr. 
Snyder,  and  "  declaring  Judge  Douglas  to  be  a  master  spirit." 
This  mandate  showed  the  whigs  that  the  democracy  had,  by  the 
extension  of  these  very  liberal  charters,  woed  the  Mormons  with 
success.  But  the  odium  of  this  sect  was  already  rapidly  spread 
ing  over  the  entire  State;  and  of  this  circumstance,  Gov.  Duncan 
as  the  whig  candidate,  who  was  not  concerned  in  the  passage  of 
the  obnoxious  charters,  sought  to  take  advantage,  and  more  than 
retrieve  from  the  people  the  whig  loss  by  the  Mormon  defection. 
Indeed  things  bore  a  very  promising  look  in  that  direction.  But 
at  this  juncture  Mr.  Snyder  sickened  and  died,  and  the  new  choice 
as  the  standard  bearer  of  the  democracy  for  governor,  fell  upon 
the  Hon.  Thomas  Ford,  who,  although  well  known  as  a 
juri'st,  wras  in  no  wise  prominently  connected  with  politics, 


FORD'S  ADMINISTRATION.  463 

and  certainly  not  with,  the  passage  of  the  obnoxious  Mormon 
charters.  The  democracy  apprehending  the  drift  of  public  opinion, 
]da<;ed  Judge  Ford  in  the  position  made  vacant  by  by  the  death 
of  Mr.  Snyder,  because  of  his  availability.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
any  of  the  democratic  leaders,  in  the  then  temper  of  the  people 
toward  the  Mormons,  could  have  been  elected  over  so  adroit  and 
courageous  a  competitor  as  Duncan.  The  death  of  Snyder  proved 
the  triumph  of  the  democracy. 

Besides  the  odious  Mormon  charters  and  the  alleged  intrigues 
and  corrupt  bargains  between  certain  politicians  and  the  prophet, 
the  other  public  questions  of  the  day  were,  a  revival  of  the  work 
on  the  canal,  repe/il  of  the  bank  charters,  and  the  claim  of  Wis 
consin  to  14  of  our  northern  counties.  The  position  of  the  new 
democratic  candidate  upon  the  questions  was  variously  and 
oppositely  reported  in  the  public  press  of  different  sections  of 
the  State",  to  be  everywhere  in  harmony  with  the  varying,  but  pre 
vailing,  sentiments  of  the  people.  Much  allowance  ought  to  be 
made,  however,  for  the  statements  of  the  press  during  a  heated 
political  campaign.  Duncan  charged  Ford  during  the  canvass 
with  concealing:  his  opinions  on  all  these  questions. 

The  following  are  the  number  of  votes  cast  for  governor  in  1842: 
For  Thomas  Ford,  46,901;  Joseph  Duncan,  3<?,584;  Charles  W. 
Hunter,  909.  For  lieutenant  governor:  John  Moore,  45,567;  W. 
H.  Henderson,  38,426;  Frederick  Collins,  905. 

Thomas  Ford  was  born  at  Union  town,  Pa.,  in  the  year  1800.  He 
was  a  half-brother  to  George  Forquer,  his  senior  by  six  years. 
Their  mother,  after  the  death  of  her  first  husband,  married  Robt. 
Ford,  who,  in  1802  was  killed  in  the  mountains  of  Pennsylvania 
by  Indians.  She  was  left  in  indigent  circumstances,  with  a  large 
family,  jnostly  girls.  With  a  view  to  better  her  condition,  she,  in 
1804,  removed  to  Missouri,  where  it  had  been  customary  by  the 
Spanish  government  to  give  land  to  actual  settlers,  but  upon  her 
arrival  at  St.  Louis  she  found  the  country  ceded  to  the  United 
States,  and  this  liberal  policy,  unlike  as  at  present,  changed  by  the 
new  ownership.  After  some  sickness  to  herself  and  family  she 
finally  removed  to  Illinois,  and  settled  some  three  miles  south  of 
Waterloo,  but  the  following  year  moved  closer  to  the  Mississippi 
bluffs.  Here  the  boys  received  their  first  schooling  under  the 
instructions  of  Mr.  Humphrey,  for  which  they  walked  three 
miles. 

Their  mother,  though  lacking  in  a  thorough  education,  was  a 
woman  of  superior  mental  endowments,  joined  to  energy  and 
determination  of  character.  She  inculcated  in  her  children  those 
high-toned  moral  principles  which  distinguished  her  sons  in  public 
life.  She  exercised  a  rigid  economy  to  provide  her  children  an 
education,  but  George  Forquer,  her  oldest  sou,  at  an  early  age  had 
to  quit  school,  to  aid  by  his  labor  in  the  support  of  the  family. 
He  acquired  the  trade  of  a  house-joiner,  afterwards  became  a 
merchant,  failed,  and  studied  law,  which  his  vigorous  intellect 
enabled  him  to  readily  master  in  spite  of  a  defective  early  educa 
tion.  He  was  determined  and  ambitious,  had  a  good  voice  and 
became  a  fluent  and  elegant  speaker.  He  filled  many  public 
offices ;  was  a  member  of  the  legislature  from  Monroe,  secretary 
of  state  under  Gov.  Coles,  attorney  general,  senator  from  Sanga- 
inon,  subsequently  register  of  the  land  office  at  Springfield,  and 


464  HISTORY   OF    ILLINOIS. 

but  for  his  early  death  would  probably  have  been  elected  to  the 
United  States  senate.  Joined  to  his  other  intellectual  qualities 
was  rare  merit  as  a  writer.  He  was  of  an  amiable  and  generous 
disposition,  and  was  successful  in  accumulating  a  considerable 
estate.* 

The  younger  brother,  Thomas  Ford,  with  somewhat  better  oppor 
tunities,  received  a  better,  though  limited  common  school,  educa 
tion.  His  mind  gave  early  promise  of  superior  endowments,  with 
an  inclination  for  mathematics.  His  proficiency  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  Hon.  Daniel  P.  Cook,  in  whom  young  Ford  found 
an  efficient  patron  and  friend.  The  grateful  heart  of  the  protege 
did  not  forget  its  benefactor.  On  page  73  of  his  History  of 
Illinois,  Ford  pays  that  gentleman  such  unwonted  compliments 
as  no  other  of  all  his  public  cotemporaries  receives  at  his  hand. 
Through  Cook,  young  Ford  turned  his  attention  to  the  law,  but 
Forquer,  then  merchandising,  regarding  his  education  defective, 
sent  him  to  the  Transylvania  University,  where  he  remained, 
however,  but  one  term,  owing  to  Forquer's  failure  in  business. 
On  his  return  he  alternated  his  law  reading  with  teaching  school 
for  support.  In  1829  Gov.  Edwards  appointed  him  prosecuting 
attorney;  in  1831  he  was  reappointed  by  Gov.  Reynolds;  after  that 
he  was  four  times*  elected  a  judge,  by  the  legislature,  without  oppo 
sition;  twice  as  circuit  judge,  judge  of  Chicago,  and  as  associate 
judge  of  the  supreme  court,  when,  in  1841,  that  tribunal  through 
partisan  malice  was  reorganized  by  the  addition  of  five  judges,  all 
democrats.  Ford  was  assigned  to  the  9th  judicial  circuit,  and  at 
the  time  of  his  nomination  for  governor  was  holding  court  in  Ogle 
county.  He  immediately  resigned  his  office,  accepted  the  nomina 
tion  and  entered  upon  the  canvass.  In  August  he  was  elected 
governor.  The  offices  which  he  held,  although  perhaps  he  was 
willing  enough  to  have  them,  were  unsolicited.  He  received  them 
upon  the  true  Jefferson  principle,  never  to  ask  and  never  to  refuse 
office. 

As  a  lawyer,  Gov.  Ford  stood  deservedly  high,  but  his  cast  of 
intellect  fitted  him  rather  for  a  writer  upon  law  than  a  practicing 
advocate  in  the  courts.  In  the  latter  capacity  he  was  void  of  the 
moving  power  of  eloquence,  so  necessary  to  success.  As  a  judge 
his  written  opinions  are  sound,  lucid  and  able  expositions  of  the 
law.  He  was  a  stranger,  in  practice,  to  the  tact,  skill  and  insinu 
ating  address  of  the  politician  ;  but,  as  we  may  well  infer  from  his 
history,  no  man  of  his  time  had  a  clearer  perception  of  the  wiles 
and  sinuosities  of  that  devious  class  than  he.  Yet  despite  this 
appreciation,  his  confidence  in  the  honest  purposes  of  others, 
joined  to  indecision  or  hesitation  perhaps,  enabled  the  unscrupu 
lous  to  deceive  him,  and  in  the  nondescript  Mormon  war  cause 
him  unwonted  trouble  and  vexation. 

As  a  roan,  Governor  Ford  was  plain  in  his  demeanor,  f  He 
lacked  that  sanguine  and  determined  boldness  and  decision  of 
character  requisite  to  fit  one  for  a  great  political  leader.  For 

*Reynold's  Pioneer  History. 

[t  It  is  related  that  after  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office,  upon  the  occasion  of 
the  assembling- of  the  legislature,  which  always  collected  a  horde  of  greedy  seekers 
for  subordinate  positions  at  the  capital,  a  wag  pointed  him  out  to  a  certain  "ring"  as  a 
formidable  aspirant  for  door-keeper  of  the  house.  He  was  hunted  up  in  his  room  at 
the  hotel,  in  the  small  hours  of  the  night,  and  approached  fora  bargain  or  combination. 
Un  discovery  the  ''ring"  felt  mortified  and  the  ex-governor  perhaps  not  highly  flat- 


FOKD'S  ADMINISTRATION.  465 

money  getting-  he  cared  little  more  than  would  afford  him  a  decent 
support,  and  scarcely  that.  He  accumulated  no  wealth  and  upon 
his  retirement  from  the  gubernatorial  chair  he  resumed  the  practice 
of  the  law.  Gov.  Ford  was  small  of  stature,  slender,  dark  coin- 
plexioned,  with  a  profusion  of  black  hair,  sharp  features,  deep  set 
eyes,  a  pointed,  acquiline  nose,  with  a  decided  twist  to  one  side, 
and  had  a  small  mouth.  His  appearance  was  said  to  be  somewhat 
cynical  and  he  was,  perhaps,  not  without  vindictiveness.  He  was 
by  nature  a  student,  and  the  traits  of  his  mind  fitted  him  for  close 
thought  j  though  he  lacked  in  imagery, the  gift  of  genius.  He 
had  his  weak  trait;  one  besetting  sin  into  which  his  convivial  na 
ture  betrayed  him,  and  which  contributed  to  his  early  death. 

As  an  author  he  deserves  our  special  consideration.  He  has 
left  to  the  State  in  which  he  was  reared,  trusted  and  honored  with 
the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  people,  and  which  he  dearly 
loved,  a  legacy  in  the  form  of  a  history,  which,  though  but  a  frag 
ment  comprising  his  own  time,  and  not  topically  arranged,  will  be 
more  and  more  appreciated  with  the  advance  of  years. 

His  writings  show  a  natural  flow  of  compact  and  forcible  thought, 
never  failing  to  convey  the  nicest  sense.  In  tracing  with  his  trench 
ant  pen  the  devious  operations  of  the  professional  politician, 
in  which  he  is  inimitable,  his  text  is  open  perhaps  to  the  objec 
tions  that  all  his  cotemporaries,  many  of  whom  have  since  had 
their  names  written  high  on  the  scroll  of  national  fame,  were  mere 
politicians,  and  that  lie  fails  to  discover  little  else  in  all  their  acts 
and  deeds  than  the  selfish  promptings  for  place,  power,  or  some 
local  benefit.  It  has  been  inferred — indeed  his  book  is  somewhat 
calculated  to  to  leave  such  an  impression  upon  the  mind  of  the 
reader — that  it  was  dictated  by  spleen,  and  his  enemies  have 
charged  it  to  be  the  jealous  bile  of  disappointed  ambition.  But 
except,  perhaps,  as  to  his  owrn  administration  this  is  a  mistaken 
view.  That  he  was  an  accurate  observer  of  his  own  times,  and 
that  he  relates  events  truly  and  describes  men  correctly,  may  aside 
from  the  internal  conviction  which  his  book  produces,  be  inferred 
from  the  fact  that  he  wrote  concerning  those  who  survived  him, 
but  who  have  never  contradicted  him. 

The  lieutenant-governor  elect,  John  Moore,  was  born  Septem 
ber  8,  1703,  in  Lincolnshire,  England.  Bereft  of  parents  at  the 
age  of  20  he  emigrated  to  America.  Sojourning  for  a  while  in  Vir 
ginia,  he  located  in  Hamilton  county,  Ohio,  and  about  1830  re 
moved  to  Illinois,  settling  permanently  at  llandolph  Grove, 
McLean  county,  where  he  pursued  his  vocation  of  wheelright,  a 
trade  which  he  had  learned  in  England.  His  force  of  character 
was  such  that  he  speedily  rose  from  obscurity.  In  1831  he  was 
elected  a  justice  of  the  peace;  twice  afterward  to  the  lower  house 
of  the  legislature  and  in  1839  to  the  State  senate.  His  sterling 
qualities  of  head  and  heart  gained  him  distinction  throughout  the 
State,  causing  his  party  to  designate  him  as  its  standard  bearer 
for  lieutenant-governor  in  1842.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  Mexi 
can  \var,  animated  by  an  ardent  patriotism  for  the  cause  of  his 
adopted  country,  he  volunteered  in  the  ranks,  was  chosen  lieut. 
colonel  of  the  4th  regiment,  and  participated  in  all  its  active  ser 
vices.  After  that,  by  the  partiality  of  the  people,  he  was  twice 
elected  State  treasurer,  and  in  that  capacity  earned  the  honored 
soubriquet  of  "  Honest  John  Moore."  He  was  long  and  favora- 
30 


466  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

bly  known  in  the  State  as  a  consistent  leader  of  the  democracy, 
and  died  Sept.  23d,  1863. 

With  the  advent  of  Governor  Ford's  administration,  he  sums 
up  the  condition  of  the  State  asfollo\vs : 

"  The  domestic  treasury  of  the  State  was  indebted  for  the  ordinary 
expenses  of  government  to  the  amount  of  about  $313,000.  Auditor's 
warrants  on  the  treasury  were  selliugat  50  per  cent,  discount,  and  there 
was  uo  money  in  the  treasury  whatever ;  not  even  to  pay  postage  on 
letters.  The  annual  revenues  applicable  to  the  payment  of  ordinary 
expenses  amounted  to  about  $130,000.  The  treasury  was  bankrupt;  the 
revenues  were  insufficient ;  the  people  were  unable  and  unwilling  to 
pay  high  taxes ;  and  the  State  had  borrowed  itself  out  of  all  credit ;  a 
debt  of  near  $10,000,000  had  been  contracted  for  the  canal,  railroads  and 
other  purposes.  The  currency  of  the  State  had  been  annihilated  ;  there 
was  not  over  $200,000  or  $300,000  in  good  money  in  the  pockets  of  the 
whole  people,  which  occasioned  a  general  inability  to  pay  taxes.  The 
whole  people  were  indebted  to  the  merchants,  nearly  all  of  whom  were 
indebted  to  the  banks  or  foreign  merchants  ;  and  the  banks  owed  every 
body,  and  uoue  were  able  to  pay." 

In  his  message,  the  governor  says : 

"We  have  suffered  all  the  evils  of  a  depreciated  paper  circulation  ; 
the  first  of  which  is  a  great  and  sudden  scarcity  of  money.  The  specie, 
which  ought  to  be  in  circulation,  is  locked  up  in  the  "banks;  a  large 
amount  of  the  depreciated  paper  has  been  purchased  up  and  held  on 
speculation,  and  the  residue  has  just  been  sufficient  to  keep  money  of  a 
better  character  from  coming  among  us.  Consequently,  we  have  beeu 
left  without  money,  property  has  fallen  unusually  low  in  price,  and  the 
products  of  the  farmer  have  been  almost  unsaleable.  TWTO  courses  have 
operated  to  prevent  an  increase  of  population  for  a  year  or  twro  past ;  one 
is  the  prevalent  fear  of  exorbitant  taxes  ;  the  other  the  reproach  to 
which  wTe  are  subject  abroad.  The  remedy  for  this  is  obvious.  Let 
it  be  known  in  the  first  place  that  no  oppressive  and  exterminating  taxa 
tion  is, to  be  resorted  to  ;  in  the  second,  we  must  convince  our  creditors 
and  the  world  that  the  disgrace  of  repudiation  is  not  countenanced 
among  us — that  we  are  honest  and  mean  to  pay  a&  soon  as  we  are  able." 

In  the  legislature,  which  canie  into  power  simultaneously  with 
Governor  Ford,  there  was  no  party  in  favor  of  taxation  to  pay 
interest  011  the  public  debt.  Some  wanted  to  make  no  effort  for 
five  or  ten  years,  but  await  he  influx  of  immigrants,  trusting  that 
the  future  might  develope  something  favorable;  all  would  gladly 
yield  up  to  the  holders  of  the  internal  improvement  bonds  the 
public  works  as  far  as  completed,  and  the  lands,  railroad  iron  and 
other  property  purchased  to  carry  forward  the  system,  in  liquida 
tion  of  the  indebtedness,  if  they  would  finish  the  canal,  but  this 
was  impracticable  for  obvious  reasons.  The  great  majority  were 
neither  willing  to  tax  nor  yet  to  repudiate.  Governor  Ford,  in  his 
message,  said:  "Although  the  elections  in  August  last  were  con 
ducted  with  warmth  on  the  part  of  the  candidates  and  people,  not 
more  than  one  or  two  individuals  were  found  willing  to  offer  their 
services  upon  principles  of  repudiation,  and  they  were  unsuccess 
ful."  The  majority  quieted  their  consciences  by  the  adoption  of 
resolutions  recognizing'  both  the  moral  and  legal  obligations  to 
pay  interest  and  principal,  but  that  the  present  ability  to  do  so 
was  out  of  the  question.  Outside  there  were  not  wanting  many 
who  were  outspoken  in  favor  of  repudiation,  contending  that 
neither  the  legislature  nor  the  State  financial  agents  possessed  the 
power  to  legally  obligate  the  people  to  the  payment  of  debts  in 
curred  in  a  scheme  of  such  gross  and  reckless  infatuation  as  that 
of  the  internal  improvement  system  of  the  State. 


FORD'S  ADMINISTRATION.  467 

Another  source  of  anxiety  and  trouble  to  thoughtful  and  con 
servative  men,  was  the  prostrate  banks.  They  had  been  for  along 
time  odious  to  the  people  on  account  of  their  oft  infirmities.  Any 
extremity  pursued  toward  them  would  meet  the  hearty  approba 
tion  of  the  people,  however  such  course  might  be  detrimental  to 
the  country.  Hence  politicians,  who  looked  only  to  popularity 
with  their  constituents,  were  clamorous  for  the  repeal  of  the  bank 
charters.  Illinois  bonds  in  market  were  worth  only  14  cents  on. 
the  dollar  at  the  time.  The  State  owned  bank  stock  to  the  amount 
of  $3,100,000,  which  it  was  urged  by  the  repudiating  party  should 
be  returned  to  the  banks  in  exchange  for  State  bonds  held  as  col 
lateral  ;  that  the  latter  should  be  forced  upon  the  market  as  assets, 
and  with  the  proceeds  pay  the  debts  of  the  banks.  This  would 
have  further  depressed  Illinois  bonds.  The  bank  stock  was  much 
more  valuable  than  State  bonds,  the  bills  of  the  bank  being  worth 
about  50  cento  on  the  dollar,  yet  the1  madness  of  the  hour  de 
manded  a  surrender  and  even  exchange. 

These  were  some  of  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of  harmonious  de 
liberation  for  the  best  interests  of  the  State.  But  fertile  brains 
were  immersed  in  thought  to  devise  ways  out  of  the  em 
barrassing  circumstances  under  which  the  State  labored.  The 
canal,  upon  which  work  had  been  longer  continued  than  the  other' 
public  works,  was  greatly  advanced,  requiring  only  some  $3.000,- 
000  more  to  finish  it  upon  the  first  magnificent  plan.  It  was  now 
proposed  to  make  of  this  work  a  fulcrum  by  which  to  raise  the 
credit  of  the  State  out  of  its  slough  of  despond.  And  as  some 
sort  of  canal  was  better  than  none,  it  was  further  proposed  to  fin 
ish  the  remainder  of  it  by  abandoning  the  deep  cut  for  the  shallow, 
which  could  be  accomplished  at  about  half  the  price,  or  $1,600,- 
000.  The  completion  of  the  canal  would  inspire  confidence  abroad, 
invite  emigration,  and  revive  the  drooping  energies  of  the  people 
at  home.  The  plan  was  to  induce  the  canal  bondholders  to  ad 
vance  this  amount  on  the  pledge  of  the  canal,  its  lands  and  reve 
nues,  as  a  first  mortgage,  postponing  all  creditors  who  should 
refuse  to  contribute  until  the  former  were  reimbursed.  It  seems 
that  Justin  Butterfield,  an  eminent  lawyer  of  Chicago,  was  entitled 
to  the  credit  of  suggesting  this  plan,  which,  after  a  brief  delay, 
proved  successful.  He  first  mentioned  it  to  Arthur  Bronson,  a 
heavy  operator  in  Illinois  stocks,  and  a  large  landholder  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  State,  who  was  on  a  visit  to  Chicago,  in  the 
summer  of  1842,  looking  after  his  interests.  Mr.  Butterfield  fur 
ther  imbued  Mr.  Michael  By  an  with  this  idea,  and  the  latter,  when 
shortly  after  in  STew  York,  enlisted  Mr.  David  Leavitt,  Mr.  Bron 
son.  and  other  operators  in  Illinois  stocks,  both  in  London  and 
New  York,  in  the  scheme.  The  plan  received  definite  shape  from 
these  financiers,  and  upon  the  meeting  of  the  legislature,  Decem 
ber,  1842,  awaited  the  sanction  of  that  body. 

But  the  more  absorbing  question  of  repealing  the  bank  charters 
and  winding  up  those  institutions,  boded  evil  to  the  success  of 
the  new  canal  loan,  even  if  the  bill  to  convey  the  canal  in  trust 
for  the  advance  of  $1,000.000,  did  become  a  law.  The  financial 
embarrassments  of  the  State  would  probably  become  involved  in 
an  inextricable  coil,  to  disentangle  which  would  consume  years  of 
time.  There  was  a  question  of  law  as  to  the  vested  rights  of  the 
banks  under  their  charters,  which  they  asserted  their  determina- 


468  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

tion  to  contests  with  all  the  law's  delay  that  the  United  States 
courts  afforded,  if  forcible  liquidation  was  attempted.  In  the 
meantime,  their  assest  would  be  absorbed  in  litigation  or  squan 
dered  by  villainous  officials.  It  would,  besides,  produce  mistrust 
and  a  want  of  confidence  in  the  minds  of  capitalists  abroad,  upon 
whom  we  depended  for  the  new  loan  to  complete  the  canal.  If 
the  bank  charters  could  be  repealed  and  banking-  corporations 
arbitrarily  crushed,  what  guarrantee  was  there  that  a  succeeding 
legislature  would  not  treat  the  new  canal  company  the  same 
way  ? 

Gov.  Ford,  for  the  best  interests  of  the  State,  determined  upon 
a  just  compromise  with  the  banks,  and  labored  earnestly  to  that 
end.  But  with  the  convening  of  the  legislature,  the  retiring 
executive,  Gov  Carlin,  (says  Ford),  "recommended  repeal  in  his 
valedictory  message.  When  he  first  came  to  the  seat  of  govern 
ment  he  showed  me  his  message,  recommending  wise,  just,  and 
honorable  measures  to  the  banks.  He  also  showed  me  what  he 
had  prepared  on  the  subject  of  repeal,  assuring  me  that  he  had 
decided  not  to  put  it  in.  But  shortly  afterwards,  some  of  the 
ultraists  got  a  hold  of  him,  and  induced  him  to  alter  his  message, 
by  recommending  repeal.  This  recommendation  embarrassed  me 
then,  and  has  embarrassed  me  ever  since.  Here  was  a  respecta 
ble  recommendation  of  something  more  ultra  than  I  thought  was 
warranted  by  the  best  interests  of  the  State.  It  gave  countenance 
to  the  nltraists ;  they  could  rally  around  it,  win  a  character  for 
stern  and  inflexable  democrats.  It  at  once  put  them  ahead  of  the 
new  governor  and  his  friends,"  As  a  further  source  of  opposition 
to  the  banks,  Gov.  Ford  continues:  "There  was  quite  a  party 
out  of  the  legislature,  expectants  of  office  and  others,  who 
hoped*  that  if  the  banks  were  repealed  out  of  existence  and 
put  into  forcible  liquidation,  some  of  them  might  be  appoint 
ed  commissioners  and  put  in  charge  of  their  specie  and  effects. 
It  was  known  that  if  the  bank  debts  were  paid  pro  rata,  a  large 
amount  of  specie  wTould  remain  on  hand  for  a  year  or  more,  the 
nse  of  which  could  be  made  profitable  in  the  meantime.  Then 
there  were  to  be  bank  attorneys  and  agents  in  collecting  and 
securing  debts;  and  the  whole  would  furnish  a  handsome  picking 
for  the  buzzards  and  vultures  who  hang  about  lobbies  and  sur 
round  legislatures.  As  for  myself,  I  decided  at  once  in  favor  of  a 
compromise  5  and  I  gave  notice  to  all  these  greedy  expectants  of 
office,  who  were  hanging  around  with  eyes  straining  to  devour 
their  substance,  that  if  the  banks  were  repealed,  and  the  appoint 
ment  of  commissioners  was  vested  in  me,  none  of  them  could 
expect  an  appointment.  This  I  know  cooled  some  of  them." 

The  governor,  who  labored  under  a  greater  apprehension  in  re 
gard  to  the  power  of  the  ultra  anti-bank  party  than  there  was 
perhaps  any  call  for,  drafted  the  bank  bill  himself,  giving  it 
rather  a  higher  sounding  title  than  its  provisions  deserved  or  its 
effects  would  warrant,  namely  "an  act  to  diminish  the  State  debt 
and  put  the  State  bank  into  liquidation."  The  officers  of  the  bank 
were  well  apprised  of  its  provisions  and  had  agreed  to  them.  "It 
was  then,"  says  the  governor,  "shown  to  Mr.  McClernand,  chair 
man  of  the  finance  committee.  Gen.  Shields,  Judge  Douglas,  and 
myself,  were  invited  to  be  present  at  the  meeting.  I  was  desirous 
of  having  the  bill  introduced  as  a  democratic  measure,  and 


FORD'S  ADMINISTRATION.  469 


for  this  reason  the  whigs  of  the  committee  were  not  invited 
to  be  present.  The  project  was  stated  to  the  committee,  and  all 
the  members  agreed  to  it  but  one,  and  he  was  soon  argued  out  of 
his  objections  by  Judge  Douglas.  The  next  day  it  was  introduced 
into  the  lower  house  as  a  report  from  the  finance  committee. 
This  circumstance  put  Mr.  McClernand  in  the  position  of  being 
its  principal  advocate ;  and  it  was  soon  known  to  be  a  favorite 
measure  of  the  new  administration."  It  met  with  general  favor 
among  the  members. 

The  opposition  to  it  came  mainly  from  the  outside  expectants 
of  office  in  winding  up  the  concern.  Says  Ford  :  "Lymaii  Trum- 
bull,  secretary  of  State,  put  himself  at  the  head  of  this  opposition. 
In  taking  this  ground,  Mr.  Trumbull  was  probably  less  influenced 
by  a  hope  of  pecuniary  advantages  to  himself,  than  by  a  desire  to 
serve  his  friends,  to  be  considered  a  thorough-going  party  man, 
and  by  a  hatred  of  McGlernand  and  Shields,  AV!IO  both  favored 
the  measure.* 

"As  soon  as  McClernand  took  his  position  on  the  bank  question, 
Trumlmli  arrayed  himself  in  opposition.  He  pretended  that 
McClernand's  measure  was  not  sufficiently  democratic  ;  in  fact, 
that  nothing  could  be  democratic  in  relation  to  the  banks  but  to 
tear  them  up  and  destroy  them  root  and  branch,  and  he  hoped  to 
fasten  upon  McClernand  the  imputation  of  being  a  "milk  and 
water  democrat,7  and  thus  lower  him  in  the  estimation  of  the  party. 
At  the  instance  of  Ebenezer  Peck,  clerk  of  the  supreme  court,  and 
others,  he  put  up  a  notice  that  he  would  address  the  lobby  on  the 
subject,  in  the  evening  after  the  legislature  had  adjourned.  Most 
of  the  members  attended  to  hear  his  discourse. 
•  "Tlie  next  day  McClernand,  who  possessed  a  kind  of  bold  and 
denunciatory  eloquence,  came  down  upon  Trumbull  and  his  con 
federates  in  a  speech  in  the  house,  which  for  argument,  eloquence, 
and  statesmanship  was  far  superior  to  TrumbulFs.  This  speech 
silenced  all  opposition  thereafter  to  the  bill  in  the  house.  The  out 
door  opposition,  after  this,  forseeing  signal  defeat  in  the  house, 
turned  their  attention  to  the  s'enate.  *  *  *  Trumbull  took  his 
stand  in  the  lobby  and  sent  in  amendments  of  every  sort,  to  be 
proposed  by  Crain,  of  Washington,  Catlin,  of  St.  Clair,  and  others. 
The  mode  of  attack  was  to  load  it  down  with  obnoxious  amend 
ments,  so  as  to  make  it  odious  to  its  authors  ;  and  Trumbull  openly 
boasted  that  the  bill  would  be  so  altered  and  amended  in  the  sen 
ate  that  the  framers  in  the  house  would  not  know  their  own  bant 
ling  when  it  came  back  to  them.  From  this  moment  I  determined 

[*  "His  quarrel  with  McClernand  sprung-  out  of  his  appointment  to  the  office  of  sec 
retary  of  State  two  years  before.  MeClernand  was  a  member  of  the  legislature  in 
184S,  but  not  being  an  applicant  then,  Juiige  Douglas  was  appointed  at  the  beginning 
of  the  session  without  opposition.  But  when  Douglas  was  elected  a  judge  of  the  su 
preme  court,  toward  the  end  of  the  session,  McClernand  incited  his  friends  to  get  up 
jn  his  favor  »  strong  recommendation  from  the  members  of  the  legislature  for  the  va 
cant  office.  *  Gov.  Cariin  had  already  allowed  the  members  of  the  legisla 
ture  and  his  political  friends  to  dictate  to  him  the  appointment  of  McClernand  oa  a 
former  occasion  He  had  lately  yielded  to  similar  dictation  in  the  appointment  of 
Douti-ias  in  opposition  to  his  own  wishes,  for  he  had  previously  promised  the  office  to 
Isaac  X  Morris,  of  Quincy.  [He]  subsequently  used  his  influence  with  the  legislature 
to  get  Morris  elected  to  the  office  of  president  of  the  board  of  canal  commissioners. 
But  this  contest  between  McClernand  and  Trumbull  took  place  at  the  close  of  the  ses 
sion,  when  the  governor  had  nothing  more  to  hope  or  fear  from  tmit  legislature.  *  * 
Trumbull  was  nominated  to  the  senate:  and I  McCJernan-i  and  Shields  as  imjnediately 
went  to  work  in  that  body  to  procure  the  rejection  of  his  appointment.  They  came 
within  a  vote  or  two  of  defeating  his  nomination.  Ever  since  then  there  has  bl.cn  no 
good  feeling  between  McClernand  and  Trumbull."— Ford's  History. 


470  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

to  remove  Trumbull  from  the  office  of  secretary  of  State,  [which 
was  done].  The  obnoxious  amendments  were  rejected,  and  the 
bill  passed  by  a  large  majority,  and  was  approved  by  the  council 
of  revision.  Judge  Douglas,  notwithstanding  he  had"  advised  the 
measure  before  the  finance  committee,  voted  against  it  in  council. 
[The  bill  passed  the  house  by  107  for  to  4  against.]  A  bill 
somewhat  similar,  passed  in  relation  to  the  Shawneetown  bunk. 
By  these  two  bills  the  domestic  treasury  of  the  State  was  at  once 
relieved,  and  another  debt  of  $2,306,000  was  extinguished  imme 
diately. 

i;The  legislature  at  this  session  also  passed  laws  for  the  sale  of 
State  lands  and  property;  for  the  reception  of  the  distributive 
share  of  the  State  in  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  ; 
for  the  redemption  of  interest  bonds  hypothecated  to  Macalister 
and  Stebbins,  and  for  a  loan  of  $1,000,000  to  complete  the  Illinois 
and  Michigan  canal.  By  these  various  laws  provision  was  made 
for  the  reduction  of  the  State  debt  to  the  amount  of  eight  or  nine 
millions  of  dollars.  *  *  From  this  moment  the  affairs  of  the 
State  began  to  brighten  and  improve.  Auditor's  warrants  rose  to 
85  and  90  per  cent.  State  bonds  rose  from  14  to  20,  30  and  40 
per  cent.  The  banks  began  to  pay  out  their  specie,  and  within 
three  months  time  the  currency  was  restored,  confidence  was  in 
creased  in  the  prospects  of  the  State,  and  the  tide  of  emigration 
was  once  more  directed  to  Illinois."* 

But  the  new  canal  loan  of  $1,000,000  met  with  delay  in  its  ne 
gotiation.  European  capitalists  were  well  disposed  toward  it,  but 
there  was  no  reliable  evidence  placed  before  them  as  to  the  value 
of  the  canal ;  nor  Avere  they  willing  to  take  the  loan  without 
some  evidence  of  public  faith  and  recognition  of  the  obligation  of 
the  State,  and  some  legislation  for  taxation  to  make  at  least  a  be 
ginning  to  pay  interest  on  the  public  debt. 

In  his  message  to  the  legislature  of  1844-5,  therefore,  Gov. 
Ford  recommended  taxation.  In  September  preceding,  however, 
Mr.  William  S.  Wait,  of  Bond  county,  through  his  published  let 
ter  to  the  governor  against  taxation,  had  already  afforded  him  an 
opportunity  to  make  known  his  views  in  a  public  letter  written  in 
reply,  which  did  great  credit  to  his  sentiments  of  honor  and  ca 
pacity  as  a  sagacious  statesman.  It  gained  a  wide  circulation  and 
produced  so  favorable  an  effect  in  Europe  as  to  immediately  cause 
the  completion  of  the  subscription  to  the  loan.  The  State  revenue 
was  derived  from  a  land  tax,  a  portion  of  which  had  been  in  1827 
diverted  to  the  counties  then  generally  in  debt,  to  aid  them  toward 
the  erection  of  court-houses  and  jails,  which  had  long  since  been 
built,  and  the  governor  in  his  message  says : 

"  This  land  tax  ought  to  be  resumed  to  the  State  treasury.  Frequent 
attempts  have  been  made  to  effect  this,  but  without  success.  The  objec 
tion  has  always  been  that  there  was  more  land  taxable  in  the  old  than 
in  the  new  part  of  the  State,  and  that  the  measure  would  be  unequal. 
[Under  the  compact  with  congress  in  the  enabling  act  of  1818,  lands 
were  not  to  be  taxed  till  five  years  after  their  entry.]  1  would  recom 
mend  that  the  additional  revenue  thus  derived,  and  such  additional 
tax  as  the  legislature  in  its  wisdom  will  provide  for,  be  formed  into  a 
fund,  the  proceeds  and  increase  of  which  shall  be  sacred  and  dedicated 
to  the  extinction  of  a  portion,  however  small  at  first,  of  the  interest  on 
the  public  debt.  Whatever  we  do  in  this  way,  ought  to  have  the  great- 

*  Ford's  History. 


FORD'S  ADMINISTRATION.  471 

est  permanency.  *  *  And  thus  by  setting  a  limit  to  the  fears  and 
imaginations  of  men  in  relation  to  the  huge  phantom  of  expected  taxes, 
we  might  reasonably  calculate  to  restore  ourselves  in  the  estimation  of 
mankind,  turn  the  tide  of  emigration  again  into  our  country,  accom 
panied  by  wealth  and  intelligence." 

But  from  various  causes  quite  an  opposition  had  been  raised  to 
the  administration.  This  grew  out  of  the  "  Morman  war,"  and 
the  jealousies  of  political  aspirants.  Two  bank  commissioners,  a 
secretary  of  state,  three  judges  of  the  supreme  court,  and  a  U.  S. 
senator  had  been  appointed.  For  these  offices  there  were  many 
applicants,  and  the  disappointed  ones  joined  their  influence  to  op 
pose  the  administration  measures.  Many  charges  were  brought 
against  the  administration  and  an  investigating  committee  was 
appointed,  which,  while  it  made  a  thorough  inquisition  of  the  ex 
ecutive  offices  and  found  nothing  amiss,  still  did  not  possess  the 
magnanimity  to  make  any  report  at  all — "the  newest  way  of  dis 
crediting  an  administration,"  which  ought  to  be  patented,  says  his 
excellency. 

The  main  administration  measure  at  this  session  was  a  supple 
mental  canal  bill,  and  to  provide  for  paying  a  portion  of  the  inter 
est  on  the  State  debt.  It  provided  for  a  transfer  of  1  mill  from 
the  county  to  the  State  tax,  so  as  to  make  the  State  tax  3  mills, 
the  latter  to  remain  permanent,  and  together  with  all  surplus 
moneys  in  the  treasury  constitute  an  "Interest  Fund."  to  be  sa 
credly  set  apart  for  the  payment  of  interest  on  the  public  debt. 
The  bill  giving  to  the  foreign  bondholders  two  canal  trustees  and 
to  the  State  but  one,  afterwards  divided  and  passed  in  two  laws, 
was  prepared  in  accordance  with  the  propositions  of  the  foreign 
creditors,  as  made  by  the  Boston  committee,  Governor  Davis,  of 
Massachusetts,  and  Mr.  Leavitt,  of  ]Sew  York,  being  present 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  session. 

Besides  disaffected  democrats,  a  strenuous  effort  was  made 
to  array  the  whig  party  in  opposition  to  this  measure.  To  this 
end  a  secret  meeting  of  the  whig  leaders  was  called  to  form  a, 
coalition  with  the  southern  democrats.  But  to  these  intrigues, 
fraught  with  mischief  to  the  credit  and  prosperity  of  the  State, 
Judge  Stephen  T.  Logan,  of  Springfield,  N.  1).  Strong,  of  Alton, 
and  other  whigs,  set  their  faces  as  steel ;  and  in  the  house  these 
machinations  met  with  signal  defeat,  the  bill  passing  by  some  20 
majority.  In  the  senate,  after  a  substitue  offered  by  Edwards  and 
amendments  by  Worthington  and  Constable,  (whigs,)  all  tending 
toirs  defeat,  were  voted  down,  that  body  refused  to  order  the  bill 
to  a  third  reading — 19  to  22.  Kow  followed  much  parliamentary 
manuevering,  and  charges  of  bribery  and  corruption  were  freely 
made. 

"The  vote  on  the  bill  in  the  senate  being  reconsidered,  it  was 
referred  to  a  select  committee,  together  with  another  bill  of  an 
important  character,  which  had  already  passed  the  house  of  rep 
resentatives.  It  was  known  that  one  senator  would  not  vote  lor 
the  tax  and  the  canal  both  in  the  same  bill.  By  their  connection 
the  tax  was  made  to  appear  as  a  local  measure,  intended  only  for 
the  benefit  of  the  north.  The  committee,  therefore,  divided  the 
bill.  They  struck  out  of  the  canal  bill  all  that  related  to  a  tax, 
and  they  struck  out  all  of  the  bill  referred  with  it,  and  inserted 
the  taxing  part  in  that.  And  these  two  bills  being  now  reported 


472  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

back  to  the  senate,  the  senate  concurred  in  their  passage  as  thus 
amended.  They  were  sent  back  to  the  house  the  same  hour  for 
concurrence,  which  was  given  ;  and  thus  these  important  meas 
ures  passed  into  laws ;  or  rather  they  wabbled  through  the  legis 
lature.  To  Thomas  M.  Kilpatrick,  senator  from  Scott,  is  due  the 
honor  of  the  good  management  in  the  senate,  in  dividing  and 
amending  the  measure,  and  thus  securing  its  passage.  I  give  the 
facts,  curious  as  they  may  appear,  to  illustrate  the  fertile  .genius  of 
western  men,  and  as  a  specimen  of  the  modes  of  legislation  in  a 
new  country."* 

Thus  was  shown  a  recognition  of  our  obligation  to  pay  the  pub 
lic  debt,  and  a  willingness  to  contribute  to  do  so  as  far  as  lay  in 
our  power.  This,  too,  at  a  period  of  sore  trial  to  the  people  of  the 
State.  For  the  two  preceding  seasons  the  crops  had  been  a  par 
tial  failure;  the  unprecedented  freshets  of  the  Mississippi,  the 
Illinois  and  many  other  streams  in  the  State,  in  1844,  had  de 
stroyed  a  large  amount  of  property,  and  laid  waste  many  a  home 
stead  ;  and  an  unusual  amount  of  sickness  had  not  only  followed 
in  the  wake  of  the  floods,  but  generally  pervaded  the  country. 

Another  "Hard  Times"  measure,  adopted  at  this  session,  was 
the  reduction  of  interest  to  0  per  cent.  During  the  flush  times, 
prior  to  1840,  when  money  was  abundant  and  unlimited,  the  peo 
ple  overtraded  themselves,  and,  finally,  on  settlement,  gave  their 
promissory  notes,  bearing  12  per  cent,  interest,  which  they  did 
ruther  than  be  sued  and  have  their  property  sold  under  execution. 
The  reader  will  have  noticed  that  for  twenty-five  years  the  ten 
dency  of  legislation  in  Illinois,  and  indeed  all  western  states,  a 
tendency  not  yet  arrested,  was  to  favor  the  debtor  class.es. 

At  the  close  of  Gov.  Ford's  administration,!  we  find  the  domes 
tic  debt  for  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  State  government  to  be 
only  $31,212,  instead  of  $313,000  as  when  he  came  into  office; 
now,  without  the  sum  due  from  the  general  government  to  the 
school  fund  being  paid,  there  was  in  the  treasury  $9,200,  when  at 
that  time  it  did  not  contain  enough  to  pay  postage  on  a  letter ;  now, 
auditor's  warrants  were  worth  over  90  cents  on  the  dollar,  then, 
not  50  5  now,  people  were  in  the  main  out  of  debt,  then  they  were 
overwhelmed  with  private  liabilities.  The  banks  had  been  put 
into  liquidation  and  gradually  wound  up,  their  depreciated  circu 
lation  retired  and  replaced  by  a  reasonable  abundance  of  specie 
and  the  issues  of  solvent  banks  from  other  States.  By  exchang 
ing  the  bank  stock  of  the  State  for  the  bonds,  and  the  sale  of 
public  property,  about  $3,000,000  of  the  public  debt  had  been, 
extinguished  ;  and  by  the  canal,  then  promising  to  be  completed 
within  the  next  year,  some  $5,000,000  more  were  effectually  pro 
vided  for  in  the  enhanced  value  of  the  canal  property,  and  the 
fact  of  its  conveyance  in  trust  to  the  foreign  canal  bond  holders  ; 
being  a  reduction  of  some  $8,000,000,  extinguished  and  provided 
for,  during  Gov.  Fords'  administration,  notwithstanding  itsbegin- 
ing  under  circumstances  the  most  adverse  and  unpromising.  The 
State,  wThich  for  years  before  had  been  overwhelmed  with  debt; 
which  had  not  for  4  years  paid  even  interest  on  its  bonds,  and 
loth  to  even  recognize  its  public  debt ;  which  was  011  the  brink  of 
repudiation — discredited  throughout  the  civilized  world,  had  dur- 

*1  ForcVs  History. 

*See  his  message,  Dec.  1846. 


FORD'S   ADMINISTRATION.  473 

ing  his  administration  its  credit  greatly  restored,  and  was  enabled 
to  borrow  $1,600,000  to  complete  the  canal.  It  now  had  a  popu 
lation  of  about  700,000,  and  the  1£  mill  tax  to  be  exclu 
sively  applied  as  interest  on  the  public  debt,  would  yield  for  the 
year  1840,  $125,000.  With  the  dissipation  of  the  clouds  of 
threatening  dishonor,  emigration,  with  an  increasing  tide,  again 
sought  our  lands  for  homes,  and  population  was  augmenting 
faster  than  any  previous  time.  The  list  of  taxable  property,  and 
the  aggregate  wealth  of  the  State,  was  rapidly  on  the  increase. 
From  the  people  here,  erst  so  anxious  to  sell  out  and  depart  the 
State,  the  terrors  of  high  taxation  had  been  removed,  and  now 
when  opportunity  to  sell  and  leave  was  almost  daily  presented, 
they  were  content  to  remain.  The  reputation  of  Illinois  before 
the  civilized  world,  now  stood  forth  almost  without  spot  or  blem 
ish,  the  peer  in  honor  and  credit  of  any  in  the  sisterhood  of 
States.  The  year  1845  was  the  turning  point  in  her  financial  em 
barrassments,  and  marks  the  beginning  of  her  since  unabated 
prosperity  and  inarch  to  greatness. 

"We  may  date  the  commencement  of  our  returning  prosperity 
to  the  passage  of  that  law" — the  law  requiring  the  banks  of  this 
State  to  put  their  affairs  in  process  of  gradual  liquidation — says 
Gov.  French  in  'his  inaugural  message.  This  law,  we  have  seen, 
was  conceived  by  the  brain  and  drafted  by  the  hand  of  Gov. 
Ford  himself;  through  his  admirable  letter  in  reply  to  W.  S. 
Wait,  of  Bond  county,  our  foreign  creditors  took  heart  and  sub 
scribed  the  money  for  the  completion  of  the  canal ;  he  had  the 
courage  to  recommend  taxation,  and  suggested  the  perinanant 
tax  or  "interest  fund"  bill,  which  after  a  severe  struggle  became  a 
law.  We  see  thus  the  directing  finger  of  Gov.  Ford  in  every  im 
portant  measure  which  aided  in  restoring  the  credit  of  the  State, 
and  snatching  it  from  the  jaws  of  repudiation  and  dishonor. 
And  this  was  done,  not  with  the  united  support  of  his  own  party 
friends,  but  in  the  face  of  their  many  intrigues,  jealousies  and 
party  machinations.  Illinois  was  most  fortunate  in  securing  his 
services  for  its  helm  of  State  at  this  critical  juncture  of  her  finan 
cial  career;  and  posterity  will  ever  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  him 
for  his  clear  insight  into  the  condition  of  her  affairs,  the  meas 
ures  which  his  genius  brought  forward  for  her  extrication,  and  the 
fidelity  with  which  he  discharged  the  high  trust  reposed  in  him  at 
this  crisis  in  her  history.  In  his  valedictory  message  he  says: 
"Without  having  indulged  in  wasteful  or  extravagant  habits  of 
living,  I  retire  from  office  poorer  than  I  came  in  ;  and  go  to  pri 
vate  life  with  a  full  determination  not  to  seek  again  any  place  in 
the  government,"  Gov.  Ford  died,  Nov.  2d,  1850,  at  Peoria,  in 
very  indigent  circumstances. 


CHAPTER  XL. 
THE  ILLINOIS  AND  MICHIGAN  CANAL. 

Trials  and  Troubles  Incident  to  its  Construction. 


The  importance  of  a  canal  connecting  the  waters  of  Lake  Mich 
igan  and  those  of  the  Illinois  river,  and  thence  by  other  navigable 
streams  hundred  miles  in  extent  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  was  at  a 
very  early  time  appreciated,  audits  consummation  fondly  cherished. 
The  French  traders  and  voyageurs  in  their  explorations  of  the 
west,  between  one  and  two  centuries  since,  passed  with  their  boats 
from  Lake  Michigan  into  the  Des  Plaines  at  some  seasons  of  the 
year,  via  the  Calumet  river  and  lake.  The  portage  between  the 
south  branch  of  the  Chicago  river  and  the  Des  Plaines  was  only 
some  five  or  six  miles.  Until  the  artificial  connection  between  the 
waters  of  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Illinois  river  ^  as  practically 
essayed,  it  was  regarded  as  of  easy  accomplishment;  but  the  facts 
have  shown  the  contrary.  The  canal,  which  in  1825  and  prior  was 
estimated  at  $640,000,  has  first  and  last,  including  the  Chicago 
deepening  for  sanitary  purposes,  cost  near  twenty  times  that 
sum. 

During  the  war  of  1812,  with  the  massacre  at  the  month  of  the 
Chicago,  and  the  retreat  of  the  savages  westward,  national  atten 
tion  was  first  directed  to  the  importance  of  this  work,  and  the 
president  in  his  message  in  1814  brought  the  subject  to  the  atten- 
of  congress,  and  a  select  committee  reported  it  as  "the  great  work 
of  the  age,"  for  both  military  and  commercial  purposes.  ;tln 
1S1(>,"  says  Gov.  Edwards,  who  was  one  of  the  commissioners,  "  a 
tract  of  land  bounded  on  Lake  Michigan,  including  Chicago  and 
extending  to  the  Illinois  river,  was  obtained  from  the  Indians,  for 
the  purpose  of  opening  a  canal  communication  between  the  lake 
and  the  river.  *  *  I  personally  know  that  the  Indians  were 
induced  to  believe  that  the  opening  of  the  canal  would  be  very 
advantageous  to  them,  and  that,  under  authorized  expectations 
that  this  would  be  done,  they  ceded  the  land  fo.v  a  trine.'  *  In 
1817,  Major  Long  made  a  report  to  congress  that  "a  canal,  uniting 
the  waters  of  the  Illinois  river  with  those  of  Lake  Michigan,  may 
be  considered  the  first  in  importance  of  any  in  this  quarter  of  the 
country,  and  the  construction  would  be  attended  with  very  little 
expense  compared  with  the  magnitude  of  the  object."  Another 
report  favorable  to  the  canal  was  at  that  time  made  by  Eichard 
Graham  and  Chief  Justice  Phillips,  of  this  State.t  In  1819,  Mr. 
Calhoun,  secretary  of  war,  directed  the  attention  of  congress  to  the 

*Edwar-:ls'  Life  of  Edwards. 

474 


ILLINOIS  AND  MICHIGAN   CANAL.  475 


canal  on  account  of  its  importance  for  military  purposes.*  In 
1822  congress  authorized  this  State  to  construct  the  canal  through 
the  public  lands,  granting  for  the  purpose  a  strip  of  ground  90 
feet  in  width  on  both  sides  of  it,  and  reserving  the  lands  through 
which  it  might  pass  from  sale  until  further  direction.  It  was  to  be 
commenced  within  three  and  completed  within  twelve  years.  To 
the  State  was  given  the  privilege  of  taking  from  the  government 
land,  material  for  its  construction.  Upon  this  slender  beginning 
congress  subsequently  enlarged  considerably. 

In  1818,  Gov.  Bond,  in  his  message,  strongly  recommended  the 
const  ruction  of  the  canal ;  Governor  Coles,  four  years  later,  did  the 
same,  and  every  governor  of  the  State  espoused  its  cause.  No 
sectional  question  was  made  of  it  for  many  years.  The  legislature, 
at  the  session  of  1822-3,  appointed  a  board  of  canal  commissoners 
"to  make  or  cause  to  be  made,  estimates,  etc.,  for  completing  said 
canal,"  and  report  to  the  next  general  assembly.  Emanuel  J. 
West,  Erastus  Brown,  Theopilus  "W".  Smith,  Thomas  Sloe,  jr.,  and 
Samuel  Alexander  were  appointed  commissioners.  The  board 
employed  Eene  Paul,  of  St.  Lous,  and  Justine  Post,  as  engineers 
to  survey  the  route  and  make  out  the  estimates.  They  reported 
the  route  highly  practicable  and  estimated  the  cost  of  the  work  at 
from  $010,000  to  not  exceeding  $716,110.71,  which  has  proven  to 
be  very  wide  of  the  mark.  The  examination  was  superficial  and 
no  idea  was  formed  of  the  amount  of  rock  excavation  which 
afterwards  provod  so  formidable.  These  preliminary  steps  cost  the 
State  $10,589.87.f 

By  act  of  Jan.  19,  1825,  the  "Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  Asso 
ciation,"  with  a  capital  of  $1,000,000  was  incorporated.  The  com 
pany  was  to  build  and  complete  the  canal  within  10  year's  time; 
to  receive  for  its  own  use  and  benefit  all  the  public  lands  which  the 
United  States,  States,  or  individuals  might  donate  in  aid  of  the 
undertaking,  and  the  tolls  for  50  years  after  its  completion;  at  the 
expiration  of  which  time  the  canal  and  all  its  unsold  lands  were  to 
be  turned  over  to  the  State  and  the  total  sum  expended  in  its  con 
struction,  with  6  per  cent  interest,  was  to  be  paid. 

The  act,  after  its  passage,  incurred  the  strenuous  opposition  of 
the  Hon.  Daniel  P.  Cook,  our  only  member  in  congress.  A  grant 
of  land  for  the  construction  of  the  canal,  upon  the  ground  of  its 
national  character,  was  then  with  some  degree  of  confidence  look 
ed  forward  to  during  the  administration  of  Mr.  Adams.  The 
House  committee,  through  Mr.  Cook,  had  made  a  favorable  re 
port  upon  it,  But  the  act  of  the  legislature,  by  which  any  bonus 
to  aid  the  work,  was  in  advance  turned  over  to  a  corporation  of 
private  individuals,  would  probably  defeat  the  measure  in  con 
gress.  Mr.  Cook  published  a  long  address  to  his  constituents, 
under  date  of  Oct.  28,  1825,  forcibly  attacking  the  canal  policy  of 
the  State;  urging  the  legislature  to  resume  its  possession  anil  re 
peal  the  charter  before  any  work  was  commenced,  and  the  claim 
of  vested  rights  should  be  set  up.  He  demanded  "that  the  rich 
harvest  which  it  was  destined  to  yield,  should  go  into  the  treas 
ure  of  the  State ;"  and  declared  "that  in  less  than  30  years  it 
would  relieve  the  people  from  the  payment  of  taxes,  and  even 
leave  a  surplus  to  be  applied  to  other  works  of  public  utility.'7 

*Vol.  4  Pub.  Doc.  15  Conyress,  2d  session. 

tSee  Report  of  George  Forquer,  Senate  Journal,  session  1834-5. 


476  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

These  hopeful  predictions  have  not  been  fulfilled.  So  sanguine 
was  he,  that  to  raise  capital  to  build  the  canal,  he  was  ready  to 
sell  or  pledge  a  million  acres  of  the  school  lands  to  carry  forward 
the  work.  But  no  stock  was  ever  subscribed  by  the  "canal  asso 
ciation;"  the  incorporates  voluntarily  surrendered  their  charter 
and  tlie  act  was  repealed. 

This  obstacle  out  of  the  way,  the  legislature,  at  the  special  ses 
sion  of  January,  1826',  called  by  acting  Gov.  II ubbard,  transmitted 
to  congress  a  very  able  memorial,  drafted  by  Mr.  liussell,  of  Bond, 
praying  aid  for  the  canal.  We  quote  two  sentences :  "The  con 
struction  of  the  canal,  uniting  the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan  with 
the  Illinois  river,  will  form  an  important  addition  to  the  great  con 
necting  links  in  the  chain  of  internal  navagation,  which  will 
effectually  secure  the  indissoluble  union  of  the  confederate  mem 
bers  of  this  great  and  powerful  republic.  By  the  completion  of 
this  great  and  valuable  work,  the  connection  between  the  north 
and  south,  the  east  and  west,  would  be  strengthened  by  the  ties 
of  commercial  intercourse  and  social  neighborhood,  and  the  union 
of  States  bid  defiance  to  internal  commotion,  sectional  jealousy, 
and  foreign  invasion." 

The  memorial,  together  with  the  efforts  of  our  delegation  in 
congress,  Cook  (in  the  house,)  and  Kane  and  Thomas  (in  the  sen 
ate),  but  notably  the  first  named,  whose  genial  influence  and  un 
tiring  labors  in  this  behalf  have  placed  the  State,  and  particulary 
Chicago,  under  lasting  obligation  to  his  memory,  produced  a 
favorable  effect,  and  congress  by  act  of  March  2d,  1827,  grant 
ed  to  the  State  of  Illinois  "for  the  purpose  of  aiding  her  in. 
opening  a  canal  to  connect  the  waters  of  the  Illinois  river  with 
those  of  Lake  Michigan,"  the  alternate  sections  of  the  public 
lands  Dii  either  side  of  the  canal  for  five  miles,  along  its  entire 
route,  which  when  set  apart  by  the  president  were  found  to  contain 
224,322  acres.  The  lands  were  subject  to  the  disposal  of  the  legis 
lature  "for  the  purposes  aforesaid,  and  no  other."  The  canal  was 
regarded  as  of  national  utility;  it  was  to  be  commenced  within  5 
years  thereafter  and  completed  within  20  ;  and  if  not  so  comple 
ted,  the  State  was  to  pay  the  general  government  for  all  lands 
sold  up  to  that  time,  and  the  remainder  were  to  revert.  This 
grant  was  the  beginning  of  those  enormous  landed  subsidies  to 
western  railroads  which  have  become  so  frequent  of  late,  but  it 
will  be  noticed  that  this  and  the  next,  also  in  Illinois,  for  the  con 
struction  of  the  Central  railroad,  were  made  to  the  State,  where 
as  latterly  the  grants  are  to  private  corporations  directly.  It  is  a 
curious  fact  that  the  largely  democratic  State  of  Illinois  obtained 
both  these  grants,  by  which  she  was  more  materially  benefited 
than  all  else  ever  done  for  her,  from  whig  administrations. 

In  1829  the  legislature  organized  a  new  board  of  canal  commis 
sioners,  "  to  explore,  examine,  fix  and  determine  the  route  of  the 
canal,"  dispose  by  sale  of  the  lands  and  lots  and  commence  the 
work.  Governor  Edwards  appointed  Charles  Dunn,  afterwards 
U.  S.  judge  of  Wisconsin  Territory,  Dr.  Gersham  Jayne  and  Ed- 
mond  lloberts,  both  of  Springfield,  as  commissioners.  For  lack 
of  funds  little  or  nothing  was  done;  times  were  rather  hard, 
owing  to  the  financial  embarrassments  caused  by  the  old  State 
bank  of  1821.  Feb.  15,  1831,  an  act  amendatory  of  that  of  1829, 
was  passed.  Under  the  provisions  of  these  two  acts,  the  board 


ILLINOIS  AND  MICHIGAN   CANAL.  477 

laid  out  the  towns  of  Chicago  and  Ottawa,  the  map  of  the  former, 
prepared  by  James  Thompson,  who  made  the  surveys,  bearing 
date  August  4,  1830.  When  Thompson  began  his  surveys  of 
Chicago,  in  ]820,  only  7  families  lived  outside  of  Fort  Dearborn. 
Town  lots  and  canal  lands  were  sold  to  the  amount  of  $18,024,83, 
and  a  re-examination  and  re-survey  of  the  entire  route  of  the  canal 
were  made,  the  engineer  this  time  being  Mr.  Buckliu,  whose  esti 
mate  ran  the  work  into  millions  instead  of  hundreds  of  thousands. 
Tlie  question  of  building  a  railroad  over  the  route,  instead  of  the 
canal  was  also  considered.  The  commissioners  reported  their 
estimate  to  the  legislature  at  the  session  of  1833,  the  cost  of  the 
canal  at  $4,043,380,50— still  too  low  by  about  half— and  the  cost 
of  a  railroad  at  $1,052,488,19.  The  expenses  of  these  examina 
tions  and  surveys  was  $16,974,83.  The  board  of  canal  commis 
sioners,  by  act  of  March  1,  1833,  was  abolished.  The  incumbents 
were  required  to  pay  over  all  moneys,  and  deliver  up  all  papers, 
vouchers,  &c.,  of  their  transactions,  to  the  State  treasurer,  and 
if  upon  examination  any  of  the  officers  aforesaid  had  not  faith 
fully  and  fairly  accounted  for  all  moneys  &c.,  suit  was  directed  to 
be  commenced  upon  their  official  bonds,"  for  which  purpose,  juris 
diction  was  given  to  the  Fayette  circuit  court,  its  process  running 
to  any  county  in  the  State. 

Meanwhile  there  were  various  projects  of  turning  the  construc 
tion  of  the  canal  and  all  its  property  gifts  over  to  a  company,  and 
of  building  a  railroad  instead  between  Chicago  and  Peru/*  The 
distance  was  about  100  miles  and  the  cost  of  a  railroad  was  esti 
mated  at  about  $10,000  per  mile.  At  the  time,  considering  the 
expedition  with  which  railroads  are  built,  and  the  delay  which  has 
attended  the  completion  of  the  canal,  the  former  would  doubtless 
have  served  the  country  more  acceptably.  A  railroad  would  have 
been  fully  adequate  to  all  the  wants  of  the  country  and  for  pas 
senger  travel  it  is  far  preferable,  while  for  the  transportation  of 
freight  it  offers  the  advantage  of  carrying  in  winter  as  well  as 
summer.  The  consent  of  congress  to  divert  so  much  of  the  avails 
of  the  canal  lands  as  might  be  needed  for  this  object  was  readily 
obtained.  By  act  of  March  2d,  1833,  the  State  was  authorized  to 
use  the  lands  granted  for  the  canal,  in  building  either  a  railroad 
or  canal,  as  the  legislature  might  elect ;  and  the  time  for  com 
mencing  either  was  extended  live  years. 

In  1835  the  governor  was  authorized  to  negotiate  a  loan  not  ex 
ceeding  $500,000,  "  solely  on  the  pledge  of  the  canal  lands  and 
tolls,"  for  the  construction  of  the  canal.  The  stock  was  to  be 
called  "  Illinois  and  Michigan  canal  stock,"  and  in  no  case  to  be 
sold  for  less  than  par.  Governor  Duncan  told  the  legislature  such 
was  the  universal  estimate  of  the  importance  of  the  canal  by  all 
men  of  intelligence,  that  he  had  no  hesitation  in  believing  ample 
funds  could  be  procured  for  its  speedy  completion.  But  the  effort 
to  obtain  the  loan  proved  a  failure.  Ex-Gov.  Coles,  residing  at 
Philadelphia,  was  deputed  to  negotiate  the  loan  for  the  full  sum 
authorized.  Under  date  of  April  28,  1835,  he  wrote  that  capital 
ists  were  unwilling  to  take  it  because  the  bonds  were  not  based  up 
on  the  faith  of  the  State.  Nor  were  any  funds  for  the  payment  of 
either  principal  or  interest  provided,  except  such  as  might  arise 
from  the  lands  and  net  revenues  of  the  canal. 


478  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

To  meet  these  objections,  the  act  of  Jan.  9,  1830,  was  passed, 
which  repealed  the  former  act  and  authorized  the  same  loan  of 
$500,000  on  the  credit  and  faith  of  the  State,  irrevocably  pledged 
for  the  payment  of  the  canal  stock  and  its  accruing1  interest. 
James  M.  Strode,  a  senator  then  representing  all  the  country  north 
of  and- including  Peoria,  introduced  this  bill,  which  served  as  an 
entering  wedge  to  the  State  treasury,  and  became  the  model  for 
subsequent  like  legislation.  The  money  borrowed,  premiums  on 
sales  ot  stock,  the  proceeds  of  the  canal  lands  and  lots,  and  all 
other  moneys  arising  from  the  canal,  were  to  constitute  a  fund 
sacred  to  the  canal  till  it  was  completed,  except  to  pay  interest  on 
the  stocks.  The  board  of  canal  commissioners  was  constituted  a 
body  politic  and  corporate,  subject  to  the  control  of  the  governor, 
one  was  to  be  the  acting  commissioner  and  general  superinten 
dent  of  the  work,  who  was  to  report  to  the  board.  They  were  to 
hold  till  January  following,  when  commissioners  were  made  elec 
tive  biennially.  The  salary  of  the  acting  commissioner  was 
$1,200,  and  the  compensation  of  the  other  two  $3  per  day  when 
employed.  Moneys  from  sale  of  stock  or  other  sources  were  to  be 
deposited  in  the  State  banks,  to  be  thence  drawn  as  needed  by 
warrants  on  the  treasurer.  Immediate  steps  were  to  be  taken  for 
the  construction  of  the  canal,  the  contracts  to  be  let  to  the  lowest 
bidder.  Materials  for  the  canal  were  exempted  from  execution. 
Town  sites  were  to  be  located  and  lots  sold  at  auction.  A  sale  of 
Ottawa  lots,  and  the  fractional  section  No.  15,  adjoining  Chicago, 
was  made  June  207 1846;  the  latter  under  the  extraordinary  mania 
of  speculation  then  rife  regarding  Chicago,*  is  said  to  have 
brought  $1,503,495.  The  dimensions  of  the  canal  were  to  be  not 
less  than  45  feet  at  the  surface,  35  at  the  base,  and  a  navigable 
depth -of  at  least  4  feet  of  water.  Quarterly  reports  were  to  be 
made  to  the  governor.  The  commissioners  appointed  by  Gov. 
Duncan  were  William  F.  Thornton  (acting  commissioner),  Gurdon 
S.  Hubbard  and  William  B.  Archer,  all  whigs.  The  eunal  was  to 
extend  from  Chicago  to  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Vermilion,  work 
to  be  begun  at  its  northern  terminus.  Of  the  loan  now  author 
ized,  Governor  Duncan  negotiated  $100,000  in  New  York  at  a  pre 
mium  of  5  per  cent.,  which  he  deemed  too  low  und  declined  a 
larger  amount  at  that  rate.  Subsequent  experience  showed  that 
he  should  have  taken  more.  The  survey  and  estimate  made  at  this 
time  by  chief  engineer  Goodwin,  was  $8,694,33.51 — a  hundred  per 
cent  higher  than  that  of  Bucklin — $86,000  per  mile,  being  4  times 
the  cost  of  the  Erie  canal.  The  estimate  was  based  upon  a  sur 
face  width  of  60  feet,  40  at  the  bottom,  and  depth  of  water  (to 
flow  from  the  lake)  of  6  feet.  These  dimensions  were  larger  than 
the  Erie,  and  would  have  made  it  one  of  the  most  splendid  works 
of  internal  improvement  anywhere  to  be  found.  But  for  such  a 
work  the  estimate  wras  yet  too  low.  Contracts  were  let,  and  on  the 
4th  of  July,  1836,  ground  wras  first  broken  for  the  canal.  The 
occasion  was  publicly  celebrated  at  Chicago,  by  reading  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  and  the  delivery  of  an  able  and 
appropriate  address  by  Dr.  Egan,  picturing  in  glowing  colors  the 
future  of  Chicago  and  of  the  State  of  Illinois.  Those  glowing 
colors  have  been  already  dimmed  by  the  reality. 

*  See  Brown's  History  Illinois,  p.  417.    Note— Evidently  a  mistake. 


ILLINOIS   AND  MICHIGAN   CANAL.  479 

Much  of  the  route  of  the  canal  lay  through  marshy  ground, 
inundated  in  the  spring  and  fall,  rendering  it  difficult  of  access. 
Forty  thousand  dollars  was  expended  the  first  year  upon  roads 
leading  to  the  work.  The  country  bordering  upon  its  route  was 
but  scatter iugly  settled,  affording  neither  provisions  nor  shelter  for 
laborers.  Supplies  had  to  be  gathered  from  abroad.  The  work 
preceded  the  local  demands  of  the  country,  other  than  those  con 
ceived  in  the  brilliant  imaginations  of  "corner'7  or  "water  lot" 
speculators  in  Chicago.  Labor  and  provisions  were  high.  The 
former  from  $20  to  $30  per  month  and  board.  Pork  at  Chicago 
was  from  $20  to  $30  per  barrel;  flour  $9  to  $12  ;  salt  $12  to  $15  ; 
oats  and  potatoes  .75  cents  per  bushel  ;  and  other  articles  of  con 
sumption  in  ratio. 

To  give  a  further  idea  of  the  difficulty  of  this  great  work,  we 
reproduce  from  an  exhaustive  legislative  report,  made  by  the  Hon. 
Newton  Cloud  in  1837,  the  following.  The  canal  is  treated  in  three 
divisions:  The  first,  comprising  a  high  level  from  Chicago  to 
where  it  runs  out  (Lockport)  distance  28  miles.  On  this,  from 
Chicago  river  to  Point  of  Oaks,  a  cut  of  18  feet  was  required,  to 
allow  the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan  to  flow  through.  Half  of  the 
excavation  for  the  entire  28  miles  consisted  of  stratified  and  solid 
rock.  The  whole  of  this  summit  division  was  described  as  a  sunken 
plain,  largely  underlaid  with  rock,  the  waters  of  the  Des  Plaiues, 
Portage  Lake,  and  the  Saganaskee  swamp  extending  over  it  and 
forming  at  times  a  continuous  lake;  15  or  16  feet  of  the  canal  cut, 
on  this  division,  lay  below  the  surface  of  the  Des  Plaines  and  con 
tiguous  to  it;  and  as  drainage  was  impracticable,  the  difficulties 
and  expense  to  be  encountered  from  this  object  alone  baffled  the 
power  of  calculation.  Besides,  as  the  line  was  many  feet  below 
the  river  and  the  surface  of  the  lake,  subterraneous  veins  or  foun 
tains  of  water  might  be  expected.  In  the  rock  cutting,  much  would 
depend  upon  the  compactness  of  the  rock  and  its  capacity  to  ex 
clude  the  suberincumbent  water  from  the  prism  of  the  canal.  If 
fissures,  peculiar  to  lime  stone  regions,  should  be  met  with  the 
work  would  be  exceedingly  slow,  enormously  expensive  at  any 
time  of  the  year,  and  impracticable  during  rainy  seasons.  An 
abstract  of  the  engineers  estimate  put  the  total  cost  of  this 
division  at  $5,897,701.13;  but  the  legislative  committee,  by 
referring  to  contracts  already  let,  (which  they  cite)  found  that 
solid  rock  excavation  per  cubic  yard  would  cost  $2.50,  instead  of 
$1.54;  earth  excavation  40  cents,  instead  of  33;  contingencies 
and  superintendance  15  per  cent,  instead  of  3,  &c.,  &c,;  whence 
they  deduced  that  the  summit  level  would  cost  $10,192.401,  a 
difference  against  the  engineer's  estimate  exceeding  $4,250,000. 
These  obstacles  led  to  the  consideration  of  the  high  level  or 
shallow  cut  plan,  as  run  by  engineer  Bucklin,  ten  feet  above  Lake 
Michigan,  using  the  Calumet  or  Des  Plaiues  rivers  for  feeders. 
They  estimated  that  upon  this  plan  the  summit  division,  including 
the  necessary  feeders,  might  be  constructed  for  one-fourth  the  cost, 
or  $2,500,000.  The  Calumet  was  preferred  for  a  feeder,  because 
of  its  connecting  80  miles  of  navigation  with  the  canal  from  the  then 
contemplated  internal  improvements  of  the  State  of  Indiana  in  that 
region.  The  middledivision  of  37  miles  was  estimated  at  $1,510,957; 
and  the  western  division  at  $1,272,055 — total  $5,283,012.  They 
further  reported  that  by  connecting  the  canal  with  the  river  at  lake 


480  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


Juliet,  60  miles  would  be  saved;  that  the  river  could  be  locked  and 
dammed  thence  to  Peru  at  a  cost  of  $570, 005,  reducing  the  cost  of  the 
entire  work  to  only  $3,551,005 — the  improvements  of  the  river  giving 
to  the  State,  besides,  a  hydraulic  power  capable  of  running  700  pair 
of  mill  stones,  yielding  an  annual  rental  of  $210,000.  None  of 
these  suggestions  were  adopted ;  though  the  State  was,  from 
financial  embarrassments,  afterwards  forced  into  the  adoption  of 
the  shallow  cut  plan. 

By  act  of  March  2d,  1837,  supplemental  to  the  law  of  Jan.  9, 
1830,  the  canal  commissioners  were  rendered  independent  of  t lie- 
governor.  Besides  an  acting  commissioner,  one  was  to  be  presi 
dent  of  the  board  and  the  other  treasurer,  the  latter  to  give 
additional  bond  for  the  safe  keeping  and  disbursement  of  the  funds. 
In  the  absence  of  the  acting  commissioner,  the  others  were  to 
perform  his  duties.  They  were  to,  without  delay,  prosecute  the 
canal  to  final  completion  upon  the  plan  of  1830.  A  new  survey 
and  estimates,  on  the  established  route,  were  to  be  made  under 
oath,  with  the  view  to  ascertain  if  sufficient  water  could  be 
obtained  to  feed  the  canal  on  the  summit  level.  A  route  diverging 
from  the  main  trunk  was  to  be  surveyed  through  the  Aug-sag- 
nash-ge-ke  swamp  and  Grassy  lake  to  intersect  the  Calumet  river, 
estimates  to  be  made,  and  the  canal  built  whenever  the  State  of 
Indiana  should  undertake  a  corresponding  work  connecting 
therewith.  A  navigable  feeder,  from  the  best  practicable  point  on 
Fox  river  to  Ottawa,  wras  to  be  constructed,  and  at  the  latter 
place,  basins  or  a  lateral  canal  connecting  with  the  Illinois  river 
were -also  to  be  built.  Sales  of  Chicago  lots  to  the  amount  of 
$1,000,000  were  ordered;  the  governor  was  to  borrow  $500,000 
upon  the  credit  of  the  State,  to  be  expended  on  the  canal  in  1838; 
to  promote  competition  between  contractors,  no  bond  should  be 
required,  but  a  certain  percentage  on  estimates  reserved  until  the 
final  completion  of  their  jobs.  Notwithstanding  congress  had 
many  years  before  given  license  to  the  State  to  take  materials  from 
the  public  lands  for  the  construction  of  the  canal,  the  legislature 
now  authorized  the  circuit  courts  to  appoint  men  to  appraise  all 
damages  arising  to  settlers  upon  them  from  the  construction  of  the 
canal.  Many  claims  were  presented  and  allowed,  costing  the 
State  many  thousands  of  dollars.  But  at  this  time  the  canal  had 
become  connected  with  the  great  internal  improvement  system, 
and  with  the  then  inflated  notions  pervading  the  public  mind 
nobody  doubted  either  the  credit  or  ability  of  the  State  to  compass 
all  these  grand  works,  and  such  a  power  could  not  afford  to  be 
niggard  to  individuals  with  claims. 

Up  to  January  1,  3839,  the  gross  expenditures  on  the  canal, 
derived  from  the  various  sources  of  loans,  lot  and  land,  amounted 
to  $1,400,000.  All  of  it,  but  about  23  miles  between  Dresden  and 
Marseilles,  was  contracted,  and  the  jobs  let  were  roughly  estimated 
at  $7,500,000.  The  legislature,  still  infatuated  with  the  huge 
State  internal  improvement  system,  at  the  session  of  1838-9, 
encouraged  the  canal  by  directing  the  fund  commissioners  to  loan 
to  its  fund  $300,000,  and  authorizing  the  governor  to  make  a 
further  loan  for  it  by  the  sale  of  $4.000,000  of  State  bonds.  This 
was  the  canal  loan,  to  negotiate  which,  Gov.  Carl  in,  unwilling  to 
put  it  into  the  hands  of  the  fund  commissioners,  employed  Messrs. 
Young  and  Reynolds,  who  made  a  very  bungling  job  of  it,  entail- 


ILLINOIS  AND  MICHIGAN  CANAL.  481 

ing  upon  the  State  a  loss  of  several  hundred  thousand  dollars,  by 
their  various  transactions  with  Dunlap,  of  Philadelphia,  Delafield, 
of  New  York,  and  Wright  &  Co.,  of  London.  The  latter,  for  a 
million  dollars,  except  the  advance  of  £30,000,  proved  almost  a 
total  failure;  Delafield  became  unable  to  pay  his  installments,  and 
was  unwilling  to  surrender  the  bonds;  and  that  of  Dunlap  was 
paid  in  such  dribs  of  depreciated  currency  as  to  be  of  little  avail 
in  carrying  forward  the  work. 

In  the  meantime  it  became  apparent  that  no  more  loana'coulcl 
be  effected  for  the  State  without  heavy  sacrifice ;  the  great  system 
of  internal  improvements  showed  symptoms  of  a  speedy  collapse, 
and  in  February,  1840,  the  legislature  put  a  period  to  its  wild  and 
reckless  career.  The  work  upon  the  canal  was  not  interrupted  by 
legislative  action;  provision  was  made  to  meet  the  liabilities  01 
the  State  to  contractors  by  issuing  to  them  checks  for  the  amounts 
found  due  on  estimates,  to  bear  interest  at  the  rate  of  6  per  cent. 
The  contractors  had  taken  their  jobs  during  the  flush  times 
(for  Illinois)  of  1836-7,  when  prices  ruled  much  higher  than  in 
1840.  They  could  afford  to  lose  25  per  cent,  on  them  and  still  do 
well;  and  as  the  State  hesitated  to  sell  her  bonds  much  below  par, 
they  engaged  to  receive  them  on  their  estimates  at  par.  $1,000,000 
were  in  that  manner  paid  to  them.  Gen.  Thornton,  canal  com 
missioner,  was  deputed  to  go  to  London  with  the  bonds,  where 
lie  effected  a  sale  of  $1,000,000  at  85  cents  on  the  dollar,  the  con 
tractors  suffering  the  discount — being  ten  per  cent,  better  than 
his  instructions.  By  this  expedient  life  was  kept  in  the  canal, 
though  work  on  every  other  internal  improvement  had  long  since 
been  abandoned.  With  the  completion  of  their  jobs  some  of  the 
contractors  proposed  to  receive,  in  like  manner,  the  residue  of  their 
estimates,  and  8197,000  more  was  paid  to  them,  when,  with  the 
final  breaking  of  the  State  bank  in  February,  1842,  an  extraor 
dinary  depreciation  of  Illinois  stocks  in  market  took  place,  which 
put  a  period  to  this  character  of  payments.  After  that  no  fur 
ther  payment  was  made  to  contractors  for  over  two  years,  when 
the  canal  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  foreign  bondholders,  though 
work  was  not  wholly  intermitted  upon  many  of  the  jobs  during 
this  time.  The  new  board  of  canal  commissioners,  elected  by  the 
legislature  at  the  session  of  1841,  were :  Isaac  N.  Morris,  presi 
dent;  Jacob  Fry,  acting  commissioner,  and  Newton  Cloud,  treas 
urer. 

After  July,  1841,  no  further  efforts  were  made  to  pay  interest  on 
the  public  debt.  The  financial  embarrassments  of  the  State  be 
came  alarming.  To  add  to  the  distress  of  the  people,  the  State 
banks,  early  in  1842,  broke  down  completely.  The  governor, 
auditor,  and  treasurer  issued  their  circular,  stating  that  the  notes 
of  these  institutions  would  not  be  received  in  payment  of  taxes — 
nothing  but  gold  and  silver.  The  treasury  was  empty.  There 
prevailed  a  dearth  in  trade  and  business  amounting  to  stagnation; 
values  declined;  many  despaired  of  the  State's  ability  to  ever  pay 
off  its  enormous  debt,  exceeding  $14,000,000,  and  equal  to  a  pres 
ent  debt  of  at  least  $150,000,000,  counting  the  lessened  value  of 
money  and  increased  population,  resources  and  capacity  of  the 
State.  The  people  were  unwilling  to  submit  to  higher  taxation. 
Repudiation  was  openly  agitated  by  not  a  few  at  home  and  abroad, 
and  the  fair  name  of  Illinois  became  freely  associated  with  dishonor. 
31 


482  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

In  this  crisis,  besides  the  compromise  legislation  with  the  banks, 
the  canal  afforded  the  only  practicable  avenue  out  of  the  diffi 
culty;  its  completion,  it  was  thought,  would  give  a  new  and  pow 
erful  impulse  to  every  department  of  business  and  industry 
throughout  the  State ;  and  the  advantages  and  facilities  to  be 
afforded  by  it  would  cause  tides  of  emigrants  and  floods  of 
wealth  to  pour  into  the  State.  The  want  of  money  and  anxiety 
to  have  any  sort  of  canal,  now  caused  an  advocacy  of  the  high 
level  or  shallow  cut,  which  could  be  completed  at  half  the  cost  of 
the  deep  cut.  The  idea  was  to  induce  the  holders  of  canal  bonds 
to  advance  the  money  for  its  completion,  upon  a  pledge  of  the  canal, 
its  lauds  and  revenues  in  the  nature  of  a  first  mortgage,  and  thus 
infuse  life  into  a  work  now  dormant,  which  would  quicken  every 
thing  else.  Justin  Butterfield,  of  Chicago,  first  suggested  this  idea; 
Michael  Ryan,  a  canal  engineer  and  State  senator,  in  the  summer 
of  184:2,  met  Messrs.  Bronson,  Leavitt  and  other  large  canal  bond 
holders  in  New  York,  and  devised  a  plan  for  raising  $1,000,000  to 
finish  the  canal  on  the  shallow  cut;  and  Gov.  Ford  recommended 
it  in  his  first  message, 

In  accordance  with  the  above  plan,  the  act  of  February  21,  1843, 
was  passed  authorizing  the  governor  to  negotiate  a  loan  of  $1,600, 
000,  solely  on  the  credit  and  pledge  of  the  canal  property,  its 
revenues  and  tolls  for  a  term  of  G  years  at  6  per  cent,  interest, 
payable  out  of  the  first  moneys  realized.  The  holders  of  the  canal 
bonds  and  other  evidences  of  canal  indebtedness,  were  first  enti 
tled  to  subscribe  the  loan.  A  board  of  3  trustees  was  established, 
1  to  be  appointed  by  the  governor  and  2  by  the  subscribers  of  the 
loan — one  vote  for  every  $1,000  of  stock.  The  former  were  to  ap 
portion  their  duties  among  themselves.  The  canal  property  was 
to  be"  combed  by  the  governor  in  trust,  and  to  be  managed  by 
the  trustees  much  in  the  manner  of  former  proceedings.  They 
might  adopt  such  alterations  of  the  original  plan  as  they  deemed 
advisable,  without  materially  changing  the  location,  having  due 
regard  to  economy,  permanancy  of  the  work  and  an  adequate  sup 
ply  of  water.  It  was  to  be  completed  in  a  good,  substantial,  work 
manlike  manner,  ready  for  use,  if  practicable,  in  two  and  a  half 
years  time.  On  payment  of  all  debts  the  canal  was  to  revert  to 
the  State.  In  the  interest  of  economy,  by  another  act,  the  num 
ber  of  canal  officers  were  greatly  reduced. 

And  now,  when  there  appeared  every  favorable  prospect  for  the 
speedy  completion  of  the  canal,  it  became  involved  in  the  meshes 
of  national  politics.  Col.  Charles  Oakley  and  senator  Michael 
Ryan  were  by  the  governor  appointed  agents  to  negotiate  the  new 
loan  of  $1,600,000.  The  treasury  was  empty;  to  give  them  an 
outfit  $3,000  of  the  school  fund  was  borrowed,  which  became  the 
subject  of  attack  upon  Gov.  Ford  by  Mr.  Trumbull,*  the  lately  re 
moved  secretary  of  State.  The  agents  proceeded  to  New  York ;  but 
with  a  view  to  the  making  of  political  capital,  letter  writers  at  home 
and  partisan  editors  abroad  attacked  the  canal  policy  of  the  State, 
in  the  hope  that  a  measure  so  fraught  with  good  should  not  re 
dound  to  the  credit  of  the  dominant  party.  The  action  of  the 
legislature  was  misrepresented,  the  party  in  power  charged  with 
disregard  ing  the  interests  of  the  people,  and  the  State  creditors 
advised  that  if  they  advanced  further  funds,  the  succeeding  legis- 

•Ford's  History. 


ILLINOIS   AND  MICHIGAN   CANAL.  483 

lature  would  break  faith  with  them  arid  repeal  their  franchise. 
But  these  publications  produced  the  opposite  eft'ect  iu tended.  The 
financial  agents,  with  truth  on  their  side,  employed  the  public 
press  in  a  series  of  articles  in  reply.  The  real  condition  of  the 
State,  the  legislation  adopted  to  reduce  its  debts,  and  its  future 
prospects,  were  candidly  and  ably  brought  before  the  public,  and 
the  result  was  that  the  State  stocks  advanced  in  a  week  from  14 
to  20  cents  on  the  dollar,  and  in  a  short  time  doubled  on  that. 
Through  the  aid  of  David  Leavitt,  president  of  the  American 
Exchange  Bank  of  New  York,  which  owned  $250,000  canal  bonds, 
the  American  creditors  were  called  together,  who  resolved  to 
subscribe  their  ratio  of  the  new  loan. 

Thus  assured,  Messrs.  Oakley  and  Ryan  hastened  to  Europe 
with  letters  of  these  proceedings  to  Baring  Brothers,  of  London, 
Hope  &  Co.,  of  Amsterdam,  and  to  Magniac,  Jardine  &  Co.,  all 
wealthy  bankers  and  creditors  of  the  State.  But  these  houses 
disappointed  the  ardent  hopes  of  the  State  agents.  They  de 
manded  something  more  substantial  than  newspaper  articles,  which 
had  raised  the  spirits  of  the  New  York  bond-holders.  They 
wanted  accurate  data  of  the  sufficiency  of  the  canal  property  as 
security  for  both  the  present  loan,  and  ultimately  the  payment  of 
the  entire  canal  debt,  some  $5.000,000  more;  and  further,  some 
legislative  effort  at  taxation  and  submission  of  the  people  thereto, 
in  payment  of  interest  on  the  public  debt.  It  was  finally  ar 
ranged  that  Abbott  Lawrence,  Thomas  W.  Ward,  and  William 
Sturgis,  of  Boston,  should  designate  two  competent  men  to  exam 
ine  the  canal  and  its  property,  estimate  the  value  thereof,  ascer 
tain  the  total  debt  and  report  the  whole;  that  $400,000  should  be 
subscribed  in  America  toward  prosecuting  the  work;  and  that  the 
governor  recommend  taxation  in  his  next  message  to  the  legisla 
ture;  whereupon  the  agents  returned  home  in  November,  1843. 
Ex-Gov.  John  Davis,  of  Mass.,  and  W.  H.  Swift,  a  reputable  en 
gineer  and  a  captain  in  the  U.  S.  army,  were  selected  by  the  Bos 
ton  committee  to  examine  the  canal,  its  property  and  debts.  This 
excited  the  political  jealousy  of  the  eastern  press  to  a  renewed  in 
terference  with  the  domestic  affairs  of  Illinois. 

Gov.  Davis'  name  was  at  the  time  mentioned  in  connection  with 
the  vice-presidency  on  the  whig  ticket  in  1844.  The  Globe  news 
paper  at  Washington,  the  great  organ  of  the  democracy,  boldly 
charged  that  Gov.  Davis  had  been  selected  for  this  work  with  the 
view  to  influence  the  people  of  Illinois  toward  the  support  of  the 
whig  ticket,  and  in  favor  of  the  policy  of  the  general  government 
assuming  the  State  debts.  Senator  Ryan  came  again  to  the  res 
cue  and  published  a  merited  and  vigorous  reply,  in  which  Gov. 
Davis,  the  foreign  bond-holders,  and  the  people  of  Illinois,  were 
ably  defended,  and  the  editor  of  the  Globe  deservedly  rebuked  for 
his  impertinence. 

The  careful  examination  of  the  canal  and  elaborate  report  of 
Messrs.  Davis  and  Swift,  confirmed  substantially  the  representa 
tions  of  Messrs.  Rj'an  and  Oakley,  and  they  recommended  the 
loan  as  a  safe  investment.  Gov.  Ford  promised  to  recommend  to 
the  legislature  increased  taxation  toward  paying  interest  on  the 
public  debt.  Thus  armed,  the  sanguine  financial  agents  again  re 
paired  to  Europe,  only  to  meet  again  with  failure.  The  subscrip 
tion  of  $400,000  was  wanting.  The  foreign  bond  holders  refused 


484  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

to  perfect  tlie  new  loan,  alleging  that  the  legislature  and  people 
should  take  some  steps  in  good  faith  toward  a  recognition  of  their 
obligations  to  their  creditors.  Gov.  Davis  was  sent  for  in  the 
meantime,  to  proceed  to  London  for  fuller  explanations  of  the  de 
tails  of  the  work  and  inspire  greater  confidence  for  the  subscrip 
tions.  Thus  the  summer  of  1844  passed;  in  December,  the  Illi 
nois  legislature  would  meet,  and  further  effort  was  suspended  to 
await  the  action  of  that  body,  of  which  By  an  was  a  senator. 
By  an,  chagrined  at  this  failure,  now  yielded  to  the  unworthy 
weakness  of  attempting  to  cast  the  blame  upon  GOT.  Davis,  from 
political  motives.  Through  the  public  press  of  new  New  York,  he 
reiterated  the  calumnies  of  the  Washington  Globe,  against  that 
gentleman,  which  he  himself  had  formerly  so  ably  refuted;  and 
further  charged  him  with  causing  the  delay  of  the  loan  pending 
the  presidential  election.  Messrs.  Baring  Bros,  of  London,  took 
occasion,  in  an  open  letter  addressed  to  Mr.  By  an,  in  a  very  plain 
manner  to  deny  the  charges.* 

In  the  fall  of  1844,  after  the  election  of  the  members  of  the 
legislature,  but  prior  to  their  meeting,  William  S.  Wait,  of  Bond, 
addressed  a  long  letter  to  Gov.  Ford  through  the  public  press, 
reviewing  the  illegal  action  of  the  State's  .financial  agents  in  dis 
posing  of  bonds,  and  bitterly  inveighing  against  taxation  to  pay 
the  public  debt.  The  object  was  to  elicit  an  expression  from,  the 
governor  as  to  repudiation  or  taxation.  Now  this  was  the  very 
pretext  the  governor  wanted,  and  he  embraced  it  with  alacrity. 
Although  his  excellency  well  knew  the  unpopularity  of  an  advoca 
cy  of  increased  taxation,  he  replied  in  a  very  able  letter,  remarka 
ble  not  only  as  a  literary  production  of  rare  merit,  but  for  its 
clear  exposition  of  the  embarrassed  condition  of  the  State,  from 
•which* there  was  no  hope  of  honorably  escaping,  except  by  taxa 
tion  ;  and  while  it  was  replete  with  broad,  common  sense  and 
sagacious  views,  it  characterized  in  fitting  terms  the  disgrace  of 
repudiation,  breathing  a  noble  spirit  of  self-abnegation  and 
patriotism.  The  governor's  reply  was  extensively  re-published  in 
newspapers,  and  elicited  general  commendation  for  its  high  tone. 
Mr.  Leavitt,  of  the  American  Exchange  Bank  of  New  York,  which 
held  largely  of  the  canal  stock,  was  greatly  encouraged,  and  after 
procuring  subscriptions  to  the  new  loan  in  New  York,  joined  Col. 
Oakley,  who  was  still  in  that  city,  and  early  in  the  winter  of  1844- 
45  they  returned  to  Europe.  The  governor's  letter  had  preceded 
them,  and  caused  a  marked  change  in  the  views  of  our  London 
creditors,  who  now,  without  hesitation,  subscribed  liberally  to  the 
new  loan,  each  more  than  originally  intended.  Thus,  after  many 
delays,  (such  are  the  vexatious  incident  to  a  ruined  credit)  did  the 
new  loan  of  $1,600,000  become  an  accomplished  fact,  and  the  com 
pletion  of  the  canal  assured. 

Mr.  Leavict  and  Col.  Oakley,  on  their  return  home,  joined  by 
Gov.  Davis,  hastened  to  Illinois  before  the  adjournment  of  the 
legislature.  They  arrived  in  Springfield  the  middle  of  February, 
1845,  where  they  became  directly  the  curious  objects  of  attraction 
as  the  envoys  of  Illinois'  creditors.  A  prejudice  was  attempted  to 
be  excited  against  the  administration  policy  of  taxation,  and  these 
gentlemen  were  slyly  denounced  as  moneyed  kings,  aristocrats, 

*Letter  of  Baring  Bros  to  Michael  Kyan,  in  Ford's  History. 


t 

ILLINOIS  AND  MICHIGAN  CANAL.  485 

etc.*  But  by  their  kindly  and  pleasant  intercourse  with  the 
in  embers,  all  prejudice  against  them  was  speedily  dissipated. 
They  reported  the  proposition  of  the  foreign  bond  holders  through 
the  executive,  and  the  finance  committee  brought  in  a  bill,  to 
which  we  have  made  allusion  in  the  preceding  chapter,  which 
provided  for  raising  by  taxation  an  "interest  fund"  to  be  sacredly 
set  apart  for  the  paj'iiient  of  interest  on  the  State  debt ;  and  as 
suplemental  to  the  canal  act  of  1843,  that  the  governor  should 
execute  and  deliver,  under  the  seal  of  the  State,  a  deed  of  trust  to 
the  canal  trustees,  of  all  the  canal  property  both  real  and  person 
al,  as  the  first  mortgage,  the  subscribers  of  the  new  loan  to  have 
priority  in  the  payment  of  their  advances  for  both  interest  and 
principal,  out  of  the  proceeds  of  said  trust  property.  The  bill  in 
its  present  form,  met  with  decided  opposition  j  it  passed  the 
house,  but  was  defeated  in  the  senate. 

The  expedient  was  now  resorted  to  of  dividing  the  measure, 
putting  the  provision  for  taxation  and  that  relating  to  the  canal 
into  two  separate  bills.  It  was  taking  two  bites  at  one  cherry, 
for  both  bills  became  laws.  The  opponents,  after  the  adjourn 
ment,  took  their  departure  in  ill-humor,  threatening  that  the 
southern  part  of  the  State  should  be  thoroughly  canvassed  to 
arouse  the  people  against  the  enormity  of  these  measures.  But 
when  they  found  the  friends  of  the  measures  as  ready  as  them 
selves  to  enter  the  field,  to  expose  their  machinations  and  dema- 
goguery,  the  purpose  was  abondoned.  During  the  summer  fol 
lowing,  two  conventions  in  that  portion  of  the  State,  one  at 
Marion  and  one  at  Fairtield,  passed  resolutions  both  in  favor  of 
the  canal  and  of  taxation  to  pay  the  public  debt.  In  these 
measures  of  the  legislature,  the  hydra  of  repudiation  met  its  final 
quietus. 

The  canal,  its  lands  and  appurtenances  were  conveyed  by  the 
governor  to  the  trustees,  the  bond  holders  under  the  act  of  1843, 
having  elected  two,  Messrs.  William  H.  Swift  and  David  Leavitt, 
the  State  trustee  being  Jacob  Fry;  the  new  loan  was  perfected  in 
June.  1845 ;  the  new  board  was  organized,  the  canal  was  accurately 
examined  and  careful  estimates  of  its  cost  made ;  jobs  were  let 
and  work  was  resumed  in  September,  1845.  Thus,  much  of  the 
working  season  was  gone,  the  autumn  proving  nn propitious  on 
account  of  sickness  in  the  valley  of  the  Illinois,  and  but  little 
progress  was  made.  The  people  were  impatient  at  this  tar 
diness.  They  were  next  promised  that  the  canal  should  be  in 
navigable  order  by  July  4th,  1847,  only  to  be  again  disap 
pointed.  Meanwhile  a  host  of  canal  officials  were  drawing 
their  large  salaries  with  unerring  fidelity.  The  foreign  trustees 
received  $2,500  each,  the  engineer  the  same,  secretary  $2,000, 
&c.  There  were  a  dozen  or  more  subordinate  officials.  These 
were  large  salaries  for  the  period,  exceeding  those  of  our  State 
officials  at  the  time  by  nearly  100  per  cent.  Estimates  of  work 
were  made  quarterly,  but  by  the  time  they  were  approved  by  the 
foreign  trustees,  residing  in  Washington  and  New  York,  and  the 
money  sent  on  and  paid  out  to  the  contractors  and  hands,  G  weeks 
were  consumed.  Much  dissatisfaction  and  public  clamor  pre 
vailed.  Even  the  eastern  press  commented  with  severity  upon 
the  delay,  while  the  money  on  deposit  was  drawing  interest. 

•Ford's  History. 


486  HISTOHY   OF  ILLINOIS. 


Finally,  by  the  opening  season  of  1848,  the  Illinois  and  Michigan 
Canal,  a  stupendous  public  work,  urged  for  30  years,  and  in 
course  of  actual  construction  for  12,  alter  many  struggles  with 
adverse  circumstances,  was  completed.  It  was  finished  on  the 
shallow  cut  plan,  the  datum  line  on  the  summit  level  being  12 
feet  above  Lake  Michigan.  On  this  level,  extending  from  the 
Chicago  river  to  Lockport,  the  water  was  supplied  by  pumping.* 

The  success  attending  its  first  season's  operations,  yielding,  as 
it  did  during  that  of  1848,  $87,81)0  87  in  tolls,  seemed  an  earnest 
to  the  hopes  of  its  warmest  friends.  For  the  first  season  its 
capacity  for  business  was  comparatively  but  slightly  taxed,  and 
its  promises  of  revenues  for  the  future  from  a  largely  increased 
business  were  undoubted.  The  law  required  that  the  lands  and 
lots,  constituting  part  of  the  canal  fund,  should  within  a  very 
short  time  after  its  completion,  be  appraised  and  offered  for  sale. 
A  sale  was  accordingly  had  in  September,  1848,  at  Chicago  and 
other  towns,  which  yielded  $780,758  87,  less  $11,060,  on  which 
payment  was  not  made  ;  Avhich  sum  exceeded  the  original  valua 
tion  of  all  the  canal  lands  by  2  per  cent.,  and  was  an  excess  over 
the  appraisal  of  $40,724  87.  The  appraisal  of  all  the  canal  lands 
and  lots,  before  the  sale,  was  $2,126,355  09  ;  but  if  the  remainder 
brought  as  great  an  advance  over  the  appraisement  as  this  sale? 
$3,500,000  would  be  obtained  from  this  source  ;  a  most  encourag 
ing  prospect,  as  this  property  would  go  far  toward  liquidating  the 
canal  debt,  aside  from  its  tolls. 

The  aggregate  amount  ultimately  realized  from  the  congres 
sional  grant  of  land  to  the  canal,  from  1830  to  1869,  when  the 
selling  ceased,  was  $5,337,554.  The  total  receipts  for  tolls,  from 
the  opening  of  the  canal,  in  1848,  to  the  close  of  1868,  21  seasons, 
were  $3,997.281  22.  The  total  expenditures  on  the  canal,  under 
the  act  of  1836,  were  $4,979,903  j  under  the  act  of  1843,  $1,429,- 
606— total  cost  $6,409,509.  The  entire  canal  debt  at  this  time 
(1848)  was  some  $6,0()0,00().t 


*We  have  seen  that  Mr .  Leavitt,  early  in  the  winter  of  1844-5,  returned  to  Europe, 
and  the  Governor's  letter  to  Wait  having'  preceded  him,  the  foreign  canal  bond  holders 
readily  subscribed  the  new  loan  ot  551,600,000.  Th:s  agency  of  Mr.  Leavitt,  Gov.  Ford 
said,  ""  was  entirely  voluntary,  and  [he  was]  not  advised  that  any  compensation  was 
expected."  But  i'n  1849  Mr.  Leavitt -brought 'forward  a  claim  of  £40,00o  for  negotiating- 
the  loan.  As  the  foreign  bondholders  were  disinclined  to  allow  it,  Mr.L  renounced  his 
demand  and  was  re  electee  trustee  Subsequently  the  claim  was  variously  referred, 
but  not  decided.  In  1854  he  obtained  the  certificates  of  a  number  of  bankers  and 
prominent  citizens  of  this  State,  stating  that  the 2^  per  cent,  was  a  reasonable  charge. 
Gov.  Matteson,  after  some  hesitation,  approved  the  claim,  and  certified  it  to  the  canal 
trustees.  Josiah  McKoberts.  State  trustee,  drew  a  check  for  the  amount,  but  with 
held  it  till  the  claim  was  first  approved  by  the  board,  which  had  to  be  done  by  mail,  as 
the  members  resided  apart.  Capt  Swift,  the  other  member  besides  Leavitt,  objected 
to  the  allowance,  and  McKoberts  did  not  act  lurther.  Thus  the  matter  rested  until 
the  administration  of  Gov.  Bisecll,  wh- n  C.  R.  Kay,ot  the  Chicago  Tribune,  relieved 
McKoberts.  The  Governor  approved  the  claim  and  Kay  paid  It  out  of  the  canal  fund, 
Swift  entering  a  vigorous  protest  against  it.  Kay  was  furiously  assailed  for  his  action 
by  the  press  of  Illinois,  and  suit  was  brought  against  him  and  Leavitt  to  recover  the 
amount.  By  agreement  the  matter  was  referred  to  Hon.  B.  F.  Thomas,  of  Boston,  and 
Edwin  Bartlett,  New  York,  as  arbitrators.  In  1859,  the  matter  became  the  subject  of 
investigation  by  our  legislature,  which  reported  against  the  allowance.  An  award 
was  finally  made  by  the  arbitrators  by  which  Leavitt  was  allowed  Slc,(X  0,  and  after  en 
joying  the  money  for  6  years,  he  disgorged  &&-',(!(*?  90,  the  costs  of  suit  and  $1.000  as 
compensation  to  the  arbitrators. 

•fit  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  early  growth  of  Chicago  was  greatly  in  accord  with  the 
progress  of  the  canal.  The  canal  may  be  said  to  have  made  Chicago.  When  the  sur 
vey  of  the  site  was  commenced  and  platted,  by  order  of  the  canal  commissioners,  in 
1829,  there  resided  upon  its  site  only  abovit  a  halt  dozen  families  outside  the  palisades 
of  Fort  Dearborn  ;  but  with  the  prospect  of  the  inauguration  of  this  great  Avork,  pop 
ulation  began  to  pour  in  freely.  The  Black  Hawk  war  perhaps  checked  it  a  little,  but 
with  the  removal  of  thf  Indians,  the  tide  of  in:migrati'  n  waa  resumed.  When,  in  1K35, 
the  first  canal  loan  of  $500.000  was  authorized.  H  new  impulse  was  given  to  the  settle 
ment  of  the  town,  and  with  the  additional  legislation  of  January,  1830,  her  population, 
swollen  to  about  4,000,  the  extraordinary  fever  for  speculating 'in  town  lots  still  rife, 


ILLINOIS  AND  MICHIGAN  CANAL.  487 

Iii  1857  the  arrearages  of  interest  on  the  public  debt,  including 
that  of  the  canal,  were  funded  by  the  act  of  that  year.  The  new 
loan  of  $1,000,000  and  interest  were  finally  paid  off  in  1858,  and 
the  same  year  the  trustees  commenced  paying  off  the  principal  of 
the  registered  canal  debt,  the  State  aiding  to  the  amount  of  $600,- 
000.  But  the  iucumbrances  were  not  finally  removed  until  Aug., 
1871,  when  the  trustees,  after  a  faithful  service  of  25  years,  turned 
over  the  canal  to  the  State  with  a  surplus  of  $92,099.01. 

The  legislature,  by  act  of  1805,  supplemented  in  1867,  authorized 
the  city  of  Chicago  to  deepen  that  portion  of  the  canal  known  as 
the  sumnnt  level,  a  herculean  feat  which  has  been  accomplished. 
The  city  was  impelled  by  sanitary  reasons  to  cut  down  the  channel, 
turn  the  pure  waters  of  the  lake  into  the  disease  breeding  Chicago 
river,  reverse  its  current,  allow  it  to  course  through  the  deepened 
canal  into  the  Illinois  in  order  to  cleanse  it.  For  this  most  necessary 
work  to  the  city  the  State  gave  her  a  lien  upon  the  canal  revenues, 
after  its  old  indebtedness  was  discharged,  for  a  sum  not  exceeding 
82,500,000,  from  which  redemption  might  however  at  any  time  be 
made.  The  annual  net  revenues  of  the  canal  averaged  only  about 
8110,000,  not  near  paying  the  interest  on  the  outlay  of  the  city. 
The  canal,  contrary  to  the  ardent  hopes  of  its  early  friends,  who 
predicted  for  it  a  source  of  unfailing  revenue  sufficient  to  defray 
the  expenses  of  the  State  government,  utterly  disappointed  these 
fond  expectations.  The  more  there  was  expended  upon  it  the 
more  was  demanded,  and  neither  Chicago  nor  the  State  wanted  it  as 
a  financial  investment.  But  when  on  the  9th  of  October,  1871,  the 
great  metropolis  was  overwhelmed  by  the  fire  fiend  and  prostrated 
in  ashes  and  want,  the  State,  unable  by  the  terms  of  the  constitu 
tion  to  directly  render  the  aid  and  succor  that  charity  and  the 
exigency  demanded,  through  her  legislature  at  the  extraordinary 
session  of  October  13th,  indirectly  extended  a  noble  bounty 
by  redeeming  the  non-paying  canal  from  her  lien  of  some  $3,000^- 
000. 

There  is  a  further  history  of  the  canal,  as  connected  with  the 
various  efforts  to  obtain  government  aid  to  enlarge  it  to  the 
dimensions  of  a  ship-canal j  the  river  improvements;  the  lock  at 
Henry ;  and  the  repeated  struggles  in  the  legislature  to  procure 
appropriations ;  but  the  details  would  be  voluminous,  and  unin 
teresting.  We  will  only  add  .that  the  year  1853  was  the  first  to 
obtrude  upon  public  recognition  the  disagreeable  fact  that  the 
Illinois  river  required  artificial  aid  to  render  it  navigable  through 
the  boating  season.  That  of  1853  lasted  from  March  to  December, 
9  months;  but  from  the  first  of  July  on,  the  river  for  its  greater 
length  was  useless  for  craft  of  any  considerable  tonnage,  curtailing 
the  through  carrying  trade  of  the  canal  very  greatly. 

and  the  actual  commencement  of  the  work,  we  find  the  prosperity  of  that  period  to 
culminate.  Shortly  after  came  the  great  revulsion  of  1837,  which,  with  the  collapse 
of  the  visionary  internal  improvement  system  of  the  State,  two  and  a  half  years  later 
would  have  utterly  prostrated  Chicago  but  lor  the  persistency  with  which  the  work  on 
the  canal  was  sustained.  As  it  was  her  prosperity  was  checked  materiallv  for  7  vears 
In  1837  the  taxable  valuation  of  her  real  estate  was  R'36,842,  but  in  1840'  it  lapsed  to 
$94,437  ;  and  in  the  course  of  the  next  two  years  real  estate  was  offered  at  less  than  5 
per  cent  of  the  price  paid  during  the  period  of  inflation  in  1836  By  1843  the  work  on 
the  canal,  not  having  been  entirely  suspended,  the  population  had  slowlv  increased 
to  7.o30  but  with  the  resumption  of  work,  in  1845.  we  find  her  inhabitants  'in  that  year 
speedily  swollen  to  the  number  of  of  12.088,  and  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  value 

<=°'"^t'<">ot  «»  '-*<•  ««*  had  reacted 


488  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

Had  the  navigation  of  the  river  during-  that  long  season  not 
been  interrupted,  the  tolls  of  the  canal,  it  was  estimated,  would 
have  reached  $300,000  instead  of  $173,327.  The  fact  is  recognized 
all  over  the  State,  that  as  the  country  becomes  settled  many  tribu 
taries  of  the  larger  rivers  become  almost  dry  every  season,  and  in 
all,  by  the  removal  of  obstructions,  the  water  runs  speedily  to  a  low 
stage.  Surface  water  generally  has  fallen  many  feet  in  the  past 
few  years.  Wells,  which  formerly  afforded  a  bounteous  supply  at 
a  depth  of  16  to  20  feet,  have  gone  dry  and  25  to  40  feet  are  now 
required  to  reach  water.  Springs  that  have  become  historic  and 
lakes  that  dotted  our  maps  have  disappeared,  and  while  the  health 
of  the  country  has  been  materially  improved,  the  scarcity  of  water 
is  a  very  general  complaint.  To  render  the  Illinois  river  perma 
nently  navigable  during  the  forwarding  season,  there  is  no 
alternative  but  to  thoroughly  improve  it  by  dredging  and  by  locks 
and  darns. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 
1840-4— MORMONS  OR  LATTER  DAY  SAINTS. 

Joe  Smith — Prophetic  Mission — Followers  Remove  to  Missouri — Ex 
pulsion  from  the  State — Settlement  in  Illinois — Obnoxious  Nauvoo 
Charter  and  Ordinances — Arrest  and  Acquittal  of  Smith — His 
Assassination. 


In  the  spring  of  1840,  a  religious  sect  styled  Mormons  or  Latter 
Day  Saints,  made  its  advent  in  Illinois,  and  located  on  tbe  east 
bank  of  the  Mississippi,  in  the  county  of  Hancock.  This  strange 
people  had  previously  resided  in  Missouri,  but  having  been  guilty 
of  larceny  and  other  crimes,  they  sought  refuge  in  Illinois  to 
escape  the  indignation  of  the  inhabitants  and  the  penalties  of 
outraged  law.  They  purchased  a  considerable  tract  of  land 
and  commenced  building  a  city,  which  they  called  Nauvoo,  a 
name  signifying  peaceable  or  pleasant.  Joseph  Smith,  thefounder 
and  pretended  prophet  of  the  religion,  was  born  at  Sharon,  Wind 
sor  county,  Vermont,  Dec.  23d,  1805.  His  parents  being  in  humble 
circumstances,  the  prophet's  opportunities  for  acquiring  knowl 
edge  in  early  life  were  limited,  and  when  to  the  want  means  is  ad 
ded  the  Avant  of  capacity,  it  is  not  strange  that  he  lived  and  died  a 
person  of  ordinary  attainments. 

In  1815  his  father  left  Vermont,  and  settled  on  a  farm  near 
Palmyra,  Wayne  county,  New  York,  where  young  Smith  began  to 
exhibit  the  traits  which  distinguished  his  subsequent  life.  Both 
he  and  his  father  became  famous  as  water  wizzards,  professing  to 
discover  the  presence  of  water  in  the  earth  from  the  movements 
of  a  green  rod,  and  offering  their  services  to  point  out  suitable 
localities  for  the  digging  of  wells.  Many  anecdotes  formerly 
existed,  respecting  the  vagrant  habits  of  the  son,  who  spent  most 
of  his  time  wandering  in  the  woods,  dreaming  of  hidden  treasures, 
and  endeavoring  to  find  them  by  the  use  of  charms.  Such 
was  the  character  of  the  young  profligate  when  he  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Sidney  Rigdon,  a  person  of  some  intelligence  and 
natural  ability,  who  had  conceived  the  design  of  starting  a  new 
religion.  A  religious  romance,  written  by  a  Presbyterian  clergy 
man  of  Ohio,  who  was  then  dead,  falling  into  the  hands  of  Rig- 
don,  suggested  this  idea,  and  finding  in  Smith  the  requisite  dupli 
city  and  cunning  to  reduce  it  to  practice,  it  was  agreed  that  he 
should  act  in  the  capacity  of  prophet.  They  then  devised  the 
story  that  Smith  had  discovered  golden  plates  buried  in  the 
earth,  near  Palmyra,  containing  a  record  engraved  in  unknown 
characters,  and  that  this  romance  was  a  translation  of  the 
inscription. 

489 


490  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

The  fiction  purports  to  be  a  history  of  the  ten  lost  tribes  of 
Israel,  giving  an  account  of  their  wanderings  in  Asia  and  subse 
quent  emigration  to  America,  where  they  nourished  as  a  nation, 
and  where  Christ  in  due  time  appeared  and  established  his  relig 
ion  as  he  had  done  among  the  Jews.  It  also  contained  the  histo 
ry  of  the  American  Christians  for  several  hundred  years  after 
ward,  when  in  consequence  of  their  wickedness,  judgments  were 
visited  upon  them  and  they  were  destroyed.  According  to  the 
account  several  powerful  nations  inhabiting  the  continent  were  en 
gaged  in  war,  and  at  last  a  decisive  battle  was  fought,  between  the 
Lamanites  or  heathen,  and  the  Kephit.es  or  Christian,  and  the  lat 
ter  were  defeated.  This  mighty  contest,  called  the  battle  of  Cum- 
orah,  was  fought  at  Palmyra,  New  York ;  hundreds  of  thousands 
were  killed  on  both  sides,  and  all  the  Nephites,  except  a  few  who 
fled  to  the  southern  part  of  the  continent,  were  exterminated. 
Among  the  survivors  were  Mormon  and  his  son  Moroni,  who  were 
righteous  men,  and  who  were  directed  by  God  to  engrave  the  his 
tory  of  these  important  events  on  plates  of  gold  and  deposit  them 
in  the  earth  for  the  benefit  of  future  generations. 

Smith  pretends  that  when  he  arrived  at  the  age  of  fifteen  he 
began  to  reflect  on  the  necessity  of  preparing  for  a  future  state 
of  existence,  but  the  nature  of  the  preparation  was  an  unsettled 
question  in  his  mind.  He  regarded  this  a  consideration  of  infi 
nite  importance,  for  if  he  did  not  understand  the  way  it  was  im 
possible  to  walk  in  it,  and  the  thought  of  resting  his  souFs  salva 
tion  on  uncertainties  was  more  than  he  could  endure.  If  he  sought 
information  of  the  different  sects  of  religion,  they  all  claimed  to  be 
right,  but  as  their  doctrines  were  in  many  respects  in  direct  con 
flict,  it  is  impossible  for  most  of  them  to  be  true.  The  vital  issue 
to  be  determined  was,  tf  any  of  the  conflicting  systems  of  theolo 
gy  prevalent  in  the  world  are  correct,  which  one  is  it ;;  and  until 
this  question  was  decided  he  could  not  rest  content.  Under  these 
circumstances  he  concluded  to  study  the  scriptures,  and  soon  be 
came  convinced  that  if  he  sought  wisdom  of  God  he  would  be 
enabled  to  judge  which  of  the  opposing  creeds  conformed  to  the 
teachings  of  Christ.  He  therefore  retired  to  a  grove,  in  the 
vicinity  of  his  father's  house,  and  kneeling  down,  commenced  call 
ing  on  the  Lord.  At  first  the  powers  of  darkness  endeavored  to 
overcome  him,  but  continuing  in  prayer  the  darkness  fled  away, 
and  he  was  enabled  to  ask  for  knowledge  with  great  faith  and 
fervency  of  spirit.  While  thus  pouring  out  his  soul  in  supplica 
tion,  there  appeared  in  the  heavens  above  a  bright  and  glorious 
light,  which,  as  it  drew  near  the  tops  of  the  trees  increased  in 
splendor  and  magnitude,  the  Avhole  wilderness  glowed  with  the 
most  brilliant  illumination.  He  expected  to  see  the  foliage  of  the 
trees  consumed,  but  not  perceiving  any  effect  produced,  he  was 
encouraged  to  hope  that  he  also  would  be  able  to  abide  its  pres 
ence,  and  quickly  he  was  enveloped  in  the  midst  of  it  without  sus 
taining  any  injury.  The  natural  objects  about  him  soon  vanished 
and  he  was  caught  away  in  a  heavenly  vision,  in  which  two  glori 
ous  personages  appeared  and  informed  him  that  his  sins  were 
forgiven,  and  that  none  of  the  existing  eclesiastical  organizations 
were  accepted  by  God  as  his  church  and  kingdom.  After  being 
especially  informed  not  to  go  after  them,  and  promised  that  in 


THE   MORMONS.  491 


thi'  fullness  of  time  the  true  gospel  should  be  made  known  to 
him,  the  vision  disappeared. 

Notwithstanding  this  glorious  announcement,  he  afterward  be 
came  entangled  in  the  vanities  of  the  world,  but  seeing  the  error 
of  his  way,  and  truly  repenting,  it  pleased  God  to  again  hear  his 
prayers.  On  the  21st  of  Sept.,  1823,  he  retired  to  rest  as  usual, 
when  his  soul  was  tilled  with  a  desire  to  com  mime  with  some  mes 
senger  who  could  make  known  the  principles  of  the  true  church 
and  his  acceptance  with  God  as  promised  in  the  former  vision. 
"While  in  this  state  of  mind,  suddenly  a  splendor,  purer  and  more 
glorious  than  the  light  of  day,  burst  into  the  room  and  the  entire 
building  was  illuminated  as  if  tilled  with  a  consuming  tire.  The 
unexpected  appearance  of  a  light  so  brilliant,  caused  in  his  whole 
system  a  shock  which  was  soon  followed  by  peace  of  mind  and 
overwhelming  raptures  of  joy.  In  the  midst  of  this  happiness  a 
personage  stood  before  him,  whose  stature  was  above  the  ordinary 
height  of  man.  whose  garments  were  perfectly  white  and  without 
seam.  Notwithstanding  the  glare  which  tilled  the  room,  the  glory 
which  accompanied  him  enhanced  its  brightness,  and  though  his 
countenance  was  as  lightning,  the  benignity  of  its  expression  ban 
ished  all  fear.  This  glorious  being  informed  him  that  he  was  an 
angel  sent  from  God  to  declare  the  joyful  tidings  that  the  cove 
nant  which  had  been  made  with  ancient  Israel  concerning  their 
posterity,  was  about  to  be  fulfilled,  and  that  the  second  coming  of 
the  Messiah  was  at  hand,  when  the  Gospel  would  be  preached  in 
its  purity  and  a  people  prepared  for  the  millennial  reign  of  uni 
versal  peace  and  joy.  He  was  also  informed  that  the  American 
Indians  were  a  remnant  of  the  ancient  Hebrews,  who  had  come 
to  the  country  j  that  for  several  hundred  years  after  their  arri 
val  they  enjoyed  a  knowledge  of  the  true  God,  and  that  their 
sacred  writings  contain  an  account  of  the  principal  events  that 
transpired  among  them  during  this  interval.  AYheii,  however, 
they  neglected  the  religion  of  their  fathers  most  of  them  perished 
in  battle,  but  at  the  command  of  God,  their  sacred  oracles  were 
entrusted  to  a  surviving  prophet  who  buried  them  in  the  earth  to 
prevent  their  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  wicked,  who  sought  to 
destroy  them.  He  was  then  told  if  he  continued  faithful  lie  would 
be  the  highly  favored  instrument  of  bringing  these  important 
documents  to  light,  but  it  must  be  done  for  the  glory  of  God  and 
none  could  be  entrusted  with  them  who  .would  use  them  for  sel 
fish  purposes.  After  giving  him  many  instructions  concerning 
the  past  and  future,  the  heavenly  messenger  disappeared  and  the 
glory  of  God  withdrew,  leaving  the  mind  of  the  prophet  in  per 
fect  peace.  Not  many  days  thereafter,  the  vision  was  renewed  and 
the  angel  appearing,  pointed  out  the  place  where  the  records  were 
deposited,  and  directed  him  to  go  immediately  and  view  them. 

According  to  the  Mormon  account  they  were  deposited  in  a  stone 
box,  buried  in  the  side  of  a  hill,  3  miles  from  the  village  of  Man 
chester,  New  York.  When  Smith  first  visited  the  depository, 
September  22d,  1823,  the  crowning  stone  was  visible  above  the 
surface  and  a  slight  effort  brought  the  contents  to  view.  The 
words  were  beautifully  engraved  in  Egyptian  characters,  on  both 
sides  of  plates,  eight  inches  long  and  seven  inches  wide,  having 
the  thickness  of  tin  and  the  appearance  of  gold.  Three  rings 
passing  through  the  edges  of  the  plates  united  them  in  the  form 


492  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

of  H  book  about  six  inches  in  thickness.  Besides  the  plates  the 
box  contained  two  transparent  stones,  clear  as  crystal,  the  Urim 
and  Thiumnim  of  ancient  seers,  by  which  they  obtained  revela 
tions  of  things  past  and  future. 

While  contemplating  the  sacred  treasure  the  heavens  were 
opened,  the  glory  of  God  shone  about  him,  and  he  was  filled  with 
the  Holy  Ghost.  The  heavenly  messenger  who  had  visited  him 
on  previous  occasions,  again  stood  in  his  presence  and  said,  look; 
and  as  he  spake  he  beheld  the  power  of  darkness  with  an  im 
mense  retinue  of  associates  fiee  away.  The  angel  instructing  him 
declared  that  it  was  then  impossible  to  possess  the  records,  that 
they  could  only  be  obtained  by  prayer  and  faithfulness  in  serving- 
God  who  had  preserved  them,  not  for  the  temporal  but  the  spirit 
ual  welfare  of  the  world.  In  them  is  contained  the  Gospel  of 
Christ  as  it  was  delivered  to  his  people  of  this  land,  and  when 
brought  forth  by  the  power  of  God  it  shall  be  preached  to  the 
nations;  the  Gentiles  receiving  will  be  saved  and  Israel  obeying 
it  will  be  brought  into  the  fold  of  the  Redeemer.  After  it  is  known 
that  the  Lord  has  shown  you  these  things  the  wicked  will  en 
deavor  by  falsehoods  to  destroy  your  reputation  ;  nay,  they  will 
even  attempt  your  life,  but  you  observe  the  commandments,  and 
in  due  time  you  shall  bring  them  forth.  When  interpreted  the 
Lord  will  appoint  a  holy  priesthood,  who  will  proclaim  the  Gos 
pel,  baptize  with  water,  and  have  power  to  confer  the  Holy 
Ghost  by  the  laying  on  of  hands.  In  due  time  the  ten  tribes  of 
Israel  shall  be  revealed  in  the  north  country,  where  they  for  a 
long  time  have  resided.  The  knowledge  of  the  Lord  shall  be 
greatly  extended,  and  your  name  shall  be  known  among  the  na 
tions  by  the  works  which  shall  be  wrought  by  your  hand. 

On  the  22d  of  September,  1827,  after  a  probation  of  four  years, 
during  which  he  was  frequently  counseled  by  the  angel,  the  re 
cords  were  delivered  into  his  hands.  When  it  was  known  among 
the  inhabitants  of  the  surrounding  country  that  the  prophet 
had  seen  visions  and  discovered  the  records,  he  was  not  only 
ridiculed  and  slandered  but  waylaid  and  assaulted,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  destroying  the  plates.  These  persecutions  increased  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  house  in  which  he  lived  was  frequently 
beset  by  mobs,  and  finding  his  life  thus  exposed  to  constant  dan 
ger  he  concluded  to  leave  the  place  and  go  to  Pennsylvania.  Dur 
ing  the  journey  thi theft  he  was  twice  overtaken  by  officers  with 
search-warrants  for  the  plates,  but  they  failed  in  the  accomplish 
ment  of  their  designs.  After  arriving  in  the  northern  part  of  Penn 
sylvania,  where  his  father-in-law  resided,  by  the  aid  of  the  Urim 
and  Thummim,  he  made  the  translation  of  the  plates  known  as  the 
book  of  Mormon.  This  translation  is  from  an  abridgment  com 
posed  by  Mormon  from  the  sacred  writings  of  his  forefathers,  with 
additions  subsequently  made  by  his  son  Maroni,  who  survived 
him.  The  latter,  in  his  continuation  of  the  narrative,  informs  us 
that  the  Lamouites  destroyed  all  the  Nephites  who  escaped  the 
battle  of  Curmorah,  except  such  as  forsook  their  religion,  and  that 
he,  for  the  preservation  of  his  own  life,  was  compelled  to  hide  him 
self. 

This  story,  in  its  pretended  miracles,  visions  and  prophecies,  is 
like  other  forgeries  of  the  kind,  which  at  different  times  have  been 
imposed  on  the  credulity  of  mankind.  As  dishonesty  and  igno- 


THE  MORMONS.  493 


ranee  will  always  exist,  it  may  yet  flourish  and  exert  upon  the  fu 
ture  of  the  race  an  influence  as  control  ing  as  that  of  other  sys 
tems  which  have  preceded  it  in  the  past.  While  the  holiest  affec 
tions  of  the  heart  cluster  about  the  religious  element  of  man's 
nature,  there  is  also  a  weakness  connected  with  it  which  in  all 
ages  of  the  world  has  subjected  him  to  the  grossest  impositions. 
In  his  social  and  political  relations  he  exhibits  a  sagacity  which, 
if  it  does  not  always  protect  him  against  .abuse,  is  at  least  divested 
of  the  superstition  which  beclouds  his  religious  aspirations  and 
so  frequently  makes  him  the  dupe  of  falsehood.  He  insists  in  his 
secular  investigations  upon  the  most  rigid  inductions,  theories  are 
subjected  to  the  most  searching  analysis,  and  no  doctrine  can  ob 
tain  credence  unless  sustained  by  indubitable  facts;  but  in  theol 
ogy  vague  conjecture  is  substituted  for  positive  knowledge,  and 
errors  which  outrage  the  character  of  Deity  and  im bruit  the  intel 
lect  of  man  are  accepted  without  even  questioning  their  authen 
ticity.  To  this  infirmity  of  human  nature,  and  the  cupidity  of  de 
signing  men,  Mormonism  and  other  similar  delusions  owe  their 
origin.  If  the  parties  who  originate  and  manage  them  are  intel 
ligent  they  give  them  plausibility,  but  this  is  not  important,  lor 
no  system  can  be  devised  so  absurd  that  fools  will  not  believe  it, 
and  that  knaves  will  not  be  found  to  profit  by  their  ignorance. 

According  to  the  statements  of  the  saints,  after  the  book  of 
Mormon  was  translated,  the  Lord  raised  up  witnesses  to  testify  to  its 
truth.  Oliver  Cowdry,  Daniel  Whitmore  and  Martin  Harris  thus 
affirm :  "We  certify  that  we  have  seen  the  plates  which  contain  the 
records  ;  that  they  were  translated  by  the  gift  and  power  of  God, 
for  his  voice  hath  declared  it  unto  us,  wherefore  we  know  that  the 
work  is  true,  and  declare  with  words  of  soberness  that  an  angel 
of  God  came  down  from  heaven  and  laid  the  plates  before  our 
eyes,  and  we  saw  the  engravings  on  them."  Eight  other  witnesses 
also  declare:  "Joseph  Smith,  the  translator  of  this  work,  hath 
shown  us  the  plates  herein  spoken  of,  which  have  the  appearance 
of  gold,  and  as  many  of  the  leaves  as  the  said  Smith  hath  trans 
lated  we  have  handled  with  our  hands,  and  we  also  saw  the  en 
gravings  thereon,  all  of  which  had  the  appearance  of  ancient  and 
curious  workmanship."  The  parties  connected  with  these  certifi 
cates  were  no  doubt  accomplices  in  the  fraud,  for  if  humanity 
could  furnish  a  spawn  base  enough  to  originate  the  deception, 
plenty  of  men  could  be  found  sufficiently  degraded  to  assist  in  its 
promulgation. 

Another  statement  is  given  respecting  the  plates,  by  those  in 
the  confidence  of  the  prophet,  which  does  not  coincide  with  the 
above  certificates.  It  is  said  that  the  early  followers  of  the 
prophet  were  desirous  of  seeing  the  plates,  and  importuning  him 
for  the  privilege,  he  told  them  that  they  could  not  be  seen  by  the 
carnal  eye,  that  they  must  obtain  a  lively  faith  by  fasting  and 
prayer  if  they  would  have  their  holy  curiosity  gratified.  Acting 
upon  his  suggestion,  they  engaged  in  continuous  supplica 
tions  that  the  hidden  things  of  God  might  be  made  manifest,  and 
when  finally  becoming  impatient,  Smith  produced  the  box  con 
taining  the  treasure  and  opened  it  in  their  midst.  Not  seeing 
anything  in  it,  they  said,  "Brother  Joseph,  we  do  not  see  the 
plates."  The  prophet  answering  said  "Oh  ye  of  little  faith,  how 
long  will  God  bear  with  a  wicked  and  perverse  generation  ?  Down 


494  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

on  your  knees,  brethren,  every  one  of  you,  and  pray  God  for  the 
forgiveness  of  your  sins  and  for  the  living  faith  which  comes 
down  from  heaven."  As  commanded  they  fell  upon  their  knees, 
and  beseeching  God  with  great  earnestness  for  more  than  two 
hours  for  faith  and  spiritual  discernment,  they  again  looked  and 
the  plates  were  visible.  In  this  case  it  lias  been  suggested  that 
the  parties,  operated  upon  by  a  fanatical  enthusiasm,  may  per 
haps  have  imagined  they  saw  the  plates,  but  it  is  far  more  proba 
ble  that  they  had  selfish  ends  to  accomplish  and  wilfully  misrep 
resented  to  impose  on  the  ignorant. 

On  the  Oth  of  April,  1830,  the  church  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints 
was  organized  at  Manchester,  Kew  York.  Their  numbers  now 
rapidly  increased,  and  with  a  view  to  securing  a  permanent  loca 
tion,  in  1833,  they  moved  to  Missouri,  purchased  land  in  Jackson 
county,  and  commenced  building  the  town  of  Independence. 
There  the  commission  of  petty  crimes,  and  their  arrogant  pre 
sumptions  that  as  saints  of  the  Lord  they  had  a  right  to  the  whole 
country,  incensed  the  neighboring  people  against  them.  After 
some  of  their  number  had  been  ducked  in  the  river,  some  tarred 
and  feathered,  and  others  killed,  the  whole  community  removed  to 
Clay  county,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Missouri  river.  Kemaining 
in  this  place  only  a  short  time,  most  of  them  went  eastward,  and 
located  at  Kirtland,  Ohio,  twenty  miles  from  Cleveland,  and  com 
menced  building  a  temple.  In  1830  a  large  convocation  of  their 
elders  met,  and  according  to  their  reports,  the  work  of  the  Lord 
had  greatly  increased  in  America,  Europe  and  the  islands  of  the 
sea. 

About  this  time  a  financial  institution,  styled  the  Kirtland  Sav 
ings  Bank,  was  organized,  and  Smith  appointed  president.  For 
the  want  of  capital  and  integrity  among  the  managers,  it  soon 
failed,  under  circumstances  of  more  than  ordinary  depravity. 
Property  to  a  large  amount  was  purchased  with  the  bills,  and  after 
the  title  became  vested  in  the  saints,  the  bank  failed  and  its  notes 
were  never  redeemed.  Thus  swindled,  the  people  of  the  adja 
cent  country,  as  at  other  places,  became  exasperated  and  a 
third  hegira  became  necessary.  Accordingly  the  prophet,  apostles, 
elders  and  a  great  body  of  the  saints,  shaking  the  dust  from  their 
feet  as  a  testimony  against  Ohio,  started  for  Missouri,  and  this 
time  settled  in  Davis  and  Calhoun  counties.  There  they  also  pur 
chased  land  of  the  United  States,  and  built  the  town  of  Far  West 
and  other  small  villages.  Still  exhibiting  the  same  conduct  that 
at  other  places  had  involved  them  in  difficulties,  it  was  not  long 
till  they  were  accused  of  every  possible  crime.  The  breach  thus 
opened  between  the  saints  and  gentiles  continued  to  widen,  and 
in  a  few  years  both  parties  became  so  embittered  that  a  resort  to 
physical  force  was  the  only  alternative  by  which  the  quarrel  could 
be  adjusted.  The  Mormon  leaders  declared  that  they  would  no 
longer  submit  to  to  the  government  of  Missouri.  Joe  Smith,  as 
he  was  generally  called,  ordered  the  circuit  clerk,  who  was  a  disci 
ple,  not  to  issue  any  more  writs  againts  the  saints,  and  one  of  the 
elders,  in  a  sermon,  informed  his  people  that  henceforth  they  were 
not  amenable  to  the  laws  of  the  State.  Armed  parties  of  Mor 
mons  commenced  patroling  the  country  and  plundering  the  pro 
perty  of  the  inhabitants,  who  assembled  in  arms  to  protect  them 
selves  and  drive  the  felons  from  the  State.  A  company,  under 


THE  MORMONS.  495 


Major  Bogart,  wlio  bad  formerly  commanded  a  battalion  of  rangers 
in  the  Black  Hawk  war,  met  one  of  these  marauding  parties,  and 
a  battle  ensuing,  the  Mormons  were  routed  after  they  had  burnt 
two  towns  and  ravaged  a  large  extent  of  country.  Gov.  Boggs 
called  out  the  militia  for  the  purpose  of  either  exterminat 
ing  the  plunderers  or  driving  them  from  the  country.  A 
large  force,  commanded  by  Gen.  Lucas  and  Brigadier  Gen.  Doni- 
phau,  surrounded  them  in  the  town  of  Far  West,  and  although 
armed  with  the  determination  of  resisting  to  the  last  extremity, 
they  surrendered  without  an  engagement.  A  large  part  of  the 
stolen  property  was  recovered,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the 
leaders,  the  Mormons  were  dismissed  under  promise  to  leave 
the  State.  Smith  and  other  principal  men  were  tried  before  a 
court  martial  and  sentenced  to  be  shot.  The  criminals  would 
doubtless  have  been  executed  had  not  Gen.  Doniphan,  who  con 
sidered  the  proceedings  against  them  illegal,  interfered  and  saved 
their  lives.  They  were  next  arraigned  before  a  civil  tribunal,  and 
indictments  being  found  against  them  for  murder,  treason,  rob 
bery  and  other  crimes,  they  were  committed  to  jail,  but  beljpre 
their  trials  came  on  they  escaped  from  prison,  and  fled  the  State. 

In  the  years  1839-40  the  whole  body  of  saints  arrived  in  Illinois, 
and,  according  to  their  own  account,  the  cruel  treatment  of  their 
enemies,  and  their  perils  by  field  and  flood,  would  make  a  story 
without  a  parallel  in  the  annals  of  suffering.  Representing  that 
they  had  been  persecuted  in  Missouri  on  account  of  their  religion, 
and  being  the  vanquished  party,  they  soon  excited  the  sympathy 
of  our  people.  The  inhabitants  of  Illinois  have  always  been 
justly  esteemed  for  their  enlightened  spirit  of  toleration,  and  the 
Mormons  were  kindly  received  as  sufferers  in  the  cause  of  reli 
gion.  Several  communities  even  vied  with  each  other  in  offers  of 
hospitality  and  efforts  to  induce  the  persecuted  strangers  to  settle 
among  them.  As  already  stated,  they  finally  located  on  the  east 
bank  of  the  Mississippi,  in  the  county  of  Hancock,  where  they 
commenced  building  the  city  of  Xauvoo,  which  they  designed 
should  be  the  center  of  their  future  operations  in  the  conversion 
of  the  world  to  the  new7  religion. 

On  their  arrival  in  the  State  the  effort  of  politicians  to  get  their 
patronage  soon  brought  them  into  notice.  As  they  were  already 
numerous  and  rapidly  increasing  in  numbers,  it  was  supposed 
that  at  no  distant  day  they  would  exert  a  controling  influence  in 
the  elections.  Knowing  their  power  in  this  respect,  and  intimat 
ing  that  they  would  support  the  men  and  measures  most  likely  to 
promote  their  own  welfare,  both  parties  by  acts  of  kindness  and 
promises  of  help  endeavored  to  wrin  their  support.  In  Missouri 
they  had  always  sustained  the  democratic  party,  but  having  been 
expelled  from  the  State  by  a  democratic  governor,  and  having 
afterwards  been  refused  relief  by  Van  Buren,  a  democratic  presi 
dent,  in  a  spirit  of  retaliation,  they  voted  lor  a  time  with  the 
whigs.  When,  however,  the  legislature  met  -in  1840,  wishing  to 
obtain  the  passage  of  several  bills  for  the  incorporation  of  Kau- 
voo  and  other  purposes,  they  flattered  both  parties  in  order  to 
secure  their  joint  influence.  With  these  objects  in  view  Dr.  John 
C.  Bennett,  a  Mormon  by  profession  and  one  of  the  most  profligate 
men  in  the  State,  wras  sent  as  their  agent  to  the  seat  of  govern 
ment  to  operate  as  a  lobbyist.  Arriving  in  Springfield,  he  applied 


49C  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

to  Mr.  Little,  the  whig  senator  from  Hancock,  and  to  Mr.  Dong-las, 
the  democratic  secretary  of  state,  who  both  promised  him  their 
influence,  and  when  an  act  incorporating  the  city  of  Nauvoo  was 
presented  to  the  legislature,  although  in  many  respects  in  the 
highest  degree  objectionable,  such  was  the  dexterity  with  which 
these  politicians  managed  their  respective  parties  that  it  passed 
both  houses  without  discussion  or  opposition.  In  the  lower  house 
it  is  said  it  Avas  not  even  read,  each  party  being  afraid  to  oppose 
it  for  fear  of  losing  the  Mormon  vote,  and  each  in  sustaining  it 
verily  believed  it  would  secure  their  favor. 

This  act,  which  is  a  perfect  anomaly  in  legislation,  made  the 
original  boundaries  of  Nauvoo  not  only  equal  to  the  limits  of  some 
of  the  larger  cities,  but  also  provided  for  their  indefinite  exten 
sion.  It  reads:  u  Whenever  any  tract  of  land  adjoining  ETauvoo 
shall  have  been  laid  out  into  town  lots,  and  duly  recorded  accord 
ing  to  law,  the  same  shall  form  a  part  of  the  city."  The 
corporation  was  also  empowered  to  deal  in  real  and  personal 
property  for  speculative  purposes,  a  privilege  not  at  that 
time  conferred  upon  any  other  cities  of  the  State  by  legisla 
tive  enactment.  One  section  of  the  law  gave  to  the  city  council 
the  extraordinary  power  to  enact  any  ordinance  not  repugnant  to 
the  State  and  national  constitutions,  whereby  they  could  nullify 
at  pleasure  the  statutes  of  the  State  within  the  corporate  limits 
of  the  city  and  over  as  much  of  the  adjacent  county  as  they  could 
extend  them.  A  mayor's  court  was  established,  with  exclusive 
jurisdiction  ot  all  cases  arising  under  the  city  ordinances,  but  sub 
ject  to  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  municipal  court.  The  mayor  and 
four  aldermen  as  associates  composed  the  municipal  court,  which 
was  clothed  with  power  to  is^ue  writs  of  habeas  corpus,  and  had 
jurisdiction  of  appeals  from  the  mayor's  court,  subject  again  to 
appeal  to  the  circuit  court  of  Hancock  county.  It  made  the  N auvoo 
legion, *  with  the  exception  of  being  subject  to  the  governor, 
independent  of  the  military  organization  of  the  State,  and 
its  commissioned  officers  a  perpetual  court  martial,  having 
authority  to  enact  such  regulations  as  should  be  considered  neces 
sary  for  its  welfare.  The  legion  was  made  subservient  to  the 
mayor  in  executing  the  laws  of  the  city,  was  entitled  to  its  propor 
tion  of  the  State  arms,  and  by  subsequent  enactments  of  the 
legislature  any  citizen  of  Hancock  county  might  unite  with  it, 
whether  he  lived  in  the  city  or  out  of  it.  A  bill  was  also  passed 
incorporating  the  Nauvoo  House,  in  which  Joe  Smith  and  his 
heirs  were  to  have  a  suite  of  rooms  in  perpetual  succession.  By 
this  unusual  legislation  the  courts  had  little  dependence  on  the 
constitutional  judiciary,  and  the  military  establishment,  empow 
ered  to  regulate  itself,  was  independent  of  the  laws  of  the  State. 
The  different  departments  of  the  city  government  were  blended 
into  one,  whereby  the  same  public  functionary  could  be  entrusted 
with  the  discharge  of  legislative,  executive,  judicial  and  military 
duties  at  the  same  time,  and  such  instances  frequently  occurred 
as  the  events  which  immediately  followed  prove. 

In  the  year  1841,  the  Mormons  organized  a  city  government  and 
Smith  was  elected  mayor;  presiding  in  the  council  as  a  legislator 
he  assisted  in  making  laws  for  the  government  of  the  city,  and  as 
mayor  it  was  his  duty  to  see  that  the  laws  were  faithfully  executed. 
By  virtue  of  his  office  he  was  jndge  of  the  mayor's  court  and  chief 


THE   MORMONS.  497 


justice  of  the  municipal  court,  in  which  situation  he  was  the  ex 
pounder  and  enforcer  of  the  laws  which  he  had  assisted  to  make. 
In  the  organization  of  the  Nauvoo  legion  it  was  made  to  consist 
of  divisions,  brigades,  and  cohorts,  each  of  which  had  a  general 
and  over  the  whole  as  coin m an der-in- chief  Smith  presided  as 
lieutenant  general.  If  to  these  multiform  duties  we  add  his  call 
ing  as  a  real  estate  agent  and  his  anticipated  position  as  tavern 
keeper,  the  list  of  his  vocations  will  be  complete. 

It  has  already  been  said  that  Smith  and  other  leading  Mormons 
escaped  from  jail  in  Missouri,  and  hence  in  the  autumn  of  1841, 
the  governor  of  that  State  made  a  demand  on  Governor  Carlin  of 
Illinois  for  the  arrest  and  delivery  of  the  fugitives.  A  warrant 
was  accordingly  issued  by  which  Smith  was  arrested  and  brought 
before  Judge  Douglas,  who,  at  that  time  was  holding  court  in 
Hancock  and  adjoining  counties.  In  the  trial  which  ensued,  Smith 
was  discharged  on  the  plea  that  the  writ  by  which  he  had  been 
arrested  was  defective.  The  prophet,  not  being  well  enough 
versed  in  law  to  understand  the  legal  nature  of  the  question, 
regarded  his  acquittal  as  a  great  favor  from  the  democratic  party. 
In  consequence  of  this  decision  the  Mormons  once  more  renewed 
their  allegiance  with  that  political  organization  and  to  strengthen 
the  alliance,  Bennett,  who  was  then  an  alderman  in  Xauvoo  and 
the  major  general  of  the  legion,  was  made  master  in  chancery  and 
adjutant  general  of  the  State  militia.  At  these  signal  marks  of 
favor.  Smith  issued  a  proclamation  exhorting  his  followers  to  unite 
with  the  democratic  party,  and  the  whigs  on  seeing  themselves 
out-generaled  in  this  manner,  commenced  a  tirade  of  denunciations 
against  the  Mormons,  their  papers  teeming  with  the  enormities  of 
Kauvoo  and  the  wickedness  of  the  party  which  would  consent  to 
receive  the  support  of  such  miscreants. 

As  soon  as  the  machinery  of  the  government  of  Kauvoo  was 
properly  put  in  motion,  ordinances  were  enacted  in  conflict  with 
the  laws  of  the  State.  The  Mormons,  believing  that  another 
attempt  would  be  made  by  the  governor  of  Missouri  for  the  arrest 
of  their  leaders,  declared  that  the  public  mind  in  that  State  Avas 
so  prejudiced  against  them  that  a  fair  trial  there  was  impossible, 
and  should  any  of  their  fraternity  be  taken  thither,  if  they  could 
not  be  legally  convicted  and  punished,  they  would  be  murdered  by 
a  mob  before  they  could  get  out  of  the  State.  Determined  to 
guard  against  any  future  demands  of  this  kind,  they  commenced  de 
vising  a  scheme  whereby  they  could  protect  themselves  through 
the  instrumentality  of  the  city  ordinances.  A  law  was  therefore 
passed  by  the  common  council  virtually  declaring  that  the  muni 
cipal  court  should  have  jurisdiction  whatever  might  be  the  nature 
of  the  offense,  thus  giving  a  latitudiuarian  construction  to  the 
charter,  which  was  only  intended  to  grant  the  right  of  adminis 
tering  justice  in  cases  where  imprisonment  resulted  from  a  breach 
of  the  city  ordinances.  Smith  was  afterward  arrested  by  a  writ 
from  the  governor,  but  it  is  unknown  whether  he  was  rescued  by 
his  followers  or  discharged  in  consequence  of  this  ordinance. 

A  combination  of  circumstances  now  concurred  in  rendering  the 
Mormons  unpopular.  Besides  impolitic  enactments,  they  were 
furnished  by  the  State  with  three  pieces  of  cannon  and  250  stands 
of  small  arms,  which  jealousy  and  popular  rumor  increased  to  30 
cannons  and  5.000  or  6.000  muskets.  Many  thought  thev  enter- 
32 


498  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

tained  the  -treasonable  design  of  overturning1  the  government, 
driving  out  the  original  inhabitants  and  substituting  their  own 
population  in  their  stead,  as  the  children  of  Israel  had  done  in  the 
land  of  Canaan. 

In  1842,  the  Mormon  population  of  Hancock  county  had  in 
creased  to  about  16,000,  and  several  thousand  more  were  scattered 
over  various  parts  of  the  United  States  and  Europe.  Mr.  Henry 
Caswel,  an  English  gentleman  of  talent  and  respectability, 
ascending  the  Mississippi  in  a  steamboat,  gives  the  following 
graphic  account  of  his  observations  respecting  the  Saints  at  that 
time : 

"  Having  been  told  that  three  hundred  English  emigrants  were  on 
board  to  join  the  prophet  at  Nauvoo,  I  walked  to  that  part  of  the  vessel 
appropriated  to  the  poorer  classes  of  travelers,  and  beheld  my  countrymen 
crowded  together  in  a  comfortless  manner.  I  addressed  them  and  found 
they,  were  from  the  neighborhood  of  Preston,  in  Lancaster;  they  were 
decent  looking  people  and  by  no  means  of  the  lower  class.  I  took  the 
liberty  of  questioning  them  concerning  their  plans,  and  found  they  were 
the  dupes  of  Mormon  missionaries.  Early  on  Sunday  morning  I  was 
landed  opposite  Nauvoo,  and  crossing  the  river  in  a  large  canoe,  filled 
with  Mormons  going  to  church,  in  a  few  minutes  I  found  myself  in  this 
extraordinary  city.  It  is  built  on  a  grand  plan,  accommodated  to  the  site 
of  the  temple  and  the  bend  of  the  river.  The  view  of  the  winding 
Mississippi  from  the  elevation  where  the  temple  stands  is  truly  magnifi 
cent.  The  temple  being  unfinished,  about  half  past  ten  o'clock  a  con 
gregation  of  perhaps  2,000  persons  assembled  in  a  grove,  within  a  short 
distance  from  the  sanctuary.  Their  appearance  was  quite  respectable 
and  fully  equal  to  that  exhibited  at  the  meetings  of  other  denominations 
in  the  western  country.  Many  gray-headed  old  men  were  there  and 
many  well  dressed  females.  Their  sturdy  forms,  clear  complexions,  and 
heavy  movements,  strongly  contrasted  with  the  slight  figure,  the 
sallow  visage,  and  the  elastic  step  of  the  Americans.  There,  too,  were  the 
bright  and  unconscious  looks  of  little  children,  who  born  among  the 
privileges  of  England's  churches  baptized  with  her  consecrated  waters 
and  taught  to  lisp  her  prayers  and  repeitf  her  catechisms,  had  now  been 
led  into  this  clan  of  heresy,  to  listen  to  the  ravings  of  a  false  prophet 
and  to  imbibe  the  principles  of  a  semi-pagan  delusion.  Two  elders 
shortly  came  forward  and  one  of  them  having  made  a  few  common-place 
remarks  on  the  nature  of  prayer,  and  dwelt  for  a  considerable  time  on 
the  character  and  perfections  of  the  Almighty,  proceeded  in  the  follow 
ing  strain  :  'We  thank  thee,  O  Lord,  that  thou  hast  in  these  latter  days 
restored  the  gifts  of  prophecy  of  revelation,  and  of  great  signs  and 
wonders  as  in  the  days  of  old.  We  thank  thee  that  thou  didst  formerly 
raise  up  thy  servant  Joseph  to  deliver  his  brethren  in  Egypt,  so  hast 
thou  raised  up  another  Joseph  to  save  his  brethren  from  bondage  of 
sectarian  delusion,  and  to  bring  them  into  this  great  and  good  laud, 
flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  which  is  the  glory  of  all  lands,  and  which 
thou  didst  promise  to  be  an  inheritance  for  the  seed  of  Jacob  for  ever 
more.  We  pray  for  this  servant  and  prophet,  Joseph,  that  thou  wouldst 
prosper  and  bless  him  ;  that  although  the  archers  have  sorely  grieved 
him,  and  shot  at  him,  and  hated  him,  his  bow  may  abide  in  strength, 
and  the  arms  of  his  hands  may  be  made  strong  by  the  hand  of  the 
Almighty  God  of  Jacob.  WTe  pray,  also,  for  thy  temple  that  the  nations 
of  the  earth  may  bring  gold  and  incense,  that  the  sons  of  strangers  may 
build  up  its  walls  and  fly  to  it  as  a  cloud  and  as  doves  to  their  windows. 
\Ve  pray  thee,  also,  to  hasten  the  ingathering  of  thy  people,  every  man 
to  his  heritage  and  every  man  to  his  land.  We  pray  that  as  thou  hast 
set  up  this  place  as  an  ensign  for  the  nations,  so  thou  wouldst  continue  to 
assemble  here  the  outcasts,  and  gather  together  the  dispersed  from  the 
four  corners  of  the  earth.  May  every  valley  be  exalted  and  every  moun 
tain  and  hill  be  made  low  and  crooked  places  be  made  straight  arid  the 
rough  places  plain,  and  may  the  glory  of  the  Lord  be  revealed  and  all 
the  flesh  in  it  together.  Bring  thy  sons  from  afar  and  thy  daughters 


THE   MORMONS.  499 


from  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  let  them  bring  their  gold  and  silver  with 
them.' 

u  After  prayer  the  other  elder  commenced  a  discourse  on  the  necessity 
of  a  revelation  for  America  as  well  as  Asia,  and  on  the  probability  of 
continued  revelations.  At  its  close  a  hymn  was  sung,  and  a  third 
elder  came  forward  and  observed  that  his  office  required  him  to  speak 
of  business,  and  especially  of  the  Nauvoo  House,  and  among  other 
things  said,  'the  Lord  had  commanded  this  work  and  it  must  be  done; 
yes  it  shall  be  done,  it  will  be  done;  that  a  small  amount  of  the  stock 
had  hitherto  been  taken,  that  the  committee  had  gone  on  borrowing  and 
borrowing  till  they  could  borrow  no  longer;  that  mechanics  had  been 
employed  on  the  house,  that  they  wanted  their  pay  and  the  committee 
are  not  able  to  pay  them ;  that  he  came  there  with  seven  thousand 
dollars  and  now  had  but  two  thousand,  having  expended  five  thousand 
on  the  work  of  the  Lord;'  that  he  therefore  called  upon  the  brethren  to 
obey  God's  command  and  take  stock.  The  address  being  concluded, 
others  followed  in  the  same  strain,  and  appeared  as  familiar  with  wordly 
business  and  operations  of  finance  as  with  prophecies  and  the  book  of 
Mormon.  None,  however,  came  forward  to  take  stock,  and  one  of  the 
elders  thereupon  remarked,  that  as  they  had  not  made  up  tneir  minds  as 
to  the  amount  of  stock  they  would  take,  he  wished  them  to  come  to  his 
house  on  the  next  day  for  that  purpose.  The  public  exercises  being  closed, 
accompanied  by  a  prominent  member  of  the  church,  I  next  visited  the 
temple.  Its  position  is  commanding,  and  designed  to  be  one  of  the  best 
edifices  in  the  country.  It  is  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  by  one  hun 
dred,  and  \vhen  completed  will  be  fifty  feet  up  to  the  eaves.  Its  expense 
is  estimated  at  three  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  baptismal  fount  is 
finished.  It  is  a  capacious  laver,  above  twenty  feet  square,  rests  on  the 
backs  of  twelve  oxen,  well  sculptured,  and  as  large  as  life.  The  laver 
and  oxen  are  of  wood  painted,  but  are  to  be  gilded.  Here  baptisms 
for  the  dead  are  celebrated  as  well  as  baptisms  for  the  healing  of  disease. 
Baptisms  for  the  remission  of  sins  are  performed  in  the  Mississippi.  I 
was  next  introduced  to  the  prophet,  and  had  the  honor  of  an  interview 
with  him.  He  is  a  coarse,  plebeian  person  in  aspect,  and  his  countenance 
exhibits  a  curious  mixture  of  the  knave  and  clown.  His  hands  are  large 
and  fat,  and  on  one  of  his  fingers  he  wears  a  massive  gold  ring  with  some 
inscription  upon  it.  His  dress  was  of  coarse  country  manufacture,  and 
his  white  hat  was  enveloped  in  a  piece  of  black  crape,  being  in  mourning 
fora  brother.  I  had  no  opportunity  of  observing  the  eyes  of  Smith,  he 
appearing  deficient  in  that  open,  staid-fixed  look  which  characterizes  an 
honest  man.  The  Mormon  system,  mad  as  it  is,  had  method  in  its 
madness,  and  many  shrewd  hands  are  at  work  in  its  maintaiuance  and 
propagation,  and  whatever  may  befall  its  originators,  it  has  the  elements 
of  increase  and  endurance.  Mormon  missionaries  have  been  sent  forth 
and  are  now  at  work  in  almost  every  country  in  Christendom.  They 
have  recently  gone  to  Russia  with  letters  of  credence  from  the  Mormon 
prophet.  Their  numbers  in  England,  we  have  no  doubt,  are  increasing 
rapidly,  and  it  remains  for  christaius  of  the  present  day  to  determine 
whether  Mormonism  shall  work  to  the  level  of  those  fanatical  sects, 
which  like  new  stars  have  blazed  for  a  little  while  and  then  sunk  into 
obscurity,  or  whether  likeasecond  Mahomedanism  it  shall  extend  itself, 
sword  in  hand,  till  Christianity  is  leveled  in  the  dust." 

In  1842,  Dr.  John  C.  Bennett  was  expelled  from  the  Mormon 
church,  and  thereafter  traveled  through  different  parts  of  the 
country,  avowing,  in  lectures  and  publications,  that  the  Mormons 
entertained  treasonable  designs  against  the  government.  One  of 
Bennett's  principal  objects  was  to  induce  the  authorities  of  Missouri 
to  bring  another  indictment  against  Smith  for  an  alleged  attempt 
to  murder  Gov.  Boggs.  Being  successful  in  his  endeavors,  June 
5,  1843,  an  indictment  was  found  against  the  prophet  and  another 
prominent  Mormon,  and  shortly  afterwards  a  messenger  presen 
ted  himself  to  Gov.  Ford  with  a  new  demand  for  their  arrest.  In. 
pursuance  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  the  writ  was  given  to 


500  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

a  constable  in  Hancock  county  for  execution.  The  Missouri  agent 
and  a  constable  hastened  to  Nauvoo  for  the  purpose  of  serving 
it,  but  finding*  on  their  arrival  that  Smith  was  on  a  visit  to  Hock 
river,  they  repaired  thither,  and  made  the  arrest  in  Palestine 
grove,  in  the  county  of  Lee.  The  prisoner  was  then  left  in  the 
custody  of  the  agent,  who  set  off  with  him  to  Missouri,  but  had 
not  proceeded  far,  when  he  was  met  and  captured  by  an  armed 
body  of  Mormons,  who  released  the  prophet  and  conducted  him 
in  triumph  to  Nauvoo.  A  writ  of  habeas  corpus  was  sued  out  in 
the  municipal  court  of  that  city,  and  Cyrus  Walker,  the  whig  can 
didate  for  congress,  appeared  as  attorney  for  the  accused.  In  a 
labored  effort  of  great  length,  he  endeavored  to  show  that  this 
court,  which  was  composed  of  Smith  and  his  friends,  had  juris 
diction  to  issue  the  writ,  and  proceed  in  the  defense  of  the  prison 
er,  under  the  ordinances  of  the  city,  and  he  accordingly  was 
acquitted.  Mr.  Hodge,  the  democratic  candidate,  was  visiting 
Nauvoo  at  t-he  time  of  the  trial,  and  both  he  and  Walker  were 
called  on  in  a  political  convention  to  give  their  opinion  relative  to 
the  city  ordinance,  empowering  the  municipal  court  to  issue  writs 
of  habeas  corpus  in  all  cases  of  imprisonment,  and  both  solemnly 
declared  that  they  considered  it  valid.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to 
state  that  this  advice  was  given  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining 
votes,  as  both  candidates  knew  it  was  false.  Instead  of  being 
actuated  by  that  integrity  which  combats  and  corrects  public 
opinion  when  wrong  ,the  only  true  passport  to  official  position, 
both  willfully  sanctioned  au  error  for  the  accomplishment  of  selfish 
ends. 

The  Mormons,  on  the  other  hand,  in  consequence  of  stupidity 
and  ignorance,  were  ever  ready  to  be  duped  and  brought  in 
antagonism  to  the  laws  of  the  State,  by  the  chicanery  of  party. 
If  the^  action  of  the  government  bore  hard  upon  them,  however 
justly*  it  might  be  administered,  they  regarded  it  as  wantonly 
oppressive,  or  if  judicious  advice  was  given  them,  it  was  rejected 
with  scorn  whenever  opposed  to  their  favorite  schemes.  Un 
scrupulous  i>oliticians  becoming  aware  of  this  characteristic, 
would  first  learn  their  predelictions  and  advise  them  accordingly, 
whereby  they  became  the  sport  of  party  and  the  victims  of  the 
most  corrupt  men  in  the  country. 

On  the  release  of  Smith,  the  Missouri  agent  applied  to  Gov. 
Ford  for  a  military  force  to  assist  in  arresting  him,  but  the 
application  was  refused.  Smith  having  once  been  arrested,  and 
the  writ  returned  as  fully  executed,  the  governor  had  no  further 
cognizance  of  the  case  except  to  issue  a  new  warrant,  provided 
another  requisition  should  be  made  for  his  re-arrest  by  the  execu 
tive  of  Missouri.  While  it  was  readily  admitted  that  Smith  had 
been  forcibly  rescued  and  suffered  to  go  unpunished  by  a  court 
transcending  its  authority,  yet  it  would  have  been  an  illegal  and 
perhaps  dangerous  expedient  to  attempt  to  call  out  the  militia  to 
correct  or  reverse  the  decision. 

The  Mormons,  emboldened  by  success  in  this  trial,  in  the  winter 
of  1843-4,  passed  another  ordinance  to  further  protect  their 
leaders.  They  enacted  a  lawT  providing  that  no  writ  issued  from 
any  other  place  except  Nauvoo  for  the  arrest  of  any  person  in  the 
city,  should  be  executed  without  an  approval  endorsed  thereon 
by  the  mayor;  that  if  any  public  officer,  by  virtue  of  any  foreign 


THE   MORMONS.  501 


writ,  should  attempt  to  make  an  arrest  in  tbecity  without  such  an 
approval  of  his  process,  he  should  be  subject  to  imprisonment  for 
life,  and  the  governor  of  the  State  should  not  have  the  power  of 
pardoning  the  offender  without  the  consent  of  the  mayor. 

The  passage,  of  this  ordinance  created  great  astonishment,  and  in 
duced  many  to  believe  that  there  was  a  reality  in  the  accusations 
which  had  beeir  made  against  them,  respecting  the  establishment 
of  an  independent  government.  After  this  law  went  into  opera 
tion,  if  robberies  were  committed  in  the  adjoining  country, 
the  thieves  would  flee  into  Nauvoo,  and  if  the  plundered 
parties  followed  them,  they  were  fined  by  the  Mormon  courts  for 
daring  to  seek  after  their  property  in  the  holy  city.  The 
Mormons  themselves  were  frequently  the  guilty  parties,  and  by 
this  means  sought  both  to  retain  the  stolen  goods  and  escape 
the  just  punishment  of  their  crimes. 

The  most  positive  evidence  that  they  contemplated  the  organi 
zation  of  a  separate  government,  was  based  on  the  fact  that  about 
this  time  they  sent  a  petition  to  congress,  asking  for  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  territorial  government,  of  which  Xauvoo  was  to  be 
the  center.  Another  act  characteristic  of  their  vanity,  was  the 
announcement  of  Smith,  in  the  spring  of  1844,  as  a  candidate  for 
the  presidency  ot  the  United  States.  His  followers,  sanguine  of  suc 
cess,  sent  from  two  to  three  thousand  missionaries  into  the  field 
to  con  vert  the  people,  and  labor  for  the  election  of  the  prophet.  It 
was  stated  by  dissenters  in  the  Mormon  church,  that  Smith 
also  entertained  the  idea  of  making  himself  the  temporal  as  well 
as  the  spiritual  leader  of  his  people,  and  that,  for  this  purpose,  he 
instituted  a  new  order  of  church  dignitaries,  the  members  of 
which  were  to  be  both  kings  and  priests. 

He  next  caused  himself  to  be  annointed  king  and  priest,  but  of  a 
higher  order  than  the  others,  who  were  to  be  his  nobility,  and  to 
whom  as  the  upholders  of  his  throne  he  administered  the  oath  of 
allegiance.  To  give  character  to  his  pretensions  he  declared  his 
lineage  in  an  unbroken  line  from  Joseph  the  son  of  Jacob,  and 
that  of  his  wife  from  some  other  important  personage  of  the 
ancient  Hebrews.  To  strengthen  his  political  power  he  also  in 
stituted  a  body  of  police  styled  the  Danite  band,  who  were  sworn 
to  protect  his  person  and  to  obey  his  orders  as  the  commands  of 
God.  A  female  order  previously  existing  in  the  church,  called 
spiritual  wives,  was  modified  so  as  to  suit  the  licentiousness  of 
the  prophet.  A  doctrine  was  revealed  that  it  was  impossible  for 
a  woman  to  get  to  heaven  except  as  the  wife  of  a  Mormon  elder ; 
that  eaclj  elder  might  many  as  many  women  as  he  could  main 
tain,  and-  that  any  female  might  be  sealed  to  eternal  life  by 
becoming  their  concubine.  This  licentiousness,  the  origin  of 
polygamy  in  the  church,  they  endeavored  to  justify  by  an  appeal 
to  Abraham,  Jacob  and  other  favorites  of  God  in  a  former  age 
of  the  world. 

After  the  establishment  of  these  institutions,  Smith  began  to 
play. the  tyrant  over  his  people,  as  all  persons  of  inferior  intel 
lect  and  unduly  developed  passions  always  do  when  others 
become  subject  to  their  will.  One  of  his  first  attempts  to  abuse 
the  power  with  which  he  was  intrusted,  was  an  effort  to  take  the 
wife  of  William  Law,  one  of  his  most  talented  and  respectable 
followers,  and  make  her  a  spiritual  wife.  Without  the  sanction 


502  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

of  law  be  established  offices  in  Nauvoo  for  recording  property  titles 
and  issuing  marriage  licences,  whereby  be  sougbt  to  monopolize 
the  traffic  in  real  estate*  and  control  the  marital  relations  of  bis 
people.  The  despotism  thus  practiced  soon  caused  a  spirit  of  in 
subordination  and  disaffection  in  the  jNJorinon  church  and  com 
munity.  Law  and  the  other  leaders  determined  to  resist  the  en 
croachments  of  Smith,  and  for  the  purpose  of  exposing  the  abuses 
growing  out  of  the  new  institutions,  they  procured  a  press  and 
commenced  the  publication  of  a  newspaper.  The  appearance  of 
the  paper  was  the  signal  for  opposition,  and  before  the  second 
number  could  be  issued,  by  an  order  of  the  council,  the  heretical 
press  was  demolished,  and  the  publishers  ejected  from  the  church. 
It  is  difficult  to  decide  whether  this  trial,  which  is  one  of  the 
most  singular  instances  of  adjudication  to  be  found  on  record, 
was  the  result  of  insanity  or  depravity.  The  proceedings  were 
instituted  against  the  press  instead  of  the  owners,  who  were  not 
notified  to  attend.  Xo  jury  was  called,  the  witnesses  were  not 
required  to  testify  under  oath,  and  the  evidence  was  all  furnished 
by  the  plaintiffs  in  the  absence  of  the  defendants.  It  was  not 
difficult,  under  these  circumstances,  to  prove  that  the  publish 
ers  of  the  paper  Avere  the  vilest  of  sinners,  and  that  the  press  was 
the  greatest  nuisance,  hence  the  order  to  have  it  abated. 

The  holy  city  becoming  a  dangerous  place  of  residence  for  the 
seceding  Mormons,  they  retired  to  Carthage,  the  county  seat,  and 
obtained  warrants  for  the  arrest  of  Smith  and  the  members  of 
the  city  council  and  others  connected  with  the  destruction  of  the 
press.  Some  of  the  parties  having  been  arrested  and  discharged 
by  the  authorities  in  Kauvoo,  a  convention  of  citizens  assembled 
at  Carthage,  and  appointed  a  committee  to  wait  on  the  governor 
for  the  purpose  of  procuring  military  assistance  to  enforce  the  ex 
ecution  of  the  law  in  the  city.  The  governor,  on  learning  the 
position  of  affairs,  determined  to  visit  the  county  and  inquire  into 
the  nature  of  the  complaints  before  he  gave  his  official  sanction  to 
any  particular  course  of  action.  When  he  arrived  a  message  was 
sent  to  the  mayor  and  common  council  informing  them  of  the  com 
plaints  made  against  them,  and  requiring  that  a  committee  might 
be  sent  to  answer  the  charge.  A  number  of  persons  were  accord 
ingly  sent,  and  in  the  examination  which  ensued,  it  became  evi 
dent  that  the  whole  proceedings  of  the  mayor  and  common 
council  were  irregular  and  illegal.  Though  such  proceedings  could 
not  be  tolerated  in  a  country  claiming  to  be  governed  by  law  and 
order,  yet  they  were  excusable  to  some  extent  in  consequence  of 
undue  statements  frequently  made  to  the  Xauvoo  officials  by 

*The  Mormons  ma<le  no  efforts  to  conceal  their  design  of  monopolizing' the  lands  in 
the  vicinity  of  Nauvoo  to  the  exclusion  of  those  who  had  welcomed  them  with  such 
genuine  sympathy,  when  banished  from  Missouri.  It  is  said,  when  they  wished  to 
possess  the  property  of  a  g-entile  they  ottered  what  they  considered  a  reasonable 
price  for  it,  and  in  case  of  refusal  they  proceeded  to  enforce  acceptance  by  various 
intolerable  annoyances  Whittling'  was  resorted  to  as  one  method  of  vexation.  For 
this  purpose  three  peisons  were  appointed  who,  armed  with  sticks  and  jack-knives, 
took  a  position  in  front  of  the  obdurate  owner's  residence  and  commenced  whittling1. 
If  he  went  to  church,  the  post  office,  market  or  other  place  of  business,  they  followed 
him  whittling  If  he  expostulated,  became  angry,  threatened  or  swore, "they  ans 
wered  by  whittling-.  If  idle  boys  laugheu  and  jeered  the  victim,  his  tormentors  de 
murely  whittled  When  he  returned  home  the  whittlers  followed  and  again  tcok  their 
places  in  front  of  his  house  and  continued  their  annoyance  from  early  dawn  till  late 
at  nig-ht.  The  irritated  owner  could  not  look  from  a  window  without  encountering  the 
insolent  stare  of  his  persecutors,  who  were  still  whittling-  Generally  a  single  day,  it 
is  said,  Avas  sufficient  to  make  him  submit,  very  rarely  he  held  out  two  days,  but  never 
was  able  to  endure  more  than  three  days  of  this  ludicrous  yet  insufferable  martyrdom. 


THE  MORMONS.  503 


some  of  the  best  lawyers  in  the  State  who,  as  candidates  for 
office,  sought  their  support  by  purposely  exaggerating-  the  extent 
of  their  authority. 

The  destruction  of  the  press  was  a  blow  dealt  against  civil  lib 
erty,  and  hence  among  a  republican  people  jealous  of  their  rights, 
it  was  well  calculated  to  raise  a  name  of  excitement.  The 
Mormon  leaders,  if  honest,  little  understood  the  fact  that  a  well 
conducted  press  is  essential  to  a  free  government,  and  that  a 
profligate  one,  by  venality  and  falsehood,  is  sure  to  lose  its  influ 
ence  and  thus  defeat  the  improper  object  it  seeks  to  accomplish. 
Attempts  to  interfere  Avith  the  freedom  of  the  press  causes  the 
suppression  of  information  which  should  be  dessiminated  among 
the  people,  and  are  always  attended  with  a  greater  loss  to  civil 
liberty  than  can  possibl3'  result  from  the  temporary  indiscretions 
of  a  few  imprudent  publishers.  Besides,  when  calumnies  are  cir 
culated  in  this  manner  the  authors  are  amenable  to  the  law,  which 
is  the  proper  means  of  redress,  and  not  the  Avanton  destruction  of 
property. 

In  the  investigations  made  by  the  governor  while  at  Carthage, 
it  was  proved  that  Smith  sent  a  number  of  his  followers  to  Mis 
souri  for  the  purpose  of  kidnapping  two  witnesses  against  a  mem 
ber  of  the  church,  soon  to  be  tried  for  larceny;  that  he  had  as 
sailed  and  brutally  beaten  an  officer  of  the  county  for  an  alleged 
non-performance  of  duty,  when  in  consequence  of  sickness  he 
was  not  able  to  attend  to  it;  that  he  stood  indicted  for  perjury,  hav 
ing  falsely  sworn  to  an  accusation  of  murder  against  a  real  estate 
agent,  that  he  might  be  expelled  from  the  city,  and  not  interfere 
with  his  monopoly  as  a  land  speculator;  and  that  the  municipal 
court  of  which  he  was  chief  justice,  had  frequently  discharged 
Mormons  accused  of  crimes  committed  in  various  parts  of  the 
county,  thus  obstructing  the  administration  of  justice  and  making 
the  common  council  of  Xauvoo  independent  of  the  State  govern 
ment. 

In  addition  to  these  actual  infringements  of  law,  other  causes 
served  to  increase  the  tide  of  opposition  now  turned  against  the 
saints.  The  extravagance  of  their  theological  pretensions  had 
incurred  the  ill  will  of  other  denominations  of  religion,  while  the 
effort  to  elect  their  prophet  to  the  presidency  brought  them  in  con 
flict  with  the  zealots  and  bigots  of  both  political  parties  and  cov 
ered  them  with  ridicule.  A  fruitful  cause  of  hostile  feeling  grew 
out  of  the  fact  that  at  several  preceding  elections  they  cast  their 
vote  as  a  unit,  whereby  it  was  evident  that  no  one  in  the  country 
could  obtain  official  position  without  first  securing  their  support. 
It  was  believed  that  Smith  instructed  the  Danite  band,  which  he 
had  chosen  as  the  ministers  of  his  vengeance,  and  the  instruments 
of  the  intolerable  tyranny  which  he  exercised  over  his  people,  that 
no  blood,  except  that  of  the  church,  was  to  be  regarded  sacred  if 
it  contravened  the  accomplishment  of  his  object.  It  was  asserted 
that  he  inculcated  the  legality  of  perjury  and  other  crimes,  if  com 
mitted  to  advance  the  cause  of  the  true'  believers  ;  that  God  had 
given  the  world  and  all  that  it  contained  to  his  saints,  and  since 
they  were  kept  out  of  their  rightful  inheritance  by  force,  it  Avasno 
moral  offense  to  get  possession  of  it  by  stealing.  It  was  reported 
that  an  establishment  existed  in  Xauvoo  for  the  manufacture  of 
counterfeit  money,  and  that  a  set  of  outlaws  were  maintained 


504  HISTORY  OF   ILLINOIS. 

there  for  the  purpose  of  putting  it  in  circulation.  Statements 
were  circulated  to  the  effect  that  a  reward  had  been  offered  for  the 
destruction  of  the  Warsaw  Signal,  a  newspaper  published  at 
Warsaw,  in  opposition  to  Mormon  interests,  and  that  Mormons 
dispersed  over  tlie  country  threatened  all  persons  who  offered  to 
assist  the  constable  in  the  execution  of  the  law,  with  the  destruc 
tion  of  their  property  and  the  murder  of  their  families.  There 
were  rumors  also  afloat  that  an  alliance  had  been  formed  with  the 
Western  Indians,  and  in  case  of  war  they  would  be  used  in  mur 
dering-  their  enemies.  In  short,  if  only  one-half  of  these  reports 
were  true  the  Mormons  must  have  been  the  most  infamous  people 
fchat  ever  existed,  and  if  one  half  of  them  were  false  they  must 
have  been  the  worst  slandered. 

Previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  governor  the  whole  body  of  the 
militia  in  Schuyler  and  McDonough  counties  had  been  called 
out,  and  armed  forces  commenced  assembling  in  Carthage  and 
Warsaw  to  enforce  the  service  of  civil  process.  After  the  forces 
had  appointed  their  officers,  the  governor,  apprehensive  that  the 
Mormon  leaders  might  be  made  the  victims  of  popular  fury,  ex 
acted  a  pledge  from  both  officers  and  men  that  in  the  discharge 
of  their  duties  they  would,  under  all  circumstances,  keep  within 
the  pale  of  the  law.  All  signified  their  willingness  to  co-operate 
with  him  in  preserving  order,  promised  to  pursue  a  strictly  legal 
course  and  protect  the  persons  of  the  accused  in  case  of  violence. 
The  constable  and  ten  men  were  then  sent  to  make  the  arrest, 
being  instructed  to  inform  the  accused  that  if  they  peaceably 
submitted  they  would  be  protected,  but  if  not,  they  must  receive 
the  consequences,  as  the  whole  force  of  the  State,  if  necessary, 
would  be  called  out  to  enforce  submission. 

In  the  meantime.  Smith  had  declared  martial  law  ;  his  followers 
residing*  the  country,  were  summoned  to  his  assistance  5  the 
legion  was  assembled  and  underarms,  and  the  entire  city  was  one 
great  military  encampment,  no  ingress  or  egress  being  permitted 
except  on  the  strictest  examination.  However,  on  the  arrival  of 
the  constable  and  his  escort,  the  mayor  and  members  of  the  com 
mon  council  at  once  signified  their  willingness  to  surrender,  and 
accompany  them  on  the  following  morning  to  Carthage.  Failing 
to  make  their  appearance  at  the  appointed  time,  the  constable 
hastened  away  without  attempting  to  make  the  arrest.  It  was 
subsequently  ascertained  that  the  cause  of  the  hurried  departure 
was  the  fear  that  the  Mormons  would  submit  and  thus  entitle 
themselves  to  the  protection  of  the  law.  There  were  daring  and 
active  men  traversing  the  country  and  making  inn1  amatory  speeches, 
with  the  hope  that  a  popular  movement  might  be  inaugurated  for 
the  expulsion  of  the  Mormons  from  the  State.  The  constable 
and  those  who  accompanied  him  were  in  the  conspiracy,  and  en 
deavored,  by  the  partial  performance  of  their  duty,  to  create  a 
necessity  for  calling  out  an  overwhelmning  force  to  effect  this 
object.  The  artifice  was,  however,  soon  detected  by  the  governor, 
and  another  opportunity  given  the  accused  to  surrender.  A  requi 
sition  was  also  made  on  them  for  the  return  of  the  State  arms,  be 
cause  the  legion  to  which  they  had  been  entrusted  had  used  them, 
illegally  in  the  destruction  of  the  press,  and  the  enforcement  of 
martial  law  as  a  means  of  preventing  civil  process.  On  the  24th  of 
June,  1845,  in  obedience  to  the  last  summons,  Joe  Smith,  his  brother 


THE  MORMONS.  505 


Hiram,  the  members  of  the  city  council  and  others,  went  to 
Carthage,  and  surrendered  themselves  prisoners  to  the  constable, 
on  the  charge  of  riot.  All  entered  into  recognizance  before  a 
justice  of  the  peace  to  appear  at  court,  and  were  discharged.  A 
new  writ  was,  however,  immediately  issued  and  served  011  the  two 
Smiths,  and  both  were  arrested  and  thrown  into  prison,  llie 
prophet,  it  is  said,  whether  desirous  of  courting  martyrdom  or 
alarmed  at  the  popular  storm  which  threatened  him,  seemed  to 
have  a  presentiment  that  he  never  would  return  to  Nauvoo  alive. 
According  to  the  statement  at  Carthage,  he  remarked,  "I  am 
going  like  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter,  but  I  have  a  conscience  void 
of  oiience  toward  God  and  man." 

The  jail  in  which  the  prisoners  were  confined,  was  a  stone 
building  of  considerable  size,  furnished  with  a  suite  of  rooms  for 
the  jailer,  cells  for  the  close  confinement  of  convicts,  and  a  large 
apartment  not  so  strong  but  more  comfortable  than  the  cells.  The 
prisoners  were  first  confined  in  the  cells  by  the  jailor,  but  at  the 
remonstrance  of/  the  Mormons,  and  the  advice  of  the  governor, 
they  were  afterwards  transferred  to  the  large  apartment.  Avhere 
they  were  more  pleasantly  situated,  and  where  they  remained  till 
the  occurrence  of  the  tragedy  in  which  they  lost  their  lives.  No 
serious  apprehensions  were  entertained  of  an  attack  on  the  jail, 
nor  was  it  supposed  that  the  Smiths  would  make  an  effort  to  es 
cape.  At  the  time  the  prisoners  were  incarcerated,  the  forces  at 
Carthage  and  Warsaw,  amounted  to  1700  men,  most  of  whom  were 
anxious  to  be  led  into  Nauvoo  to  destroy  the  apparatus  with 
which  it  was  said  the  Mormons  manufactuaed  counterfeit  money. 
It  was  also  believed  by  the  governor,  that  if  an  imposing  demon 
stration  of  the  State  forces  should  be  made,  it  might  overaw  the 
Mormons  and  exert  a  salutary  influence  in  preventing  the  murders, 
robberies  and  burnings  apprehended  as  the  result  of  the  proceed 
ings  against  their  prophet.  In  accordance  with  this  view,  ar 
rangements  were  made  for  the  marching  of  the  troops  on  the  27, 
of  June,  and  Golden's  Point  near  the  Mississippi,  and  midway 
between  Warsaw  and  Nauvoo,was  selected  as  the  place  of  ren 
dezvous.  Before,  however,  the  movement  was  fully  inaugurated, 
the  governor  discovered  his  mistake,  and  immediately  counter 
manded  his  previous  orders  for  the  assembling  of  the  forces. 

It  was  observed,  as  the  preparations  for  marching  advanced, 
the  excitement  prevailing  the  public  mind  correspondingly 
increased,  and  threats  were  occassionally  made  to  destroy  the  city 
and  expel  the  inhabitants  from  the  State.  Subsequent  develop 
ments  rendered  it  evident  that'  an  agreement  had  been  made  by 
some  of  the  most  daring  and  reckless  spirits,  to  fire  on  the  forces 
of  the  State  when  they  arrived  in  Nauvoo,  and  afterwards  attrib 
ute  it  to  the  Mormons,  as  a  means  of  bringing  on  a  general 
engagement.  The  city  at  that  time  contained  a  population  of 
12,000  to  15,000  inhabitants,  many  of  whom  were  helpless  women 
and  children,  and  humanity  shudders  at  the  wanton  destruction 
of  life  and  property  that  must  have  resulted  from  such  blind  and 
obdurate  fury.  Besides,  if  the  disposition  had  existed  to  precipi 
tate  upon  the  city  a  calamity  of  this  kind,  the  forces  of  the  State 
were  inadequate  to  afford  such  protection  to  the  adjacent  country 
as  would  have  been  necessary.  After  the  surrender  of  the 
Smiths,  at  their  request,  Captain  Singleton  with  a  company  from 


500  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

Brown  county,  was  sent  to  take  command  of  the  Nauvoo  legion  and 

guard  the  city.  According  to  his  report,  when  the  legion  was  called 
out  for  inspection,  they  assembled  2000  strong  and  were  fully  equip 
ped  with  arms.  This  was  after  the  public  arms  had  been  taken 
away,  and  now  they  were  prepared  with  weapons  of  their  own  fur 
any  emergency.  The  State  forces  had  three  pieces  of  cannon,  1200 
muskets  and  rations  for  two  days,  after  which  they  would 
have  been  compelled  to  discontinue  operations  for  the  want  of 
subsistence.  It  was  therefore  deemed  advisable  to  abandon  the 
enterprise  as  impracticable,  and  the  forces  with  the  exception 
of  three  companies  were  accordingly  disbanded.  Two  of  these 
were  selected  to  guard  the  jail,  and  the  remaining  one  was  retain 
ed  as  an  escort  for  the  governor,  who  proposed  to  visit  Nauvoo 
for  the  purpose  of  inquiring  into  the  charges  preferred  against 
the  inhabitants,  and  to  warn  them  that  if  any  secret  violence 
should  be  committed  by  them  on  the  persons  or  property  of 
those  who  had  assisted  in  the  execution  of  the  law,  it  would 
inevitably  be  followed  by  the  most  summary  retribution. 

Leaving  Gen.  Dernningin  command  of  the  guards,  on  the  27th, 
of  June,  the  governor  accompanied  by  Col.  Buck  master,  and 
Captain  Davis'  dragoons,  departed  for  Nauvoo,  eighteen  miles 
distant.  Before  proceeding  far,  Col.  Buckmaster  informed  the 
governor  that  while  at  Carthage  some  circumstances  of  a  suspic 
ions  character  induced  him  to  believe  that  an  attack  upon  the  jail 
was  meditated.  The  latter,  however  was  incredulous.  It  was 
notorious  that  he  had  gone  to  Nauvoo,  and  it  was  not  probable 
that  while  there  any  outrage  would  be  committed  on  the  Smiths, 
which  would  endanger  his  own  safety  and  that  of  his  compan 
ions.  Nevertheless,  to  guard  against  all  possible  contingencies,  a 
messenger  was  sent  back  to  inform  the  guard  of  danger,  and  to 
insist  OH  their  defending  the  jail  at  the  peril  of  their  lives,  till 
the  governor  returned.  It  was  also  decided,  to  defer  to  some 
future  time  the  examination  of  the  misdemeanors  alleged  against 
the  Mormons,  that  the  company  might  immediately  return  and 
render  assistance,  in  case  the  jail  shouldbe  assaulted. 

The  parties  arrived  in  Nauvoo  about  4  o'clock  on  the  27th  of 
June,  and  as  soon  as  notice  could  be  given,  a  large  number  of  the 
inhabitants  convened  to  hear  a  discourse  from  the  governor.  In 
the  address  delivered,  the  illegal  action  of  their  public  functiona 
ries  was  explained  ;  they  were  advised  of  the  infamous  reports 
rife  in  all  the  country  respecting  their  conduct,  and  the  conse 
quent  prejudice  and  hostility  engendered  in  the  public  mind,  and 
admonished  that  in  future  they  would  have  to  act  with  great  cir 
cumspection,  or  their  lives  and  the  safety  of  their  city  would  fall 
a  sacrifice  to  popular  indignation.  During  the  delivery  of  the 
speech,  some  impatience  and  excitement  was  exhibited  by  the 
auditors  at  the  various  allegations  made  against  them,  whioji  they 
persistently  denied  as  untrue.  They  claimed  to  be  a  law  abiding 
people,  and  carefully  observed  its  provisions,  that  they  might  in 
turn  have  the  benefit  of  its  protection.  After  the  conclusion  of 
the  address,  the  question,  as  to  whether  they  Avould  conform  to  the 
laws  of  the  State,  in  opposition  to  the  advice  of  their  leaders,  was 
submitted  to  a  vote,  which  resulted  unanimously  in  favor  of  the 
proposition.  Their  subsequent  conduct,  however,  proved  that 


THE   MORMONS.  507 


when  guilty  of  the  greatest  extravagances,  they  would  make  the 
loudest  professions  of  attachment  to  law  and  order. 

The  party  left  the  city  a  short  time  before  sundown,  and  had 
not  gone  far  before  they  met  two  messengers,  who  informed  them 
that  the  Smiths  had  been  assassinated  about  five  o'clock  that 
afternoon.  All  were  astounded  at  the  reception  of  this  intelli 
gence,  and  fearful  apprehensions  were  entertained  respecting  the 
consequences  likely  to  ensue  from  the  massacre.  The  Mormons 
were  an  infatuated,  fanatical  people,  not  likely  to  be  influenced  by 
the  motives  which  ordinarily  govern  the  conduct  of  men,  and  a 
desultory  war  might  be  the  result.  To  prevent  the  news  reaching 
2fauvoo  the  messengers  were  ordered  into  custody,  and  the  gov 
ernor  hastened  to  Carthage  to  be  in  readiness  for  the  outburst  of  ex 
citement  and  lawlessness  that  might  follow  the  dissemination  of  the 
intelligence.  A  courier  was  also  despatched  to  Carthage  to  inform 
the  citizens  of  the  tragedy.  They,  however,  appeared  to  under 
stand  the  matter  better  than  the  messenger,  and  before  his  arrival 
had  commenced  removing  their  families  across  the  river  to  guard 
against  impending  danger.  The  ensuing  night  they  sent  a  com 
mittee  to  Quincy  for  help,  and  at  an  early  hour  on  the  following 
morning  a  large  concourse  of  the  citizens  assembled  to  devise 
means  of  defense.  At  the  meeting  it  was  reported  that  the  Mor 
mons  had  attempted  to  rescue  the  Smiths;  that  a  party  of  Mis- 
sourians  and  others  had  killed  them  to  prevent  their  escape  ;  that 
the  governor  and  his  cortege,  who  were  in  ^Tauvoo  at  the  time, 
had  been  attacked  by  the  legion  and  forced  to  take  refuge  in  a 
house,  and  that  if  assistance  was  not  furnished  within  two  days 
he  would  fall  a  victim  to  Mormon  vengeance.  A  force  of  some 
250  men  was  immediately  raised,  and  by  ten  o'clock  the  same 
morning  they  embarked  on  a  boat  and  steamed  down  to  Nauvoo 
to  assist  in  rescuing  the  governor.  On  arriving  at  the  city  the 
whole  story  proved  a  fabrication  originated  to  intensify  the  excite 
ment  and  cause  a  collision  between  the  Mormons  and  State  forces. 
Subsequent  evidence  also  rendered  it  highly  probable  that  the 
conspirators  connected  with  the  assassination  contemplated 
involving  the  governor  in  the  same  misfortune.  Circumstan-' 
ces  warranted  the  conclusion  that  the  assassins  had  arranged 
that  the  murder  should  occur  while  the  governor  was  in 
Isauvoo :  that  the  Mormons  on  hearing  the  catastrophe  would 
suspect  him  as  an  accomplice,  and  at  the  first  outburst  of  indig 
nation  put  him  to  death  as  a  means  of  retaliation.  The  motive 
for  this  treacherous  attempt  against  the  executive  officer  of  the 
State  was  to  arouse  a  spirit  of  opposition,  and  cause  the  exter 
mination  of  the  Mormons. 

The  governor  arrived  in  Carthage  about  ten  o'clock,  and  found 
the  citizens  in  a  state  of  consternation,  some  having  left  and 
others  preparing  to  follow.  One  of  the  companies  which  had 
been  left  to  guard  the  jail,  departed  before  the  attack  was  made, 
and  many  of  the  others  left  shortly  afterward.  General  Deming, 
who  was  absent  when  the  murder  occurred,  volunteered  to  remain 
and  guard  the  town  with  the  small  force  which  remained,  unless 
compelled  to  retire  before  superior  numbers.  The  governor  retired 
to  Quincy  and  immediately  issued  orders  for  provisionally  raising 
and  equipping  an  imposing  force,  in  case  they  should  be  needed. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 
1844-G— MORMON  WAR. 

Manner  of  Smith's  Death — Character  of  the  Mormons — Apostles 
Assume  the  Government  of  the  Church — Trial  and  Acquittal  of 
the  Assassins — Saints  Driven  from  the  Vicinity  of  Lima  and 
Green  Plains — Leading  Mormons  Retire  Across  the  Mississippi — 
^Battle  at  Nauvoo — Expulsion  of  the  Inhabitants. 


When  the  assassination  of  the  Mormons  became  known,  it  ap 
peared  that  the  force  at  Nauvoo,  agreeably  to  orders,  had  marched 
on  the  morning  of  the  27th  in  the  direction  of  Golden's  Point  to 
form  a  connection  with  troops  at  that  place,  but  after  they  had 
advanced  about  8  miles  they  were  met  by  a  messenger  from 
Carthage  with  an  order  to  disband  and  return  home  $  the  gover 
nor,  who  issued  it,  fearing  he  could  not  control  the  inflammable 
material  he  was  collecting,  determined  to  scatter  it.  About  150 
of  the  men,  instead  of  complying  with  the  order,  blackened 
their  faces  with  powder,  hurriedly  started  for  Carthage  and  eu- 
camped-some  distance  from  the  village.  Here  they  learned  that 
one  of  the  companies  left  to  guard  the  Smiths,  had  gone  home 
and  that  the  other,  the  Carthage  Grays,  was  stationed  in  the 
square,  150  yards  distant,  and  that  Sergeant  Franklin  A.  Worrel, 
with  only  8  men,  was  detailed  to  watch  the  prisoners.  As  soon 
fas  messages  could  be  interchanged  it  was  agreed  among  the  con 
spirators  that  the  guns  of  the  guard  should  be  charged  with 
blank  cartridges  and  tired  on  the  assailants,  when  they  should 
attempt  to  enter  the  jail. 

Gen.  Derning,  who  had  been  left  in  command,  discovering  the 
plot  to  assassinate  the  Smiths,  and  having  been  deserted  by  the  prin 
cipal  part  of  the  troops,  retired  from  the  village,  lest  an  attempt 
should  be  made  on  his  own  life.  After  perfecting  their  scheme  of 
murder,  the  assailants  scaled  the  slight  fence  enclosing  the  jail, 
and  immediately  disarming  the  guards,  who  according  to  agree 
ment  discharged  their  pieces,  they  ascended  the  flight  of 
stairs  leading  to  the  room  containing  the  prisoners.  At  the  time 
the  assault  was  made,  two  other  Mormons,  Richards  and  Tailor 
as  visitors,  were  in  the  large  apartment  with  the  Smiths.  Hearing 
the  rush  on  the  stairs,  the  imperilled  men  instinctively  held  the 
door  by  pressing  their  weight  against  it.  The  attacking  party 
thus  denied  entrance,  fired  upon  the  door,  and  the  bullets  passing 
through  it,  killed  Hiram  Smith,  who  falling,  exclaimed  •"  I  am  a 
dead  man."  Tailor  receiving  4  wounds,  retreated  under  the 
bed,  and  Richards,  after  the  door  was  burst  open,  secreted  himself 

508 


MORMON  WAR.  509 


behind  it,  though  afterward  in  relating  the  murder,  he  claimed 
that  he  stood  in  the  midst  of  danger,  warding  off  the  balls  with 
a  consecrated  wand.  The  prophet,  armed  with  a  six  barrelled  pis 
tol  which  had  been  furnished  by  his  friends,  fought  bravely  in 
defence  of  his  life,  and  wounded  four  of  his  antagonists  before  he 
was  killed.  At  length  when  his  pistol  was  exhausted,  severely 
wounded,  lie  ran  to  the  window,  and  partly  leaped  and  partly  fell 
into  the  yard  below;  there  with  his  last  dying  energies  he  gath 
ered  himself  up  in  a  sitting  posture,  but  his  disabled  condition 
and  vague,  wandering  glances  excited  no  compassion  in  the  in 
furiated  mob,  thirsting  for  his  blood.  The  broils  which  had  so 
long  distracted  the  country,  infused  into  the  avengers  the  spirit 
of  demons,  and  the  shooting  of  Smith  was  not  considered  any 
more  criminal  than  taking  the  life  of  a  wolf  or  tiger.  While  in 
this  position  a  party  of  Missouri  an  8  discharged  their  guns  at  him, 
and  he  fell  crying  out  "Oh  Lord  my  God."  Four  balls  had 
pierced  his  body  and  before  the  smoke  cleared  away  the  Mormon 
prophet  was  no  more.* 

When  the  tragedy  was  over  horror  succeeded  the  frenzied  rage 
which  had  possessed  the  assassins,  and  in  silence  they  hurried 
across  the  dusty  prairies  to  Warsaw,  18  miles  distant. 
The  murder  occurred  at  half-past  five,  and,  at  a  quarter  before 
eight  the  fugitives  dragged  their  weary  limbs  along  the  streets 
of  Warsaw,  at  such  an  astounding  rate  had  the  lash  of  a  guilty 
conscience  driven  them.  An  outburst  of  vengeance  on  the  part  of 
the  Mormons  was  anticipated,  but  nothing  of  the  kind  occurred. 
The  appalling  disaster  which  had  thus  befallen  the  church  was 
not  followed  by  revenge,  and  it  was  a  long  time  before  they  re 
covered  from  the  stupor  and  despair  attending  it.  A  delegation 
repaired  to  Carthage  for  their  dead,  and  on  returning  to  Nauvoo 
they  were  buried  with  the  honors  belonging  to  the  general  of  the 
legion. 

"Thus  fell  Joe  Smith,  the  most  successful  impostor  of  modern 
times.  A  man  who,  though  ignorant  and  coarse,  had  some  great 
natural  parts  which  fitted  him  for  temporary  success,  but  which 
were  so  obscured  and  counteracted  by  the  inherent  corruption  and 
rices  of  his  nature  that  he  could  never  succeed  in  establishing  a 
system  of  policy  which  looked  to  permanent  success  in  the  future. 
His  lusts,  his  love  of  money  and  power,  always  set  him  to  study 
ing  present  gratification  and  convenience,  rather  than  the  remote 
consequences  of  his  plans.  It  seems  that  no  power  of  intellect 
can  save  a  corrupt  man  from  this  error.  The  strong  cravings  of 
the  animal  nature  will  never  give  fair  pi  ay  to  a  fine  understanding; 
the  judgment  is  never  allowed  to  choose  that  good  which  is  far 
away,  in  preference  to  enticing  evil  near  at  hand.  And  this  may 
be  considered  a  wise  ordinance  of  Providence,  by  which  the  coun 
sels  of  talented  but  corrupt  men  are  defeated  in  the  very  act  which 
promised  success. 

"  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  pretended  prophet  practiced 
the  tricks  of  a  common  impostor;  that  he  was  a  dark  and  gloomy 
person,  with  a  long  beard  and  grave  and  severe  aspect,  and  a  re 
served  and  saintly  carriage;  on  the  contrary  he  was  full  of  levity, 
even  to  boyish  romping,  dressed  like  a  dandy  and  at  times  drank 


*  John  Hay  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly  of  December,  1869 


510  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

like  a  sailor  and  swore  like  a  pirate.  He  could,  as  occasion  re 
quired,  be  exceedingly  meek  in  Iris  deportment,  and  then  again, 
rough  and  boisterous  as  a  highway  robber,  being  always  able  to 
satisfy  his  followers  of  the  propriety  of  his  conduct.  He  always 
quailed  before  power,  and  was  arrogant  to  weakness.  At  times 
he  could  put  on  the  air  of  a  penitent,  as  if  feeling  the  deepest  hu- 
iniliation  for  his  sins,  suffering  unutterable  anguish  and  the  most 
gloomy  forebodings  of  eternal  woe.  At  such  times  he  would  call 
for  the  prayers  of  the  brethren  in  his  behalf  with  a  wild  and  fear 
ful  energy  and  earnestness.  He  was  full  six  feet  high,  strongly 
built  and  uncommonly  well  muscled.  No  doubt  he  was  as  muck 
indebted  for  his  influence  over  an  ignorant  people  to  the  superi 
ority  of  his  physical  vigor  as  to  his  cunning  and  intellect.*" 

The  Mormon  church  at  this  time,  consisted  of  two  classes,  the 
rulers  and  the  ruled,  knavery  in  the  one  and  credulity  in  the 
other  being  the  heterogeneous  characteristics  which  kept  them 
together.  The  former  consisted  of  unprincipled  men  of  talent, 
who,  abandoned  in  character  and  bankrupt  in  fortune,  espoused 
the  cause  of  Morinonism.  for  speculative  purposes,  knowing  it  was 
an  adventure  in  which  the}*  had  nothing  to  lose,  while  it  might  be 
the  means  of  retrieving  their  fortunes.  Having  neither  respect 
for  God  nor  man,  and  not  reverencing  any  religion,  they  proposed, 
like  Mahomet  and  others,  to  found  a  new  system  of  theology,  and 
if  they  could  impose  it  on  the  credulity  of  mankind  and  live  on 
the  labor  of  their  dupes,  they  had  no  higher  object  to  accomplish. 
They  formed  a  nucleus  which  attracted  to  JSiauvoo  adventurers 
and  adepts  in  every  species  of  crime,  while  the  extraordinary 
powers  wliich  had  been  conferred  on  the  city  authorities  enabled 
them  to  screen  the  guilty  from  the  penalties  of  the  laws  they  habit 
ually  violated.  At  their  social  entertainments,  where  music  and 
dancing  constituted  the  principal  pastime,  great  attention  was 
paid  to  dress,  while  little  prudence  was  exercised  in  the  selection 
of  their  company.  There  were  in  the  same  gay  assemblage  the 
brazen-faced  desperado  who  despised  the  law,  and  the  venal  mag 
istrate  who  protected  him  in  his  crimes,  the  wanton  wife  and  the 
truant  husband  on  an  equal  footing  with  those  who  respected  the 
sanctity  of  marriage,  the  reckless  adventurer  in  search  of  fortune, 
and  the  successful  impostor  in  possession  of  ecclesiastical  emolu 
ments  and  honors.  Discordant  and  incongruous  in  nature,  they 
managed  to  keep  time  to  the  same  music,  and  to  forget  minor  dif 
ferences,  provided  their  principal  objects,  sensual  pleasure  and 
public  -plunder,  were  subserved. 

The  lay  members  of  the  church,  on  the  other  hand,  were  gener 
ally  honest  and  industrious  but  ignorant,  and  the  dupes  of  an 
artful  delusion.  In  devotion  to  the  principles  which  they  pro 
fessed,  they  were  not  surpassed  by  the  believers  of  other  creeds, 
for  humanity  exhibits  little  difference  in  this  respect,  whatever 
may  be  the  system  of  religion.  If  the  system  is  crude,  the  intel 
ligent  devotee  rejects  it,  but  if  his  want  of  knowledge  allows  him 
to  believe  it  he  will  adhere  to  its  dogmas  with  a  tenacity  equal  to 
that  exhibited  by  the  enlightened  advocate  of  a  rational  theology. 
With  the  great  majority  of  tne  Mormons  their  religious  belief 
amounted  almost  to  infatuation,  and  they  were,  therefore,  more 

*Ford's  History. 


MORMON  WAR.  511 


properly  objects  of  compassion  than  persecution.  Certainly  no 
greater  calamity  can  befall  a  member  of  the  human  family  than 
to  have  the  adoration  which  lie  otters  the  Deity  perverted  by  the 
vagaries  of  such  a  monstrous  superstition. 

Mormon  ism,  instead  of  perishing  by  the  death  of  Smith,  received 
a  new  impetus  from  his  martyrdom.  His  followers  now  regarded 
him  as  a  saint ;  his  words  on  going  to  Carthage  were  adduced 
as  fresh  proof  of  his  prophetic  character,  and  a  thousand  stories 
were  circulated  respecting  the  meekness  with  which  he  met  death. 
Prophecies  were  published  that  in  imitation  of  Christ  he  would 
raise  from  the  dead.  Many  confidently  expected  the  fulfillment 
of  these  predictions,  and  in  due  time  it  was  reported  he  was  seen, 
attended  by  a  celestial  army,  coursing  his  way  through  the  heavens 
on  a  great  white  horse. 

The  principle  that  the. death  of  the  martyr  is  the  seed  of  the 
church,  proved  true  in  regard  to  Mormonism.  Smith,  though  well 
qualified  to  originate  a  movement  of  this  kind,  was  unable  to 
safely  direct  it  through  the  complication  of  perils  which  always 
besets  religious  innovation.  By  dying  he  made  room  for  Brigham 
Young,  the  present  head  of  the  church,  who,  by  his  superior  ad 
ministrative  ability,  perhaps,  saved  the  Mormon  theocracy  from 
disorganization  and  its  subjects  from  dispersion.  Cunning  and 
duplicity  may  be  used  by  the  founders  of  a  sect,  but  great  pru 
dence  and  judgment  best  befits  him  who  would  afterwards  har 
monize  its  jarring  elements  and  shape  its  future  career. 

The  church,  as  originally  organized,  contained  3  presidents, 
Joseph  Smith.  Hiram  Smith  and  Sidney  liigdon,  and  12  apos 
tles.  The  latter  were  abroad,  and  till  they  could  return  home  the 
saints  were  in  doubt  as  to  the  future  government  of  the  church. 
Kigdon,  being  the  only  surviving  member  of  the  presidency, 
claimed  the  government,  and  fortified  his  pretensions  by  declaring 
that  the  will  of  the  prophet  was  in  his  favor,  and  that  he  had  re 
ceived  several  new  revelations  to  the  same  effect.  One  of  his  rev 
elations,  requiring  the  wealthy  to  dispose  of  their  possessions  and 
follow  him  to  Pennsylvania,  rendered  him  unpopular,  the  rich 
being  reluctant  to  part  with  their  property,  and  the  poor  un 
willing  to  be  deserted  by  those  whose  patronage  enabled  them  to 
live.  When  the  apostles  returned  a  fierce  conflict  arose  between 
them  and  Rigdon  for  supremacy,  which  resulted  in  the  expulsion 
of  the  latter  from  the  church. 

He  afterwards  retired  with  a  small  fragment  of  the  saints,  and 
established  a  little  delusion  of  his  own  near  Pittsburgh,  while  the 
larger  part  submitted  to  the  apostles,  with  Brigham  Young,  a 
talented  but  dishonest  and  licentious  man,  as  their  leader. 

Missionaries  to  the  number  of  3,000  were  now  sent  abroad 
to  preach  in  the  name  of  the  martyred  Joseph,  and  Mor- 
monisni  increased  more  rapidly  than  it  had  at 'any  time  in  its  past 
history.  In  their  wild  enthusiasm  they  were  willing  to  compass 
sea  and  land  to  make  a  single  convert,  and  eA'erywhere  they  went 
they  found  the  ignorant  and  credulous  ready  to  become  infatuated 
with  their  strange  fanaticism.  No  other  religion  promised  such 
great  spiritual  and  temporal  advantage  with  such  little  self-denial, 
and  not  only  dupes  but  sharpers  united  with  the  church,  and  it 
is  said  that  within  14  years  after  its  organization  it  numbered  200,- 
000  members.  The  missionaries  always  informed  their  wondering 


512  HISTORY   OF    ILLINOIS. 

and  deluded  converts  that  it  was  necessary  to  repair  to  the  place  of 
gathering1  where  the  sublime  fill  In  ess  of  the  gospel  alone  could  be 
fully  revealed  and  enjoyed.  When  removed  thither,  by  seeing 
and  hearing  nothing  but  Mormon  ism,  and  associating  with  those 
who  placed  implicit  confidence  in  its  dogmas,  they  ultimately  be 
came  so  deluded  as  to  believe  the  greatest  extravagances  and 
submit  to  the  most  intolerable  despotism.  Many  by  this  system 
of  training  became  devoted  disciples,  who  would  have  spurned 
the  empty  pretensions  and  licentiousness  of  their  religion,  had  it 
at  first  been  presented  to  them  in  its  real  deformity. 

About  a  year  after  the  apostles  had  assumed  the  reins  of  gov 
ernment,  they  concluded  to  suspend  for  a  time  their  efforts  to 
convert  the  world,  and  accordingly  their  missionaries  and  all 
others  connected  with  the  church  were  called  home.  In  a  short 
time  Mormons  commenced  pouring  into  ^Nauvoo  from  all  parts  of 
the  world,  and  the  infuriated  elders,  instead  of  expounding  the 
gospel  to  the  congregations  which  were  regularly  called  together, 
indulged  in  a  tirade  of  abuse  against  the  gentiles,  curses  on  the 
government  and  all  who  were  not  of  the  Mormon  church  or  its 
tools.  Kor  were  the  anti-Mormons  or  those  who  opposed  them 
idle.  The  death  of  the  Smiths  had  not  appeased  their  desire 
for  vengeance,  and  more  determined  than  ever  to  expel  their 
adversaries  from  the  country,  they  frequently  called  on  the  gov 
ernor  for  aid.  The  Mormons  also  invoked  the  assistance  of  the 
executive  in  punishing  the  murderers  of  their  prophet,  and  both 
parties  were  thoroughly  disgusted  with  the  constitutional  provisons 
which  imposed  restraint  on  the  summary  attainment  of  their 
unlawful  designs.  The  elections  coining  off  in  August,  1844,  for 
members  of  the  legislature  and  congress,  and  another  pending 
for  the  presidency  of  the  United  State,  further  complicated  the 
difficulties  and  enmities  of  the  parties.  The  whig  politicians, 
who  were  unable  to  secure  their  support,  uniting  with  the  anti- 
Mormons,  sent  invitations  to  the  militia  captains  of  Hancock  and 
all  the  adjoining  counties  of  Illinois,  Missouri  and  Iowa  to  ren 
dezvous  with  their  companies  in  the  vicinity  of  Nauvoo,  prepara 
tory  to  engaging  in  a  wolf  hunt,  it  being  understood  that  the 
Mormons  were  the  game  to  be  hunted.  Preparations  were  made 
for  raising  several  thousand  men;  the  anti-Mormons  commenced 
anew  the  most  exaggerated  accounts  of  Mormon  outrages,  the 
whig  press  in  every  part  of  the  United  States  came  to  their  assist 
ance,  and  the  publications  of  the  opposite  party,  which  had  hith- 
erty  been  friendly,  now  quailed  under  the  tempest  which  followed, 
leaving  the  denunciated  and  discredited  sheet  at  Nauvoo  alone  to 
correct  public  opinion.  Prominent  politicians  who  had  received 
the  Mormon  vote,  were  now  unwilling  to  risk  their  reputation  in 
defending  them,  so  great  was  the  cowardice  of  the  one  and  the 
odious  character  of  the  other. 

In  the  meantime,  the  anti-Mormon  force,  which  had  been  sum 
moned  to  meet  in  the  guise  of  hunters,  commenced  assembling  for 
the  purpose  of  assaulting  Nauvoo,  and  driving  its  inhabitants  out 
of  the  country.  To  avert  the  blow,  the  governor,  assisted  by  Gen. 
J.  J.  Hardin,  and  Cols.  Baker  and  Merriman,  raised  a  force  of  500 
men  and  marched  to  the  scene  of  the  threatened  outbreak.  When 
he  arrived  a  large  part  of  the  malcontents  tied  across  the  river  into 
Missouri.  Flight,  however,  was  unnecessary,  for  the  State  forces 


MORMON  WAR.  513 


had  not  been  long  in  the  disaffected  district  before  they  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  rioters,  and  instead  of  driving  them  out  as  enemies, 
were  disposed  to  receive  them  as  friends.  Despite  his  demor 
alized  forces,  the  governor,  whose  sense  of  justice  seems  to  have  been 
in  part  sharpened  by  political  motives,  determined  to  follow  the 
fugitives  and  arrest  three  of  their  leaders,  against  whom  writs  had 
been  issued  for  the  murder  of  the  Smiths.  Boats  were  procured 
and  secretly  landed  a  mile  above  Warsaw,  and  the  troops  marched 
to  the  same  place,  preparatory  to  crossing  the  river  and  seizing  the 
accused. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  Colonel  Baker  visited  the  encamp 
ment  and  effected  arrangements  for  the  surrender  of  the  alleged 
assassins,  and  the  further  prosecution  of  the  expedition  was 
abandoned.  Two  of  the  suspected  persons  accordingly  recrossecl 
the  river  and  surrendered  themselves  prisoners,  it  having  been 
agreed  that  they  should  be  taken  to  Quincy  for  examination  ;  that 
the  attorney  for  the  people  should  be  advised  to  admit  them  to 
bail,  and  that  they  should  be  tried  at  the  next  term  of  the  Carthage 
court.  The  faith  of  the  governor  had  been  pledged  for  the  protection 
of  the  Smiths,  and  he  deemed  it  especially  important  that  their 
assassins  should  be  punished  as  a  means  of  vindicating  the  honor 
of  the  State,  restoring  the  supremacy  of  the  law  and  preventing 
the  recurrence  of  such  infamous  crimes  in  the  future.  Able 
lawyers  were  therefore  secured  to  prosecute  the  prisoners,  and  the 
trial  came  off  in  the  summer  of  1845.  The  panel  of  jurors 
selected  by  the  Mormon  officials  of  the  county  was  rejected,  in  con 
sequence  of  being  effected  by  prejudice,  and  two  elisors  were 
chosen,  one  a  Mormon  and  the  other  an  anti-Mormon,  to  select  a 
new  one.  Ninety-six  persons  were  presented,  before  any 
could  be  found  sufficiently  ignorant  and  indifferent  to  administer 
justice.  They  all  swore  they  had  never  formed  nor  expressed  an 
opinion  as  to  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  prisoners,  although 
at  the  same  time  they  belonged  to  a  military  mob,  which  to  the 
number  of  1,000  men  was  in  attendance  with  arms"  to  overawe  the 
Mormons  and  extort  from  the  court  the  verdict  in  favor  of  the 
accused.  The  principal  Mormon  witnesses  were  Brackenbury, 
Daniels,  and  a  Miss  Graham.  The  first  two  had  accompanied  the 
expedition  from  Warsaw  to  Carthage,  had  witnessed  the  killing 
of  the  Smiths,  and  were  able  to  identify  the  murderers.  From 
Carthage  they  went  to  Nauvoo,  where  they  united  with  the 
church  and  were  boarded  by  the  Mormons  to  secure  their  evidence 
at  the  trial.  While  here  Brackenbury  secured  the  services  of  a 
sign  painter  who  executed  the  death  and  ascension  of  Smith, 
which  he  exhibited  ostensibility  for  the  spiritual  edification  of  the 
saints,  but  more  for  the  augmentation  of  his  own  private  resources. 
Daniels,  not  to  be  outdone  by  his  associate,  wrote  an  account  of 
the  death  of  Smith,  in  which,  among  a  great  many  other  absurd 
ities,  he  says  he  beheld  descending  from  heaven  and  resting  on  the 
head  of  Smith,  a  bright  light,  which  struck  some  of  his  murderers 
with  blindness,  and  that  he  heard  celestial  voices  confirming  his 
mission  asaprophet.  Owing  to  these  fictions,  the  evidence  both  of 
the  showman  and  scribbler  was  rejected  as  invalid.  Miss  Graham 
was  present  and  assisted  in  feeding  the  hungry  mob  at  the  War 
saw  House,  after  it  came  straggling  in  from  Carthage.  Her« 
nervous  and  sensitive  organization,  however,  had  been  so  wrought 
33 


514  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

upon  by  the  Mormon  delusion,  thatshe  was  unable  to  distinguish  her 
suspicions  and  fancies  from  actual  facts,  and  so  blended  them  in 
her  evidence  that  it  was  contended  she  proved  nothing  except 
her  own  honest  but  insane  zeal.  Other  witnessess  were  examined 
who  knew  all  the  facts,  but  under  the  dominating  influence  of  a 
faction  they  refused  to  divulge  them.  The  judge  was  held  in 
duress  by  an  armed  mob,  which  filled  the  court  house,  and  stamped 
applause  or  hissed  defiance,  according  as  they  approved  or  disap 
proved  the  proceedings.  The  trial  closed  and  though  there  was 
not  a  man  in  the  jury,  court  house,  or  county,  that  did  not  know 
the  prisoners  had  committed  the  murder,  yet  nothing  could  be 
proved  and  they  were  accordingly  acquitted. 

At  a  subsequent  term  of  the  court  the  Mormons  were  tried  for 
the  destruction  of  the  heretical  press.  The  tribunal  in  this  case 
consisted  of  a  Mormon  court,  a  Mormon  sheriff  and  a  Mormon 
jury,  selected  on  account  of  their  partiality  for  the  accused,  as  in 
the  previous  trial,  yet  all  swore  that  they  knew  nothing  of  the 
guilt  or  innocence  of  the  defendants,  who  of  course  were  ac 
quitted.  No  leading  man  of  either  faction  could  now  be  arrested 
without  the  aid  of  an  army,  and  when  thus  secured,  neither  party 
would  permit  an  impartial  trial  in  their  own  county,  and  since  a 
change  of  venue  to  a  disinterested  locality  could  not  be  effected 
without  the  consent  of  the  accused,  it  was  impossible  to  convict 
any  one  of  a  partisan  crime.  The  administration  of  the  criminal 
law  was  impossible,  civil  government  was  at  an  end,  and  the  en 
tire  community  was  in  a  frightful  state  of  anarchy. 

During  the  summer  and  fall  of  1845,  several  occurrences  trans 
pired,  calculated  to  increase  the  irritation  existing  between  the 
Mormons  and  their  neighbors.  A  suit  was  instituted  in  the  cir 
cuit  court  of  the  United  States  against  one  of  the  apostles  to  re 
cover  a  note  given  in  Ohio,  and  a  marshal  was  sent  to  summon 
the  defendants,  but  they  refused  to  be  served  with  the  process. 
Indignation  meetings  were  held  by  the  saints,  inflamatory  speech 
es  delivered  by  their  principal  men,  and  the  marshal  threatened 
for  attempting  to  serve  the  writs,  while  it  was  agreed  that  no 
further  attempts  of  that  kind  should  be  made  in  Nauvoo.  About 
the  same  time  an  anti-Mormon  made  an  assault  upon  Gen. 
JDeming  the  sheriff*  of  the  court,  and  was  killed  by  the  latter  in 
repelling  the  attack.  The  vanquished  party  had  many  friends, 
and  his  death  occasioned  a  fresh  outburst  of  passion.  To  allay 
the  storm,  the  officer  who  was  believed  to  be  friendly  to  the  Mor 
mons  was  held  to  bail,  although  he  had  acted  strictly  in  self- 
defence,  and  was  therefore  not  guilty.  It  was  also  discovered  in 
trying  the  right  of  property  at  Lima,  in  Adams  county,  that  the 
Mormons  had  an  institution  connected  with  their  church  to  secure 
their  effects  from  execution.  It  was  an  association  of  five  persons, 
any  of  whom  was  to  own  all  the  property,  and  in  the  avent  of  its 
being  levied  on  for  debt,  they  could  refer  the  ownership  to  such  a 
member  of  the  firm  as  would  defeat  the  execution.  Incensed  at 
this  action,  the  anti-Mormons  of  Lima  and  Green  Plains,  held  a 
meeting  to  devise  means  for  the  expulsion  of  the  Mormons  from 
that  part  of  the  country.  It  was  accordingly  arranged  that  a 
number  of  their  own  party  should  fire  on  the" building  in  which 
the.\  were  assembled,  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  injure  any  one, 
and  then  report  that  the  Mormons  had  commenced  the  work  of 


MORMON  WAR.  515 


plunder  and  death.  This  plot  was  duly  executed,  and  the  start 
ling  intelligence  soon  called  together  a  mob,  which  threatened  the 
Mormons  with  fire  and  sword  if  they  did  not  immediately  leave 
the  neighborhood.  The  Mormons  of  this  locality  had  previously 
annoyed  the  inhabitants  by  petty  larcenies,  and  now  refusing  to 
depart,  the  mob  at  once  executed  their  threats  by  burning  125 
houses  and  forcing  the  inmates  to  flee  for  their  lives.  The  fugitives 
arrived  in  Nauvoo  in  the  midst  of  the  sickly  season,  carrying  with 
them  the  infirm,  whose  pitiable  condition  excited  the  utmost  indig 
nation  among  the  inhabitants. 

As  soon  as  the  intelligence  of  these  events  reached  Springfield, 
the  governor  ordered  Gen.  Hardin  to  raise  a  body  of  men  sufficient 
to  enforce  the  law,  but  before  it  was  ready  to  march,  the  sheriff 
of  the  county  took  the  matter  in  his  own  hands.  Gen.  Deming, 
the  former  sheriff,  was  dead,  and  J.  B.  Backinstos,  his  successor 
and  a  prominent  Mormon,  owing  to  unpopularity  was  unable  to 
get  assistance  from  the  anti-Mormons,  although  many  of  them 
were  strongly  opposed  to  the  riotous  proceedings.  He,  therefore, 
hastened  to  Nauvoo  and  armed  several  hundred  Mormons,  estab 
lished  a  permanent  guard  at  Carthage,  and  swept  over  other 
parts  of  the  county  in  search  of  the  incendiaries.  The  guilty 
parties  fleeing  to  the  neighboring  counties  of  Illinois,  Iowa  and 
Missouri,  he  was  unable  to  bring  them  to  battle  or  make  any 
arrests.  One  man,  however,  was  killed  without  provocation, 
another  attempting  to  escape  was  shot,  and  afterwards  hacked  and 
mutilated  as  if  he  had  been  murdered  by  Indians,  and  Franklin  A. 
Worrel,  who  had  command  of  the  jail,  and  betrayed  his  trust  in 
consenting  to  the  assassination  of  the  Smiths,  lost  his  life  from 
the  effect  of  a  rifle  ball  discharged  by  some  unknown  person  con 
cealed  for  that  purpose  in  a  thicket.  The  anti-Mormons  also  com 
mitted  one  murder.  A  party  of  them  set  fire  to  a  quantity  of 
straw  near  the  barn  of  an  old  Mormon  ninety  years  of  age,  and 
when  he  appeared  to  extinguish  the  flames,  he  was  shot  and 
killed.  The  perpetrators  of  this  cold  blooded  murder  were  after 
wards  examined  before  an  anti-Mormon  justice  of  the  peace  and 
discharged,  though  their  guilt  was  sufficiently  apparent. 

The  Anti-Mormons  having  left  their  property  exposed  in  their 
precipitate  retreat  from  the  county,  those  who  had  been  burnt  out 
of  their  homes  sallied  forth  from  ^auvoo  and  plundered  the  whole 
country,  taking  whatever  they  could  carry  or  drive  away.  Gen. 
Hardin  finally  succeeded  in  raising  a  force  of  350  men,  and  march 
ing  to  Carthage  dispersed  the  guard  which  had  been  stationed  at 
that  place  by  the  sheriff,  checked  the  Mormon  ravages,  and  re 
called  the  fugitive  anti-Mormons  home. 

While  he  w^as  here  a  convention,  consisting  of  delegates  from 
eight  of  the  adjoining  counties,  assembled  to  concert  measures  for 
the  expulsion  of  the  Mormons  from  the  State.  The  people  of  these 
counties  became  fearful  that  Hancock  would  be  deserted  by  the 
original  inhabitants,  and  that  their  own  homes  and  property  would 
thereby  become  exposed  to  the  depredations  of  the  common 
enemy.  The  Mormons,  on  the  other  hand,  believing  the  times 
forboded  a  series  of  fresh  disasters,  seriously  contemplated  emi 
gration  westward,  having  dispaired  of  establishing  their  religion 
in  the  midst  of  a  people  whose  opinions  and  prejudices  were  hos 
tile  to  its  teachings.  At  this  juncture  they  were  advised  by  the 


516  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

governor  and  other  prominent  men  tliiit  a  withdrawal  from  the 
State  was  the  only  possible  alternative  for  escaping  the  impending 
calamities  and  Gen.  Hardin  beingsent  with  instructions  for  effecting 
this  purpose,  was  successful  in  negotiating  arrangements  for  their 
removal.  It  was  agreed  that  the  greater  part  of  the  Mormons 
should  retire  from  the  State  during  the  following  spring;  that  no 
arrests  should  be  made  by  either  hostile  party  for  crimes  pre 
viously  committed,  and  that  a  military  force  should  remain  in  the 
county  to  preserve  the  peace.  A  small  force  was 'accordingly  left 
in  command  of  Major  Warren,  who  discharged  his  duties  with 
such  efficiency  that  the  turbulent  spirit  of  faction  was  kept  hi 
subjection. 

During  the  winter  of  1845-6,  the  most  stupendous  preparations 
were  made  by  the  Mormons  for  removal ;  all  the  principal  dwellings 
and  even  the  temple  was  converted  into  workshops,  and  before 
spring  12,000  wagons  were  in  readiness.  Previous  to  the  depar 
ture  indictments  had  beon  found  against  most  of  the  apostles  for 
counterfeiting  the  coin  of  the  United  States,  and  an  application 
w^as  made  to  the  governor  for  a  sufficient  force  to  arrest  them, 
but  iu  pursuance  of  the  amnesty  agreed  on  for  old  offences,  the 
application  was  dismissed.  It  was  deemed  impolitic  to  arrest  tlie 
leaders  and  thus  terminate  the  preparations  for  removal  when  it 
was  notorious  that  they  could  command  witnesses  and  evidence 
sufficient  to  render  conviction  impossible.  With  a  view,  however, 
to  hasten  their  departure,  the  impression  was  made  that  a  portion 
of  the  regular  army  would  be  ordered  to  Nauvoo  as  soon  as  naA'i- 
gation  opened,  to  enforce  the  writs,  and  hence  the  leaders,  on  the 
15th  of  February,  with  2,000  of  their  followers,  crossed  the  river 
on  the  ice  and  started  westward  in  advance  of  the  others.  By  the 
middle  of  May  it  was  estimated  1,400  more,  with  their  flocks,  their 
wives  *and  little  ones,  followed  the  former  band,  to  seek  a  new 
home  in  the  mountain  fastnesses  of  the  western  wilderness. 

Xauvoo,  before  the  Mormon  exodus,  contained  a  population  of 
17,000  souls.  Its  buildings,  commencing  at  the  margin  of  the 
river  and  spreading  over  the  upland,  sparsely  covered  an  area  of 
6  square  miles.  The  temple,  rising  high  above  the  adjacent  ob 
jects,  was  built  of  compact  polished  limestone,  obtained  in  the 
limits  of  the  city.  No  order  of  architecture  was  observed  in  its 
erection,  and  the  Mormons  claimed  that  it  was  commenced  with 
out  a  plan  and  built  in  accordance  with  instructions  received 
directly  from  heaven  as  the  work  advanced.  It  was  128  feet 
long,  88  feet  wide,  65  feet  to  the  top  of  the  cornice,  and  165  to  the 
top  of  the  cupola.  The  basement  was  a  large,  imperfectly  venti 
lated  room,  containing  a  baptistry,  supported  by  12  oxen,  hewn 
out  of  limestone.  In  the  main  story  was  the  audience  room  used 
for  public  worship.  At  the  end  of  this  large  apartment  were  4 
seats,  regularly  elevated  one  above  the  other,  on  which  were  sta 
tioned,  according  to  their  respective  rank,  the  elders  who  ad 
dressed  the  people.  The  second  story  also  contained  an  audience 
room,  and  the  third  a  large  hall  for  educational  purposes. 
Besides  the  large  apartments  there  were  in  all  the  stories  rooms 
connected  with  the  ecclesiastical  and  governmental  interests  of 
the  people.  From  the  top  of  the  cupola  a  scene  of  enchanting 
beauty  met  the  eye,  from  which  few  could  turn  away  with  indiffer 
ence.  Woodlands  and  prairies,  diversified  Avith  gentle  undula- 


MORMON   WAR.  517 


tions  and  covered  with  farm  houses,  herds  of  cattle,  fields  of 
waving  grain  and  other  evidences  of  agricultural  thrift,  could  be 
seen  for  a  distance  of  20  miles.  Through  this  extensive  land 
scape  glided  the  Father  of  Waters,  in  whose  floods  repose  a  great 
number  of  islands,  all  in  the  range  of  vision,  and  captivating  the 
eye  of  the  beholder  by  their  surpassing  loveliness. 

*"  A  small  remnant  of  about  1,000,  unable  to  dispose  of  their  pro 
perty,  remained  behind.  These  were  sufficient,  however,  to  con 
trol  the  vote  of  the  county,  and  lest  they  should  endeavor  to 
make  the  attempt,  their  opponents  discovered  a  pretext  for  new 
broils.  For  this  purpose  a  party  of  Mormons  who  had  been  sent 
to  harvest  some  wheatfields  in  the  vicinity  of  Xauvoo,  were 
severely  whipped,  the  perpetrators  declaring  that  they  had  dis 
turbed  the  neighborhood  by  their  boisterous  conduct.  Writs 
were  sworn  out  in  the  city  against  those  who  had  inflicted  the 
castigation,  and  t bey  were  arrested  ii'1  kept  under  strict  guard 
until  they  could  give  bail.  The  anti-Mormons  in  turn  procured 
writs  for  the  arrest  of  the  constable  and  posse  who  had  served 
the  first  writs.  The  Mormons,  believing  that  instead  of  being 
tried  they  would  be  murdered,  refused  to  be  taken,  whereupon 
several  hundred  anti-Mormons  assembled  to  enforce  the  process. 
The  difficulty  was,  however,  adjusted  without  making  the  arrest. 
A  committee  having  been  sent  to  Nauvoo  reported  the  Mormons 
had  agreed  not  to  vote  in  the  en  suing  election,  and  that  they  were 
making  every  possible  preparation  for  removal,  and  proceedings 
against  them  were  suspended.  Notwithstanding  this  agreement, 
when  the  election  cauie  off  they  all  voted  the  democratic  ticket, 
and  so  determined  were  they  that  their  support  should  be  efficient, 
all  voted  three  or  four  times  for  each  member  of  congress.  Their 
excuse  for  violating  their  pledge  was  that  the  president  of 
the  United  States  had  permitted  their  friends  to  temporarily  oc 
cupy  the  Indian  lauds  on  the  Missouri  river,  aiVl  for  this  favor 
they  felt  under  obligations  to  support  his  administration.  The 
want  of  good  faith  in  this  respect  greatly  incensed  the  whigs, 
and  the  certainty  that  many  designing  men  were  endeavoring  to 
induce  them  to  remain  permanently  in  the  country,  revived  the 
general  opposition  which  previously  prevailed  against  them. 
Writs  were  again  issued  for  the  arrest  of  prominent  Mormons, 
and  to  create  a  pretext  for  assembling  a  large  force  to  execute  them, 
it  was  asserted  by  the  constable  that  if  the  accused  were  taken 
and  carried  out  of  the  city  they  would  be  murdered.  Under  these 
circumstances  they  refused  to  be  arrested,  and  the  posse  sum 
moned  to  enforce  the  law  soon  amounted  to  several  hundred  men. 
The  Mormons  in  like  manner  obtained  writs  for  the  arrest  of  prom 
inent  anti-Mormons,  and  under  the  pretense  of  executing  them 
called  out  a  posse  of  their  own  people,  and  hence  constable  was 
arrayed  against  constable,  law  against  law  and  posse  against 
posse. 

,  While  the  hostile  parties  were  assembling  their  forces,  the  new 
citizens  of  Nauvoo,  who  had  purchased  property  of  the  Mormons 
at  the  time  of  their  exodus,  applied  to  the  governor  for  sufficient 
force  to  restore  order  and  confidence.  Major  Parker,  a  Avhig,  was 
accordingly  sent,  it  being  supposed,  in  consequence  of  his  poli 
tics,  he  would  have  more  influence  with  the  malcontents,  who  were 
mostly  of  his  party.  When,  however,  he  arrived  the  auti-Mor- 


518  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

mon  constable  refused  to  be  superseded  by  him,  and  declared  that 
he  eared  little  for  the  arrests,  thereby  evidencing  that  his  faction 
was  only  using  the  process  of  the  law  as  a  pretext  for  accomplish 
ing  their  real  object,  the  expulsion  of  the  Mormons.  The  anti- 
Mormon  faction  continued  to  increase  till  it  numbered  800  men,  and 
while  they  were  preparing  to  march  on  Nauvoo  the  inhabitants 
were  preparing  for  a  vigorous  defense,  a  portion  of  the  new  citi 
zens  uniting  with  them,  and  some  assisting  their  enemies.  At 
this  stage  of  the  proceedings  Mason  Bray  man,  a  citizen  of  Spring 
field,  was  sent  by  the  governor  to  inquire  into  and  report  the 
nature  of  the  difficulties.  When  he  arrived  an  attempt  was  made 
to  effect  a  reconciliation.  It  was  agreed  by  the  leaders  of  both 
factions  that  the  Mormons  should  remove  from  the  State  in  two 
mouths,  and  that  their  arms  in  the  meantime  should  be  placed  in 
the  custody  of  a  person  appointed  to  receive  and  redeliver  them 
to  the  owners  at  the  time  of  their  departure.  When  this 
agreement  was  submitted  for  ratification  to  the  anti-Mormon 
forces  it  was  rejected.  Gen.  Singleton  and  Col.  Chittenden,  their 
commanders,  then  withdrew  and  the  governor  was  informed  by 
Mr.  Brayman  that  the  better  portion  of  the  anti-Mormons  would 
abandon  the  enterprise  and  return  home.  Subsequent  events,  how 
ever,  proved  that  Mr.  Brayman  was  mistaken  in  his  conjectures. 
When  Gen.  Singleton  retired,  Thomas  S.  Brockman,  a  dishonest 
and  vulgar  man,  bigoted  and  bitter  in  his  prejudices  against  the  Mor 
mons,  was  put  in  command.  Brockman  immediately  marched 
his  forces  to  STauvooaiul  commenced  skirmishing  with  the  inhabi 
tants,  while  Mr.  Brayman,  owing  to  the  threatening  aspect  of 
affairs,  hastened  to  Springfield  to  obtain  further  assistance  for 
the  defense  of  the  city.  In  this  emergency,  troops  could  not  be 
called  from  a  'distance  in  time  to  be  made  available,  and  hence  an 
effort  Avas  made  to  procure  them  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  con 
flict.  Orders  were  issued  to  Major  William  T.  Flood,  commander 
of  the  militia  of  the  adjoining  populous  county  of  Adams,  author 
izing  him  to  raise  a  volunteer  force  sufficient  to  restore  the  ob 
servance  of  law.  The  excitement  by  this  time  had  spread  through 
Adams  and  all  the  adjoining  counties,  and  it  was  evident  that  if 
the  State  attempted  to  raise  a  force  a  much  larger  one  would 
march  to  the  assistance  of  the  insurgents,  and  hence  this  officer 
declined  making  any  effort. 

To  meet  this  contingency  he  had  previously  been  instructed,  in 
case  he  failed  to  raise  the  required  force,  to  hand  over  his  com 
mand  to  some  one  who  would  properly  execute  it.  Major  Flood, 
however,  without  immediately  authorizing  any  one  to  act  in  his 
stead,  hastened  to  Nauvoo  to  use  his  influence  with  the  antago 
nistic  factions  for  the  restoration  of  peace.  Failing  in  his  media 
tion,  he  entrusted  his  authority  to  the  Mormons,  who  selected 
Major  Clifford  to  command  them. 

The  forces  under  Brockman  numbered  800,  and  were  armed 
with  muskets  and  five  pieces  of  small  cannon,  belonging  to 
the  State,  given  them  by  independent  militia  companies  in  the  ad 
jacent  counties.  The  Mormon  forces,  including  a  portion  of  the 
new  citizens,  at  first  amounted  to  250  men,  but  before 
any  decisive  fighting  commenced,  were  diminished  by  de 
sertion  to  150.  Their  weapons  consisted  of  sixteen-shoot- 
ing  rifles,  common  muskets,  and  five  pieces  of  cannon, 


MORMON  WAR.  519 


hastily  and  rudely  constructed  by  themselves  from  the  shaft  of  a 
steamboat.  Acting  on  the  defensive  they  took  a  position  in  the 
suburbs  of  the  city,  a  mile  east  of  the  temple,  and  threw  up  breast 
works  for  the  protection  of  their  artillery.  The  attacking  force 
was  sufficiently  numerous  to  have  simultaneously  marched  on 
both  flanks  of  the. besieged,  beyond  the  range  of  their  battery, 
and  thus  have  taken  the  city  without  tiring  a  single  gun.  Brock- 
man,  however,  approaching  directly  in  front,  stationed  his  men 
about  half  a  mile  from  the  battery,  and  each  party  commenced  a 
fire  from  their  cannon,  while  some  of  the  combatants  with  small 
arms  occasionally  approached  closer,  but  never  sufficiently  near 
to  do  any  damage. 

The  contest  was  thus  continued  at  a  great  distance,  with  little 
skill  till  the  ammunition  of  the  besiegers  was  exhausted,  when 
they  retired  to  their  camp  to  await  a  fresh  supply.  In  a  few  days 
ammunition  was  brought  from  Quincy,  and  the  conflict  again  re 
sumed,  and  kept  up  several  days,  during  whieh  the  Mormons  ad 
mitted  a  loss  of  one  man  killed  and  9  wounded,  and  the  anti-Mor 
mons  of  3  killed  and  4  wounded.  It  was  estimated  that  some  800 
cannon  balls  were  fired  on  each  side,  and  the  small  number  k(lled 
can  only  be  accounted  for  on  the  supposition  that  the  belligerents 
either  kept  at  a  safe  distance,  or  were  very  unskillful  in  the  use  of 
arms.  The  contest  was  finally  ended  by  the  interposition  of  an 
anti-Mormon  committee  from  Quincy.  According  to  the  terms  of 
capitulation  dictated  by  the  superior  force  of  the  besiegers,  the 
Mormons  were  to  surrender  their  arms  to  the*  committee.  All, 
with  the  exception  of  trustees  for  the  sale  of  their  property,  were 
to  remove  out  of  the  city,  and  the  anti-Mormon  posse  was  to  march 
in  and  have  a  sufficient  force  there  to  guarantee  the  performance 
of  the  stipulations.  The  posse  with  Brockman  at  its  head,  ac 
cordingly  started  on  its  mission,  followed  by  several  hundred 
spectators,  who  had  come  from  all  the  surrounding  country  to  see 
the  once  proud  city  of  Nauvoo  humbled  and  delivered  into  the 
hands  of  its  enemies. 

As  soon  s&  they  got  possession  of  the  city  Brockman,  whose 
vulgar  soul  became  intoxicated  with  success,  commenced  acting 
the  part  of  a  tyrant.  Arrogating  to  himself  the  right  to  decide 
who  should  remain  and  who  should  be  driven  away,  he  summoned 
the  inhabitants  to  his  presence,  and  at  his  dictum  most  of  them 
were  compelled  to  leave  their  homes  in  a  few  hours  in  a  destitute 
condition.  It  was  stipulated  that  only  Mormons  were  to  be  ex 
patriated,  yet  at  his  behests  armed  ruffians  commenced  expelling 
the  new  citizens,  ducking  some  of  them  in  the  river,  and  forcing 
others  to  cross  it  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  In  a  few  days  the 
entire  Mormon  population  and  the  new  citizens  who  had  coop 
erated  with  them  in  resisting  the  mob,  were  expelled.  The  latter 
class  had  strong  claims  to  be  treated  with  more  generosity  by  the 
conquerors.  Having  been  attracted  to  Kauvoo  from  various  parts 
of  the  United  States  by  the  low  price  of  property,  and  knowing 
but  little  of  the  previous  difficulties,  it  was  but  natural  that  they 
should  offer  their  services  to  defend  the  town  from  mob  violence 
and  their  property  from  destruction.  They  saw  that  the  Mormons 
were  industriously  preparing  to  leave,  and  therefore  considered 
the  effort  to  expel  them  not  only  unnecessary  but  unjust  and  cruel. 


520  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

The  mob,  however,  under  the  influence  of  passion,  could  see  no 
merit  in  this  portion  of  their  adversaries,  and  in  the  flush  of  vic 
tory  dealt  out  indiscriminate  brutality  to  all. 

Brockmau  having1  sufficiently  glutted  his  vengeance,  returned 
home,  leaving  100  of  the  lowest  and  most  violent  of  his  followers 
to  prevent  the  return  of  those  who  had  been  driven  into  exile. 
This  remnant  of  the  mob  continued  its  acts  of  violence  and 
oppression  till  they  heard  that  a  force  was  moving  against  them 
from  the  seat  of  government,  when  they  also  departed. 

In  the  meantime,  the  Mormons  were  thrown  houseless  on  the 
Iowa  shore,  without  provisions  and  means  to  procure  them,  and 
were  in  a  starving  condition.  It  was  also  the  height  of  the  sickly 
season,  and  many  had  been  hurried  away  while  suffering  with 
disease  to  die  from  exposure  and  privation.  Without  food,  med 
icine  or  clothing,  the  mother  watched  her  sick  babe  till  it  died,  and 
then  became  herself  a  victim  to  the  epidemic,  finding  the  grave  a 
refuge  from  persecution  and  a  balm  for  her  sufferings.  After  this 
distress  became  known  all  parties  hastened  to  their  assistance,  the 
anti-Mormons  vieing  with  the  Mormons  in  furnishing  relief.  The 
people  of  the  State  at  first  looked  with  indifference  upon  these 
outrages,  but  the  hardships  attending  them  at  length  began  to 
cause  reflection.  They  had  seen  a  large  tract  of  country  com 
pelled  to  submit  to  the  domination  of  a  self-constituted  power, 
the  legitimate  government  trampled  under  foot  and  a  reign  of 
terror  substituted  in  its  place. 

With  this  change  of  sentiment,  a  force  was  raised  in  and  near 
Springfield,  of  120  men,  and  the  governor  proceeded  with  it  to  the 
scene  of  the  disturbance.  The  principal  object  the  expedition  was 
to  restore  the  exiled  citizens  to  their  new  homes  and  property,  a 
large  part  of  the  latter  having  been  stolen  in  their  absence.  When 
the  force  arrived  the  riotous  population  was  greatly  incensed  at 
the  governor  and  could  hardly  find  language  sufficiently  strong  to 
express  their  astonishment  that  he  and  the  people  of  other 
counties  should  interfere  in  the  domestic  affairs  of  Hancock. 
Public  meetings  were  held  in  Nauvoo  and  Carthage,  at  which  it 
was  resolved  to  again  drive  out  the  citizens  as  soon  as  the  State 
forces  should  be  withdrawn. 

Writs  were  also  again  sworn  out  against  some  officers  of  the 
State  forces,  with  a  view  to  calling  out  a  posse  and  expelling  them 
.from  the  county,  but  the  mob  failed  to  enlist  more  than  200  or  300 
men,  and  these  hesitated  and  finally  abandoned  their  design  of 
making  the  arrests  or  resorting  to  violence.  To  prevent  further 
outbreaks  a  small  forces  was  left  in  the  county  till  the  assembling 
of  the  legislature  on  the  loth  of  December,  1846,  when  the  cold 
weather  put  an  end  to  the  agitation  and  they  were  withdrawn. 
The  western  march  of  the  Mormons  who  left  the  State  the  pre 
ceding  spring,  was  attended  with  greater  suffering  than  had  been 
endured  in  their  banishment  from  Missouri.  On  the  loth  of  Feb., 
184G,  the  leaders  crossed  the  Mississippi  and  sojourned  at 
Montrose,  Iowa,  till  the  latter  part  of  March,  in  consequence 
of  the  deep  snow  which  obstructed  the  way. 

When  finally  the  journey  was  resumed,  the  fugitives  taking  the 
road  through  Missouri,  were  forcibly  ejected  from  the  State  and 
compelled  to  move  indirectly  through  Iowa.  After  innumerable 
hardships,  the  advance  guard  of  emigration  reached  the  Missouri 


MORMON   WAR.  521 


river,  at  Council  Bluffs,  when  a  United  States  officer  presented  a 
requisition  for  500  men  to  serve  in  the  war  against  Mexico.  Com 
pliance  with  this  order  so  diminished  the  number  of  effective 
men,  that  the  expedition  was  again  delayed  and  the  remainder, 
consisting  mostly  of  old  men,  women  and  children,  hastily  pre 
pared  habitations  for  winter.  Their  rudely  constructed  tents  were 
hardly  completed  before  winter  set  in  with  great  severity,  the 
bleak  prairies  being  incessantly  swept  by  piercing  Avinds. 
\Vhile  here  cholera,  fever  and  other  diseases,  aggravated  by  the 
previous  hardships  which  they  had  endured,  the  want  of  comfort 
able  quarters  and  medical  treatment,  hurried  many  of  them,  to 
premature  graves  Yet,  under  the  influence  of  religious  fervor  and 
fanaticism,  they  looked  death  in  the  face  with  resignation  and 
cheerfulness,  and  even  exhibited  a  gayety  which  manifested  itself 
in  music  and  dancing  during  the  saddest  hours  of  this  sad  winter. 
At  length  welcome  spring  made  its  appearance ;  by  April,  the  peo 
ple  were  again  organized  for  the  journey,  and  a  pioneer  party, 
consisting  of  Brig] mm  Young  and  140  others,  was  sent  in  advance 
to  locate  a  home  for  the  colonists.  On  the  21st  of  July,  1847,  a  day 
memorable  in  Mormon  annals,  the  vanguard  reached  the  valley  of 
Great  Salt  Lake,  having  been  directed  thither,  according  to  their 
accounts,  by  the  hand  of  the  Almighty.  Here,  in  a  destitute  wil 
derness,  midway  between  the  settlements  of  the  east  and  the 
Pacific,  and  at  thSt  time  a  thousand  miles  from  the  utmost  verge 
of  civilization,  they  commenced  preparations  for  founding  a 
colony.  Those  who  were  left  behind  arrived  at  different  times 
afterward,  in  companies  sufficiently  large  to  preserve  discipline 
and  guard  against  the  attacks  of  the  Indians  who  continuously 
hovered  about  them  for  purposes  of  plunder.  At  first  they  endur 
ed  great  sufferings  for  the  want  of  food;  immense  numbers  of 
grasshoppers  having  come  down  from  the  mountains  and  consum 
ed  a  great  portion  of  their  crops.  According  to  the  Mormon 
historian,  the  whole  would  have  been  destroyed  had  not  the 
Almighty  sent  great  flocks  of  gulls  which  devoured  the  grasshop 
pers  and  thus  saved  the  people  from  famine  and  death.  The 
lands,  as  soon  as  they  were  properly  irrigated,  produced  abund 
antly  all  the  necessaries  of  life ;  and  at  length  plenty  alleviated 
the  privations  of  hunger,  and  peace  followed  the  fierce  persecutions 
which  had  attended  them  in  their  former  place  of  residence.  New 
settlements  were  made  as  fresh  companies  of  emigrants  arrived, 
and  in  a  short  time  the  space  occupied  by  the  colonists  extended 
nearly  a  hundred  miles  north  and  south,  and  Salt  Lake  City,  the 
present  capital  of  the  territory,  became  a  populous  city.  Nestled 
in  a  sea  of  verdure,  at  the  base  of  the  surrounding  mountains, 
washed  on  the  west  by  the  Jordan,  and  commanding  a  view  25 
miles  southward,  over  a  luxuriant  plain  silvered  with  fertilizing- 
streams,  it  is  now  one  of  the  most  romantically  situated  cities  on 
the  continent.  So  picturesque  is  the  valley,  and  its  metropolis 
especially,  when  decked  in  the  beauty  of  spring,  that  the 
traveler  when  he  crosses  the  desert,  imitating  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  saints,  is  wont  to'  liken  it  to  the  Xew  Jerusalem,  surrounded 
by  green  pastures,  and  fountains  of  living  water. 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 
1846.— ILLINOIS  IN  THE  MEXICAN  WAE. 


We  cannot  enter  into  details  regarding  all  the  causes  of  this 
war.  Proximately,  it  grew  out  of  the  annexation  of  Texas.  In 
1836  the  American  settlers  in  that  country  defeated  the  Mexican 
forces  at  San  Jacinto,  captured  Santa  Anna,  the  dictator  of  all 
Mexico,  and  under  duress  wrung  from  him  a  treaty  acknowledg 
ing  the  independence  of  Texas.  But  this  treaty  the  republic  of 
Mexico  ever  repudiated.  From  1836  on,  overtures  were  frequent 
ly  made  to  the  United  States  by  the  "Lone  Star/'  for  admission 
into  the  Union.  Mexico  took  occasion  several  times  to  inform  the 
government  of  the  United  States  that  the  annexation  of  Texas 
would  be  regarded  as  a  cas-us  Mli.  The  question  entered  into  the 
presidential  contest  of  1844,  and  the  election  of  Polk  was  construed 
into  a  popular  approval  of  the  step.  Congress  no  longer  hesitated., 
and  on  thejtsf  of  March,  1845,  gave  its  assent  to  the  admission  of 
Texas  into  the  Union.  Mexico  immediately  broke  off  diplomatic 
intercourse  with  the  U.  S.  In  July  the  army  of  occupation,  under 
Gen.  Zachariah  Taylor,  was  ordered  to  Corpus  Christi.  During 
the  following  winter,  while  Mexico  was  in  the  throes  of  revolu 
tion,  during  which  Parades  came  to  the  surface  as  president,  and 
while  the  administration  sought  an  adjustment  of  the  questions  of 
boundary,  through  an  envoy  (Mr.  Slidell),  it  ordered  the  army  of 
occupation  to  a  point  opposite  Matamoras,  to  take  possession  of 
the  territory  long  in  dispute,  lying  between  the  Nuces  and  the  Rio 
Grande.  This  was  a  repetition  of  the  diplomacy  of  Frederick  the 
Great  in  Silesia.  The  Mexicans  occupied  the  territory  at  the  time 
with  a  military  force  stationed  at  Brazos  Santiago,  which,  on  the 
approach  of  Taylor  to  Point  Isabel,  withdrew  west  of  the  Rio 
Grande.  Many  outrages  and  robberies  upon  our  citizens  residing 
in  Mexico  had  also  been  perpetrated  through  official  sanction, 
with  losses  amounting  to  several  million  dollars,  which  our  govern 
ment  had  labored  to  have  adjusted,  but  with  very  tardy  progress. 

On  the  28th  of  March,  1846,  Taylor's  army  of  some  4000  troops 
took  position  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande  within  cannon 
shot  of  Matamoras,  opposite.  On  the  24th  of  April  Gen.  Arista 
assumed  command  of  the  Mexican  forces.  On  the  same  day  Gen. 
Taylor,  having  learned  that  a  large  body  of  Mexicans  had  crossed 
the  Rio  Grande  20  miles  above,  detached  a  force  of  60  men,  under 
Captains  Thompson  and  Hardee,  to  reconnoitre  the  enemy.  They 
fell  in  with  what  they  supposed  was  a  scouting  party,  but  which 
proved  to  be  the  advance  'guard  of  a  strong  body  of  the  enemy 
posted  in  the chapparal.  The  American  commanders,  contrary  to 
the  advice  of  their  Mexican  guide,  charged  and  pursued  the 

522 


MEXICAN  WAR.  523 


guard  across  a  clearing,  and  in  an  instant  their  forces  were  sur 
rounded  I)}'  the  main  body  of  the  Mexicans,  who  fired  upon  them, 
killing  16  and  taking  prisoners  the  remainder.  A  wounded  soldier 
was  sent  into  Taylor's  camp  by  the  Mexican  commander,  with  a 
message  that  he  had  no  traveling  hospital  to  render  him  the  needed 
medical  aid. 

Thus  were  hostilities  actually  commenced.  Notwithstanding  it 
was  reasonably  well  known  that  war  was  almost  inevitable  from 
the  advance  of  the  army  of  occupation,  which  was  about  all  the 
army  the  country  had,  all  military  preparation  to  meet  such  a  ca 
lamity  was  calmly  avoided.  This  gave  it  the  appearance  of  a  sur 
prise."  Reports  of  this  disastrous  engagement  reached  Washing 
ton  May  9th,  together  with  many  painful  rumors  that  Taylor  was 
surrounded  and  cut  olf  from  his  base  of  supplies  at  Point  Isabel. 
Consternation  was  rife;  the  president  sent  into  congress  an  ex 
traordinary  message,  declaring  that  Mexico  had  "at  last  invaded 
our  territory,  and  shed  the  blood  of  our  fellow  citizens  on  our  own 
soil."  Congress,  with  an  alacrity  unusual,  two  days  after,  passed 
an  act  declaring  that  "by  the  act  of  the  republic  of  Mexico  a  state 
of  war  exists  between  that  government  and  the  United  States  ;" 
authorized  the  president  to  accept  the  services  of  50,000  volunteers, 
and  appropriated  $10,000,000  to  carry  on  the  war.  The  intent 
was  to  conquer  a  peace  in  short  order  with  an  overpowering  force. 

All  this  was  in  the  midst  of  the  public  excitement  incident  to 
the  Oregon  boundary  question — "54  40  or  tight,7'  -be4ng 
OiH— rm>tto.  Mr.  Polk  had  been  elected  with  the  understanding 
that  he  would  insist  upon  the  line.  The  notice  terminating  the 
joint  occupation  of  Oregon  had  passed  congress,  April  23d.  But 
uo\v  happily  with  one  war  on  our  hands  a  collision  with  Great 
Britain  was  avoided  by  adopting  the  49th  parallel  of  north  lati 
tude,  and  sacrificing  all  that  vast  region  of  the  northwest,  equal 
to  several  States;  but  we  gained  largely  in  the  southwest. 

The  call  for  volunteers  Avas  apportioned  mostly  to  the  western 
and  southern  States.  The  requisition  upon  Illinois  was  for  "three 
regiments  of  infantry  or  riflemen."  The  pay  was  $8  per  month, 
but  with  commutations  it  amounted  to  $15.50.  The  enlistments 
were  for  12  months  from  the  time  of  mustering  in  to  service  at  the 
place  of  rendezvous.  The  men  were  to  uniform  themselves,  for 
which  they  would  be  allowed.  The  selection  of  officers  was  left 
to  the  volunteers,  in  accordance  with  the  militia  laws  of  the  State 
whence  they  were  taken.  The  number  of  privates  were  limited 
to  80  men  in  each  company.  Under  date  of  May  25th,  Gov.  Ford, 
commander-in-chief  of  the  militia  of  the  State,  issued  his  general 
order  calling  upon  the  major  and  brigadier  generals  and  other 
militia  officers  to  aid  in  raising  and  organizing  the  three  regiments. 
As  the  militia  had  for  a  long  time  been  in  a  disorganized  state,  it 
was  further  ordered  that  the  sheriffs  convene  the  regiments  or  old 
battalions  en  masse,  and  enroll  such  volunteers  as  might  offer  in 
their  respective  counties.  The  governor  proposed  to  receive  the 
first  full  companies  that  offered.  The  company  officers  were  to 
act  under  their  certificates  of  election  until  commissioned.  And? 
now  many  portions  of  the  State  seemed  aliA^e  with  the  zeal  of 
patriotism.  The  animating  strains  of  martial  music  were  wafted 
upon  the  air,  everywhere  inspiring  the  soldierly  impulse.  Our 
public  men  rallied  the  people  with  spirited,  patriotic  and  effective 


524  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

\  appeals.  The  militia  generals  issued  their  orders  convening  their 
HSrigades,  and  exhorted  them  to  volunteer  and  "maintain  their 
honorable  position  on  the  present  occasion."  We  note  the  first  of 
these  orders  as  by  the  gallant  J.  J.  Hardin,  who  "enrolled  himself 
as  the  first  volunteer  from  Illinois."*  The  responses  to  the  demands 
of  patriotism  were  prompt,  eager,  and  overwhelming.  It  was 
esteemed  an  honor  to  be  permitted  to  contribute  to  the  nation's 
call.  In  10  days  time  35  companies  duly  organized  were  officially 
reported  to  the  governor,  while  the  busy  notes  of  preparation  still 
resounded  from  all  parts  of  the  State.  By  the  middle  of  June 
the  requisition  was  exceeded  by  more  than  40  companies.  The 
ladies,  too,  animated  by  the  patriotism  of  their  brothers,  with  a  free 
will  formed  sewing  societies  and  made  uniforms  and  garments  for 
the  volunteers. 

The  place  of  rendezvous  was  appointed  at  Alton.  Brigadier 
General  James  Shieldst  was  by  the  governor  designated  to  inspect 
and  muster  into  service  the  Illinois  volunteers ;  this  was  not  bis 
excellency's  province,  however,  and  the  war  department  sent  out 
Col.  S.  Churchill,  Inspector  General  of  the  United  States  Army,  to 
supervise  the  mustering  in.  This  gentleman  entertained  through 
out  the  war  an  affectionate  regard  for  the  Illinois  troops.  From 
the  governor's  office  the  30  full  companies  were  ordered,  by  letters 
addressed  to  their  respective  captains,  to  repair  to  the  place  of 
rendezvous  as  fast  as  uniformed.  Of  course,  out  of  the  more  than 
75  companies,  some  fragmentary  and  others  replete  to  overflowing, 
more  than  half  were  disappointed.  Much  fault  was  now  found 
with  Governor  Ford,  here  and  there  over  the  State,  by  the  disap 
pointed  ones,  who,  in  their  chagrin,  charged  him  with  partiality, 
favoritism  and  dishonorable  conduct,  in  the  acceptance  of  compa 
nies,  using  language  anything  but  temperate.! 

The  first  regiment  of  Illinois  volunteers  was  organized  July  2d, 
as  follows  :  The  first  battalion  consisted  of  companies  commanded 
by  Captains  J.  D.  Morgan,  of  Adams  ;  Elisha  Wells,  of  Cook  ; 
Noah  Fry,  of  Greene;  J.  S.  Eoberts,  of  Morgan  ;  and  W.  A.  Rich 
ardson,  of  Schuyler.  The  lid  battalion  consisted  of  companies 
under  the  command  of  Captains  Lyman  Mowers,  or' Cook ;  T.  Lyle 
Dickey,  of  LaSalle  5  A.  W.  Crow,  of  Jo  Daviess ;  William  Weath- 
erford,  of  Morgan;  and  Samuel  Montgomery,  of  Scott.  Gen.  John 
J.  Hardin  was  elected  colonel  with  great  unanimity  j  Captain 
William  Weatherford  was  elected  lieutenant  colonel,  and  W.  B. 
Warren,  major — all  three  of  Morgan  county.  B.  M.  Prentiss  was 
appointed  adjutant,  John  Scanlau  commissary,  S.  M.  Parsons 


*See  Illinois  State  Register,  May  29, 1846. 

tNoTE.— Judge  Shields,  who  resided  at  Washington,  as  Commissioner  of  the  General 
Land  Office,  on  the  outbreaking  of  the  war,  ever  full  of  the  martial  spirit,  promptly 
repaired  to  Illinois  and  labored  efficiently  to  rouse  the  patriotic  sentiments  of  the  peo 
ple,  bringing  with  him  the  President's  promise  of  a  brigadier-generalship,  the  Illinois 
regiments  to  constitute  his  brigade.  Rumors  in  advance  of  the  fact  of  his  appointment 
reached  Illinois  and  considerable  dissatisfaction  grew  out  of  it  at  home,  but  the  Presi 
dent  nominated  him  and  he  was  confirmed .  Criticisms  and  sneers  at  his  military  qual 
ifications  were  freely  indulged,  but  when  his  gallant  behavior  at  Cerro  Gordo,  and  his 
great  services  at  Churubusco  and  Chepultepec  were  heralded  over  the  country,  together 
with  the  well  deserved  praises  of  his  superior  commanders,  it  appeared  that  a  better 
choice  from  civil  life  could  not  well  have  been  made,  and  his  own  State  rewarded  him 
with  the  highest  office  a  foreigner  can  hold. 

$See  Capt.  G.  W.  Aiken's  letter  dated  Henton,  June  ^Oth,  in  Illinois  State  Register  of 
July  10, 1846.  See  also  proceedings  of  the  Clark  County  Company  at  a  public  meeting 
iu  Marshall,  July  6th,  published  in  Illinois  State  Register,  July  17,  1846. 


MEXICAN  WAR.  525 


quartermaster,  E.  A.Giller  sergeant-major,  A.  W.Fry  drum-major, 
Dr.  White  surgeon,  and  Dr.  Zabriskie*  assistant  surgeon.  W.  J. 
Wyatt  was  also  a  captain  in  this  regiment. 

The  2d  regiment  was  organized  on  the  same  day.  It  consisted 
of  companies  under  the  command  of  Captains  Peter  Goff,  of  Mad 
ison  county;  J.  L.  D.  Morrison,  of  St.  Glair;  Erastus  Wheeler,  of 
Madison;  A.  Dodge,  of  Kendall,  Jersey  and  Madison  counties; 
W.  H.  Bissell,  of  St.  Glair;  E.G.  Coffee,  of  Washington;  H.  T. 
Trail,  of  Monroe ;  John  S.  Hacker,  of  Union;  L.  G.  Jones,  of  Perry ; 
and  H.  L.  Webb,  of  Pulaski.  Captain  Win.  H.  Bissell  was  elected 
colonel  by  807  votes  against  6,  one  of  the  latter  being  in  hi*  own  com 
pany  and  5  in  Captain  Morrison's.  Capt.  J.  L.  D.  Morrison  was 
elected  lieutenant  colonel,  and  Gapt.  H.  F.  Trail  major.  Lieut.  A. 
Wbitesides  was  appointed  adjutant,  and  Lewis  J.  Glawson  sutler. 
Julius  llaith,  Joseph  Lemon  and  Madison  Miller  were  also  captains 
in  this  regiment. 

The  3d  regiment  was  composed  of  the  following  companies  : 
Captains  Ferris  Forman,  of  Fayette  county  ;  J.  C.  McAdams,  of 
Bond;  M.  K.  Lawler,  of  Gallatin  ;  Theo.McGinnis,  of  Pope  ;  W. 
W.  Wiley,  of  Bond  ;  J.  A.  Campbell,  of  Wayne;  W.  W.  Bishop, 
of  Coles;  S.  G.  Hicks,  of  Jefferson  ;  James  Freeman,  of  Shelby  ; 
and  J.  P.  Hardy,  of  Hamilton.  Capt.  Forman,  of  Fayette,  was 
elected  colonel ;  W.  W.  Wiley,  of  Bond,  lieutenant  colonel,  and 
Samuel  D.  Marshall  of  Gallatin,  major.  Lieut.  J.  T.  B.  Stapp  was 
appointed  adjutant.  Philip  Stout  and  B.  S.  Sellers  wrere  also  cap 
tains  in  tliis  regiment.  Col.  Churchill,  of  the  IT.  S.  army,  inspected 
and  mustered  it  into  service.  The  1st  numbered  877  men,  rank 
and  file;  the  2d  892,  and  the  3d  906.  The  inspecting  officer  pro 
nounced  them  as  fine  a  body  of  men  as  ever  he  saw  mustered.  It 
was  a  subject  of  remark  howr  little  intoxication  there  was  among 
the  volunteers. 

In  the  meantime  the  Hon.  E.  D.  Baker,  then  a  member  of  con 
gress  from  the  Sangamon  district,  had  received  authority  from  the 
secretary  of  war  to  raise  an  additional  regiment  of  Illinois  volun 
teers.  Gov.  Ford  issued  his  order  of  approval  under  date  of  June 
5th,  and  authorized  companies  raised,  or  to  be  raised,  to  join  this 
regiment  by  permission  of  Mr.  Baker.  He  also  authorized  him  to 
appoint  the  time  and  place  of  rendezvous  for  the  regiment,  and  to 
provide  for  its  sustenance,  equipment  and  transportation.  The 
following  companies  constituted  this  regiment  :  Captains  Pngh, 
of  Macon  county ;  Elkin,  of  McLean ;  Roberts,  of  Sangamon  ; 
Harris,  of  Menard  ;  Morris,  of  Sangamon;  Kewcomb,  of  DeWitt; 
Hurt,  of  Logan ;  Jones,  of  Tazewell ;  McKonkey,  of  Edgar — 9 
companies.  The  10th  company  did  not  join  until  after  its  arrival 
at  the  place  of  rendezvous,  Alton.  It  was  at  first  expected  that 
this  would  be  either  Captain  Garrett's,  of  Chicago,  or  that  of  Cap 
tain  Eagan,  of  LaSalle  ;  but  these  failing  to  arrive  in  time,  Cap 
tain  Murphy's,  of  Perry,  formed  the  10th  company.  The  regimen 
tal  officers  elected  were :  E.  D.  Baker,  colonel ;  ex-Lieut.  Gov. 
John  Moore,  of  McLean,  lieutenant  colonel ;  and  Capt.  T.  L. 
Harris,  of  Menard,  major.  The  regiment  lacked  a  few  privates  of 
being  full ;  but  Illinois  had  raised  a  larger  number  of  volunteers 

*Capt.  Roberts  resigned  at  Alton,  and  the  brave  Zabriskie,  who  fell  by  the  side  of 
the  noble  Hardin  at  Buena  Vista,  was  chosen  in  his  place. 


526  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

tlmii  any  other  State  in  the  Union.  Lewis  W.  Eoss  and  A.  W. 
Wright  were  also  captains  in  this  regiment. 

Immediately  after  the  arrival  of  the  4th  regiment  at  Alton,  a 
question  of  rank  arose  between  its  colonel,  Baker,  and  Col.  John 
J.  Hardin,  of  the  1st  regiment.  Col.  Baker  had  been  elected  at 
Springfield,  and  his  commission  ante-dated  that  of  the  other  col 
onels,  whence  he  claimed  seniority.  This  was  resisted  by  Colonel 
Hardin,  who  charged  snch  irregularity  in  Baker's  choice  as  to  be 
no  election  at  all  by  the  regiment,  first,  because  the  governor  had 
never  ordered  the  election  ;  second,  because  there  were  bnt  seven 
companies  present  to  participate  in  the  election  ;  therefore  the  im 
proper  issuance  of  the  commission  could  not  give  priority  to  Col. 
Baker.  The  matter  was  referred  to  a  court  of  inquiry,  consisting 
of  Captains  Bishop,  Dickey,  Crow,  Jones.  Elkin,  Hicks,  MeAdams, 
Wiley,  Coffee,  Roberts  and  Morgan,  with  G.  T.  M.  Davis  as  clerk. 
After  due  investigation  Col.  Hardin  was  declared  the  senior  officer* 
At  a  meeting  of  the  officers  of  the  3  first  regiments,  subsequently, 
a  formal  protest  was  signed  and  forwarded  to  the  president 
against  the  appointment  of  officers  on  the  recommendation  of  mem 
bers  of  congress.t  The  4th  regiment  passed  on  to  Jefferson  Bar 
racks. 

After  the  disaster  to  Captain  Thompson's  reconnoitering  party 
on  the  24th  of  April,  and  before  the  news  reached  Washington, 
the  important  battles  of  Palo  Alto  and  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  May 
8th  and  9th,  were  fought  and  won  by  Taylor's  forces,  on  the  route 
between  his  camp  and  Point  Isabel,  his  depot  of  supplies,  which 
the  Mexicans  sought  to  cut  off.  They  had  also  bombarded  Tay 
lors  camp  opposite  Matamoras,  called  Fort  Brown,  but  the  siege 
was  raised  by  the  arrival  of  the  victorious  army  on  the  10th  of 
May,  and  Matamoras  was  surrendered  without  a  further  struggle. 
Thenceforward  the  Rio  Grande  was  assumed  as  the  base  of  military 
operations,  and  the  Mexican  villages  at  the  mouth  of  the  San  Juan 
having  also  surrendered,  Cornargo,  180  miles  above  the  mouth  of 
the  Rio  Grande,  was  selected  as  the  depot  of  supplies  for  Gen. 
Taylor's  army.  Thither  the  various  volunteer  regiments  which 
were  to  reinforce  Taylor's  army  were  to  be  sent. 

But  while  Gen.  Taylor  was  passing  the  Eio  Grande  and  direct 
ing  his  columns  to  ward  the  interior  of  Mexico,  the  cabinet  at  Wash 
ington  formed  the  plan  of  moving  acorps  on  Santa  Fe,  and  another 
to  march  on  the  capital  of  Chihuahua,  believed  to  be  the  centre  of 
much  wealth  and  strength — a  gross  mistake.  It  was  also  sup 
posed  that  the  northern  States  of  Mexico  were  ready  for  revolt. 
The  former,  called  the  army  of  the  west,  was  assembled  at  Fort 
Leavenworth  and  placed  under  the  command  of  Gen.  Kearney  ; 
and  the  latter,  under  Brig.  Gen.  John  E.  Wool,  was  called  the 
army  of  the  centre,  the  troops  for  which  were  ordered  by  the  war 
department  to  assemble  at  Antonio  de  Baxar,  on  the  San  Antonio 
river,  whence  they  were  to  proceed  westward  to  Chihuahua.  The 
troops  for  these  expeditions  were  the  volunteers,  scattered  at  the 
time  in  different  parts  of  the  U.  S.,  strangers  to  the  vicissitudes 
of  war,  and  remote  from  the  points  of  rendezvous.  But  the  celer 
ity  of  their  assembling,  their  prodigious  marches  and  esprit  du 
corps  are  among  the  wonderful  incidents  of  that  war. 

*  Illinois  State  Reg.  July  10,  1846. 
t  Sec  Mo.  Republican  July,  1846. 


MEXICAN  WAR.  527 


The  Illinois  regiments  were  not  all  formed  into  one  brigade,  as 
many  had  fondly  hoped.  The  1st  and  2d  were  assigned  to  the 
army  of  the  centre,  and  the  destination  of  the  3d  and  4th  was 
Cornargo.  They  proceeded  by  water,  The  1st  and  2d  left  Alton, 
July  17th,  18th  and  19th,  on  board  the  steamers  Convoy,  Missouri 
and  Hannibal;  were  transhipped  at  New  Orleans,  and  finally 
debarked  at  Levacca,  on  Matagorda  Bay,.  July  29th.  Gen.  Wool 
accompanied  them  from  Alton.  They  arrived  at  Pallid  a  creek,  12 
miles  from  Levacca,  August  7th,  and  commenced  their  march  4 
days  later.  The  route  to  San  Antonio  de  Bexar  was  over  an  arid 
prairie  under  a  tropical  sun,  whose  rays  were  cooled  but  little  by 
the  frequent  showers.  At  the  crossings  of  the  head  streams  of 
the  Antonio  and  the  Guadaloupe,  the  parched  and  weary  volun 
teers  of  the  north  found  the  only  good  water  to  quench  their 
thirst,  or  shade  for  rest.  An  Illinois  soldier  wrote :  a  Heat— 
lieat — heat;  rain — rain — rain;  mud — mud — mud,  intermingled 
with  spots  of  sand  gravel,  form  the  principal  features  of  the  route 
from  Levacca  to  San  Antonio.  Loaded  wagons,  of  course,  moved 
slowly  over  the  roads,  and  our  troops  moreover  were  scourged  on 
the  route  by  the  mumps  and  measles.'1*  On  the  23d,  the  1st  and 
2d  Illinois  regiments  were  encamped  on  the  San  Antonio,  2  miles 
below  the  Alamo,  at  Camp  Crocket. 

The  3d  regiment  (Col.  Forman's)  took  its  departure  from  Alton, 
July  22d,  on  board  the  steamers  Glencoe  and  John  Aull.  On  the 
next  day  the  steamers  Sultana  and  Eclipse  took  on  board  the  4th 
regiment  (Col.  Baker's)  at  Jefferson  Barracks.  It  came  first  to 
St.  Louis  and  made  a  parade  through  some  of  the  streets,  and 
in  front  of  the  Planters'  Hotel  executed  with  nice  precision  its 
evolutions  and  drill.  It  was  handsomely  uniformed  and  was  much 
admired.  The  boats  got  off  the  same  evening,  and  the  troops, 
after  considerable  detention  at  the  mouth  of  the  Eio  Grande  and 
Matamoras,  arrived  at  Comargo  toward  the  close  of  September. 

Our  northern  troops  reached  the  enervating  southern  climate 
in  the  very  heat  of  summer ;  they  were  used  to  a  more  bracing  air, 
a  variety  of  wholesome  food,  well  cooked,  good  water,  cleanliness 
of  clothing  and  body,  comfortable  bedding  and  regularity  of 
work  and  rest.  All  this  was  changed  in  their  new  life  of  the  sol 
dier,  with  its  irregularities,  its  excitements,  its  unrest  and  its 
restraints.  The  food  was  new  and  untried,  its  quality  often  infe 
rior,  and  its  preparation  unskillful.  The  result  was  a  percentage 
of  sickness  unprecedented,  and  a  death  rate  extraordinary.  The 
suffering  of  our  once  hale,  yet  brave  young  men,  in  this  re 
spect,  was  fearful.  The  burden  of  messages  home  was  sickness — 
measles,  diarrhoea,  ague — the  first  named  very  fatal. 

Gen.  Taylor's  army,  reinforced  by  volunteers,  had  gradually 
concentrated  at  Comargo,  and  about  the  first  of  September  began 
to  march  up  the  valley  of  the  San  Juan,  towards  the  important 
city  of  Monterey,  whither  the  Mexicans,  after  evacuating  Mata 
moras,  had  retreated.  Taylor's  force,  after  leaving  a  strong  gar 
rison  behind,  consisted  of  "about  7,000  effective  men.  On  the  19th 
of  September,  Monterey  was  reached.  Gen.  Ampudia  was  ill 
command  of  the  city  with  an  army  of  6,000,  and  some  raw  re 
cruits,  though  up  to  the  time  of  attack  Gen.  Taylor  supposed  it 
to  consist  of  only  about  3,000.  The  defences  of  the  city,  both 

"'Kondenac"  to  Nat.  Intel.    N lies  Regis.  71— 90 


528  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

natural  and  artificial,  were  very  strong1;  and  Gen.  Ampndia  for  3 
days  made  a  vigorous  resistance.  On  the  24th  he  sent  a  flag  to 
the  American  commander  requesting  a  cessation  of  firing.  After 
negotiation,  terms  of  capitulation  were  entered  into  by  Avhich  the 
Mexicans  evacuated  and  surrendered  the  city,  and  retired  beyond 
a  line  formed  by  the  pass  of  the  Rinconada,  the  city  of  Linares 
and  San  Fernando  de  Presas,  beyond  which  the  forces  of  the 
United  States  were  not  to  advance  during  a  period  of  8  weeks,  or 
until  the  orders  of  their  respective  governments  could  be  received. 
The  war  department  disapproved  the  armistice,  and  under  date 
of  October  13th,  directed  Gen.  Taylor  to  give  notice  that  it  should 
cease.  By  the  middle  of  November,  Saltillo  \vas  occupied  by  Gen. 
Worth's  corps. 

The  army  of  the  centre  under  Gen.  Wool,  some  3,000  strong, 
began  its  march  westward  September  25th.  Its  declared  object 
was  to  aid  in  establishing  the  independence  of  the  northern  States 
of  Mexico.  Its  route  lay  over  a  great  barren  region  of  country, 
rendering  its  subsistence  extraordinarily  expensive.  With  it  were 
the  1st  and  2d  Illinois  regiments.  The  3d  and  4th  regiments  on 
the  Rio  Grande,  did  not  reach  Comargo  in  time  to  participate  in 
the  movements  of  Taylor's  army  up  the  pleasant  valley  of  the  San 
Juan  and  the  reduction  of  Monterey.  On  the  Rio  Grande  a  great 
dearth  in  army  movements  prevailed,  rendering  the  volunteer  offi 
cers,  eagerly  seeking  the  *4  bubble  reputation  at  the  cannon's 
mouth,"  extremely  impatient.  Gen.  Shields  was  now,  however, 
detached  from  his  brigade,  consisting  of  the  3d  and  4th  Illinois 
regiments,  and  ordered  to  join  the  moving  column  under 
Gen.  Wool.  In  addition  to  his  staff,  Gen.  Shields  called  upon 
Gen.  Patterson,  in  command  of  all  the  forces  at  Comargo,  for  an 
escort,  for  which  he  received  from  the  1st  battalion  of  the  4th  Illi 
nois,  18  privates,  a  lieutenant,  sergeant  and  corporal.  They  were 
mounted  and  had  G  pack  mules.  Their  destination  was  the  Presi 
dio,  where  they  arrived  before  the  middle  of  October,  the  1st  and 
2<1  Illinois  being  now  assigned  to  Shields'  brigade.  At  the  time  (Oct. 
14th)  Bissells'  regiment,  which  had  not  started  with  the  advance, 
was  a  week  behind.  After  the  detachment  of  Gen.  Shields  from 
his  brigade  on  the  Rio  Grande,  the  question  of  rank  or  seniority, 
which,  as  we  have  before  noted,  had  its  origin  in  Illinois,  came  up 
between  Colonels  Formaii  and  Baker,  of  the  3d  and  4th  regiments. 
The  order  to  Gen.  Patterson  was  to  assign  the  senior  colonel  to 
the  command  of  the  brigade.  The  question,  however,  was  left 
open  for  the  present,  Baker,  taking  the  temporary  command.  Gen. 
Shields  remained  in  his  new  position  but  a  short  time,  when  he 
was  again  detached  and  returned  to  Matamoras.  An  entire  change 
in  the  conduct  of  the  war  had  been  planned  at  Washington.  This 
consisted  in  an  attack  on  Tampico,  (which  invited  deliverance 
from  Mexican  misrule),  the  invasion  of  Tamaulipas,  and  most  im 
portant,  the  descent  on  Yera  Cruz.  In  November  Gen.  Scott  was 
assigned  with  full  power  to  the  conduct  of  the  expedition  against 
Vera  Cruz.  Gen.  Taylor  had  been  instructed  to  organize  a  force 
in  accordance  with  these  plans,  for  which  purpose  Generals  Twiggs, 
Quitman  and  Pillow  were  ordered  from  Monterey,  and  Gen.  Pat 
terson  from  Matamoras,  to  march  by  way  of  Victoria  and  concen 
trate  at  Tampico.  This  was  a  hard  and  apparently  needless  march 
for  Gen.  Patterson's  division,  to  which  the  3d  and  4th  Illinois  regi- 


MEXICAN   WAR.  529 


men  ts  belonged.  It  should  have  gone  by  water,  as  was  first  intended. 
Tlie  troops  did  not  get  finally  started  till  in  December.  Gen. 
Shields  in  the  meantime  had  preceded  his  brigade  by  water  and 
on  December  10th  he  took  formal  command  of  Tampico.  On  the 
22d  he  issued  his  police  regulations,  which  were  of  a  rigid  char 
acter.  Tampico  had  been  captured  by  Commodore  Perry,  but  was 
garrisoned  by  land  forces.* 

We  propose  first  now  to  follow  and  sketch  the  career  of  the  1st 
and  2(1  Illinois  regiments.  They  were  in  Gen.  Wool's  expedition, 
planned  by  the  cabinet  at  Washington,  to  march  to  Chihuahua  and 
to  promote  the  revolt  of  the  northern  States  of  Mexico.  The 
army,  some  3,000  strong,  broke  camp  near  San  Antonio,  Texas, 
September  20,  184(5.  Two  months  later  it  crossed  the  Eio  Grande 
at  San  Juan,  better  known  as  the  Presidio,  an  old  Mexican  town, 
containing  many  Jesuit  ruins,  distant  182  miles.  Thence  their 
route  lay  over  a  level  but  now  desolate  plain,  through  the  dilapi 
dated  town  of  Kava,  in  the  midst  of  it,  by  the  Grove  of  the  Angels, 
to  San  Fernando  de  Eosas.  This  place  was  embosomed  appa 
rently  in  an  artificial  grove,  surrounded  on  3  sides  "by  a  fine  stream 
of  clear  water,  and  stretching  oft'  in  every  direction  were  fertile 
plains.  It  contained  some  4,000  inhabitants,  was  neatly  built  up 
in  the  Mexican  style  of  architecture,  the  material  being  stone  and 
adobe.  It  was  a  perfect  oasis  in  the  long  and  weary  marches  of 
the  army.  The  army  thence  traversed  over  spurs  of  mountains, 
through  rugged  defiles,  to  the  valley  of  the  Santarita,  and  emerged 
by  a  tortuous  gorge  upon  the  broad  plain  of  San  Jose,  stretching 
30  miles  away  before  them.  Through  it  flowed  two  rivers,  4  or  5 
feet  deep,  with  currents  so  swift  that  it  was  difficult  to  hold  a 
footing  in  fording.  But  with  considerably  delay,  by  the  aid  of 
ropes,  all  the  forces,  cannon,  provision  trains,  &c.,  were  passed 
over.  On  the  24th  of  October,  the  army  entered  the  city  of  Santa 
Rosa.  The  inhabitants,  numbering  some  3,000,  offered  no  resis 
tance,  but  furnished  the  supplies  required.  This  place  was  situ 
ated  at  the  base  of  the  Sierra  Gorda,  a  range  of  mountains  rising 
4.000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  plain.  Through  these  they  now 
ascertained  there  were  no  defiles  westward  affording  passage  to  other 
than  mule  trains.  It  was  impossible  to  lead  an  army  over  them.  It 
became  apparent  that  the  martial  ambition  of  the  Wrar  Depart 
ment  exceeded  its  geographical  knowledge,  which  had  thus  been 
obtained  at  a  cost  of  many  millions  to  the  treasury  of  the  nation. 
The  only  alternative  was  to  push  hundreds  of  miles  out  of  the  way 
south,  to  Monclova  and  Parras,  and  strike  the  great  road  from 
Saltillo  to  Chihuahua.  This  course  was  decided  upon,  and  the 
army  again  took  up  its  weary  line  of  march  over  the  most  rug 
ged,  mountainous  and  sterile  country  it  had  yet  passed,  about 
the  only  vegetation  met  with  being  the  Maguey,  celebrated  as  the 
plant  from  which  an  intoxicating  liquor,  called  mescal,  is  distilled. 

After  a  short  halt  at  the  hacienda  of  Senor  Miguel  Blanco,  they 
finally  emerged  into  the  valley  of  Monclova;  crossing  which,  Gen. 
Wool  encamped  his  column  before  the  city  of  that  name.  This 
was  in  consequence  of  the  formal  protest  of  the  prefect,  the  first 
show  of  opposition  with  which  the  army  had  met  thus  far  on  the 
route.  Gen.  WTool  immediately  took  possession  of  the  town, 
November  3d,  and  displayed  the  American  flag  from  the  top  of  the 

*  See  letter  from  Secretary  of  War  to  Gen.  Taylor,  Oct.  22,  1846. 

34 


530  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

governor's  palace  on  the  principal  plaza.  In  the  meantime,  Gen. 
Taylor  had  ordered  Gen.  Wool,  with  whom  he  had  communicated 
several  times,  not  to  advance  beyond  Monclova  until  the  termina 
tion  of  his  armistice  with  Ampudia.  Being  now  some  700  miles  from 
Lavacca,  Gen.  Wool  determined  to  establish  a  depot  of  supplies  at 
Monclova,  for  which  purpose  he  employed  the  time  to  collect  large 
quantities  of  stores  and  provisions  and  in  reconnoitering  the  coun 
try,  while  he  also  perfected  the  discipline  of  the  troops.  After  the 
delay  of  a  month,  the  "Centre  Division,"  except  250  men  left  to 
guard  the  depot  at  Monclova,  once  more  took  up  its  line  of  march 
for  Parras,  distant  180  miles.  The  route  was  south,  and  led 
through  a  number  of  towns  before  reaching  Pan-as,  containing 
about  0,000  inhabitants,  located  near  the  centre  of  the  best  grain 
region  of  Mexico,  at  the  base  of  the  Bolson  de  Malpami,  100  miles 
southwest  from  fc'altillo  and  300  miles  from  San  Luis  de  Potosi. 

This  key  to  Chihuahua  (distant  450  miles)  was  reached  on  the 
5th  of  December.  By  this  time  the  conquest  of  Cliihuah  ua  had  been 
abandoned,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  other  plans  of  prosecuting  the  war 
were  in  process  of  execution.  Scott  was  in  supreme  command ; 
the  army  of  occupation  had  dispersed  from  Monterey,  Taylor 
being  at  Victoria,  and  Patterson  ordered  from  Comargo  to 
Tampico.  Santa  Anna  was  collecting  a  large  force  at  San  Luis 
Potosi,  threatening  Monterey,  the  liio  Grande,  and  all  the  con 
quests  of  Taylor's  army.  Gen.  AVool  therefore  left  Parras,  after 
12  days'  stay,  to  throw  himself  across  the  probable  route  of  Santa 
Anna's  advance,  and  on  the  21st  of  December  occupied  Agua 
Nueva,  his  movement  culminating  just  two  months  later  in  the 
severest  and  most  important  battle  of  the  war,  that  of  Buena 
Vista.  Thus  was  completed  a  fatiguing  inarch  of  near  a  1.000 
miles,  made  in  about  6  weeks  time  (deducting  stoppages  at  Mon 
clova  and  Parras),  over  a  barren  and  desolate  country,  through 
which  supplies  were  transported  at  an  infinite  expense,  which 
proved  utterly  fruitless  of  results;  and  viewed  at  this  day  seems 
to  have  been  planned  without  consideration,  if  not  conceived  iu 
folly.  Throughout  the  arduous  and  excessive  marches  the  Illinois 
troops  conducted  themselves  as  veterans. 

Battle  of  Buena  Vista. — It  becoming  more  and  more  apparent 
that  Santa  Anna  meditated  a  descent  upon  Saltillo,  and  probably 
the  entire  country  over  which  the  army  of  occupation  had  fought, 
Gen.  Taylor,  in  January,  1847,  left  Victoria  and  established  his 
headquarters  at  Monterey.  Directly,  further  information  of  Santa 
Anna's  purposes  were  discovered  in  the  capture  of  C.  M.  Clay, 
and  Majors  Borland  and  Gains  at  Encarnacion.  Leaving  1,500 
men  behind,  Taylor  now  advanced  with  all  his  available  force  to 
Saltillo,  distant  40  miles.  After  a  short  halt  he  proceeded  forward 
to  the  camp  of  Gen.  Wool  at  Agua  Nueva,  the  whole  effective 
forces  concentrated  there  now  being  swollen  to  about  5.000  men, 
all  volunteers  except  500. 

Agua  Nueva  was  situated  at  the  southeast  corner  of  the  elevated 
and  well  watered  valley  of  Encantada,  where  the  great  road  from 
San  Luis  Potosi  entered  it.  From  thence  north  to  Saltillo,  a  dis 
tance  of  20  miles,  the  road  followed  the  pass  of  Buena  Vista, 
which  varied  in  width  from  1J  to  4  miles,  but  at  a  point  6  miles 
south  of  Saltillo  contracted  to  the  a  Narrows" — La  Augosturea. 


MEXICAN  WAR.  531 


Meandering-  through  the  Pass  was  a  small  stream  of  water,  which 
had  washed  out  at  the  Narrows  a  net  work  of  gullies  20  feet  deep, 
with  precipitous  banks.  On  the  east  side  of  the  stream  the  ground 
was  elevated  to  the  height  of  60  or  70  feet.  Into  this,  at  right 
angles  from  the  Narrows,  extended  3  gorges  of  unequal  length, 
varying  from  perhaps  a  J  to  £  mile,  the  southernmost  being  the 
longest  and  deepest.  Between  these  were  high  ridges  running 
back  into  a  plateau,  which  extended  to  the  mountain  further  east 
about  £  a  mile.  Between  the  gullies  and  the  table  land  thus  cut 
into  ridges  there  was  a  narrow  strip  of  ground  for  the  road,  down 
on  the  lower  level,  leaving  hardly  room  for  two  wagons  to  pass. 
Back  of  the  plateau  a  deep  ravine  ran  up  to  the  mountain,  and  to 
the  south  of  it  there  was  also  a  ravine,  broad,  but  not  so  difficult  to 
cross.  Precisely  two  months  before  the  battle,  Gen.  Wool,  on  a 
trip  to  Saltillo,  pointed  out  this  defile  as  the  spot  of  all  others  for 
a  small  army  to  fight  a  large  one.  And  it  was  in  fact  a  perfect 
Thermopylae. 

When,  therefore,  Santa  Anna  with  his  splendid  army  of  20,000, 
poured  into  the  valley  at  Agua  Nueva,  early  on  the  morning  of 
the  22d  of  February,  hoping  to  surprise  Taylor,  he  found  nothing 
but  destroyed  dwellings,  burning  stacks  of  grain,  and  a  small 
mounted  force,  which  gave  him  room  without  parley.  Everything 
indicated  a  hurried  departure,  which  his  ready  imagination  con 
strued  into  a  precipitate  retreat.  Thus  deluded,  after  a  bare 
halt,  he  made  pursuit^  hoping  to  overtake  the  Americans  and  con 
vert  their  retreat  into  a  rout.  He  urged  forward  his  famished 
and  jaded  forces  14  miles  farther,  without  adequate  rest  or  nour 
ishment,  and  when  he  did  overtake  the  Americans  it  was  at  these 
very  "Narrows,'7  where  he  could  not  recede  without  defeat  or 
avoid  battle  without  dishonor. 

Gen.  Mi non,  who  had  hovered  around  Gen.  Wool's  forces  for  a 
week,  had  been  dispatched  with  2,000  cavalry  by  a  circuitous 
route  to  the  east,  to  threaten  Saltillo  and  cut  off"  their  retreat; 
and  Gen.  Urrea,  with  1,000  rancheros,  had  been  sent  by  a  circuit- 
<4us  route  to  the  west  of  the  road. 

The  approach  of  the  Mexicans  through  the  Pass  was  made  visi 
ble  at  a  considerable  distance  by  the  clouds  of  dust  raised.  Our 
troops  had  halted  north  of  the  Narrows,  about  1£  miles,  at  the 
hamlet  of  Buena  Vista.  After  refreshment  on  the  morning  of  the 
22d,  they  were  marched  back  and  placed  in  position  on  the  field 
by  Gen.  Wool.  Gen.  Taylor  was  away  0  miles,  at  Saltillo,  direct 
ing  the  defences  of  the  depot  of  supplies.  Capt.  Washington's 
battery  of  8  pieces  was  placed  to  occupy  the  road  at  the  Narrows, 
supported  by  the  1st  Illinois  regiment,  Col.  Hardin,  posted  on  the 
high  road  to  the  east  of  it.  Still  farther  to  the  east,  on  the  main 
plateau,  was  the  2d  Illinois  regiment  and  one  company  of  Texan s 
(Capt.  Conner's,)  under  Col.  Bissell.  Captains  Morgan's  and 
Prentiss'  companies  of  the  1st  Illinois,  and  Captains  Hacker's 
and  Wheeler's  of  the  2d  Illinois,  were  despatched  under  command 
of  Major  Warren  to  Saltillo,  to  guard  the  train  and  depot  against 
attack  from  Gen.  Minon.  To  the  left  of  the  2d  Illinois,  near  the 
base  of  the  mountain,  were  the  mounted  Kentucky  and  Arkansas 
regiments,  Colonels  Marshall  and  Yell;  and  on  the  ridge  to  the 
rear  of  the  Illinois  troops,  as  a  reserve,  were  placed  the  2d  and 
3d  Indiana  regiments  (Gen.  Lane's  brigade),  the  Mississippi  rifles, 


532  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

the  1st  and  2d  dragoons,  and  the  light  batteries  of  Captains  Bragg 
and  Sherman.  The  2d  Kentucky  regiment  (of  loot),  Col.  McKee, 
occupied  a  ridge,  around  -which  the  road  divided  to  the  rear  of 
Washington's  battery. 

As  the  Mexican  cavalry  came  clattering  down  the  road,  the  first 
intimation  they  received  of  an  enemy  in  the  way  was  to  behold 
him  thus  stationed  in  battle  array.  Before  they  came  within 
range  their  bugles  sounded  a  halt,  and  they  directly  wheeled  to 
the  right  behind  a  protecting  elevation  of  ground.  As  those  in 
the  rear  came  up,  the  whole  were  formed  into  three  columns,  one 
to  carry  Washington's  battery  and  the  others  to  turn  our  left; 
•with  still  a  large  reserve.  The  enemy  had  20  guns,  among  which 
there  were  three  24-pounders,  three  16,  five  12,  besides  a  7-inch 
howitzer.  Before  attacking,  Santa  Anna  sent  Gen.  Taylor  a  Hag 
of  truce,  assuring  him  he  would  be  cut  in  pieces,  and  summoning 
him  to  surrender,  which  was  promptly  declined.  It  was  now  3 
p.  m.  In  the  meantime  Gen.  Wool  had  passed  along  the  lines, 
addressing  a  few  spirited  words  to  our  troops.  He  reminded  his 
own  column,  mostly  Illinoisans,  of  their  protracted  and  impatient 
marches,  but  that  every  one  would  now  have  an  opportunity  to 
w^n  all  the  distinction  desired.  In  honor  of  the  day  the  watch 
word  was  :  "The  memory  of  Washington.'7 

The  enemy  opened  with  a  brisk  cannonade  upon  our  right  and 
centre,  but  he  fought  mainly  to  get  possession  of  the  two 
slopes  of  the  mountain  rising  from  the  plateau  on  the  east,  to 
turn  our  flak.  This  was  met  by  the  Kentucky  and  Arkansas  reg 
iments  (dismounted),  and  a  portion  of  the  Indiana  brigade, armed 
•with  rifles.  A  movement  was  also  made  on  the  west,  to  meet 
which  Bragg's  battery  was  sent  across  the  stream  on  an  eminence 
opposite  the  Narrows,  supported  by  McKee's  2d  Kentucky.  A  des 
ultory  tight  was  kept  up  till  nightfall,  but  the  two  armies  did  not 
become  fully  engaged.  Gen.  Taylor,  who  had  returned,  departed 
for  Saltillo  to  look  after  the  safety  of  the  stores  and  the  protec 
tion  of  his  rear. 

During  the  day  Col.  Hardin's  1st  Illinois  threw  up  a  parapet 
along  his  whole  front,  cut  a  trench  across  the  road  to  the  brink 
of  the  gullies,  in  front  of  Washington's  battery,  and  covered  his 
position  with  an  epaulment,  leaving  an  opening  for  the  advance 
of  the  battery  choked  with  two  wagons  loaded  with  stones,  their 
wheels  locked  that  the  enemy  should  not  profit  by  it.  The  troops 
bivouacked  on  the  field  without  fires,  resting  upon  their  arms.  The 
night  Avas  cold  and  dreary,  with  rain  and  gusts  of  wind,  causing 
them  to  suffer  with  cold.  Santa  Annamade  a  spirited  address  to  his 
troops,  reciting  in  burning  words  the  wrongs  heaped  upon  their 
country  by  the  barbarians  of  the  north,  their  vivas  being  distinctly 
heard  by  the  Americans.  The  delicious  strains  of  his  own  band 
till  late  in  the  night,  playing  the  exquisite  airs  of  the  sunny 
south,  mellowed  by  distance,  were  fully  audible  to  our  troops. 
But  at  last  silence  fell  over  the  hosts  that  were  to  contend  unto 
death  in  that  narrow  pass  on  the  morrow. 

The  battle  was  resumed  early  on  the  morning  of  the  23d,  and  con 
tinued  without  intermission  until  the  shades  of  night  precluded 
further  effort.  Never  did  armies  contend  more  bravely,  determin 
edly,  stubbornly  and  arduously  than  these  on  this  long  and  toil- 
someday.  It  was  again  opened  on  the  mountain  slope  to  the  east 


MEXICAN  WAR.  533 


of  the  plateau  by  Gen.  Ampudia's  division  of  light  infantry,  heav 
ily  reinforced.  At  2  a.  111.  they  clambered  up  the  mountain  to 
flank  our  riflemen,  who  had  kindled  tires,  and  at  dawn  the  engage 
ment  became  general.  Gen.  Wool  sent  reinforcements  to  our  rifle 
men,  under  the  command  of  Major  Trail,  of  the  2d  Illinois,  consist 
ing  of  Captains  Lemon's  and  Woodward's  companies,  and  Captain 
Conner's  Texans,  and  a  12-pound  howitzer  and  two  guns  under 
Lieut.  O'Brien,  which  did  great  execution  upon  the  Mexicans,  as 
they  poured  upon  our  men  in  the  number  of  eight  to  one. 

About  8  a.  m.  the  enemy  made  a  strong  demonstration  against 
our  centre,  doubtless  for  a  feint.  His  force  was  soon  dispersed  by 
the  well  directed  shots  from  Washington's  battery  ;  but  in  the 
meantime  he  was  collecting  a  large  force  in  the  broad  ravine  south 
of  the  main  plateau,  under  Gen.  Pacheco,  wrhile  Gen.  Lombardini's 
division  marched  up  the  ridge  (which  hid  the  former)  in  plain  view, 
supported  by  dragoons  and  lancers,  the  whole  in  their  splendid 
uniforms  presenting  a  beautiful  sight.  The  object  was  to  form  a 
junction  on  the  south  side  of  the  main  plateau,  and,  that  gained, 
overwhelm  our  forces.  The  plateau  at  the  time  was  occupied  by 
the  2d  Illinois,  Col.  Bissell's,  and  the  2d  Indiana,  Col.  Bowies', 
the  latter  of  Gen.  Lane's  brigade.  The  object  of  the  enemy  was 
perceived;  and  to  prevent  the  junction  of  his  two  divisions,  Gen. 
Lane  ordered  forward  Lieut.  O'Brien  with  three  pieces  ot  artillery 
and  the  2d  Indiana  in  support.  They  proceeded  between  200  and 
300  yards  in  advance  of  all  other  troops,  turning  down  the  ridge 
up  which  Lombardini's  division  was  advancing.  No  sooner  had 
they  formed  than  the  Mexicans  opened  upon  them,  the  odds 
against  them  being  as  ten  to  one.  There,  isolated,  they  stood  and 
fought  the  cohorts  of  Santa  Anna  with  terrible  effect.  But  a  Mex 
ican  battery,  south-east  of  them  and  somewhat  to  their  rear,  began 
to  play  a  murderous  cross  fire  of  grape  and  cannister  upon  them. 
The  unequal  contest  wTas  maintained  not  less  than  25  minutes  ;  to 
get  out  of  the  range  of  this  battery  Gen.  Lane  now  ordered  his 
force  still  forward  and  to  the  right,  50  yards  farther,  which  Was 
promptly  done ;  but  at  this  juncture,  perhaps  from  a  misappre 
hension  of  Gen.  Lane's  order,  Col. Bowles  cried  out  to  his  regiment, 
'*  cease  firing,  and  retreat",  which  was  obeyed  not  only  with  alac 
rity  but  precipitancy.  It. was  sought  to  rally  the  men  back  to  their 
position,  but  without  effect.  The  battery,  with  the  loss  of  one 
piece,  got  away. 

Pacheco's  division,  having  by  this  time  made  the  ravine,  joined 
Lombardini's,  and  the  two  poured  upon  the  main  plateau,  so  form 
idable  in  numbers  as  to  appear  irresistible.  At  this  time  the  2d 
Illinois,  Col.  Bissell,  six  companies,  a  squadron  of  cavalry,  and 
Lieutenants  French  and  Thomas  with  their  pieces  of  artillery,  the 
whole  having  already  advanced  to  a  closer  point,  came  handsomely 
into  action  and  gallantly  received  the  concentrated  fire  of  the  en 
emy,  which  they  returned  with  deliberate  aim  and  terrible  effect; 
every  discharge  of  the  artillery  seeming  to  tear  a  bloody  path 
through  the  heavy  columns  of  the  enemy.  Says  a  writer:  "The 
rapid  musketry  of  the  gallant  troops  of  Illinois  poured  a  storm  of 
lead  into  their  serried  ranks,  which  literally  strewed  the  ground 
with  the  dead  and  dying."  But,  notwithstanding  his  losses,  the 
enemy  steadily  advanced,  throwing  *\.  large  body  between  the  left 
of  the  Illinoisans  and  Sherman's  battery,  which  had  come  up,  so 


534  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

that  our  gallant  regiment  received  a  fire' from  tliree  sides,  front, 
left  Hank  and  left  rear;  but  they  maintained  their  position  for  a 
time  with  unflinching  firmness  against  that  immense  host — to  have 
charged  which  would  have  been  speedy  and  complete  destruction. 
At  length,  perceiving  the  danger  of  being  entirely  surrounded,  it 
was  determined  to  fall  back  to  a  ravine.  Col.  Bissell,  with  the  cool 
ness  as  if  on  ordinary  drill,  ordered  the  signal  "cease  firing"  to  be 
made;  he  then,  with  the  same  deliberation,  gave  the  command, 
"  Face  to  the  rear !  Battalion,  about  face ;  forward  march !'' — which 
was  executed  by  the  Illinoisans  with  the  regularity  of  veterans  to 
a  point  beyond  the  peril  of  being  outflanked.  Again,  in  obedience 
to  command,  these  intrepid  and  subordinate  men  halted,  faced 
about,  and,  under  a  murderous  tempest  of  bullets  from  the  foe,  re 
sumed  with  promptness  and  precision  their  well-directed  fire  on 
his  left,  as  he  essayed  to  cross  the  plateau  and  gain  their  rear.  The 
conduct  of  no  troops  anywhere  could  have  been  more  admirable. 
Will  it  add  any  encomium  to  state  that  they  had  never  till  that  day 
been  under  fire? — that  in  the  space  of  less  than  half  an  hour  they 
had  seen  drop  by  their  side  their  fellows  to  the  number  of  80 — 
officers  and  men0?  How  different  from  the  four  companies  of  the 
Arkansas  regiment,  which  (dismounted)  were  ordered  to  the  pla 
teau,  but  gave  way  and  dispersed  after  delivering  their  first  fire  ! 

There  now  came  to  the  aid  of  our  struggling  and  shattered  regi 
ment  four  companies  from  the  1st  Illinois  under  the  gallant  Hardin 
himself,  the  2d  Kentucky,  Col.  McKee,  and  Capt.  Bragg,  with  two 
pieces  of  artillery.  Here  on  the  plateau  now  the  battle  long  in  even 
balance  hung.  In  the  meantime  the  enemy's  left,  4,000  strong, 
was  repulsed  by  the  iron  tempest  from  Washington's  battery.  But 
behind  his  serried  ranks  on  the  plateau,  next  to  the  base  of  the 
mountain,  his  cavalry  swept  past,  driving  the  Kentucky  and  Ar 
kansas  mounted  volunteers  back.  Seeing  this, our.  riflemen  aban 
doned  their  position  with  great  loss  under  the  pursuit  of  Ampu- 
dia's  light  infantry,  who  poured  down  in  great  masses  on  a  sec 
tion  of  the  plain  half  a  mile  north  of  the  plateau,  completely  turn 
ing  our  left.  With  the  exception  of  Col.  Hardin's  parapet,  and 
Washington's  battery  at  the  narrows,  both  held  and  supported  by 
a  portion  of  his  regiment,  our  forces  had  now  been  driven  from 
every  first  position  on  the  field,  and  our  loss  was  immense.  Gen. 
Wool  had  conducted  the  brilliant  achievements  of  our  army  up  to 
this  time  ;  but  the  demand  for  reinforcements  was  now  imperative. 
It  was  at  this  critical  period  that  Gen.  Taylor  arrived  from  Saltillo, 
accompanied  by  the  Mississippi  Eifles,  Col.  Jefferson  Davis,  a. 
squadron  of  dragoons,  Lieut.  Col.  May,  two  companies  of  infantry, 
Captains  Pike  and  Preston,  and  a  piece  of  artillery.  This  force, 
tried  in  the  storming  of  Monterey,  threw  themselves  with  intrepid 
gallantry  against  Ampudia's  hordes  as  they  came  pouring  down 
the  plain  flushed  with  victory.  From  their  unerring  rifles  men 
dropped  as  grass  before  the  scythe.  The  tide  of  victory  was 
checked  ;  and  the  3d  Indiana  coming  to  their  support,  the  Mexi 
cans  were  driven  beyond  range. 

In  the  meantime  Santa  Anna  had,  with  infinite  labor,  brought 
his  battalion  de  Sail  Patricio  (deserted  Irish  soldiers  from  our 
army)  forward  with  a  battery  of  18  and  24-pounders,  enfilading 
•with  grape  and  cannister  the  whole  plateau.  But  by  a  vigorous 
sortie  his  heavy  column  was  broken  near  its  centre,  a  portion  fly- 


MEXICAN  WAR.  535 


ing  north  towards  Ampudia;  the  other,  with  Santa  Anna  in  their 
midst,  (his  horse  shot,)  pressing  southward,  and  Hardin,  Bis- 
sell  and  McKee,  with  their  forces  dashing  in  pursuit  to  a  point 
within  close  musket  range,  where  they  poured  a  rapid  and  most 
destructive  fire  into  his  ranks  till  he  gained  the  cover  of  the  ra 
vine.  His  battery,  however,  held  its  position.  Directly  after,  Gen. 
Taylor  ordered  Bragg's  and  Sherman's  batteries  to  another  part  of 
tlie  field,  leaving  but  4  pieces  on  the  plateau.  The  1st  and  2d  Illi 
nois  and  the  2d  Kentucky  regiments,  together  with  4  pieces  of  ar 
tillery,  were  now  stationed  near  the  heads  of  the  first  and  second 
gorges,  holding  hi  check  the  enemy's  1st  and2d  attacking  columns 
filling  the  ravine  next  south  of  the  plateau.  For  a  long  time  the 
contest  was  maintained  without  decided  advantage  to  either  side 
on  the  plateau,  the  main  theatre  of  the  battle. 

We  have  uot  space  to  follow  in  detail  all  the  gallant  fighting 
around  on  our  left.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  pieces  of  Bragg, 
Sherman,  Reynolds,  and  Kilburn,  the  Mississippi  Rifles,  the  3d 
Indiana  and  a  fragment  of  the  2d,  and  Major  Trail  with  two  com 
panies  of  the  2d  Illinois,  and  Capt.  Conner's  Texans,  the  1st  and 
2d  dragoons,  and  Colonels  Marshall's  and  Yell's  mounted  Ken 
tucky  and  Arkansas  volunteers,  and  others,  with  signal  success, 
beat  back  the  enemy,  cavalry  and  infantry,  from  the  hacienda  de 
Bnena  Vista,  around  on  our  left  under  the  base  of  the  mountain. 

But  now  we  have  to  relate  the  saddest,  and  for  Illinois,  the  most 
mournful  event  of  that  battle- fatigued  day.  As  the  enemy  on  our 
left  was  moving  in  retreat  along  the  head  of  the  plateau,  our 
artillery  was  advanced  well  within  range,  and  opened  a  heavy  fire 
upon  him,  while 

"  Colonels  Hardin,  Bissell  and  McKee,  with  their  Illinois  and  Ken 
tucky  troops,  dashed  gallantly  forward  in  hot  pursuit.  A  powerful  re 
serve  of  the  Mexican  army  was  just  then  emerging  from  the  ravine, 
where  it  had  been  organized,  and  advanced  on  the  plateau  opposite  the 
head  of  the  southermost  gorge.  Those  who  were  giving  way  rallied 
quickly  upon  it ;  when  the  whole  force,  thus  increased  to  over  12,000 
men,  came  forward  in  a  perfect  blaze  of  fire.  It  was  a  single  column, 
composed  of  the  best  soldiers  of  the  Republic,  having  for  its  advanced 
battalions  the  veteran  regiments.  The  Kentucky  and  Illinois  troops 
were  scon  obliged  to  give  ground  before  it  and  seek  shelter  of  the  2d 
gorge,  [The  enemy  pressed  on,  and]  arriving  opposite  the  head  of  the 
2d  jiorge,  one  half  of  the  column  suddenly  enveloped  it,  while  the  other 
half  pressed  on  across  the  plateau,  having  for  the  moment  nothing  to 
resist  them  but  the  3  guns  in  their  front.  The  portion  that  was  imme 
diately  opposed  to  the  Kentucky  and  Illinois  troops,  ran  down  along 
each  side  of  the  gorge  in  which  they  had  sought  shelter,  and  also  cir 
cled  around  its  head,  leaving  no  possible  way  of  escape  for  them  except 
by  its  mouth,  which  opened  upon  the  road.  Its  sides  [which]  were 
steep — at  least  an  angle  of  45  degrees — were  covered  with  loose  pebbles 
and  stones,  and  went  to  a  point  at  the  bottom.  Down  there  were  our 
poor  fellows,  nearly  3  regiments  of  them  [1st  and  2d  Illinois  and  2d 
Kentucky,]  with  butlittle  opportunity  to  load  or  fire  a  gun,  being  hardly 
able  to  keep  their  feet.  Above  the  whole  edge  of  the  gorge,  all  the  way 
around,  was  darkened  by  the  seried  masses  of  the  enemy,  and  was  brist 
ling  with  muskets  directed  upon  the  crowd  beneath.  It  was  no  time  to 
pause ;  those  who  were  not  immediately  shot  down,  rushed  on  toward 
the  road,  their  numbers  growing  less  and  less  as  they  went ;  Kentuckians 
and  IHinoisans,  officers  and  men,  all  mixed  up  in  confusion,  and  all 
pressing  on  over  the  the  loose  pebbles  and  rolling  stones  of  those  shelv 
ing,  precipitous  banks,  and  having  lines  and  lines  of  the  enemy  firing 
down  from  each  side  and  rear,  as  they  went.  Just  then,  the  enemy's 
cavalry,  which  had  gone  to  the  left  of  the  reserve,  had  come  over  the 


536  HISTORY  OF   ILLINOIS. 

spur  that  divides  the  mouth  of  the  2d  gorge  from  that  of  the  3d,  and 
were  now  closing  up  the  only  door  through  which  there  was  the  least 
shadow  of  a  chance  for  their  lives.  Many  of  those  ahead  endeavored  to 
force  their  way  out ;  but  few  succeeded ;  the  lancers  were  fully  6  to  1, 
and  their  long  weapons  were  already  reeking  with  blood.  It  was  at  this 
time  that  those  who  were  still  back  in  that  dreadful  gorge  heard,  above 
the  din  of  the  musketry  and  the  shouts  of  the  enemy  around  them,  the 
roar  of  Washington's  Battery.  No  music  could  have  been  more  grate 
ful  to  their  ears.  A  moment  only,  and  the  whole  opening,  where  the  lan 
cers  were  busy,  rang  with  the  repeated  explosions  of  spherical-case  shot. 
They  gave  way.  The  gate,  as  it  were,  was  clear,  and  out  upon  the  road 
a  stream  of  our  poor  fellows  issued.  They  ran,  panting  down  towards 
the  battery  and  directly  under  the  flight  of  iron  then  passing  over  their 
heads  into  the  retreating  cavalry.  Hardin,  McKee,  Clay,  Willis,  Za- 
briskie,  Houghton — but  why  go  on  ?  It  would  be  a  sad  task  indeed  to 
name  over  all  who  fell  during  this  20  minutes'  slaughter.  The  whole 
gorge,  from  the  plateau  to  its  mouth,  was  strewed  with  our  dead;  all  dead; 
no  wounded  there,  not  a  man ;  for  the  infantry  had  rushed  down  the 
sides  and  completed  the  work  with  the  bayonet. "*f 

On  the  plateau  our  artillery  did  its  utmost  to  Hold  at  bay  the 
hordes  of  Mexicans  while  reinforcements  pressed  forward  to  this 
the  center  of  conflict.  The  enemy  fought  with  a  perfect  aban 
don  of  life.  The  heavy  battery  steadily  held  its  ground.  The 
remnants  of  the  2d  and  1st  Illinois  regiments,  after  issuing  from 
the  fatal  gorge,  were  reformed  and  again  brought  into  action,  the 
former  under  the  modest  but  intrepid  Bissell,  and  the  latter,  after 
the  fall  of  the  noble  Hardin,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Weatherford.  The  2d  regiment  took  a  position  to  the 
right  of  our  batteries,  and  the  1st  somewhat  toward  the  left  of 
them.  The  enemy  also  brought  reinforcements  to  the  field.  A 
brisk  artillery  duel  was  now  steadily  maintained  j  but  gradually, 
with  the  setting'  of  the  orb  of  day,  the  cannonade  and  rattle  of 
small  amis  slackened,  and  when  night  spread  her  pall  over  the 
field  of  carnage,  it  ceased  altogether,  and  the  gloom  of  silence 
succeeded.  Both  armies,  after  the  long  day's  struggle,  occupied 
much  the  same  position  as  in  the  morning;  the  enemy,  with  his 
overwhelming  numbers,  having  gained  but  little  ground.  Early 
on  the  following  morning  the  glad  tidings  spread  rapidly  among 
our  gallant  troops  that  he  had,  under  the  cover  of  darkness,  re 
treated  ;  and  victory  once  more  perched  upon  the  banners  of  the 
Americans. 

Our  total  loss  was  746— killed,  264;  that  of  the  enemy,  2,500. 
The  loss  of  the  1st  Illinois  regiment  was  45 — killed,  29  ;  of  the  2d, 
131 — killed,  62.  This  battle,  as  it  was  the  heaviest  and  most  stub 
born,  proved  also  to  be  the  turning  point  of  the  war — like  that  of 
Saratoga  in  the  war  of  the  revolution.  It  ended  the  campaign  in 
that  part  of  Mexico. 

In  the  movement  against  Yera  Cruz,  the  3d  and  4th  Illinois 
regiments,  Colonels  Forman  and  Baker,  together  with  a  New 
York  regiment,  Col.  Burnett,  constituted  the  brigade  of  General 
Shields.  After  reconnoitering  the  city  by  Gen.  Scott,  the  spot 
selected  for  the  landing  place  of  the  army  was  the  main  shore  to 

"Colton's  History  of  the  Battle  of  Buena  Vista  ;  to  which,  with  Gen.  Taylor's  official 
report,  we  arc  largely  indebted  for  our  account  of  this  battle. 

•(•Col.  Bissell  in  a  speech  subsequently  made  at  Jacksonville  (?),  said  that  neither 
Hardin  nor  any  of  the  three  Colonels  had  orders  for  their  last  furious  charge  made 
upon  the  retreatinsr  army  across  the  plateau,  (Taylor  being-  away);  that  it  arose  by  a 
species  of  common  consent  between  them,  for  as  Hardin  started,  he  (Bissell)  followed, 
and  McKee,  Avith  his  Kentuckians,  fell  in  in  support  of  the  movement.  He  stated 
further  that  it  was  that  terrible  charge  which  saved  the  fortunes  of  the  day. 


MEXICAN  WAR.  537 


the  west  of  the  Island  of  Sacriticios,  and  south  of  the  city.  The 
men  were  landed  March  9,  1847,  by  surf-boats,  companies  A,  P 
and  G  of  the  4th  Illinois,  under  tbe  immediate  command  of  Lieut, 
Col.  John  Moore,  being  among  the  very  lirst  to  participate  in  that 
admirably  executed  achievement  in  which  not  a  man  was  lost. 
On  landing,  the  troops  of  Shields'  and  Pillow's  brigades  were  as 
signed  to  the  advance,  and  they  cleared  hill  after  hill-  of  the  Mexi 
cans,  who,  with  a  feeble  effort  at  resistance,  took  refuge  in  the 
chaparral.  The  army,  after  experiencing  very  warm  weather, 
alternated  with  a  "  norther" — a  cold  and  blinding  sand  storm — 
and  sleeping  on  sand  banks  at  night,  gradually  gained  in  its  ap 
proaches  upon  the  city,  completing  the  investment  in  about  3 
days'  time. 

Nearly  two  weeks  later,  after  due  summons  and  refusal  to  sur 
render,  our  artillery  opened  its  terrible  fire  of  shot  and  shell  upon 
the  city  and  the  far-famed  castle  of  San  Juan  de'  Ulloa,  reputed 
to  be  tbe  strongest  fortress  on  the  continent.  After  a  stubborn 
resistance  to  the  dreadful  effects  of  our  mortars,  howitzers  and 
Paixhan  guns  in  the  battery  on  shore,  at  a  distance  of  800  yards, 
and  the  broadsides  of  our  ships  of  war  for  5  days,  the  city  and  castle 
both,  unable  to  cope  with  the  advance  in  science  which  American 
artillery  had  made,  surrendered.  Our  loss  in  men  was  very  tri 
fling.  During  the  bombardment  there  were  thrown  into  the 
walled  city  3,000  ten  inch  shells  of  90  pounds  each,  200  howitzer 
shells,  1,000  Paixhan  shot  and  2,500  round  shot — a  half  million 
weight  of  metal.  The  wreck  of  the  city  and  its  mourning  attested 
both  the  power  and  the  sadness  of  war. 

On  the  8th  of  April  the  army  began  its  forward  movement  on  the 
Jalapa  road.  Four  days  later  it  reached  the  Plan  del  Eio  at  the  Pass 
of  Cerro  Gordo.  Here  a  deep  river  breaks  through  the  mountain, 
whose  sides  tower  aloft  1,000  feet.  Winding  along  through  this 
gorge,  on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  ran  the  national  road,  the 
only  highway  by  which  our  army  could  gain  the  interior.  On 
these  ramparts  of  nature,  Santa  Anna,  by  a  series  of  rapid 
marches,  after  his  defeat  atBueua  Vista,  had  concentrated  an  army 
of  15,000  men,  and  had  further  fortified  the  position  by  entrench 
ments  and  the  erection  of  batteries,  which,  one  above  another,  com 
manded  a  sweep  of  the  road  and  frowned  grimly  upon  our  army 
below.  It  was  concluded,  after  a  thorough  reconuoisance  by  Gen. 
Scott  himself,  that  the  position  was  impregnable.  The  plan  was 
next  formed  of  cutting  a  new  road  through  the  chaparral  to  the 
north  of  and  winding  around  the  base  of  the  mountain,  thence 
to  ascend  and  unite  with  the  national  road  in  the  rear  of  the 
enemy's  position.  The  plan  was.feasible  only  with  great  toil  and 
labor,  but  our  brave  men  were  equal  to  the  task.  So  well  was 
the  enemy's  attention  employed  by  movements  in  his  front,  that 
for  3  days  he  was  not  apprised  of  this  work,  when  he  assailed  the 
laborers  with  grape  and  musketry.  Twiggs'  division  was  there 
upon  advanced  along  the  new  route,  which  was  nearly  completed, 
and  carried  the  eminence  occupied  by  the  enemy  and  protected 
the  working  parties.  During  the  darkness  of  the  night  following, 
by  almost  superhuman  exertion,  a  24-pounder  battery  was  silently 
lifted  hundreds  of  feet  to  the  top  of  this  height.  This  was  done 
by  Gen.  Shields'  brigade,  the  3d  and  4th  Illinois  and  the  Xew  York 
regiment.  It  was  a  herculean  labor  gallantly  performed. 


538  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

Everyth ing  being  ready,  in  accordance  with  the  order  of  battle, 
Twiggs'  division,  by  a  somewhat  farther  route,  was  to  turn  and 
assail  the  position  of  the  enemy  directly  on  his  rear  5  still  beyond, 
but  in  supporting  distance  of  him,  were  ordered  the  volunteer 
regiments  under  Gen.  Shields,  the  3d  and  4th  Illinois  and  the 
New  York,  wiiich  were  to  carry  a  battery  of  the  enemy's  on 
his  extreme  left  (Santa  Anna's),  gain  the  national  road  and  cut  off 
his  retreat  by  that  route  5  Pillow's  brigade  was  to  attack  his  river 
batteries  in  front.  At  a  given  signal  the  general  attack  on  the 
enemy's  line  was  to  begin.  Pillow's  assault  was  repulsed  ; 
Twiggs'  men  advanced  from  the  rear  with  a  plunging  fire  in  their 
front  and  a  rolling  one  on  either  flank,  climbed  the  rocky  ascent, 
and  under  the  lead  of  Col.  Harney,  stormed  the  enemy's  center, 
carried  the  fortifications,  routed  his  main  body,  and  turned  his 
guns  upon  the  fugitives  as  they  fled,  while  Shields'  brigade  as 
saulted  and  carried  the  enemy's  battery  on  the  extreme  left,  dis 
persed  its  supporting  infantry,  gained  the  Jalapa  road,  cut  off 
his  retreat  in  that  direction  and  prevented  his  rallying  beyond. 
In  the  storming  of  this  battery,  the  heroic  Shields  receiA'ed  a 
grape  shot  through  his  lungs.  He  fell  apparently  mortally 
wounded ;  his  obituary  was  published  in  many  newspapers 
throughout  the  country ;  he  recovered,  however,  and  is  still  in 
life.  The  command  of  his  brigade  devolved  upon  Colonel  E.  D. 
Baker,  of  the  4th  Illinois,  from  whose  official  report  we  extract 
the  following : 

"At  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  18th  the  brigade  was  underarms, 
and  moved  at  an  early  hour  to  turn  the  Cerro  Gordo  and  attack  the  ex 
treme  left  of  the  enemy's  position,  oil  the  Jalapa  road.  This  was  effected 
over  very  difficult  ground,  through  thick  chaparal,  and  under  a  gall- 
irig  fire^of  the  enemy's  guus  ou  the  heights.  Upon  approaching  the 
main  ro*ad  the  enemy  was  found  upon  and  near  it,  with  a  field  battery  of 
six  guns,  supported  by  a  large  force  of  infantry  and  cavalry.  Whilst 
forming  for  the  attack,  and  under  a  heavy  fire  from  the  enemy's 
guns,  Brig.  Gen.  Shields,  who  had  gallantly  led  his  command,  fell, 
severely,  if  not  mortally,  wounded.  I  then  directed  a  company 
to  deploy  as  skirmishers  on  the  right  flank,  and  ordered  a  charge 
upon  the  enemy's  line,  which  was  accomplished  with  spirit  and  success 
by  those  companies,  which  were  enabled  by  the  nature  of  the  ground  to 
make  the  advance.  They  were  promptly  and  gallantly  supported  by  the 
remainder  of  the  4th  regiment  Illinois  volunteers,  under  Major  Harris. 
The  3d  regiment  under  Col.  Forman,  and  the  New  York  regiment,  under 
Col  Burnett,  being  ordered  by  me  to  move  to  the  right  and  left  upon  the 
enemy,  the  rout  became  complete  at  that  point,  and  the  enemy  fled  in 
great  confusion,  leaving  his  guns  and  baggage,  a  large  amount  of  specie, 
provisious  and  camp  equippage  in  our  hands.  Portions  of  the  3d  and 
4th  Illinois  volunteers  and  several  companies  of  the  New  York  regi 
ment,  all  under  the  immediate  command  of  Gen.  Twiggs,  pursued  the 
enemy  on  the  Jalapa  road  as  far  as  Encerro,  when  they  were  passed  by 
the  dragoons  and  halted  for  the  night.  "* 

Col.  Baker  further  expressed  his  obligations  to  Cols.  Forman 
and  Burnett,  and  to  Major  Harris  for  the  coolness,  promptitude 
and  gallantry  with  which  they  carried  into  execution  the  several 
dispositions  of  their  commands  ;  also  to  his  regimental  staff  (the 
4th),  Capt.  Post,  A.  C.  S.,  and  Adjutant  Fondey  ;  and  to  the  staff 
of  the  brigade,  Lieuts.  E.  P.  Hammond,  3d  artillery  A.  A.  A.,  and 

*Col.  Forman  says  that  "  Baker's  report  in  the  main  is  correct,  except  that  the  regi- 
meuts  fought  under  their  own  commanders— we  knew  what  we  had  to  do  and  did  it." 


MEXICAN  WAR.  539 


G.  T.  M.  Davis,  A.  D.  <J.,  for  their  assistance  and  their  prompt 
ness  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties. 

His  loss  was:  4th  regiment,  6  officers,  (2  being  killed — Lieuts. 
Murphy  and  Cowordin),  and  42  non-commissioned  officers  and  pri 
vates  ;  3d,  1  officer  and  15  non-commissioned  officers  and  privates; 
the  Xew  York  regiment,  ]  officer  and  5  privates — total  of  70  in 
the  brigade.  The  loss  of  our  army  was  417 — killed,  64,  and 
wounded,  353.  The  enemy's  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  is  not 
known  ;  but  we  took  3,000  prisoners,  5,000  stands  of  arms  and  43 
pieces  of  artillery. 

Gen.  Twiggs  in  his  report  speaks  in  glowing  and  enthusiastic 
terms  of  the  conduct  of  the  Illinois  regiments,  both  in  the- storming 
of  Santa  Anna's  battery  and  in  the  pursuit  of  the  flying  enemy, 
under  his  immediate  command.  The  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo,  as  it 
was  one  of  unsurpassed  difficulty,  proved  also  one  of  the  most  bril 
liant  and  important  in  the  war.  Its  results  were  to  lay  open  the 
road  to  the  capital,  and  place  the  empire  of  Mexico  under  the  feet 
of  the  conqueror.  The  gallant  troops  of  Illinois  shared  to  no  in 
considerable  extent  in  the  dangers,  toils  and  hardships,  as  their 
large  ratio  of  losses  attests  ;  and  their  heroic  deeds  have  reflected 
imperishable  honor  and  glory  upon  our  State. 

The  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo  was  the  last  in  the  Avar  with  Mexico 
in  which  any  Illinois  troops  participated.  At  Jalapa,  the  year's 
time  for  which  they  had  been  enlisted  having  nearly  expired,  and 
it  being  ascertained  that  the  3d  and  4th  regiments  would  not  re- 
enlist,  Gen.  Scott  disbanded  them  ;  the  campaign  on  the  Kio 
Grande  having  been  virtually  ended  by  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista, 
the  1st  and  2d  regiments  were  disbanded  at  Comargo,  and  all  our 
troops  of  the  first  four  Illinois  regiments  returned  home  about  the 
same  time,  Lieut.  Col.  Moore  with  companies  B,  G  and  K,  of  the  4th, 
reaching  Springfield  June  4th,  and  300  men  of  the  1st  arriving  at 
St.  Louis  May  31st,  1847.  The  latter  brought  home  the  remains 
of  their  beloved  colonel,  Hardin  ;  and  the  people  of  Morgan  county 
invited  the  entire  regiment  to  accompany  them  to  their  final  rest 
ing  place  at  Jacksonville.  The  funeral  (July  12th.)  was  one  of 
the  largest  and  most  imposing  ever  held  in  the  State.* 

The  soldiers  generally  on  their  return  home  were  received  with 
mark  of  affection,  and  tendered,  as  they  well  deserved,  the  enthu 
siastic  welcomes  of  the  people.  Public  dinners,  complimentary 
toasts,  flattering  addresses  and  fulsome  speeches  were  profusely 
showered  upon  them;  the  newspaper  press  vied  with  the  orators  of 
the  period  in  praises  of  the  heroic  deeds  of  our  volunteer  soldiery, 
while,  as  aspirants  for  office,  all  mere  civilians  had  to  stand  aside 
and  leave  the  track  for  the  proud  patrons  of  Mars,  or  be  crushed 
in  the  result.  Mere  civil  accomplishments  or  services  will  ever  as 
nothing  be  in  the  average  popular  mind  compared  with  the  deeds 
heralded  by  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  glorious  war.  The 
Mexican  war  was  such  a  wonderful  lever  to  office  and  political  pre 
ferment  that  some  envious  Whigs,  whose  party  had  opposed  it, 
took  early  occasion,  it  was  said,  to  declare  themselves  in  favor  of 
the  next  war,  whatever  it  might  be  for! 

*Col.  Forman  brought  home  and  presented  to  the  State  a  6  pound  gun,  now  in  the 
arsenal  at  Springfield,  as  atrophy  from  the  Mexican  battery  in  the  battle  of  Cerro 
Gordo. stationed  near  Santa  Anna's  headquarters,  which  was  taken  by  the  Illinois  troops 
shortly  after  the  tall  of  Gen.  Shields. 


540  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

More  Volunteers. — In  the  meantime,  the  government  having  de 
termined  to  raise  0,000  more  troops,  a  call  upon  Illinois  had  been 
made  for  ten  additional  companies  of  infantry,  or  one  regiment 
more,  and  one  company  of  cavalry,  by  the  secretary  of  war,  W. 
L.  Marcy,  under  date  of  April  19th,  1847.  The  enlistments  were 
to  be  during  the  war;  the  other  terms  were  the  same  as  under 
previous  calls  ;  Alton  was  again  designated  as  the  place  of  rendez 
vous.  Under  date  of  April  27th,  the  commander-in-chief  (Gov. 
French),  by  M.  K.Anderson,  adjutant  general  of  the  Illinois  militia, 
issued  his  general  orders  calling  for  volunteers.  In  less  than  two 
weeks  had  not  only  the  11  companies  reported  and  been  accepted, 
but  8  more  were  tendered,  which  had  to  be  rejected.  Emulation 
never  ran  higher;  expresses  hurried  to  Springfield  with  the  utmost 
dispatch  to  secure  places  on  the  list  before  it  should  be  tilled.  The 
disappointment  to  those  who  were  too  late  was  most  bitter. 

The  following  were  the  accepted  companies,  which,  under  date 
of  May  10th,  were  ordered  to  march  to  the  place  of  rendezvous  : 

Company  A,  Clinton  county,  Thomas  Bond,  captain, 
Company  B,  Williamson  county,  J.  M.  Cunningham,  captain. 
Company  C,  Marion  county,  Vantrump  Turner,  captain. 
Company  D,  Brown  county,  John  C.  Moses,  captain. 
Company  E,  St.  Clair  county,  G.  W.  Hook,  captain. 
Company  F,  Cook  county,  Thos.  B.  Kinney,  captain. 
Company  G,  LaSalle  county,  Henry  J.  Reed,  captain. 
Company  H,  Williamson  county,  James  Hampton,  captain. 
Company  I,  Shelby  county,  R.  Madison,  captain. 
Company  K,  Pike  county,  W.  Kinmau,  captain. 

The  cavalry  company  was  from  Schuyler  county,  Adams  Dun- 
lap  being  the  captain. 

The  5th  Regiment  of  Illinois  volunteers  was  organized  of  the 
foregojng  companies,  at  Alton,  June  8th,  1847.  E.  AV.  B.  Kewby 
of  Brown  county,  was  elected  colonel;  Henderson  Boyakin,  of 
Marion,  lieutenant-colonel;  and  J.  B.  Donaldson,  of  Pike,  major, 
excellent  selections.  The  regiment  took  its  departure  by  steam 
boat  6  days  later  for  Fort  Leavenworth.  Its  destination  was 
Santa  Fe,  whither  it  marched  across  the  plains  from  Fort  Leav 
enworth  in  the  hottest  part  of  the  summer,  the  consequence  being 
an  unusual  amount  of  sickness,  traceable  in  great  part  to  this  ex 
haustive  inarch.  While  the  days  were  extremely  warm,  the  nights 
were  frequently  very  cold  ;  the  troops  greatly  fatigued,  would  lie 
down  of  nights  with  their  blood  heated  beyond  a  healthy  stand 
ard  ;  ere  morning  they  would  be  chilled  by  the  transition  of  the 
atmosphere;  besides  several  times  on  the  journey  they  were  over 
taken  by  severe  storms,  against  which  there  was  no  shelter;  thus 
the  seeds  of  disease  were  sown  and  its  virulence  intensified.  The 
measles  had  already  appeared  among  them  at  Fort  Leavenworth. 
By  the  first  of  December  the  loss  of  the  battalion  stationed  at 
Santa  Fe  was  reported  at  68,  of  which  42  were  by  death. 

In  October,  at  Santa  Fe,  the  regiment  was  divided  into  two  bat 
talions,  the  first,  together  with  a  battalion  from  a  Missouri  regi 
ment,  under  Col.  Xewby,  the  senior  officer,  being  ordered  to  move 
in  an  expedition  south  to  El  Paso.  The2d  battalion,  under  Lieut. 
Col.  Boyakin,  remained  as  a  garrison  at  Santa  Fe.  The  regiment 
.saw  no  service  in  conflict  with  the  enemy,  the  war  by  that  time 
being  virtually  over.  W7e  will  note,  however,  that  these  Illinois- 


MEXICAN  WAR.  541 


ans  were  the  first  to  organize  a  lodge  of  the  Masonic  order  at  the 
remote  post  of  Santa  Fe. 

(>/A  Regiment  of  Illinois  volunteers.  We  have  noted  the  fact 
that  when  in  April  a  new  call  upon  Illinois  for  ten  companies  of 
infantry  and  one  of  cavalry  was  made,  that  in  less  than  two  weeks 
time  11)  ottered,  and  still  more  continued  to  offer,  irot  knowing  that 
the  5th  regiment  was  full.  Much  disappointment  was  felt  at  their 
rejection ;  but  their  hope  was  speedily  revived.  Under  date  of 
May  20th,  the  secretary  of  war  wrote  to  Gov.  French  :  ''Yielding 
to  the  earnest  solicitations  of  the  patriotic  citizens  of  your  State, 
the  President  has  instructed  me  to  request  that  your  excellency 
will  cause  to  be  raised  and  rendezvoused  at  Alton  another  regi 
ment  of  volunteer  infantry."  The  enlistments  were  to  be  for  the 
same  period  and  have  the  same  organization  as  those  of  the  5th 
regiment,  but  its  destination  was  Vera  Cruz. 

The  organization  of  the  surplus  companies  had  been  held  intact 
until  the  President's  pleasure  in  the  premises  could  be  ascertained 
Accordingly,  when  the  requisition  came  to  hand,  Gov.  French,  on 
the  very  same  day  (May  29),  notified  the  expectant  companies  of 
their  acceptance ;  ordered  them  to  the  place  of  rendezvous  to  be 
mustered  in,  and  the  war  department,  two  days  later,  that  the 
companies  were  all  organized  and  ready  to  inarch. 

The  following  are  the  companies  of  the  6th  regiment : 

Company  A,  of  Madison  county,  Franklin  Xiles,  captain 
Company  B,  Madison  county,  Edward  W.  Dill,  captain. 
Company  C,  Fayette  county,  Harvey  Lee,  jr.,  captain. 
Company  D,  Greene  county,  John  Bristow,  captain. 
Company  E,  Macoupin  county,  Burrell  Tetrick,  captain. 
Company  F,  Cook  county,  James  R.  Mugunin,  captain. 
Company  G,  Boone  county,  William  Shepherd,  captain. 
Company  H,  Will  and  Iroquois  counties,  G.  Jenkins,  captain. 
Company  I,  Jefferson  county,  James  Bowman,  captain. 
Company  K,  Jo  Daviess  county,  C.  L.  Wright,  captain. 

Company  A,  Captain  I^iles,  was  ordered  into  the  5th  regiment, 
and  Capt.  Collins'  company  from  Jo  Daviess,  took  its  place  in  the 
6th.* 

For  colonel  of  the  6th  regiment,  Capt.  Collins,  of  Jo  Daviess,  was 
elected,  receiving  472  votes,  to  Capt.  Wright  of  the  same  county  334; 
lieutenant-colonel,  Capt.  Hicks  of  Jefferson,  received  448,  to  Lieut. 
Oinlveny  of  Monroe,  379 ;  for  major,  Lieut.  Livington,  of  Jeffer 
son,  received  340 ;  Capt.  Shepherd,  of  Boone,  220 ;  Capt,  Lee,  of 
Fayette,  142,  and  H.  Hunter,  102.  Lieut.  Fitch,  of  Greene,  was 
appointed  adjutant,  W.  G.  Taylor  quartermaster,  and  J.  B.  Hines 
sergeant-major.  At  ^ew  Orleans  the  6th  regiment  was  divided, 
the  first  battalion,  companies  A,  D,  E,  F,  H,  being  sent  to  Vera 
Cruz  under  the  Col.  Collins,  and  the  2d  in  command  of  Lieut. 
Col.  Hicks,  to  Tampico.  The  division  caused  no  little  dissatisfac 
tion  among  the  men.  The  2d  battalion  saw  no  service  other  than 
garrison  duty.  The  1st  arrived  at  Yera  Cruz,  August  31st,  and 
after  remaining  in  camp  Bergara  awhile,  was  ordered  out  on  the 
national  road  and  stationed  at  the  San  Juan  Bridge.  Here  a  skir 
mish  with  guerrillas  was  had,  in  which  one  private  was  killed  and 

*  NOTE.— Captains  David  C.  Berry,  James  Burns,  Ed.  E.  Harney  and  John  Ewing 
also  served  in  this  resriment.  The  Roster  in  the  Adjutant-General's  Office,  in  giving 
the  regiments  which  served  in  the  Mexican  War  is  very  imperfect  and  inaccurate.*  It 
gives  tne  5th  regiment  as  the  1st.  We  have  collated  our  facts  from  the  press  of  the 
period. 


542  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

two  wounded.  Col.  Collins  was  very  sick  nearly  all  the  time;  in 
deed,  more  than  the  usual  amount  of  sickness  attended  the  whole 
regiment.  Reports  were  current  in  the  press  that  one-fifth  of  its 
force,  in  five  months  after  leaving  cam])  at  Alton,  found  a  grave 
in  Mexico,  not  from  the  foe,  but  by  sickness.  The  1st  battalion 
lost  7  out  of  its  20  officers  ;  and  the  battalion  at  Tampico,  while 
it  suffered  as  greatly  in  men,  lost  but  one  officer. 

'  Under  date  of  June  30,  1847,  the  Hon.  R.  W.  Young,  commis 
sioner  of  the  General  Land  Office  at  Washington,  wrote  that  the 
Secretary  of  War  consented  to  accept  two  more  companies  of  cav 
alry  from  Illinois,  which  had  been  raised.  Capt.  William  Pren 
tice's  to  rendezvous  as  Gov.  French  direct,  and  Capt.W.  B.  Stapp's 
of  Warren  county,  to  rendezvous  at  Quincy,  on  horseback,  and 
proceed  thence  to  St.  Louis  by  steamboat.* 

The  destination  of  these  cavalry  companies  was  Vera  Cruz,  to 
operate  against  the  enemy's  guerrilla  parties,  and  keep  open  the 
roads  from  the  gulf  to  the  City  of  Mexico.  Captain  Lawler  of 
Shawneetown,  also  raised  a  cavalry  company;  and  to  show  the 
troublesomeness  of  this  arm  of  the  service,  we  will  state  that, 
owing  to  delays  on  the  river — near  2  weeks  being  occupied  in  going 
to  Baton  Rouge — he  was  compelled  at  that  point  to  land,  rest 
and  recruit  his  exhausted  horses. 

After  his  return,  Col.  E.  D.  Baker,  in  pursuance  of  his  request, 
was  authorized  to  raise  a  battalion  of  five  companies  from  the 
veteran  volunteers,  recently  returned.  The  battalion  was  not 
raised  ;  the  fall  of  the  City  of  Mexico  speedily  followed,  virtually 
ending  the  war,  although  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo  was  not 
made  "till  February  2,  1848. 

*  See  Illinois  State  Register,  July  8, 1847.  Josiah  Little  also  raised  a  cavalry  cornpauy. 
He  was  commissioned  Sept.  24,  1847. 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 

CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION   OF  1847,  AND    SOME 
THING  OF  THE  OEGANIC  LAW  FRAMED  BY  IT. 


After  the  violent  political  struggle  of  1824  concerning  the  admis 
sion  of  slavery  into  the  State,  the  question  of  calling  a  convention 
to  revise  or  amend  the  first  constitution  was  not  again  revived  for 
a  period  of  18  years.  At  this  time  such  was  the  hight  of  partisan 
feeling  aroused  against  the  supreme  court  in  deciding  the  McCler- 
nand-Field  case  against  the  wishes  of  the  dominant  party,  and 
the  unnecessary  apprehension  that  the  Galena  alien  case  would 
also  be  decided  against  the  wishes  and  interests  of  the  democracy, 
involving  a  possible  loss  of  its  political  supremacy  in  the  State, 
that  the  legislature,  at  its  session  of  1840-1,  passed  a  resolution 
recommending  to  the  electors  at  the  general  election  of  1842  to 
vote  for  or  against  the  calling  of  a  constitutional  convention.  But 
in  the  meantime  the  judiciary  was  reorganized  by  the  addition  of 
five  judges  to  the  supreme  court,  all  democrats,  to  overbalance 
the  whig'  judges.  The  democracy  having  by  this  act  secured  their 
political  supremacy  in  every  branch  of  the  government,  had  no 
further  use  for  a  convention  to  remodel  the  constitution,  and  at 
the  August  election  the  resolution  failed  to  carry,  though  the  whig 
party,  against  whom  it  was  originally  aimed,  ardently  supported 
the  call. 

Still  the  insufficient  limitations  of  the  old  constitution  became 
more  apparent  from  year  to  year,  and  in  1845  the  legislature  again 
passed  a  resolution  recommending  to  the  electors  to  vote  for  or 
against  a  constitutional  convention  at  the  ensuing  general  election 
of  August,  1846.  The  democratic  press  this  time  urged  the  people 
to  vote  for  the  call  of  the  convention,  publishing  the  resolution  to 
be  voted  for  as  a  standing  advertisement  and  part  of  the  regular 
democratic  ticket ;  but  the  whig  press,  if  not  opposed  to  the  call, 
deeming,  perhaps,  that  its  espousal  of  the  question  might  tend  to 
defeat  it,  was  totally  silent  upon  the  subject,  and  did  not  once 
direct  the  attention  of  the  people  to  the  importance  of  the  measure. 
Being  thus  a  democratic  measure,  the  call  prevailed. 

In  tlie  passage  of  the  act  to  provide  for  the  meeting  of  the  con 
vention,  the  main  question  over  which  there  was  any  considerable 
contest,  was  whether  it  should  consist  of  as  many  members  of  the 
then  general  assembly,  apportioned  upon  the  population  of  1840 
(476,183),  or  whether  the  number  should  correspond  to  the  new 
apportionment  act  of  that  session,  based  upon  the  census  of  1845 
(662,125).  The  contest  was  between  the  north  and  south  parts  of 
the  State:  the  former,  which  had  been  benefited  most  by  the  imrni- 

543 


544  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

gration  of  the  preceding  years,  was  in  favor  of  a  representation 
based  upon  the  census  of  1845.  The  constitution  reads:  "The 
general  assembly  shall,  at  the  next  session,  call  a  convention  to 
consist  of  as  many  members  as  there  may  be  in  the  general  assem 
bly."  Mr.  Dougherty,  since  lieutenant  governor,  introduced  a  bill 
fixing  the  number  of  delegates  to  correspond  with  the  number  of 
members  of  the  then  two  houses,  and  Mr.  N.  B.  Judd,  of  Cook,  of 
fered  a  substitute  based  upon  the  census  of  1845,  which  finally  pre 
vailed  and  became  a  law. 

A  special  election  of  delegates  was  fixed  for  the  3d  Monday  of 
April,  1847,  who  were  to  meet  in  convention  at  Springfield  on  the 
first  Monday  of  June  following.  During  the  canvass  the  whig 
press  in  the  strong  democratic  districts  argued  plausibly  and  truly 
that  for  a  duty  so  important  as  the  framing  of  a  new  organic  law 
for  the  State,  which  was  to  affect  not  only  the  present  but  per 
haps  future  generations,  when  present  political  questions  might 
be  classed  with  the  things  that  were,  the  ablest  talent  of  the  State 
should  be  called  upon,  irrespective  of  party  predelictions  ;  but  at 
the  same  time  good  care  was  taken  by  them  to  bring  out  and  sup 
port  none  but  their  own  partisans.  The  democratic  press,  having 
the  utmost  faith  in  the  permanency  and  well-being  of  democratic 
principles,  came  squarely  out  and  urged  its  party  to  rally  as  one 
man  and  secure  such  a  majority  in  the  convention  as  would  insure 
the  infusion  of  pure  democratic  principles  into  the  instrument 
which  was  to  be  the  guide  for  future  legislation  j  to  attain  winch 
care  should  be  taken  to  select  candidates  whose  democracy  was 
unimpeachable.  The  election  resulted  in  a  return  of  a  greater  pro 
portion  of  whig  delegates  than  was  to  be  expected  from  the  rela 
tive  strength  of  the  two  j>arties,  although  the  democracy  had  a 
considerable  majority. 

The  ^democracy  required  the  convention,  as  paramount  to  all 
other  considerations,  1st,  to  abolish  all  life  oifices  or  long  tenures, 
and  to  provide  for  an  elective  judiciary,  from  the  supreme  court 
down;  2d,  to  prohibit  the  legislature  from  ever  again  creating  a 
bank — all  the  financial  evils  which  had  ever  afflicted  the  people 
of  Illinois,  it  was  charged,  had  proceeded  from  the  oppressions  of 
banks  j  3d,  to  limit  the  power  of  the  legislature  to  borrow  money, 
which  had  been  another  great  source  of  calamity  to  the  people. 
This  power  should,  be  so  limited  as  to  prevent  the  legislature  from 
pledging  the  credit  and  faith  of  the  State*  in  all  cases  except,  per 
haps,  in  great  emergencies,  as  of  threatened  dagger  from  invasion, 
and  then  only  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  State  government.  If 
such  a  provision  had  been  embodied  in  the  constitution  of  1818  the 
financial  embarrassments  growing  out  of  the  reckless  internal  im 
provement  system  of  the  State  would  not  have  oppressed  the  peo 
ple.  It  required,  4th,  a  veto  power  to  the  governor  equal  to  that 
of  the  president  of  the  United  States.  The  veto  power,  notwith 
standing  the  terrible  ordeal  of  its  denunciation,  had  been  a  favo 
rite  democratic  measure  ever  since  Jackson  had  saved  the  coun 
try,  as  it  was  supposed,  by  refusing  his  assent  to  the  re-charter  of 
the  U.  S.  Bank.  Of  course  the  democracy  were  opposed  to  any 
change  in  the  qualifications  of  an  alien  elector. 

The  whigs  wanted,  1st,  a  longer  residence  than  6  months  before 
any  man  should  be  entitled  to  exercise  the  elective  franchise,  and 
that  no  alien  should  be  entitled  to  that  sacred  privilege  of  an 


CONSTITUTION  OF  1848.  545 

American  citizen  until  lie  was  first  naturalized  ;  2(1,  to  take  from 
the  legislature  the  power  of  electing  or  appointing  officers  for  the 
people,  particularly  as  it  regarded  the  members  of  that  body,  and 
thereby  prevent  that  bargaining  and  corruption  which  grew  up  in 
the  general  assembly,  and  to  prevent  that  body  from  exercising 
nearly  all  the  powers  of  government,  executive  as  well  as  legisla 
tive;  "3d,  to  limit  the  number  of  representatives  in  the  general 
assembly,  and  to  fix  the  age  at  which  men  should  be  eligible  to 
seats  in  that  body,  and  thus  prevent  the  many  mischiefs  growing- 
out  of  legislation  by  young  men  whose  minds  were  immature;  4th, 
to  fix  the  ages  at  which  men  might  hold  the  office  of  judge,  and  at 
which  judges  should  retire  from  the  bench  ;  5th,  to  prevent  a  ma 
jority  of  the  two-thirds  which  constituted  a  quorum  in  the  legisla 
ture  from  fin-ally  passing  a  bill. 

There  were  also  many  provisions  mooted  by  the  press  and  people, 
upon  which  there  was  no  political  or  party  division.  The  most 
important  and  generally  demanded  were  retrenchment  and 
economy  ;  to  disconnect  the  supreme  judges  from  legislative  duty 
as  a  council  of  revision  ;  to  abolish  eligibility  to  several  offices 
at  the  same  time ;  to  limit  the  power  of  the  legislature  in  con 
tracting  debts  and  imposing  taxes;  to  organize  a  more  efficient 
tribunal  for  the  management  and  control  of  county  affairs  than 
the  county  commissioner's  court;  to  limit  the  powers  of  gOATern- 
inent  so  as  to  secure  the  people  against  oppression  by  those  in 
authority,  (in  view  of  what  was  done  during  the  hard  times  of 
18412,  when  the  officials  of  the  executive  department  required  that 
nothing  but  gold  and  silver  should  be  paid  for  taxes,  while  there 
was  nothing  but  depreciated  bank  rags  in  the  country,  the  State 
having  made  the  issues  of  the  State  bank  receivable  for  taxes) ; 
to  provide  against  successive  special  sessions  of  the  legislature  at 
the  will  and  pleasure  of  the  governor  without  specifying  the  char 
acter  of  the  business  to  be  transacted  ;  to  fix  the  pay  of  members, 
and  to  devise  some  way  to  prevent  an  accidental  majority  from, 
continuing  or  adjourning  sessions  for  the  sake  of  compensation. 

Among  the  democratic  delegates  there  was  not  entire  unanimity 
upon  the  bank  question.  The  following  is  one  of  the  bolts 
launched  at  the  recussants  by  the  press  of  that  party : 

"These  bank-democrats  occupy  rather  paradoxical  ground.  They 
assert  that  banks  are  pernicious,  dangerous  and  anti-republicaii,  but 
inasmuch  as  the  bank  paper  of  other  States  naturally  circulates  among 
us,  it  is  our  true  policy  to  establish  these  engines  of  evil  as  a  measure  of 
self-defense.  They  admit  that  we  are  injured  by  the  paper  of  other 
States,  and  they  propose  to  mitigate  the  injury  by  producing  it  them 
selves — if  any  mischief  is  to  be  done,  the  citizens  of  the  State  ought  to 
have  the  privilege  and  enjoy  the  profits  of  doing  it.  If  other  States 
choose  to  injure  us,  we  ought  to  seek  redress  by  injuring  ourselves."* 

The  convention  met  on  the  7th  of  June,  1847,  and  concluded  its 
labors  on  the  31st  of  August  following.  When  its  work  first 
came  before  the  people  (for  unlike  the  constitution  of  1818,  this 
was  to  be  passed  upon  by  them),  nobody  seemed  entirely  satisfied 
with  it,  yet  all  concurred  that  the  new  was  preferable  to  the  old 
constitution.  Judging  it  from  the  partisan  stand-point  of  that 
day,  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  the  greater  success  in  grafting 
it  with  their  peculiar  views  was  with  the  whigs.  The  old  allowed 

*I11.  State  Reg. 

35 


546  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

aliens  aud  citizens  alike  to  vote -after  a  residence  of  6  months,  to 
maintain  which  feature  when  supposed  to  be  in  danger  in  1840, 
the  democracy  waged  a  fierce  warfare  against  the  supreme  court, 
resulting  in  a  partisan  reorganization.  Yet  the  very  thing  feared 
from  that  court  was  now  embodied  in  the  constitution  j  every 
elector  must  first  be  a  citizen,  and  second  have  a  residence  of  one 
year  in  the  State.  The  elective  principle  by  the  people  was  ex 
tended  to  the  filling  of  every  office,  a  thoroughly  democratic  pro 
vision,  and  the  only  one  which  ought  ever  to  obtain  under  any 
republican  government.  Yet  the  democracy,  for  obvious  party 
reasons,  desired  to  confine  this  to  the  life  offices — the  supreme 
judges — leaving  the  great  bulk  of  the  offices  to  be  doled  out,  if 
not  bargained,  as  before  by  the  legislature,  and  thus  fasten  their  in 
cumbents  upon  every  county  in  the  State,  regardless  of  local  polit 
ical  majorities.  For  like  party  reasons  the  whigs  desired  to  de 
prive  the  dominant  party  of  the  power  to  elect  this  great  crowd 
of  officers — judges  and  clerks,  both  circuit  and  county — to  the 
legislature,  but  favored  life  officers  for  the  supreme  bench.  In 
this  particular,  fortunately  for  the  State,  the  partisan  cravings 
of  both,  to  a  certain  extent,  were  defeated,  yet  the  deprivation  of 
the  power  to  elect  all  the  host  of  the  former  by  the  legislature  was 
a  greater  loss  to  the  democracy  than  the  latter  was  to  the 
whigs.  This  took  from  the  legislature  a  fertile  source  of  patron 
age  by  depriving  it  of  the  choice  of  some  200  county  officers  from 
time  to  time,  who  by  their  intimate  relations  to  the  people  are  in  the 
situation  to  exercise  a  most  potent  political  influence.  During 
the  pendency  af  the  constitution  before  the  people,  the  provision 
relating  to  3  county  judges,  called  the  "puppy  court,7'  was  made 
to  do  peculiar  service  against  it.  Upon  the  subject  of  banks,  too, 
the  democracy  may  be  said  to  have  been  in  a  manner  defeated. 
The  democratic  convention  of  February,  1846,  the  largest  ever 
assembled  in  the  State,  had  declared  that  the  creation  of  any  new 
banks,  either  State  or  other  banking  institution  whatever,  should 
be  frowned  upon  by  the  party  j  and  throughout  the  sitting  of  the 
convention  the  press  of  that  party  was  strenuous  in  its  opposition 
to  banks  of  any  kind.  Yet  banks,  other  than  State  banks,  were 
not  prohibited  by  the  constitution,  though  a  general  banking 
law  was  required  to  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people. 

We  note  but  a  few  features  wherein  the  constitution  of  1848  dif 
fered  from  that  of  1818.  Profiting  by  the  lesson  of  experience 
taught  by  the  State  internal  improvement  system,  whose  enor 
mous  debt  was  then  pressing  heavily  upon  the  people,  no  debt  was 
allowed  to  be  contracted  by  the  legislature  exceeding  $50,000,  and 
that  only  to  meet  casual  deficits  or  failures  in  revenue  ;  nor  was 
the  credit  of  the  State  to  be  extended  to  any  individual,  associa 
tion  or  corporation.  Article  14,  separately  submitted,  provided 
for  the  yearly  collection  of  a  tax  of  2  mills  upon  the  dollar,  in  ad 
dition  to  all  other  taxes,  the  proceeds  of  which  were  to  be  paid 
out  in  extinguishment  of  the  public  debt,  other  than  the  canal 
and  school  indebtedness,  pro  rata  to  such  holders  as  might  pre 
sent  their  evidences.  This  was  a  noble  self-subjection  of  the  peo 
ple  to  a  tax  for  an  indefinite  time  at  that  dark  period  of  public 
and  private  embarrassment,  for  which  we  ought  to  profoundly 
honor  them. 


CONSTITUTION   OF   1848.  547 

Regarding  tax  titles,  the  law  of  1839  was  one  of  peculiar  hard 
ship,  rendering  their  defeasance  most  difficult  by  throwing  the 
onus prdbanM  as  to  any  irregularity  in  the  manner  of  acquiring 
them  upon  the  real  owners  of  the  land.  A  deed  was  prima  facie 
evidence  that  the  land  was  subject  to  taxation ;  that  the  taxes 
were  unpaid;  that  the  lands  were  unredeemed;  that  it  had  been 
legally  advertized ;  that  it  was  sold  for  taxes ;  that  the  grantee 
was  the  purchaser ;  and  that  the  sale  was  conducted  in  the  man 
ner  required  by  law.*  It  was  possible  for  a  man  to  lose  the  fttle 
to  his  land,  although  residing  on  it  and  having  paid  his  taxes.  All 
this  was  radically  changed  by  section  4,  article  9  of  the  new  con 
stitution,  introduced  by  Judge  Lockwood,  the  requirements  of 
which  the  courts  have  construed  strictly,  and  it  may  well  be  infer 
red  that  since  then  not  many  tax  titles  have  stood  this  ordeal  of 
the  organic  law. 

The  legislature  was  required  to  encourage  internal  improve 
ments  by  passing  liberal  general  laws  of  incorporation  and  for 
other  corporate  purposes ;  special  acts  for  which  were  not  to  be 
granted  unless  the  objects  could  not  be  attained  under  the  former. 
It  seems  that  in  the  legislatures  since  scarcely  any  corporate  ob 
jects  could  be  attained  under  general  laws,  for  throughout  the 
sway  of  the  constitution  of  1848,  were  not  only  no  general  incor 
poration  laws  of  any  degree  of  perfection  passed,  but  from  ses 
sion  to  session  were  granted,  with  most  lavish  hand,  private  and 
special  acts  of  incorporation  for  every  conceivable  purpose, 
passed  in  packages  of  hundreds  at  a  time,  making  huge  tomes, 
whose  contents  and  provisions  were  equally  unknown  to  the  gen 
eral  public  and  the  honorable  members  whose  names  stand  re 
corded  in  favor  of  their  enactment.  This  species  of  legislation, 
in  many  cases,  has  been  attended  with  the  most  pernicious  results^ 
as  the  people  to  their  cost  can  testify. 

The  judges  of  the  supreme  and  circuit  courts  were  made  ineligi 
ble  to  any  other  Office  of  profit  or  public  trust  in  this  State  or  the 
United  States  during  the  terms  for  which  they  were  elected,  and 
for  one  year  thereafter.  This  clause,  as  it  reads,  has  been  repeat 
edly  violated  by  the  election  of  judges  to  congress ;  and  while  it 
is  true  that  body  has  held  that  it  is  the  sole  judge  of  the  qualifica 
tion  of  its  members,  and  that  State  laws  or  constitutions  in  such 
cases  are  of  no  binding  force,  it  is  equally  true  that  the  gentlemen 
thus  elected  had  sworn  upon  their  installation  as  judges  to  observe 
the  constitution  of  Illinois  in  all  its  provisions,  without  any  reser 
vation  as  to  the  clause  in  question,  or  they  could  not  have  taken 
their  seats  upon  the  bench. 

In  the  legislature  bills  were  to  be  read  on  three  different  days 
before  becoming  laws,  and  on  final  passage  the  ayes  and  noes  were 
to  be  recorded.  This  well  intended  provision  was  most  shamefully 
violated  in  actual  practice  in  after  years  by  a  reading  of  the  title  of 
a  bill  only,  and  by  the  so-called  '•omnibus  "system,  by  which  hun 
dreds  of  bills — many  providing-  for  private  jobs  and  corrupt 
schemes — were  passed  at  once,  few  of  the  members  knowing  their 
contents.!  The  reading  of  bills  the  first  and  second  time  by  their 
title  only  gave  rise  to  the  reprehensible  practice  of  introducing 

'RlackwellTax.Tit.  84. 

+It  seems  that  the  Hon.  J.  Y.  Scammon,  of  Cook,  first  suggested  the  passage  of  bills  by 
the  package . 


548  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

and  passing  along  in  tlieir  order  what  was  known  as  "skeleton 
bills" — bills  with  simply  a  bead,  but  no  body,  the  latter  being  af 
terward  supplied.* 

But  the  chief  feature  of  the  constitution  of  1848  was  its  rigid 
economy.  The  salary  of  the  governor  was  fixed  at  $1,500;  su 
preme  judges — three,  made  elective — $1,200  each;  circuit  judges, 
$1,000  each ;  auditor  of  public  accounts,  $1,000 ;  treasurer  and 
secretary  of  State,  each,  $800;  -  the  compensation  of  members 
of  1^ie  general  assembly  was  fixed  at  $2  per  day  for  the  first  42 
plays'  attendance,  and  $1  a  day  thereafter.  It  was  a  hard  times* 
instrument.  Retrenchment  in  everything,  as  inaugurated  by  Gov. 
Ford  and  then  with  severity  being  carried  out  by  Gov.  French, 
was  the  order  of  the  day.  But  in  this  particular  the  constitution 
rather  overdid  the  thing.  The  true  medium  between  paying  oui 
elective  servants  ajust  compensation  and  allowing  our  represent 
atives  the  exercise  of  a  sound  discretion  in  all  the  transactions  of 
public  business,  and  at  the  same  time  to  bind  them  down  so 
that  they  may  work  no  mischief  or  injury  to  those  who  choose  and 
delegate  them,  is,  perhaps,  difficult  of  attainment.  It  is  one  of  the 
problems  connected  with  a  representative  form  of  government. 

In  evidencing  the  severe  economy  of  the  new  organic  act,  we 
will  mention  that  the  amount  of  warrants  drawn  upon  the  treas 
urer  on  account  of  the  general  assembly  for  the  session  of  1845 
was  over  $55,000  ;  and  that  the  total  amount  of  mileage  and_per 
diem  compensation  paid  to  the  members  and  officers  of  the  two 
houses  for  the  first  session  under  the  new  regime  in  1849,  was  not 
quite  $15,000,  a  material  reduction — exceeding  300  per  centum. 
But  in  this  connection,  to  show  that  we  are  a  progressive  people, 
and  at  the  same  time  indicate  the  proficiency  which  our  Solons 
have  attained  in  the  "ways  that  are  dark",  we  will  give  the  total 
amount  of  legislative  expenditures  for  the  same  purposes  on  ac 
count  of  the  last  session,  that  of  18G9r  under  the  same  economical 
constitution,  which  were  $206,181,  exclusive  o£  printing,  paper 
and  binding,  making  nearly  $75,000  more.  The  four  items  of  news- 
pa]  >ers,  stationery,  postage  and  pocket-knives  alone  amounted  TO 
$54,322.f 

The  salary  of  the  governor,  it  was  provided,  was  "not  to  be  in 
creased  or  diminished ;"  and  by  way  of  emphasis  in  fixing  the  com 
pensation  of  the  other  officers  which  we  have  enumerated,  the 
words  "and  no  more"  were  added.  Yet  by  indirection,  under  pre 
tense  of  paying  a  gardener  to  take  charge  of  the  grounds  surround 
ing  the  executive  mansion,  we  find  in  1861  $2,500  was  appropriated 
to  be  expended  or  not  by  the  governor,  as  he  pleased,  being  in 
tended  as  an  increase  of  his  salary.  Afterwards  this  unlawful 
gift  was  annually  increased  to  $4,500.  Indeed,  the  auditor's  office 
shows  that  the  incumbents  of  the  executive  office  have  received, 
from  December,  1860,  to  December,  1872,  twelve  years,  $66,000,  to 
which  they  were  not  entitled.  All  the  State  offices  became  im 
mensely  profitable  in  fees — running  the  emoluments  of  tlieir  in 
cumbents  into  thousands  of  dollars,  instead  of  the  hundreds  fixed 
by  the  constitution.  The  compensation  of  the  supreme  judges 
was  evasively  increased  to  $4,000,  by  allowing  them  each  a  chief 

*See  debate  in  senate,  Feb.,  1857. 
tConveution  Journal  1870.  p.  218 


CONSTITUTION  OF   1848.  549 

clerk  at  $1,600  and  $1,200  for  an  assistant  (neither  of  which  they 
employed),  instead  of  $1,200,  their  constitutional  salary;  and  to 
the  circuit  judges,  in  defiance  of  the  words  $1,000  "  and  no  more," 
were  yearly  given  an  additional  $1,000  each,  for  revisions  and  sug 
gestions  of  changes  in  the  laws,  a  labor  which  they  were  not  ex 
pected  to,  and  did  not,  i>erform  ;  besides  which  a  docket  fee  of  $1 
for  each  suit  brought  was  wrung  out  of  litigants,  also  for  their 
benefit.  But  the  abuses  which  crept  into  the  legislative  depart 
ment  were  still  grosser  and  more  alarming.  The  per  diem  cony 
pensation  of  members,  which  for  the  session  of  1861,  for  instance, 
amounted  to  $8,800,  was  supplemented  by  postage  $8,892,  news 
papers  $1,1812,  pencils  $2,664,  few  of  which  items  were  actually 
received,  but  the  money  taken  in  place  of  them,  on  "commutation" 
as  it  was  called  with  State  officers,  and  thus  by  indirection  they 
got  $8  per  day  ea<?h,  instead  of  $2  "and  no  more."  The  practice 
was  subsequently  increased  by  various  subterfuges  of  rent  for  com 
mittee  rooms  never  used  nor  paid  for,  &c.,  to  sometimes  amount  to 
more  than  $20  a  day  for  each  member.  Ten  cents  a  mile  was 
allowed  to  each  as  necessary  traveling  expenses  to  and  from  the 
seat  of  government.  While  it  would  be  difficult  to  travel  more 
than  200  miles  from  any  point  in  the  State  to  the  capital,  the  jour 
nals  show  honorable  members  to  have  charged  and  received  pay  for 
1,200  miles  going  and  coming.  Thus  did  our  public  servants  debauch 
themselves,  one  department  the  other.  But  notwithstanding  its 
abuses,  the  constitution  of  1848  was,  in  man}7  particulars,  a  great 
improvement  upon  that  of  1818. 

That  the  whigs  had  succeeded  more  than  the  democrats  in 
stamping  that  instrument  with  their  principles,  soon  had  its  influ 
ence.  The  whig  press  advocated  its  adoption  constantly  and  ur 
gently,  while  the  democratic  press,  where  it  did  not  oppose,  was 
lukewarm  in  its  advocacy,  yet  candor  compelled  an  acknowledg 
ment  that  the  elective  principle  as  applied  to  every  important 
office  was  a  thoroughly  democratic  idea,  which  covered  a  multitude 
of  bad  provisions ;  that  on  the  whole,  the  new  was  preferable  to 
the  old,  and  it  justly  regretted  the  "  abrogation  of  the  provision 
permitting  foreigners  to  a  participation  in  the  right  of  suffrage 
after  a  residence  of  6  months,  the  same  as  the  most  unlettered  na 
tive,"  predicting  that  that  would  prove  pernicious  by  diverting 
emigration  from  the  State.  No  evil  had  resulted,  and,  it  may  be 
added,  never  will,  from  admitting  foreigners  to  this  privilege.  It 
is  a  most  foolish  proscription.  The  provision  limiting  the  power 
of  the  State  to  borrow  money,  and  prohibiting  the  credit  and  faith 
of  the  State  in  aid  of  any  individual  or  corporation,  was  a  most  ex 
cellent  one. 

The  people  had  ample  time  to  consider  its  provisions,  and  they 
did  not  fail  to  see  its  great  superiority  over  the  old  organic  law. 
For  the  points  of  party  significance  in  if,  which  at  best  might  prove 
but  transitory,  they  could  not  afford  to  throw  away  the  many  safo 
and  excellent  limitations  for  their  protection  against  the  chances 
of  a  wild,  reckless  and  extravagant  legislature  to  involve  them  in 
ruin. 

The  black  clause — prohibiting  negro  immigration — met  with 
considerable  opposition  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State,  particu 
larly  in  Cook  county,  which  voted  two  to  one  against  it ;  but  the 


550  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

greatest  general  opposition  was  to  tLe  2  mill  tax.  The  following 
is  the  vote  upon  the  constitution  and  the  separate  articles : 

For  the  constitution  proper,  59,887 ;  against  it,  15,859. 

For  article  XIV — negro  clause,  49,060  ;  against  it,  20,884. 

For  article  XV— 2  mill  tax,  41,017  ;  against  it,  30,586. 

The  vote  for  ratification  or  rejection  was  taken  on  the  first  Mon 
day  in  March,  1848 ;  and  the  new  constitution  went  into  operation 
on  the  first  of  April  following.  The  election  of  governor  was  anti 
cipated  two  years,  and  accordingly  the  first  general  election  under 
'it  took  place  in  November,  1848.  The  commencement  of  the  regu 
lar  legislative  sessions  was  deferred  from  December  to  January, 
the  first  convening  at  that  time  in  1849. 


CHAPTER  XLY. 
1846-1852— ADMmSTBATIOX  OF    GOVEBNOB  FBENCH. 

Lives  and  Character  of  the  Gubernatorial  Candidates — Funding 
of  the  State  Debt — Refusal  of  the  People  to  give  the  Legislature 
Control  of  the  2  Mill  Tax — Township  Organization — Homestead 
Exemption — The  Bloody  Island  Dike  and  a  Speck  of  War — 
State  Policy  regarding  Railroads. 


The  Democratic  State  Convention  of  1846,  to  nominate  candi 
dates  for  governor  and  lieutenant  governor,  met  at  Springfield  on 
the  10th  of  February.  There  was  no  lack  of  aspirants  for  either 
of  these  positions.  In  connection  with  the  first  we  will  name  six 
in  the  order  of  their  supposed  strength,  before  the  meeting  of  the 
convention  :  Lyman  Trumbull,  John  Calhonn,  (he  of  subsequent 
Lecompton  Constitution  notoriety),  Augustus  C.  French,  Walter 
B.  Scates,  Bichard  M.  Young,  and  A.  W.  Cavarly,  an  array  of 
very  able  and  prominent  names.  The  contest  was  supposed  to  lie 
between  the  first  two  mentioned,  but  the  balloting  gave  a  differ 
ent  exhibit.  After  sundry  efforts  by  their  friends,  it  was  found 
that  neither  could  be  nominated,  and  as  usual  in  such  cases,  both 
parties  went  over  to  the  support  of  another.  Trumbull  received 
the  highest  number  on  the  first  ballot,  it  is  true,  but  French,  as 
the  coming  man,  was  already  next,  and  on  the  2d  ballot  advanced 
to  the  front.  On  the  4th  ballot  all  the  names  except  those  of 
French,  Calhouii  and  Trumbull  being  withdrawn,  the  friends 
of  Callioun,  fearing  the  ultimate  success  of  Trumbull,  also  with 
drew  his  name.  The  friends  of  Trumbull  saw  in  this  move 
their  inevitable  defeat,  and  for  the  sake  of  harmony,  they 
also  withdrew  the  name  of  the  latter.  French  Avas  there 
upon  proclaimed  the  nominee  of  the  convention  for  governor, 
amidst  a  great  tumult  of  shouting  and  exultation.  Owing  to  the 
many  able  and  determined  democratic  aspirants,  and  the  strong 
attachment  of  their  respective  friends,  the  whigs  had  indulged 
a  hope  that  the  convention  would  break  up  in  disorder,  but  in 
this  they  Avere  disappointed.  TrumbulPs  effort  in  1845  to  defeat 
the  canal  had  been  revived  against  him  and  industriously  circu 
lated  by  Gov.  Ford  and  others,  as  being  still  his  position,  which 
doubtless  proved  his  discomfiture. 

For  lieutenant-governor,  the  names  of  J.  B.  Wells,  LeAvis  Bpss, 
William  McMurtry,  Newton  Cloud,  J.  B.  Hamilton  and  W.  W. 
Thompson,  were  presented  for  nomination.  On  the  4th  ballot  all 
the  names  except  the  first  two  mentioned,  were  withdrawn,  AArhen 
the  voting  resulted  in  the  choice  of  W^ells,  who  received  132  to 

551 


552  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

Ross  95  ballots.  The  resolutions  adopted  strongly  condemned  the 
resuscitation  of  the  old  State  banks,  and  declared  against  any  more 
of  any  kind  in  this  State.* 

The  wliigs,  who  were  in  a  hopeless  minority,  seemed  averse  for 
a  time  to  holding  a  State  convention.  Their  press  discussed  the 
idea  of  some  suitable  candidate  running  by  general  consent  with 
out  nomination.  Names  to  this  end  were  proposed,  of  which  we 
may  mention  that  of  James  Davis  of  Bond.  It  was  also  proposed 
that  the  Whig  State  Central  Committee  should  make  the  ticket. 
Finally,  on  the  8th  of  June,  a  convention  was  held  at  Peoria,  over 
which  Major  Bi  chard  Cullom,  of  Tazewell,  presided,  which  nomi 
nated  Thomas  M.  Kilpatrick,  of  Scott,  for  governor,  and  Gen. 
Nathaniel  G.  Wilcox,  of  Schuyler,  for  lieutenant-governor.! 

Kilpatrick  was  born  in  Crawford  county,  Penn.,  in  1807.  His 
early  education  consisted  solely  in  instruction  from  his  mother. 
He  lost  his  father  at  the  age  of  15,  became  a  mechanic,  married 
in  1828,  and  removed  to  Illinois  in  1834.  In  1840  he  beat  Mur 
ray  McConnel  for  the  State  senate.  In  1844  he  was  elected  to  the 
lower  house  of  the  legislature,  where  he  was  greatly  instrumental 
in  the  passage  of  the  school  law  of  that  period.  He  was  a  man 
of  easy  manners,  pleasant  address,  strong,  practical  sense,  and 
withal  quite  a  forcible  speaker  on  the  stump.  In  this  campaign, 
however,  he  deemed  it  doubtless  a  waste  of  time  to  canvass  the 
State,  and  contented  himself  with  issuing  an  address  to  the  peo 
ple,  in  which  he  opposed  repudiation  of  the  State  debt  and  argued 
the  ample  resources  of  the  State  to  pay,  if  properly  developed. 
He  looked  forward  to  the  completion  of  the  canal  as  a  means  to 
arouse  the  despondent  energies  of  the  people.  As  Illinois  was 
then  the  only  State  destitute  of  banking  facilities,  he  favored 
banks  based  exclusively  on  specie ;  and  a  revision  of  the  constitu 
tion  (a'convention  call  for  that  purpose  was  then  pending  before 
the  people),  saying:  "  At  the  commencement  of  the  session,  the 
capitol  is  crowded  with  aspirants  from  different  parts  of  the  State 
seeking  different  offices  ;  each  has  his  friends  among  the  members ; 
a  system  of  electioneering  intrigue  and  log-rolling  commences, 
which  enters  into  the  discussion  and  passage  of  almost  every  bill, 
until  these  offices  are  disposed  of;  and  it  is  not  unfrequently  the 
case  that  the  success  of  the  most  important  measures  of  State 
policy  depend  upon  the  election  of  some  little  fourth -rate  lawyer 
to  the  office  of  district  attorney.  I  attributed  the  bad  legislation 
mainly  to  this  influence."! 

In  the  campaign,  the  whigs  exposed  Gov.  French's  record  and 
connection  with  the  passage  of  the  internal  improvement  system, 
and  urged  it  against  his  election;  but  in  the  meantime  the  war 
with  Mexico  broke  out,  regarding  which  the  whig  record  was  un 
favorable.  The  war  was  the  absorbing  and  dominating  question 
of  the  period,  sweeping  every  other  political  issue  in  its  course. 
The  election  of  August,  1846,  resulted  in  the  choice  of  the  dem 
ocratic  candidate,  A.  C.French,  over  Kilpatrick,  his  principal  com 
petitor,  by  58,700  votes  for  the  former,  to  36,775  votes  for  the  lat 
ter.  We  say  principal  competitor,  because  Richard  Eells  (aboli 
tion)  was  running  for  the  same  office  and  received  5,152  votes. 

*See  Illinois  State  Register,  Feb.  27, 1846. 
tlflinois  State  Journal. 
$See  Illinois  State  Journal. 


FRENCH'S  ADMINISTRATION.  553 

For  lieutenant-governor,  Joseph  B.  Wells,  the  democratic  candi 
date,  received  55,221  votes ;  Nathaniel  G.  Wilcox,whig,  29,641,  and 
Abraham  Smith,  abolition,  5,179  votes. 

By  the  constitution  of  1848,  a  new  election  for  State  officers 
was  ordered  in  November  of  that  year,  before  Governor  French's 
term  was  half  out.  He  was  re-elected  for  the  term  of  4  years. 
Gov.  French  thus  is  the  only  man  who  has  ever  held  the  office  of 
governor  in  this  State  for  G  consecutive  years.  At  the  election  of 
1848  there  was  no  organized  opposition  to  him,  though  a  number 
of  other  gentlemen  were  honored  as  the  recipients  of  the  votes  of 
the  people.  Augustus  C.  French,  received  67,453  votes  ;  Pierre 


ernor  (in  place  of  Joseph  B.  Wells,  the  incumbent,  who  did  not 
run  again),  receiving  65,304  votes.  O.  H.  Browning,  Henry  H. 
Snow,  Pierre  Menard  and  J.  L.  D.  Morrison,  were  also  honored  by 
votes  for  this  office,  ranging  from  2,000  to  5,000. 

Gov.  French  was  born  in  the  town  of  Hill,  Xew  Hampshire, 
August  2, 1808.  He  was  the  descendant  in  the  4th  generation  of 
Nathaniel  French,  who  emigrated  from  England  in  1687,  and  set 
tled  in  Saybury,  Massachusetts.  In  early  life  young  French  lost 
his  father,  but  continued  to  receive  instruction  from  an  exemplary 
and  Christian  mother  until  he  was  19  years  old,  when  she  also 
died,  confiding  to  his  care  and  trust  four  younger  brothers  and 
one  sister.  He  discharged  his  trust  with  parental  devotion.  His 
education  in  early  life  was  such  mainly  as  a  common  school  af 
forded  ;  for  a  brief  period  he  attended  Dartmouth  College,  but 
from  pecuniary  causes  and  care  of  his  brothers  and  sister,  he  did 
not  graduate.  He  subsequently  read  law,  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1831,  and  shortly  after  removed  to  Illinois,  settling  first  and 
practising  his  profession  at  Albion,  Edwards  county.  The  following 
year  he  removed  to  Paris,  Edgar  county.  Here  he  attained  emi 
nence  in  his  profession,  and  entered  public  life  by  representing 
that  county  in  the  legislature.  A  strong  attachment  sprang  up 
between  him  and  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  In  1839,  French  became  re 
ceiver  of  the  United  States  land  office  at  Palestine,  Crawford 
county,  at  which  place  he  resided  when  elevated  to  the  guberna 
torial  chair.  In  1844  he  was  a  presidential  elector,  and  as  such 
voted  for  James  K.  Polk.  After  the  expiration  of  his  term  of 
office  as  governor,  he  occupied  for  some  years  the  professor's 
chair  of  the  law  department  of  McKendree  College,  at  Leba 
non,  and  did  not  reappear  in  public  life  except  as  a  member  of 
the  constitutional  convention  of  1862. 

In  stature,  Gov.  French  was  of  medium  height ;  squarely  built, 
well  proportioned,  light  complexed,  with  ruddy  face  and  pleasant 
countenance.  In  manners  he  was  plain,  agreeable,  and  of  easy  ap 
proach  by  the  most  humble ;  neither  office  nor  position  changed  him 
in  his  bearing  toward  those  he  had  met  while  in  the  more  humble 
walks  of  life.  Though  by  nature  diffident,  and  at  times  appar 
ently  timid,  yet  when  occasion  demanded  he  was  outspoken  and 
firm  in  his  views  of  public  questions  and  convictions  of  duty.  As 
a  speaker,  while  he  did  not  approach  to  the  higher  arts  of  oratory, 
he  was  chaste,  earnest  and  persuasive.  In  business  he  was  accu 
rate  and  methodical,  and  as  the  executive  of  this  State  admiuis- 


554  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

tered  its  affairs  with  great  economy,  prudence  and  discretion. 
He  was  an  honest  and  conscientious  man  in  all  his  transactions, 
and  the  State  was  fortunate  in  securing  his  services  just  at  the 
time  she  did.  While  strong  common  sense,  vigilance  in  looking 
to  the  public  welfare,  and  conscientious  convictions  of  duty  are 
often  more  desirable  in  an  executive  officer  than  brilliancy  or 
genius,  it  was  peculiarly  so  at  this  juncture  in  the  affairs  of  the 
State.  In  the  pecuniary  embarrassments  of  those  times  the  credit 
of  the  State  had  been  in  a  measure  restored,  and  the  overwhelm 
ing  debt  properly  directed  in  the  course  of  ultimate  extinction 
during  the  administration  preceding,  yet  it  still  required  a  clear, 
careful  executive  brain  to  bring  order,  out  of  chaos,  and  a  steady 
hand  to  guide  the  ship  of  state  into  the  haven  of  safety.  When 
Gov.  French  quitted  the  helm,  in  1852,  it  was  with  the  proud  con 
sciousness  that  her  credit  was  fully  restored,  and  her  indebtedness, 
which  had  for  many  weary  years  pressed  her  incubus-like  to  the 
earth,  would  be  faithfully  and  honestly  discharged  ;  that  prosper 
ous  days  had  at  length  dawned  for  her  people;  that  her  unex 
ampled  resources  were  upon  the  eve  of  development,  and  that  she 
would  now  make  giant  strides  toward  wealth,  greatness  ami  em 
pire,  in  all  of  which  his  excellency  had  borne  a  just  and  faithful 
part.  He  was  zealously  devoted  to  the  best  interests  of  the  State, 
ever  acting  for  the  public  good,  without  regard  to  personal  ad 
vantage  or  aggrandizement.  He  lived  in  his  exalted  station  with 
much  frugality.  As  the  first  governor  under  the  hard  times  con 
stitution  of  1848,  lie  received  simply  the  salary  provided,  81,500, 
and  no  more.  The  legislative  art  of  evading  this  stringent  pro 
vision  by  allowing  the  executive  $4,500  for  a  gardener,  had  not 
as  yet  been  evoked,  nor  would  it,  we  may  safely  say,  have  been 
sanctioned  by  an  acceptance  of  the  doucieur. 

In  1$45  a  tax  of  1J  mills  on  the  dollar  was  authorized,  to  be  ex 
clusively  applied  in  payment  of  accrued  interest  upon  the  public 
debt.  The  proceeds  of  this  tax  were  applied  to  all  the  interest- 
bearing  debts  of  the  State  alike,  including  the  canal  bonds,  leav 
ing  only  about  half  of  the  tax  to  be  applied  to  the  interest  accru 
ing  upon  the  debt  proper,  and  causing  a  yearly  deficit  of  unpaid 
interest  exceeding  $300,000,  which  was  unprovided  for.  The 
canal,  subject  to  all  its  arrearages,  under  the  loan  of  $1,600,000, 
had  been  transferred  in  trust  to  the  new  subscribers.  To  carry 
forward  the  Avork  so  well  begun  of  grappling  with  the  monster 
debt,  Gov.  French  recommended  the  registration  and  funding  of 
the  debts.  The  uncertainty,  he  urged,  which  hung  over  the  exact 
amount  of  our  liabilities,  had  produced  a  vague  and  painful  ap 
prehension  in  the  public  mind  that  the  efforts  then  making  to 
meet  a  portion  of  it  were  of  little  avail,  to  correct  which,  and 
elicit  its  true  amount,  this  course  should  be  adopted.  Excluding 
the  canal  debt,  the  residue  of  all  bonds  or  scrip  should  be  con 
verted  into  uniform  transferable  stock.  For  the  arrears  of  inter 
est  due  upon  the  bonds,  a  deferred  stock  of  similar  character,  dif 
fering  only  in  that  it  bore  no  interest  for  a  number  of  years,  was 
recommended.  The  expense  of  funding,  it  was  thought,  would 
be  less  than  the  loss  already  suffered  from  counterfeiting  the  cou 
pons.  In  accordance  with  these  views  the  legislature  passed  two 
funding  acts,  one  authorizing  the  funding  of  the  State  bonds,  and 
the  other  funding  the  State  scrip  and  accrued  interest  on  the 


FRENCH'S  ADMINISTRATION.  555 


debts.  The  funding  of  accrued  interest  met  with  considerable 
opposition,  on  the  ground  that  the  effect  would  be  to  cause  the 
State  to  pay  compound  interest  after  1857.  But  the  measures 
passed,  and  by  1850  the  entire  State  debt,  excluding  that  of  the 
canal,  was  nearly  refunded  in  uniform  securities,  which  greatly 
simplified  the  debt,  and  precluded  further  losses  from  the  free 
counterfeiting  of  the  bonds,  both  to  the  State  and  holders  of  the 
bonds. 

The  State  of  Illinois,  as  a  condition  to  her  admission  into  the 
Union,  like  many  other  States,  had  entered  into  a  compact  not  to 
impose  a  tax  upon  the  land  sold  by  government  within  her  limits 
for  five  years  after  sale,  which  was  a  serious  clog  upon  her  reve 
nues.  During  the  period  of  our  financial  embarrassment,  the 
legislature  earnestly  petitioned  congress  to  remove  this  restric 
tion  ;  to  these  appeals,  urged  with  much  force  by  Senator  Breese, 
that  body  had  finally  acceded.  And  now,  by  act  of  February 
19,  1847/the  legislature  provided  that  all  lauds  hereafter  sold  by 
government  within  this  State  should  be  immediately  subject  to 
taxation.  This  measure  materially  increased  the  revenue  of  the 
State,  as  after  the  close  of  the  Mexican  war,  the  distribution  by 
the  government  of  land  warrants  among  the  soldiers  as  bounty, 
caused  a  large  quantity  to  be  thrown  upon  the  market,  and  great 
numbers  were  located  in  Illinois.  Indeed,  so  cheap  did  land  war 
rants  become,  that  they  operated  greatly  to  check  the  sale  of 
State  lands,  which  were  held  higher;  and  to  avoid  sacrifice,  the 
legislature  peremptorily  suspended  from  further  sale  the  public 
property,  as  provided  by  act  of  March  4,  1843,  to  wind  up  the  in 
ternal  improvement  system. 

The  legislature,  in  1847,  in  accordance  with  the  recommenda 
tion  of  the  governor,  authorized  the  sale  of  the  Northern  Cross 
Railroad,  from  Springfield  to  Meredosia,  now  the  T.,  W.  &  AY. 
Upon  the  purchaser  was  imposed  the  duty  of  putting  it  in  good 
repair,  safe  for  the  transportation  of  persons  and  property.  The 
road  and  its  equipments  sold  for  $100,000  in  State  bonds,  though 
it  had  cost  the  State  not  less  than  $1,000,000.  The  salt  wells  and 
canal  lands  in  the  Saline  reserve  in  Gallatin  county,  granted  by 
the  general  government  to  the  State,  were  also  authorized  to  be 
sold  by  the  governor  to  pay  State  indebtedness. 

The  2  mill  tax  provided  by  the  new  constitution  to  be  annually 
distributed  in  payment  of  the  principal  of  the  public  debt,  other 
than  the  canal,  and  Avhich,  in  1849,  amounted  to  $165,788  71,  was 
found  to  work  badly  and  unprofitably  to  the  best  interests  of  the 
State.  The  legislature  passed  a  resolution  submitting  to  a  vote 
of  the  people  an  amendment  to  the  constitution,  to  accord  to  that 
body  the  discretion  of  using  the  fund  arising  from  this  tax  in  the 
purchase  of  State  bonds,  in  open  market,  at  their  current  rates,  at 
any  time,  instead  of  keeping  the  fund  idle  in  the  treasury  until 
the  1st  of  January  in  each  year,  then  to  be  apportioned  and  cred 
ited  pro  rata  at  a  par  valuation  011  the  bonds  presented,  no  matter 
at  what  discount  they  might  be  rated  in  market.  In  this  there 
would  undoubtedly  have  been  a  saving  to  the  State,  by  her 
agents  going  upon  the  market  and  buying  in  her  own  paper 
at  a  discount,  the  same  as  any  individual  might  operate; 
but  the  people,  who  felt  it  to  be  more  honorable  that  the  State 
should  pay  the  full  amount,  refused  to  sanction  this  scheme  or  to 


556  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

entrust  the  general  assembly  in  meddling  with  this  sacred  fund, 
and  the  amendment  failed  for  want  of  that  majority  of  votes 
which  the  constitution  required  to  secure  its  adoption.  The  ques 
tion,  though  urged  again  upon  the  people  by  the  governor,  was 
never  again  presented  for  their  action,  one  reason  being  that  the 
time  required  to  again  bring  it  to  a  vote  would  essentially  lessen 
its  importance,  as  the  bonds  were  rapidly  approximating  a  par 
valuation  in  market.  Such  were  some  of  the  efforts  made  during 
Gov.  French's  administration  to  gain  the  mastery  of  the  monster 
public  debt. 

In  1850,  for  the  first  time  since  1839,  the  accruing  State  revenue, 
exclusive  of  specific  appropriations,  was  sufficient  to  meet  the 
current  demands  upon  the  treasury.  Prior  to  this  it  had  been  the 
practice  to  issue  a  surplus  of  auditor's  warrants  to  meet  deficien 
cies.  Of  course  when  the  treasury  was  not  in  a  condition  to  re 
deem  these  warrants,  they  depreciated,  resulting  in  great  losses 
both  to  the  holders  and  the  State  by  their  lessened  value,  and  the 
prolonged  time  of  their  redemption.  But  these  embarrassments 
and  sacrifices  were  now  happily  overcome.  The  aggregate  taxa 
ble  property  of  the  State  at  this  time  was  over  $100,000,000,  the 
annual  constitutional  2  mill  tax  yielded  a  revenue,  after  allowing 
a  proper  margin  for  defaults  and  casual  losses,  of  about  $190,000, 
and  the  population  was  851,470  souls. 

ToicnsMp  Organization. — In  1849,  in  accordance  with  the  per 
mission  of  the  new  constitution,  and  in  obedience  to  the  demand 
of  the  people  from  the  northern  part  of  the  State,  who  had  ob 
served  its  practical  working  in  the  eastern  States,  the  first  town 
ship  organization  act  was  passed  by  the  legislature.  But  the  law, 
in  attempting  to  put  it  into  practical  operation,  disclosed  radical 
defects.  It  was  revised  and  amended  at  the  session  of  1851,  sub 
stantially  as  it  has  existed  up  to  the  present  revision  of  1871.  The 
adoption  of  the  township  organization  system  marks  an  era  in  the 
management  of  fiscal  affairs  in  many  of  the  counties  of  this 
State. 

The  system  of  township  government  had  its  origin  in  New  Eng 
land.  But  the  root  of  this  form  of  local  government  may  be 
traced  to  the  districting  of  England  into  tithings  by  King  Alfred, 
in  the  9th  century,  to  curb  the  wide-spread  local  disorders  which 
disturbed  his  realm.*  Upon  this  ancient  idea  of  tithing  districts, 
the  Puritans  grafted  their  greatly  improved  township  system.  The 
county  system  originated  in  this  country  with  Virginia,  and  was 
also  derived  from  England.  The  tobacco  planters  of  the  Old 
Dominion,  owning  their  laborers  more  completely  than  did  the 
barons  of  England  their  vassals,  lived  isolated  and  independent 
on  their  large  landed  estates  in  imitation  of  the  aristocracy  of 
the  mother  country.  They  also  modeled  their  county  and  munici 
pal  institutions  with  certain  modifications  suitable  to  the  condi 
tion  of  the  new  country  after  the  same  prototype ;  whence  has 
spread  the  county  system  into  all  the  southern  and  many  of  the 
northern  States.  All  of  the  northwest  territory,  now  constituting 
five  States,  after  the  conquest  of  Clark,  was  by  Virginia,  in  1778, 
formed  into  a  county  under  her  jurisdiction,  called  Illinois.  The 

*See  further  Blackstoue's  Commentaries,  B  i.  p.  114-116. 


FRENCH'S  ADMINISTRATION.  557 

county  feature  was  afterwards  retained  in  all  the  States  carved 
out  of  the  northwestern  territory.  The  county  business  iu  Illi 
nois  was  transacted  by  3  commissioners,  in  the  respective  coun 
ties,  who  constituted  a  county  court,  which,  besides  the  manage 
ment  of  county  affairs,  had  usually  other  jurisdiction  conferred 
upon  it,  such  as  that  of  a  justice  of  the  peace  and  probate  busi 
ness.  By  the  constitution  of  1848,  owing  to  the  influence  of  east 
ern  or  New  England  settlers  in  the  northern  portion  of  the  State, 
township  organization  \sas  authorized,  leaving  it  optional  for  any 
county  to  adopt  or  not  the  law  to  be  enacted.  Our  township  sys 
tem,  however,  is  not  closely  modeled  after  that  of  the  New  Eng 
land  States.  There,  a  representative  is  sent  directly  from  each 
town  to  the  lower  branch  of  the  legislature.  In  New  York,  owing 
to  her  large  extent  of  territory,  this  was  found  to  be  impractica 
ble,  and  a  county  assembly,  denominated  a  board  of  supervisors, 
composed  of  a  member  from  each  town,  was  there  established. 
This  modified  system  we  have  copied,  almost  exactly,  in  Illinois. 

Townships  are  often  compared  by  writers  to  petty  republics, 
possessing  unlimited  sovereignty  in  matters  of  local  concern  ;  and 
boards  of  supervisors  are  popularly  supposed  to  be  vested  with 
certain  limited  legislative  powers.  But  neither  is  the  case.  Both 
the  county  and  township  boards  are  mere  fiscal  agents.  They 
hold  the  purse  strings  of  the  counties;  they  may  contract,  incur 
debts  or  create  liabilities — very  great  powers,  it  is  true — but  they 
cannot  prescribe  or  vary  the  duties,  nor  control  in  any  manner  the 
county  or  township  officers  authorized  by  law.  While  the  county 
court,  consisting  of  three  members,  is  a  smaller,  and,  therefore,  as 
a  rule,  more  manageable  or  controllable  body  by  outside  influ 
ences,  there  is  little  doubt  that  a  board  of  supervisors  is  not  only 
directly  more  expensive,  but  also  that  a  thousand  and  one  petty 
claims  of  every  conceivable  character,  having  often  no  foundation 
in  law  or  justice,  are  constantly  presented,  and,  being  loosely  in 
vestigated  and  tacitly  allowed,  aggregate  no  insignificant  sum.  A 
board  of  supervisors  also  acts  or  is  controlled  more  by  partisan 
feelings.  There  ought  to  be  uniformity  throughout  the  State  in 
the  management  of  county  affairs.  No  little  confusion  seems  to 
pervade  the  laws  at  the  present  time  relating  to  our  two  classes 
of  counties. 

Homestead  Exemption. — The  general  assembly,  at  its  session  of 
1851,  first  passed  the  act  to  exempt  homesteads  from  sale  on  exe 
cutions.  This  subject  had  been  brought  before  the  legislature  re 
peatedly  by  Gov.  French  in  his  messages.  The  principle  of  this  be 
neficent  law  was  not  a  new  or  untried  one.  Its  practical  effects 
upon  the  social  relations  of  communities  had  been  fully  and  suc 
cessfully  tested  in  different  States.  The  claims  of  society  in  main 
taining  the  integrity  of  the  family  relation,  which  is  the  founda 
tion  of  all  society,  it  was  argued,  were  superior  to  those  of  the  in 
dividual;  that  some  men,  then  as  now,  were  to  be  found  mean 
enough  to  specially  evade  honest  debts,  did  not  argue  that  such  a 
law,  in  the  interests  of  a  higher  duty  from  man  to  man,  would  not 
subserve,  as  a  rule,  a  beneficent  purpose,  by  shielding  the  widow 
and  orphans,  the  aged  and  decrepid,  from  the  cruel  demands  of 
the  Shylocks  of  the  world.  Prior  to  this,  the  exemption  of  certain 
articles  of  personal  property,  which  had  been  the  law  for  a  number 


558  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

of  years,  had  not  proven  inimical  to  the  true  interests  of  the  cred 
itor.  For  the  $60  worth  of  property  exempted,  suited  to  the  debt 
or's  condition  or  occupation  in  life,  he  might  select  a  yoke  of  oxen 
for  the  cultivation  of  land,  but  no  land  \vas  by  the  law  allowed  him 
from  which  to  raise  something-  wherewith  to  support  his  family  or 
discharge  his  debt. 

The  provisions  of  the  law  (which  was  in  force  up  to  July  1st, 
1872,)  are  too  well  known  to  recapitulate  here.  It  exempted  from 
levy  or  forced  sale,  under  any  process  or  order  of  court,  the  lot  of 
ground  and  the  building  thereon  occupied  as  a  residence  and 
owned  by  the  debtor,  being  a  householder,  and  having  a  family, 
to  the  value  of  $1,000.  The  law  of  1872  raises  this  to  $1,500.  The 
benefit  of  the  act  was  extended  to  the  widow  and  family,  some  or 
one  of  them  continuing  to  occupy  the  homestead  until  the  youngest 
child  should  become  of  age,  or  until  the  death  of  the  widow. 

The  Bloody  Island  Dike — A  Speck  of  War. — Owing  to  the  form 
ation  of  sand-bars  in  the  Mississippi  river  opposite  the  lower  part 
of  St.  Louis,  which  it  was  apprehended  would  divert  the  channel 
of  the  river  to  its  left  bank,  and  greatly  injure,  if  not  destroy,  the 
harbor  of  that  city,  the  municipal  authorities  thereof,  to  prevent 
that  threatened  calamity,  passed  an  ordinance,  February,  1848, 
making  appropriations  to  construct  a  dike  or  dam  across  the  east 
ern  channel  of  the  river,  from  the  foot  of  Bloody  Island  to  the 
Illinois  shore,  to  force  the  main  current  of  the  wafer  over  to  the 
St.  Louis  side.  This  effort,  made  at  a  great  expense  to  the  treas 
ury  of  that  city,  was  met  with  determined  opposition  in  Illinois, 
as  defiant  to  the  sovereignty  of  this  State  and  an  infringement 
upon  the  rights  of  our  citizens.  It  was  urged  that  the  work 
would  change  the  channel  in  the  upper  Mississippi ;  that  the  effect 
would.* be  to  inundate  the  American  Bottom  ;  that  the  river  would 
cut  around  the  dike,  drive  the  full  force  of  its  current  towards 
Oahokia  creek,  and  destroy  Illinoistown;  and  that  the  ferry  would 
be  changed  up  the  river  to  the  island,  to  get  to  which  the  company 
would  charge  enormous  tolls  over  the  dike. 

The  work  was  commenced  by  St.  Louis  within  the  rightful  juris 
diction  of  this  State,  without  permission  from  our  legislsture  or 
notice  to  the  governor,  but  solely  with  the  consent  and  approbation 
of  the  proprietors  of  the  island,  and  the  main  shore  opposite,  fcfome 
years  prior,  it  seems,  congress  had  made  appropriations  at  differ 
ent  times  for  the  improvement  of  St.  Louis  harbor,  part  of  Avhich 
had  been  expended  in  the  removal  of  a  sand-bar  at  the  south  end 
of  the  harbor.  These  appropriations,  together  with  the  consent 
of  the  owners  of  the  ground  where  the  dike  was  to  be  built,  St. 
Louis  claimed  as  a  sufficient  license  for  her  invasion  of  the  sov 
ereignty  of  Illinois  with  this  work.  The  rising  cities  of  Alton  and 
Quincy,  watchful  of  their  rights  and  jealous  of  their  big  commer 
cial  neighbor,  through  their  municipal  boards  passed  resolutions 
expressive  of  their  apprehensions  that  these  improvements  would 
be  attended  with  danger  to  the  navigation  of  the  great  commercial 
highway  of  the  west,  and  prove  detrimental  to  their  interests.  The 
executive  of  the  State  was  called  upon  to  inquire  into  the  matter, 
and  to  take  such  steps  as  would  protect  the  sovereignty  of  this 
State  and  the  rights  of  its  citizens.  A  large  number  of  letters 


FRENCH'S  ADMINISTRATION.  559 

from  different  citizens  poured  in  upon  his  excellency  to  the  same 
end. 

Governor  French  thereupon  addressed  a  letter  to  the  municipal 
authorities  of  St.  Louis,  recapitulating  the  representations  made 
to  him  as  to  the  threatened  dangers  of  this  work,  urging  them 
to  pause  in  their  manifest  encroachments  upon  the  sovereignty  of 
this  State,  and  the  rights  of  its  citizens,  which,  if  persisted  in, 
would  require  him  to  employ  suitable  means  to  arrest. 

To  this  somewhat  bellicose  document  Mayor  Krum,  of  St.  Louis, 
replied,  claiming  the  general  government  had  some  years  pre 
viously  projected  and  partly  constructed  certain  works  opposite 
the  city,  with  the  view  to  improve  the  navigation  of  the  river,  and 
at  the  same  time  improve  the  harbor  of  St.  Louis ;  that  the  works 
now  being  prosecuted  were  substantially  the  same,  originally  de 
signed  and  in  part  constructed  by  the  U.  S.;  that  to  the  unex 
pended  balance  of  the  appropriations  by  congress  for  this  purpose, 
St.  Louis  had  likewise  added  moneys  to  further  the  said  object; 
joined  tothis  high  authority  he  plead  also  the  consent  of  the  own 
ers  of  the  ground  where  the  work  was  being  erected,  and  assured 
his  excellency  that  the  contemplated  improvements  would  in  no 
wise  infringe  either  the  sovereignty  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  or  the 
rights  of  any  citizen.  After  alluding  to  the  influences  at  work  to 
create  a  false  impression  upon  the  public  mind,  he  closed,  trusting 
that  no  inconsiderate  steps  would  be  taken  on  the  part  of  the 
authorities  of  Illinois  without  due  deliberation. 

This  answer,  intended  to  disarm  opposition  and  allay  feeling, 
was  not  satisfactory  in  Illinois.  It  was  not  believed  that  the  dike, 
in  any  manner,  entered  into  the  plan  of  improvement  by  the  gen 
eral  government,  but  that  it  was  the  offspring  of  and  solely  pros 
ecuted  by  St.  Louis.  Neither  was  it  conceded  that  the  general 
government  had  the  right  to  carry  forward  this  work  within  the 
rightful  jurisdiction  of  this  State.  It  was  further  inferred  that 
the  work  was  to  be  vigorously  pushed  forward  by  St.  Louis,  and 
that  the  equivocal  agency  of  the  general  government  was  held  out 
as  a  cloak  to  ward  off  molestation  in  its  prosecution. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  it  was  sought  to  associate  the  general 
government  with  the  project,  the  governor  proposed  to  submit  the 
question  as  an  agreed  case,  to  the  U.  S.  circuit  court,  then  sitting 
at  Springfield,  as  the  speediest  and  most  satisfactory  mode  of  set 
tling  the  controversy.  But  this  proposition  was  declined.  Sub 
sequently,  in  a  letter  to  Gov.  Reynolds,  he  writes  that  there  is  left 
him  but  one  alternative,  either  to  check  the  work  or  have  some 
agreement  that  it  shall  await  the  meeting  of  the  legislature.*  A 
committee  of  the  common  council  of  St.  Louis,  with  power  to  treat, 
visited  Governor  French  at  Springfield.  His  excellency  offered  to 
lay  the  matter  before  the  next  general  assembly,  but  as  that  in 
volved  a  considerable  loss  of  time,  the  commission  was  unwilling 
to  accede  to  it.  The  governor  could  not  grant  permission  to  pro 
ceed  with  the  work.  In  the  meantime  an  injunction,  issuing  from 
the  St.  Clair  circuit  court,  had  been  served  upon  the  contractors. 
But  the  work  was  proceeded  with  in  contempt  of  the  order  of  court. 
The  governor  now  inaugurated  "strong  measures  to  cause  the  in 
junction  to  be  respected."  To  this  end,  H.  S.  Cooley  secretary  of 

•  See  Illinois  State  Register,  July  14,  1848. 


560  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

State,  was  sent  to  Illinoistown,  to  investigate  the  matter.  He 
learned  that  a  large  number  of  men  were  employed,  that  steamers 
towed  stone-laden  barges  from  the  St.  Louis  quarry,  and  that  be 
tween  200  and  300  tons  of  rock  were  deposited  upon  the  dike 
every  night,  notwithstanding  the  injunction  ;  that  113  feet  of  wall 
was  up,  and  that  in  4  weeks  time  the  whole  line,  from  the  Island 
to  the  main  shore,  would  be  built  above  the  water's  edge.  At 
Belleville  he  found  the  war  feeling  so  strong  that  a  general  disposi 
tion  was  manifest  to  enforce  obedience  to  the  writ  of  injunction. 
The  sheriff  of  St.  Clair  county  went  beyond  his  bailiwick  and 
served  the  writ  upon  the  Mayor  in  St.  Louis,  who  treated  the  mat 
ter  rather  lightly.  Writs  of  attachment  for  contempt  were  now 
issued  for  the  arrest  of  every  person  found  violating  the  process 
of  the  court.  If  these  civil  measures  failed  and  the  sheriff's  posse 
proved  insufficient,  the  governor  was  determined  to  resort  to  mil 
itary  force,  and  all  the  able-bodied  men  of  St.  Clair  county  ap 
peared  ready  to  back  him  in  the  enforcement  of  the  civil  process. 
It  might  be  inferred  that  war  was  imminent.  The  sheriff  ar 
rested  two  of  the  principal  workmen  on  the  dike  and  conveyed 
them  before  Judge  Koerner  to  be  tried  for  contempt.  The  press, 
both  of  St.  Louis  and  Illinois,  became  violently  inn* amatory,  por 
traying  all  manner  of  dire  results  to  grow  out  of  these  acts,  much 
as  if  an  actual  state  of  war  existed. 

In  the  meantime  the  governor's  envoy  found  in  mingling  with 
the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  that  the  people  took  very  little  interest 
in  the  trouble,  and  that  the  city  authorities  had  no  disposition  to 
defy  the  process  of  a  court  of  Illinois;  that  outside  of  the  efforts 
of  the  Wiggins  ferry  company,  which  owned  in  great  part  the 
island,  and  the  contractors,  who  wanted  to  earn  their  money,  very 
little  concern  was  felt  in  the  dike  controversy.  It  was  represented 
that  "beyond  a  desire  to  hold  the  city  harmless  in  its  contract, 
(wherefore  no  effort  was  made  to  impede  or  restrain  the  work  of  the 
contractors)  the  authorities  had  no  immediate  interest  in  it;  that 
willful  contempt  or  double-dealing  toward  the  authorities  of  Illi 
nois,  while  their  committee  was  on  a  peace  mission  to  the  gover 
nor,  was  not  designed.  It  was  the  ferry  company,  owning  the 
island,  which  would  monopolize  the  causeway  or  dike  leading  to 
it  from  the  main  shore ;  the  distance  of  its  transit  across  the  river 
would  be  shortened  by  half;  the  "  St.  Clair  ferry,"  (partly  owned 
by  the  State),  together  with  Illinoistown,  to  which  it  ran,  would 
by  the  new  ferry  landing  be  thrown  so  far  out  of  the  direct  line 
of  travel  as  to  destroy  both,  and  a  new  town,  (the  present  East 
St.  Louis,)  would  spring  up  on  the  island,  more  convenient  and 
with  shorter  ferry  age,  which  would  enable  that  company  to  hold 
the  traveling  public  to  their  own  terms  without  successful  compe 
tition,  and  bid  defiance  to  the  State.  For  these  reasons  the  Wig 
gins  Company  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  successful  accomplish 
ment  of  the  work.* 

The  injunction  suit  came  up  for  hearing  in  September,  before 
Koerner,  then  one  of  the  supreme  judges,  at  Belleville. 
After  elaborate  argument  by  Mayor  Krum  and  Mr.  Blannerhasset 
of  St  Louis,  and  Col.  Bissell,  in  favor  of  the  work,  and  Messrs. 
Keeting  and  Trumbull  against  it,  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State 

*  See  letters  of  Gen.  Cooley  to  Gov.  French,  Illinois  State  Kegister,  August  4th  and 
llth,  184$. 


FRENCH'S  ADMINISTRATION.  561 

court  was  held  to  be  concurrent  with  that  of  the  federal;  the 
power  of  the  State  to  prohibit  obstructions  being  placed  in  her 
highways  or  the  construction  of  this  dike  in  her  navigable  waters, 
was  equally  clear.  The  bill  and  writ  were  sustained  as  to  Hall, 
Cannon  and  Ben  net,  three  contractors  served  with  process  in  St. 
Clair  county,  but  as  to  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  a  foreign  municipal 
corporation,  and  John  Schreiber,  served  in  St.  Louis,  out  of  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  court,  it  was  dismissed.  An  appeal  to  the  su 
preme  court  was  taken  from  the  decision  dismissing  the  case  as 
to  the  city  of  St.  Louis  and  Shreiber.* 

The  dike  had  been  built  up  to  the  water's  level,  and  the  main, 
contention  now  was  over  the  attempt  to  build  it  12  feet  higher  and 
level  with  the  shore  for  a  high  way,  belonging  to  and  in  the  control 
of  a  private  company,  traversing  the  navigable  waters  of  the 
State.  Another  point  was  the  consequential  impairment  of  the 
St.  Clair  ferry  below,  in  which  the  State  had  an  interest.  In  de 
fense,  it  was  claimed  that  the  obstructed  channel  never  was  navi 
gable,  which  was  the  fact,  except  perhaps  on  occasion  of  ex 
traordinary  freshets,  and  that  it  had  been  cut  within  20  years 
through  lands  belonging  to  the  old  Wiggins  ferry  company,  which, 
with  St.  Louis,  was  making  this  dike,  and  thus  reclaiming  their 
own  land. 

The  legislature,  at  its  session  of  1849,  settled  the  trouble  by  the 
passage  of  resolutions  which  provided  that  the  city  of  St.  Louis 
should  file  a  good  and  valid  bond  with  the  secretary  of  state, 
binding  the  city  to  construct  a  safe  and  commodious  highway 
over  the  dyke ;  and  that  the  owners  of  the  property  on  the  island 
and  main  shore  secure  the  undisturbed  right  of  way  to  the  public 
over  it  forever  without  tax  or  toll.  The  right  of  way  was  not  to 
extend  to  chartered  companies  (except  the  St.  Clair  ferry)  and 
turnpike  companies.  The  city  of  St.  Louis  was  also  to  secure  to 
the  St.  Clair  ferry  a  landing  in  the  city,  all  of  which  was  done, 
and  thus  was  the  cloud  of  war  dispelled. 

A  committee  was  also  appointed,  consisting  of  J.  L.  D.  Morri 
son,  (from  the  aggrieved  county),  A.  J.  Kuykendall  and  Herbert 
Patterson,  to  examine  the  works,  who  reported,  February  1,  1851, 
that  the  dike  was  then  completed,  being  a  solid  stone  wall  across 
the  chute,  sunk  in  40  feet  of  water,  36  feet  wide  and  elevated  to  a 
level  of  3  feet  above  the  lower  store  doors  on  the  levee  in  St. 
Louis,  leaving  the  distance  from  the  island  across  the  river  but 
800  yards.  A  thriving  city  was  predicted,  to  which  at  no  distant 
day  the  workshops,  boatyards  and  manufactories  of  St.  Louis 
would  in  a  great  measure  be  transplanted,  and  where  the  tired 
artisan  or  mechanic,  after  his  day's  labor  in  the  city,  would  repose 
in  a  cheaper  and  more  comfortable  home  than  he  could  enjoy  in 
the  crowded  city.  The  result  of  the  building  of  the  dike  has  showrn, 
after  a  lapse  of  20  years,  that  stability  has  been  imparted  to  the 
Illinois  shore  of  the  turbulent  river,  that  Bloody  Island  has  been 
permanently  joined  to  the  main  land,  and,  while  much  remains  to  be 
done  to  build  up  a  considerable  city  there,  a  half  score  of  rail 
roads  centre  already  in  East  St.  Louis. 

*  See  5  Gilman,  368. 
3G 


562  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 


"STATE  POLICY.77 

Tribute  Levied  upon  Illinois  Produce  in  the  St.  Louis  Market — 
Railroads  Disappoint  Ambitious  Towns,  &c. — From  1849  until  the 
special  session  of  February,  1854,  there  prevailed  in  the  legisla 
tion  of  Illinois  what  was  known  as  the  "  State  Policy."  The  ob 
ject  was  to  so  locate  and  lix  the  termini  of  cross  railroads  as  to 
build  up  great  commercial  marts  and  mighty  cities  within  the 
limits  of  this  State  ;  and  if  this  did  not  follow,  railroads  should 
not  go  where  they  would  contribute  to  the  commerce  and  wealth 
of  cities  without  the  State.  The  "policy"  was  directed  against 
St.  Louis,  a  foreign  city,  ostensibly  to  favor  our  aspiring  domestic 
cities  falling  within  her  competition,  situate  on  the  hither  bank  of 
the  Father  of  Waters  ;  those  on  the  Wabash,  Yincennes  and 
Terre  Haute  were  also  included. 

The  reasons  urged  in  favor  of  this  policy  were  many  and  novel, 
and  forcible  enough  to  in  a  measure  hold  the  best  interests  of  the 
State  in  thrall  for  a  period  of  six  years.  A  general  railroad  in 
corporation  law  was  opposed  and  defeated,  on  the  grounds  that 
any  railroad  company,  foreign  or  domestic,  could  choose  its  route 
across  the  State  in  any  direction  without  consulting  the  interests 
of  the  section  of  country  through  which  it  passed,  which  was  not 
only  highly  unjust,  but  amounted  to  an  infringement  of  the  right 
of  private  property;  it  might  be  detrimental,  and  would  certainly 
be  in  bad  faith  to  other  roads  already  built  or  chartered.  If  a 
road  was  built  on  the  line  of  and  in  direct  competition  with  the 
great  public  work  of  the  State,  the  canal,  the  result  would  be  to 
diminish  its  revenue,  injurious  to  the  State,  the  reversioner,  and 
unjust  to  the  bondholders  of  that  work.  It  was  gravely  argued 
that  iro  shrewd  capitalist  would  make  an  investment  at  all,  and 
that  all  improvements  of  that  character  must  be  arrested,  because 
under  a  liberal  general  railroad  incorporation  law  a  ruinous  com 
petition  would  inevitably  grow  up.  It  was  scouted  as  unworthy 
and  insulting  to  our  State  pride  to  contend  that  the  great  cities 
of  the  Mississippi  valley  could  not  be  built  up  in  Illinois.  All  the 
railroads  from  east  to  wrest,  north  of  the  Ohio  river,  seeking  ter 
mini  with  or  beyond  the  Mississippi,  must  pass  over  Illinois  terri 
tory.  Let  but  these  roads  be  compelled,  by  the  statesmanship  of 
Illinois,  to  converge  to  a  point  on  that  river  within  our  border, 
and  capital  w?ould  center  there,  storerooms  and  warehouses  spring 
up,  dealers  and  commission  merchants  would  be  there,  produce 
and  shipping  would  gather  there  whence  to  seek  an  outlet  to  the 
Atlantic  seaboard  ;  in  a  word,  a  great  commercial  mart  and  the 
busy  hum  of  a  mighty  city  would  be  there.  While  the  resources 
of  the  State  were  being  developed,  and  property  generally  upon 
the  lines  of  railroads  increased  in  value,  ajb  the  termini  would  b& 
built  up  a  city  to  rival  in  a  few  years  St.  Louis,  which  paid  one 
third  of  the  revenue  of  Missouri,  with  debt  and  tax-ridden  llli 
nois  contributing  half  to  her  capital  and  substance,  trade  and 
prosperity. 

Again  and  again  were  strenuous  eiforts  made  to  pass  an  effi 
cient  general  railroad  incorporation  law  in  accordance  with  the  ex 
press  provision  of  the  constitution:  "The  general  assembly  shall 
encourage  internal  improvements  by  passing  liberal  general  laws 


FRENCH'S  ADMINISTRATION.  5G3 

of  incorporation  for  that  purpose;"  and  again  and  again  did  the 
people  from  that  portion  of  the  State  \vhose  nearest,  most  direct 
and  best  market  WAS  St.  Louis,  petition  the  legislature  to  grant 
charters  for  railroads  across  the  State  from  Vincennes,  Terre  Hante 
and  other  points  on  the  Wabash,  to  terminate  at  a  point  opposite 
St.  Louis,  but  were  as  often  refused,  and  bill  after  bill  containing 
snch  charters  were  invariably  rejected. 

At  the  close  of  the  winter  session  of  1849  the  members  of  the 
general  assembly,  to  the  number  of  18  or  20,  representing  that 
belt  of  counties  across  the  State  opposite  St.  Louis,  mainly  affected 
by  this  exclusive  policy,  issued  a  stirring  address  to  their  constit 
uents  and  all  the  section  immediately  concerned,  setting  forth  that 
justice  had  been  denied  them  by  the  legislature,  and  strongly  ap 
pealing  to  them  to  send  delegates  to  the  number  of  not  less  than 
ten  from  each  county  to  a  railroad  convention  to  be  held  in  Salem 
in  June,  1849,  to  take  into  consideration  their  grievances,  and 
devise  such  measures  as  might  be  deemed  necessary  in  the  emer 
gency  to  secure  for  their  section  those  rights  under  the  constitu 
tion  from  which  they  had  been  so  unjustly  debarred.  To  the  north, 
it  was  charged,  nothing  had  been  refused,  while  to  the  south 
nearly  everything  had  been  denied — but  not  by  northern  votes 
alone ! 

The  convention  met  at  the  appointed  time  and  was  attended  by 
a  large  concourse  of  people;  at  least  4.000  earnest  men  were  assem 
bled,  and  over  1,000  delegates  from  the  counties  aggrieved.  Ex- 
CTOV.  2/adock  Casey  presided.  Mr.  Wait,  of  Bond  county,  pre 
sented  an  able  address,  setting  forth  in  apt  language  the  griev 
ances  of  that  belt  of  country  across  the  State  through  which  the 
Ohio  and  Mississippi  railroad  would  run,  pointing  out  the  advan 
tages  of  St.  Louis  as  a  market,  and  boldly  declaring  the  interests 
of  that  section  of  the  State  to  be  identical  with  those  of  that  for 
eign  city.  The  exclusive  policy  of  the  legislature  was  rebuked  in 
severe  terms  for  denying  them  the  railroad  charters  which  they 
sought  for  their  section  ;  the  governor  was  requested  to  convene 
the  legislature  in  extraordinary  session,  and  a  general  railroad  in 
corporation  act,  with  liberal  provisions,  was  demanded  from  it ; 
and  finally  the  people  throughout  the  country  were  recommended 
to  assemble  in  their  home  districts  and  take  steps  to  urge  these 
measures  without  ceasing. 

It  was  generally  supposed  at  this  time  that  the  governor  would 
convene  the  legislature  tor  the  purpose  of  electing  a  United  "States 
senator  in  place  of  Gen.  Shields,  rejected  by  the  senate  in  March 
previous  for  want  of  eligibility.  As  anticipated,  the  governor,  on 
the  4th  of  September,  issued  his  proclamation  for  a  special  session 
in  October,  1849,  inviting  action  upon  several  subjects,  among 
them  the  establishment  of  a  general  railroad  incorporation  law. 

To  counteract  the  influence  of  the  Salem  convention,  a  "State 
policy"  meeting  was  called  at  Hillsboro,  in  Montgomery  county, 
for  the  20th  of  July,  1849,  to  consider  and  take  action  in  reference 
to  railroads  crossing  the  State  east  and  west,  and  terminating  at 
suitable  points  for  building  up  commercial  cities  and  towns  within 
the  borders  of  our  own  State.  The  convention  did  not  meet,  how 
ever,  until  October.  For  the  occasion  an  immense  barbecue  was 
prepared,  and  it  v:as  said  some  12.000  people  attended.  Many 
public  men  and  politicians  participated  in  the  proceedings.,  and 


564        .  HISTORY  OF   ILLINOIS. 

much  bombast,  portraying-  the  great  question  of  "State  policy7'  in 
glowing  colors,  was  indulged.  Among  tlie  participants  may  be 
noted  the  names  of  Joseph  Gillespie,  Robert  Smith,  Cyrus  Ed 
wards,  A.  N.  Starbird,  W.  Pickering,  Gen.  Thornton,  W.  D.  Lat- 
shaw,  and  others.  These  names  show  that  the  Alton  interest  was 
largely  represented.  Resolutions  were  adopted  in  favor  of  the 
"policy;77  approving  the  action  of  the  legislature  at  its  last  ses 
sion  in  refusing  charters  to  railroads  leading  to  St.  Louis ;  con 
demning  the  call  of  the  extra  session  of  the  general  assembly  by 
the  governor  for  that  month,  and  asking  its  immediate  adjourn 
ment  after  the  election  of  a  United  States  senator,  without  acting 
upon  any  other  question. 

Here  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  action  of  the  Missouri  legis 
lature  contributed  not  a  little  to  incense  the  people  of  Illinois 
against  St.  Louis.  That  body  had,  in  the  winter  of  1849,  prece 
ding,  passed  an  act  levying  tribute  upon  all  property  sold  within 
the  limits  of  Missouri,  being  the  growth,  produce  or  manufacture 
of  any  State  other  than  her  sovereign  self.  The  amount  of  sale- 
tax  required  to  be  paid  was  $4  50  on  every  $1,000  worth  of  mer 
chandize  sold,  for  (5  months  from  and  after  the  21st  of  August, 
1849.  Commission  merchants  in  charging  this  amount  back  to 
their  consignors,  were  required  to  make  out  sworn  returns,  much, 
it  is  presumed,  after  the  manner  of  our  late  government  income 
tax.  It  was  estimated  upon  accurate  data,  that  the  commerce  of 
Illinois  alone,  in  the  market  of  St.  Louis,  would  yield,  by  this  sale 
tax,  $150,000  annually  to  the  treasury  of  Missouri.  It  was  a 
scheme  by  which  to  lift  the  burden  of  govern meuj^ and  taxation 
from  the  people  of  Missouri,  where  it  belonged,  and  imrpose  it  upon 
the  people  of  Illinois,  Iowa  and  Minnesota.  A  law  |o  obnoxious 
to  ev^ry  principle  of  justice,  gave  immediate  rise  toymen  dissatis 
faction  and  clamor  among  the  people,  with  severe  denunciation  of 
the  offending  State  by  the  press 5  it  is  but  just  to  say,  however, 
that  the  press  of  St.  Louis  also  contemned  the  law  and  its  enac- 
tors,  charging  that  the  legislature  of  Missouri,  was  controlled  by 
influences  outside  of  and  antagonistic  to  that  city,  rather  than 
promotive  of  her  interests.  The  law  was  clearly  inimical  to  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States.  Such  a  tax  if  at  all  admissa- 
ble,  congress  alone  has  the  power  to  levy,  on  condition  that  it  be 
made  uniform  throughout  the  United  States.  Subsequently  the 
supreme  court  of  Missouri  set  the  law  aside.  But  it  may  be  well 
imagined  that  it  contributed  not  a  little  .in  arousing  feeling  and 
prejudice  among  our  people  and  law-makers  against  St.  Louis. 
The  dike,  too,  afforded  an  opportunity  to  array  prejudice  against 
that  city,  and  neither  was  slowly  taken  advantage  of. 

The  legislature,  at  the  called  session  of  October,  1849,  again  re 
fused  special  charters  to  the  Yincennes  and  St.  Louis  railroad,  a 
general  railroad  incorporation  law  was  however  established,  but 
so  defective  in  its  provisions  that  no  companj  could  well  organ 
ize  or  operate  under  it  without  further  legislation.  The  subjoined 
declaration  of  principles  of  State  policy,  drawn  up  by  Wesley 
Sloan,  of  Pope,  the  sage  of  Golconda,  which  passed  the  house, 
Nov.  3,  1849,  by  43  to  27,  and  the  senate  with  only  2  dissenting 
votes,  illustrates  the  animus  of  the  legislature  upon  the  subject 
of  railroads,  better  than  anything  else: 


FRENCH'S  ADMINISTRATION.  565 

Resolved  1st.  That  the  geographical  position  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  con 
sidered  in  connection  with  the  construction  of  railroads  within  her  lim 
its,  is  one  of  the  greatest  natural  advantages  which  she  possesses,  and 
which  under  a  judicious  system  of  legislative  policy,  must  be  very  in 
strumental  in  promoting  her  general  welfare  as  a  State. 

"2d.  That  the  prosperity  of  a  State  or  nation,  consists  not  only  in  the 
virtue  and  intelligence  of  a  brave  and  energetic  people ;  in  the  richness 
of  her  soil  and  mineral  resources,  but  also  in  the  number  and  extent  of 
her  nourishing  towns,  cities  and  villages. 

"3d.  That  any  internal  improvement,  whether  constructed  under  a 
general  or  special  law,  tending  in  its  operation  to  impede  the  growth 
and  prospects  of  cities,  towns  and  villages,  within  our  own  borders, 
ought  not  to  be  encouraged. 

"4th.  That  the  construction  which  should  be  given  to  the  6th  section 
of  the  10th  article  of  the  constitution  is,  that  the  general  assembly  shall 
encourage  improvements  that  are  of  an  internal  character  and  advan 
tage,  and  not  such  as  are  mainly  intended  to  promote  external  interests. 

•*oth.  That  a  railroad  commencing  at  our  eastern  boundary,  running 
across  the  State  and  terminating  at  a  point  on  the  Mississippi  river  op 
posite  St.  Louis,  and  also  uniting  with  coutinous  lines  of  railroads  ex 
tending  eastwardly  through  our  sister  States,  either  to  Cincinnati,  or  the 
Atlantic  cities,  would  be  immensely  advantageous  to  St.  Louis,  at  the 
game  time  'that  it  would  impede  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  the 
cities,  towns  and  other  localities  on  the  Illinois  side  of  the  Mississippi 
river. ' 

'  46th.  That  the  connection  of  the  Mississippi  river  by  continuous  lines 
of  railroads  with  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  is  of  vital  importance  to  the 
whole  Union,  and  we  willingly  invite  the  construction  of  railroads  pass 
ing  through  other  States,  to  our  eastern  boundary,  promising  to  grant 
to  them  the  right  of  way,  and  reserving  to  ourselves  only  the  privilege 
of  fixing  the  termini;  a  privilege  we  constitutionally  claim,  and  which 
we  are  entitled  to  exercise  by  reason  of  our  geographical  position. 

"7th.  That  the  construction  of  the  great  Central  Railroad  is  a  subject 
of  vast  importance  to  Illinois,  and  all  laws,  having  for  their  object  the 
completion  of  the  same  on  proper  principles,  ought  to  be  encouraged ; 
provided  such  laws  do  not  infringe  too  much  upon  our  natural  advan 
tages  growing  out  of  the  geographical  position  of  the  State."* 

The  passage  of  these  resolutions  by  the  very  decided  majorities 
we  have  noted,  was  rather  alarming.  And  now  the  internal  policy 
of  the  State,  so  emphatically  announced,  was  attacked  without 
gloves  by  the  foreign  press,  and  our  own,  partly,  too.  The  news 
papers  of  St.  Louis  and  Cincinnati,  directly  affected  by  the  refusal 
of  the  legislature  to  grant  a  charter  to  the  Ohio  &  Mississippi 
Railroad  Company,  were  unsparing  in -their  abuse.  The  State 
policy  was  denounced  as  selfish,  narrow  and  contemptible — 
\ve  were  re-enacting  the  fable  of  the  dog  in  the  manger.  The 
press  of  ISTew  York  chiming  in.  characterized  our  a  State  policy" 
as  unreasonable,  vain  and  churlish;  we  would  neither  help  the 
parties  affected  by  it,  nor  permit  them  to  help  themselves  j 
to  the  great  railroads  pushing  their  lines  from  the  Atlantic  cities 
westward,  conferring  permanent  benefit  and  untold  wealth  along 
their  routes,  when  they  arrived  upon  our  eastern  border  we  ex 
claimed  in  the  blindness  of  our  own  interests,  thus  far  slialt  thou 
go  and  no  farther,  because  they  wanted  to  go  to  St.  Louis,  the 
great  commercial  centre  on  the  Mississippi.  It  was  urged  that 
Illinois  stood  in  the  light  of  her  own  interests;  that  our  short- 
siglited  policy  was  proving  ruinous  to  the  south  and  middle  parts 
of  the  State ;  that  it  was  the  Alton  influence,  as  opposed  to  St. 
Louis,  which  had  produced  the  conflict  between  the  three  sections 

*  See  laws  of  Special  Session,  1849. 


566  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

of  the  State,  but  that  after  all  the  north  was  taking  advantage 
of  it,  using  Alton  to  pull  the  chestnuts  out  of  the  fire  for  Chicago. 

Alton  had  been  ambitious  of  commercial  distinction  for  many 
years,  always  waiting  Micawber-like  for  some  fortuitous  circum 
stances,  or  involved  in  some  ingenious  schemes  to  accomplish  this 
grand  object.  But  these,  \vithout  energy,  labor  and  capital  will 
not  alone  succeed  in  building  up  a  great  city.  It  will  be  remem 
bered  by  the  reader  that  the  State  bank  in  1835  was  bankrupted 
within  two  years  after  it  started  by  its  efforts  to  supply  the  capi 
tal  to  monopolize  the  lead  mines  of  Galena,  divert  all  the  up-river 
trade  from  St.  Louis,  and  build  up  Alton,  ne'arly  opposite  the 
mouth  of  the  Missouri,  as  the  emporium  of  the  Mississippi  valley. 
The  completion  of  the  canal,  also,  it  was  fondly  hoped,  would 
check  the  prosperity  of  St.  Louis.  Canal  boats,  it  was  main 
tained,  might  with  safety  and  expedition  be  towed  down  as  low 
as  Alton,  but  the  increased  difficulties  and  dangers  in  the  current 
of  the  Mississippi,  below  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  would  pre 
vent  their  being  taken  to  St.  Louis, m  while  freight  could  at  all 
times  be  brought  as  cheaply  from  New  Orleans  to  Alton  as  to  St. 
Louis. 

Thus  by  the  deceptive  cry  of  this  grand  internal  State  policy, 
and  various  combinations  formed  inconsequence  thereof,  hostile 
legislation  was  evoked  toward  that  part  of  the  State  which  by 
nature  is  not  so  well  adapted  to  the  construction  of  railroads  as 
the  great  prairie  regions  of  the  center  and  north,  and  which  should 
rather  have  received  the  fostering  care  of  friendly  legislation  than 
the  blight  of  this  policy,  whose  effects  are  not  entirely  removed  to 
this  day.  The  great  northern  portion  of  the  State,  seeking  an 
outlet  by  railroads  to  markets  on  the  lake,  and  mainly  within  our 
own  borders,  was  not  inimical  to  the  exclusive  policy:  but  while 
that  region  was  liberally  rewarded  with  railroad  charters  for  its 
development,  it  was  not  without  aid,  infatuated  let  us  hope,  from 
the  south  to  impose  the  "policy"  upon  the  latter. 

Notwithstanding  this  withering  policy,  and  the  just  strictures 
upon  it  by  our  own  and  the  foreign  press,  which  disseminated  a 
knowledge  of  it  far  and  wide  ;  and  also  that  the  State  generally 
had  been  greatly  retarded  in  her  onward  career  by  an  enormous 
public  debt,  without  equivalent,  weighing  her  down  like  an  incu 
bus,  there  was  not,  as  we  approach  the  close  of  the  decade  termi 
nating  with  1850,  another  State  in  the  Union  increasing  so  rap 
idly  in  population,  wealth  and  resources.  Not  Illinois  alone,  but 
the  entire  northwest  was  settling  up  rapidly.  The  whole  of  this 
vast  wilderness  in  1820,  contained  only  about  850,000  souls,  (being 
less  than  Illinois  had  in  1850),  while  now  it  numbered  5,000,000. 
The  action  of  steam  had  cheapened  and  immeasurably  increased 
the  speed  of  transportation  and  immigration.  The  comple 
tion  of  the  canal  had  given  an  impetus  to  the  agricultural 
resources  of  Illinois,  long  needed.  It  had  also  been  indirectly  a 
means  of  wonderfully  improving  her  financial  affairs.  With  the 
advent  of  Gov.  Ford's  administration,  it  was  officially  announced 
that  there  was  not  money  enough  in  the  State  treasury  to  pay 
postage  on  a  letter.  Since  then  the  new  loan  of  $1,600,000  had 
been  made,  with  which  the  canal  had  been  completed,  yielding  now 
an  annual  revenue  in  tolls  of  over  $125,000  j  canallands  worth  half 
million  dollars  had  been  sold,  far  above  the  appraisement  5  3-5ths 


FRENCH'S  ADMINISTRATION.  567 

of  the  1 J  mill  tax  authorized  in  1845  now  paid  $12  out  of  every  $GO 
of  annually  accruing  interest;  and  if  the  two  mill  tax  authorized 
by  the  new  constitution  could  have  been  diverted  in  that  way  the 
whole  annual  interest  on  the  internal  improvement  debt  proper 
could  have  been  paid.  Auditor's  warrants  were  worth  95  cents 
on  the  dollar.  Such  was  our  improved  condition  at  this  time, 
brought  about  by  a  rigid  economy  in  expenditures,  a  thorough 
system  of  retrenchment  under  the  new  constitution,  and  a  wise 
administration  of  public  affairs  under  Govs.  Ford  and  French. 

And  now  came  in  addition  such  glad  tidings  which,  but  for 
the  thorough  schooling  in  the  se  rigid  economies  and  dearly  bought 
experiences,  might  have  sent  us  again  headlong  into  a  wild  course 
of  profligacy  and  schemes  of  infatuation.  This  was  the  magnifi 
cent  donation  by  congress  of  some  3,000,000  acres  of  land  to  the 
State,  which  secured  the  building  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad ; 
also  at  the  same  session,  the  grant  to  the  State  of  all  the  unsold 
swamp  lands  within  her  limits,  estimated  at  1,500,000  acres ;  and 
what  was  also  of  incalculable  benefit  to  many  a  family,  the  act  of 
congress  granting  bounty  land  to  the  brave  men  who  periled  their 
lives  in  the  but  recently  closed  Mexican  war.  With  these  encour 
aging  and  hopeful  aids,  joined  to  an  ever  thronging  emigration 
pouring  in  upon  our  rich  prairies,  'stifling  legislation  could  no 
longer  retard  our  march  to  empire. 

In  the  fall  of  1850,  a  new  legislature,  fresh  from  anew  people — 
new  in  great  accessions,  and  also  in  that  they  had  cast  off  their 
garments  of  despondency,  and  were  full  of  hope — was  elected. 
This  body  met  in  January,  1851,  and  while  it  did  not  inconsider 
ately  crowd  important  bills  through,  performed  a  great  deal  of 
labor,  giving  life  to  those  measures  which  have  become  the  in 
struments  of  an  enduring  greatness  to  this  empire  State,  and 
from  which,  with  proper  additions  since,  we  behold  to-day  unfold 
ing  the  full  glory  of  a  grand  future.  These  instruments  were 
mainly  important  railroad  charters,  which  in  number  were  even 
then  said  to  mark  up  the  surface  of  the  State  into  a  network  of 
these  improvements. 

The  incubus  of  uState  policy"  was  not  altogether  shaken  off, 
but  a  good  beginning  was  made  by  granting  a  charter  to  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  railroad  company.  Mr.  Douglas,  taking  a  broader 
view  than  the  confines  of  Illinois,  was  prompted  to  address  a  letter 
from  Washington  to  Uri  Manly,  of  Coles,  saying  if  he  were  a  leg 
islator  he  would  certainly  grant  a  charter  for  the  proposed  road 
from  Iljinoistown  to  Terre  Haute,  and  also  to  Vincennes,  and  to 
other  lines  across  the  State  when  any  considerable  portion  of  the 
people  desired  it.  He  would  give  a  preference  to  the  towns  and 
cities  of  Illinois  where  it  could  be  done  without  injury  or  injustice 
to  others,  but  he  would  never  sacrifice  the  great  agricultural  in 
terests  for  the  benefit  of  a  much  smaller  interest  in  the  towns.  The 
country  was  not  made  for  the  towns,  but  the  towns  for  the  con 
venience  of  the  country.*  The  Hon.  Y.  R.  Young,  M.  C.,  also 
wrote  to  Mr.  W.  S.  Waite,  of  Bond  county,  that  good  faith  on  the 
part  of  the  legislature  required  them  to  charter  all  cross  railroads 
contemplated,  as  most  probably  the  Illinois  Central  railroad  grant 
of  land  would  not  have  been  obtained  if  the  delegation  in  congress 
had  withheld  the  positive  assurance  that  the  State  would  change 

•  Vide  111.  Reg.,  Jan.,  1851. 


568  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

her  policy  in  relation  to  cross  roads.  That  such  assurances  were 
given  was  also  corroborated  by  Mr.  Douglas  and  Col.  W.  H.  Bissell, 
the  latter  writing  that  he  felt  quite  sure  votes  were  obtained  in  that 
way,  and  that  the  result  showed  that  they  had  but  very  few  to 
spare  in  the  final  trial.*  Thus  was  the  legislature  induced  to  yield 
and  grant  just  one  cross  road  leading  to  St.  Louis.  But  that  was 
all. 

And  now,  to  illustrate  the  bad  faith  of  soulless  corporations — 
the  many  disappointments  and  heart-burnings  which  they  have 
caused,  and  the  bitter  curses  they  have  invited  from  rising  towns 
and  ambitious  cities  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
State,  it  may  here  be  mentioned  in  connection  with  this  road, 
which  gave  one  of  the  earliest  cases  of  the  kind,  and  which,  too, 
will  serve  as  a  type  of  many  others  whose  local  history  cannot 
well  be  obtained,  that,  after  being  a  suppliant  for  years  before  the 
legislature  for  just  the  right  of  way,  and  in  its  obsequiousness  full 
of  the  most  honorable  and  humble  promises,  no  sooner  had  it  ob 
tained  its  charter  than  it  turned  and  violated  them,  becoming  per 
fectly  oblivious  to  everything  else  except  what  was  expressed  in 
that  instrument.  Belleville,  at  that  day,  was  an  ambitious  and  flour 
ishing  young  city.  In  the  passage  of  the  charter  for  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  railroad  company,  it  is  alleged  that  it  was  distinctly 
understood  that  the  interests  of  Belleville  should  not  be  sacrificed, 
and  therefore  the  naming  of  that  place  as  a  point  in  the  charter 
was  magnanimously  omitted.  This  magnanimity  that  corporation 
failed  to  appreciate,  and  grievous  disappointment  followed.  Belle 
ville  thereupon  tendered  a  subscription  of  $50,000  on  condition 
that  she  be  made  a  point ;  she  entreated  and  remonstrated,  but  a 
deaf  ear  was  turned  to  all  her  requests.  Belleville  was  left  some 
six  iiiil£S  to  the  south.  She  held  an  indignation  meeting  and  de 
clared  it  inconsistent  with  the  honor,  interests  or  duty  of  any 
citizen  to  participate  in  the  ceremonies  of  breaking  ground  at  Illi- 
noistown  for  that  foad,  February  8,  1852.  On  that  occasion  was 
presented  the  singular  spectacle  of  Cincinnati,  Yincennes  and  St. 
Louis,  three  foreign  cities,  taking  possession  of  the  soil  of  Illinois 
upon  which  to  inaugurate  a  great  improvement,  without  our  coun 
tenance  or  approbation,  but  we  were  powerless  to  prevent  it. 
Other  places  in  this  State,  similarly  aggrieved  by  other  roads,  are 
Uuiontown,  Salem,  Charleston,  Shelbyville,  Urbana,  &c.,  &c. 
Verily,  in  our  legislation  upon  the  subject  of  railroads,  and  the 
granting  to  them  of  valuable  franchises,  we  have  gone  from  one 
extreme  to  the  other.  While  our  action  toward  them  in  respect 
of  the  State  policy  was  entirely  too  narrow  and  illiberal,  savoring 
too  much  of  proscription,  when  chartered  privileges  were  ex 
tended  to  them  it  seems  that  the  bars  were  let  clear  down,  and 
we  failed  to  retain  any  sufficient  control  over  them.  These,  to-day, 
giant  foreign  corporations,  some  of  whom  erst  begged  in  a  most 
suppliant  manner  of  this  sovereign  State  merely  for  the  right  of 
way,  now  set  up  their  vested  rights  and  defy  not  only  legislative 
but  constitutional  control. 

The  "State  policy"  maintained  its  supremacy  longer  with  regard 
to  the  Atlantic  and  Mississippi  railroad,  known  as  the  u  Brough  " 
road,  from  Terre  Haute  via  Vandaliato  St.  Louis  direct,  than  any 
other.  This  road  was  regarded  as  in  direct  conflict  with  the  Alton 

*  Ibid 


FRENCH'S  ADMINISTRATION.  569 

interest,  and  a  ruinous  competition  to  the  Terre  Haute  and  Alton 
road,  then  building.  Col.  John  Brough,  a  leading  public  citizen 
of  Indiana,  was  at  its  head,  and  showed  much  determination  to 
accomplish  it.  When  he  was  denied  a  special  charter  by  the  leg 
islature  of  1851,  a  company  was  organized  under  the  general  laws 
of  1849 ;  subscription  books  to  the  capital  stock  were  opened  in 
New  York  city,  capital  $2,000,000,  shares  $50  each;  $470,000 were 
speedily  subscribed,  and  Col.  Brough,  the  president,  issued  his 
bulletin,  announcing  his  intention  to  build  a  road  from  Terre 
Haute  to  St.  Louis,  not  only  without, but  against,  legislation.  The 
idea  that  St.  Louis  should  have  two  railroad  highways  across  the 
State  of  Illinois  was  simply  monstrous  to  Alton.  An  Alton  news 
paper  of  November,  1852,  says  : 

•'At  the  close  of  the  last  session  of  our  legislature  we  expressed  the 
opinion  that  Col.  John  Brough,  of  Indiana,  would  be  satisfied  with  the 
explicit  refusal  of  our  State  to  grant  a  charter  of  incorporation  to  his  pet 
project  ;  *  and  that  he  would  abide  by  the  several  times  repeated  de 
cision.  The  citizens  of  Illinois  had  reason  to  suppose  that  they  were 
rid,  for  all  time  to  come,  of  this  pretended  friend,  but  real  enemy,  to  their 
best  interests.  It  seems,  however,  that  this  valiant  Indiana  colonel  is 
determined,  notwithstanding  his  former  repulses,  to  continue  his  unsoli 
cited  and  officious  intermeddling  with  the  domestic  policy  of  this  State." 

But  it  was  found  impracticable  to  build  the  road  under  the  law 
of  1849.  and  application  was  again  made  to  the  general  assembly 
of  1853  for  a  special  charter.  Col.  Brough  was  person  all}'  pres 
ent  and  labored  earnestly  to  succeed,  but  the  State  policy  party, 
after  strenuous  opposition,  led  by  Messrs.  Wynn,  Kuykendal  and 
others,  were  a  gain  enabled  to  defeat  the  bill.  Another  bill  look 
ing  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  same  result,  perhaps,  was  for  a 
charter  of  the  Terre  Haute  and  Vandalia  railroad,  but  the  jeal 
ous  and  watchful  State  policy  party,  regarding  this  as  a  piece 
meal  resurrection  of  the  "  Brough  road,"  promptly  defeated  it. 
The  extension  of  the  Belleville  and  Illinoistown  charter  eastward 
across  the  State,  the  Terre  Haute  and  Marshall  branch,  and  sev 
eral  others,  which  looked  to  approach  the  Mississippi  at  St.  Louis^ 
all  met  with  signal  defeat.  The  triumph  of  the  State  policy  party 
was  complete,  and  the  press  in  its  interest  boldly  proclaimed  that 
it  had  waxed  stronger  than  ever. 

About  this  time,  too,  Chicago  was  greatly  exercised  over  the  Joliet 
Cut-off  grievance,  a  road  which  would  save  to  the  public  from  the 
east,  west  or  south — not  desiring  to  make  the  detour  to  Chicago — 
60  miles  in  transportation  or  travel,  going  and  coming.  Yet  Chi 
cago,  for  some  fancied  benefit,  was  anxious  that  that  circuit  should 
be  maintained  and  enforced,  nolens  volens,  upon  all  freight  and 
passenger  transportation.  It  is  but  just  to  say,  however,  that  in 
this  there  was  not  entire  unanimity.  Notably^  the  Chicago  Demo 
crat  became  all  at  once  the  most  ardent  advocate  of  State  policy, 
and  strongly  urged  this  enforced  deviation  upon  the  public,  de 
nouncing  Joliet  and  her  citizens  prominently  connected  wTith  the 
steps  taken  to  build  a  short  railroad  directly  east,  in  unmeasured 
terms  of  abuse. 

It  was  at  the  session  of  1853,  that  Joseph  Gillespie,  champion 
of  the  Alton  interest,  introduced  into  the  senate  a  bill  by  which 
all  these  existing  chartered  railroad  corporations  were  to  be 
protected  for  ten  years  against  the  building  of  any  competing 
roads  within  25  miles  distance,  unless  existing  corporations  first 


570  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

consented  thereto.  This  amazing  proposition  was  a  fit  climax  to 
all  the  monstrous,  absurd  and  pernicious  schemes  of  the  State 
policy  party.  While  many  of  the  other  States  of  the  Union,  ani 
mated  by  a  noble  spirit  of  enterprise,  were  removing  legal  ob 
structions  and  instead  adopting  broad  and  liberal  railroad  incor 
poration  laws,  throwing  wide  open  their  borders,  and  inviting 
capital  from  abroad  to  build  railroads  and  create  competition 
wherever  it  inclined,  it  was  cooly  proposed  in  the  great  State 
of  Illinois,  which  needed  development  very  badly,  to  draw  a  cor 
don  of  exclttsiveness  around  her  borders,  and  within  to  combine 
with  soulless  corporations  in  the  monopoly  of  all  improvements, 
and  hand  over  to  them,  bound  by  the  strong  chords  of  the  law, 
the  people  of  the  State  to  be  fleeced  without  stint.  The  bill 
failed  to  become  a  law. 

The  Salem  railroad  convention  of  1849  having  ultimately  proved 
successful  in  obtaining  a  charter  for  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rail 
road,  another  convention  now  met  at  the  same  place,  Nov.  2571853, 
to  urge  upon  the  governor  the  calling  together  of  the  general  as 
sembly  in  extraordinary  session.  The  counties  of  Clark,  Cum 
berland,  Effingham,  Crawford,  Fayette,  Jasper,  Edwards,  Bond, 
St.  Clnir,  Jackson,  Monroe,  Williamson,  Randolph,  Clin 
ton,  Jefferson,  Perry,  Marion,  Clay,  some  19.  all  south  of  the 
Terre  Haute  and  Alton  railroad,  whose  best  and  most  accessable 
market  would  be  St.  Louis,  were  ably  represented  by  their  most 
public  spirited  and  enterprising  men.  The  Hon.  Zadock  Casey 
was  unanimously  chosen  chairman.  A  committee  was  appointed 
of  which  the  Hon.  Sidney  Breese  was  chairman,  to  draft  an  ad 
dress,  setting  forth  their  grievances  and  urging  the  governor  to 
convene  the  legislature.  Action  upon  seven  measures  was  de 
manded,  but  the  railroad  grievance  was  the  main  one.  The  com 
mittee  say: 

"The  special  acts  and  the  general  law,  so-called,  for  railroad  incorpo 
ration  demand  action  that  would  alone  justify  an  extra  session.  Re 
strictions  upon  the  accomplishment  of  useful  enterprises  might  be  re 
moved  by  an  act  of  ten  lines,  opening  the  way  to  immediate  construc 
tion  of  works  that  would  bring  in  capital  from  abroad  and  enhance  the 
value  of  real  estate  to  the  amount  of  several  millions  of  dollars.  That 
Southern  Illinois  has  a  peculiar  interest  in  this  important  measure,  she 
has  no  disposition  to  deny.  Look  at  the  single  fact  that  in  the  vast  and 
increasing  railroad  enterprises,  which  is  giving  new  life  to  the  State,  and 
which  already  exceed  2,000  miles  in  extent,  less  than  300  are  permitted 
to  Southern  Illinois." 

A  committee  of  some  20  was  appointed  to  present  the  address 
in  person  to  the  governor.  It  had  the  desired  effect.  The  governor 
issued  his  proclamation,  convening  the  legislature  in  Feb.,  1854. 

This  special  session  was  a  very  busy,  and  in  many  respects,  a 
most  important  one  for  the  State.  But  we  now  can  only  notice 
the  subject  in  hand.  The  State  policy  was  narrowed  down  to  the 
one  object  of  again  defeating  the  "Brough  road,"  for  which  pur 
pose  a  great  effort  was  made,  aided  by  foreign  lobbyists  interested 
in  the  Terre  Haute  and  Alton  road.  But  their  efforts  failed  ;  the 
liberal  policy  triumphed,  the  charter  " recognizing  and  authorizing 
the  construction  of  the  Mississippi  and  Atlantic  railroad"  passed 
in  both  houses  by  decisive  majorities.  Exit  "State  policy" — a 
policy  which  has  done  much  to  hinder  and  retard  the  growth  and 
development  of  the  southern  portion  of  the  State,  and  wrhose 
blight  has  lingered  more  or  less  to  this  day. 


CHAPTER  XL  VI. 
THE  ILLINOIS  CENTRAL  RAILROAD. 

Congressional  Grant  of  Land — Holbrook  Charters — Bondholders' 
Schemes — The  7  per  cent,  of  its  Gross  Earnings — Passage  of  its 
Charter — Benefits  to  the  Company,  the  State  and  Individuals — 
Note  :  Jealousy  of  Politicians  on  Account  of  its  Glory — Corres 
pondence  of  Messrs.  Breese  and  Douglas. 


The  subject  of  this  chapter  marks  an  era  in  the  progress  of  the 
State.  The  grand  scheme  of  connecting,  by  means  of  iron  bands 
of  commerce,  Lake  Michigan  with  the  great  watery  highway  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley  at  the  confluence  of  the  Ohio,  had  long 
been  a  desideratum  with  our  people.  It  had  constituted  part  of 
the  State  internal  improvement  system  of  1837,  and  some  work  on 
the  line  was  actually  done,  but  was  abandoned  with  the  gen- 
"eral  collapse  of  that  system.  The  Central  Railroad,  from  the 
southern  terminus  of  the  canal  to  Cairo,  was  subsequently  revived 
by  legislation,  procured  by  scheming  brains  with  an  eye  to  the 
future,  but  the  whole  subject  lacked  vitality  until  the  passage  of 
the  act  of  congress  of  September,  1850,  granting  to  the  State  a 
munificent  donation  of  near  3,000,000  acres  of  land  through  the 
heart  of  Illinois  in  aid  of  its  completion.  This  noble  tribute  by 
the  nation  had  its  birth  simultaneously  with  and  amidst  the 
throes  of  the  great  adjustment  measures  "of  1850,  which,  during 
that  long  and  extraordinary  session  of  Congress,  shook  the  Union 
from  center  to  circumference.  Twice  before  had  a  similar  bill 
passed  the  senate,  and  twice  had  it  failed  in  the  house,  but  now  it 
was  a  law,  and  the  State  possessed  the  means  to  complete  the 
great  work.  The  final  passage  of  the  measure  was  hailed  with 
demonstrations  of  great  joy  by  the  people  and  press  of  our  State.* 
Illinois  internal  improvement  bonds  made  a  bound  forward  of  10 
per  cent,  in  the  New  York  market.  At  this  time  the  amount  of 
railroad  completed  in  the  State  consisted  of  a  section  of  the 
Northern  Cross  Railroad,  from  Meredosia  and  Naples,  on  the  Illi 
nois  river,  to  Springfield;  the  Chicago  &  Galena,  from  the  former 
city  as  far  as  Elgin  ;  and  a  6  mile  coal  track  across  the  American 
bottom  from  opposite  St.  Louis  to  the  mines  in  the  bluffs. 

*After  the  adjournment  of  congress,  Senators  Douglas  and  Shields,  on  their  return 
home,  were  tendered  a  public  dinner  at  Chicago  in  honor  of  the  occasion,  but  for  rea 
sons  of  delicacy  they  declined  becoming  the  exclusive  recipients  of  such  attentions, 
awarding  to  their  colleagues  of  the  house — where  the  final  battle  was  fought  and 
won- Messrs.  McClernand,  Harris,  Wentworth,  Young.  Richardson.  Bissell  and  Baker, 
the  principal  merit  of  its  passage.  The  honors  for  the  success  of  the  measure  were  a 
fruitful  source  of  jealousy  among  our  public  men. 

571 


572  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

The  act  granted  the  right  of  way  for  the  railroad  through  the 
public  lauds  of  the  width  of  200  feet,  from  the  southern  terminus 
of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  to  a  point  at  or  near  the 
junction  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers,  and  for  branches  to 
Chicago  and  Galena;  also  the  privilege  to  take  from  them  mate 
rials  of  earth,  stone  and  timber  for  its  construction.  But  the 
main  grant  to  the  State  was  the  alternate  sections  of  land  desig 
nated  by  even  numbers  for  6  sections  deep  on  each  side  of  its 
trunk  and  branches  ;  for  the  lands  sold  or  pre-empted  within  this 
12  mile  belt  or  area,  enough  might  be  selected  from  even  num 
bered  sections  to  the  distance  of  15  miles  on  either  side  of  the 
tracks  equal  in  quantity  to  them.  The  construction  of  the  road  was 
to  be  simultaneously  commenced  at  its  northern  and  southern 
termini,  and  when  completed  the  branches  were  to  be  constructed. 
It  was  to  be  completed  within  ten  years,  in  default  of  which  the 
unsold  lands  were  to  revert  to  the  United  States,  and  for 
those  sold  the  State  was  to  pay  the  government  price. 
The  minimum  price  of  the  alternate  or  odd  numbered  sections  of 
the  government  land  was  raised  from  $1  25  to  $2  50  per  acre. 
While  the  public  lands  were  thus  by  the  prospect  of  the  building 
of  this  road  rendered  more  saleable  at  double  price,  it  followed 
that  the  general  government  not  only  lost  nothing  in  dollars 
and  cents,  but  in  point  of  time  was  actually  the  gainer  by  this 
splendid  gift.  The  land  was  taken  out  of  market  for  two  years, 
and  when  restored,  in  the  fall  of  1852,  it  in  fact  brought  an  aver 
age  of  $5  per  acre.  The  grant  was  subject  to  the  disposal  of  the 
legislature  for  the  purpose  specified,  and  the  road  and  branches 
were  to  be  and  remain  a  public  highway  for  the  use  of  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States,  free  from  all  tolls  or  other  charges 
for  the  transportation  of  any  troops,  munitions  or  other  property 
of  the  general  government.  This  provision,  had  it  applied  to 
the  rolling  stock  as  well  as  the  use  of  the  rails,  would  doubtless 
have  saved  the  general  government  during  the  rebellion  many 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  ;  but  it  has  been  construed  ad 
versely  to  the  rights  of  the  government  in  this  particular.  For 
the  purpose  of  continuing  the  road  south  to  Mobile,  all  the  rights, 
privileges  and  liabilities,  with  regard  to  the  grant  of  the  public 
lands  and  in  every  respect  as  conferred  on  this  State,  were  ex 
tended  to  Alabama  and  Mississippi.  Such  is  a  synopsis  of  the 
important  provisions  contained  in  this,  the  first  land  subsidy  made 
by  congress  in  aid  of  railroads,  latterly  so  lamentably  frequent 
as  to  well  nigh  despoil  the  country  of  its  public  domain. 

Upon  the  passage  of  the  bill,  Mr.  Douglas  immediately  pre 
pared  a  petition,  signed  by  the  congressional  delegations  of  all  the 
States  along  the  route  of  the  road  from  Mobile  north,  describ 
ing  the  probable  location  of  the  road  and  its  branches  through  Illi 
nois,  and  requesting  the  president  to  order  the  suspension  of  land 
sales  along  the  lines  designated,  which  was  immediately  done.* 

The  act  of  congress  threw  upon  the  legislature  of  Illinois  the 
entire  duty  of  making  a  prudent,  wise  and  satisfactory  disposi- 

*At  the  same  session  congress  passed  an  act  granting  to  the  State  of  Akansas  the 
swamp  and  overflowed  lands  unfit  for  cultivation,  and  remaining'  unsold  within  her 
borders,  the  benefits  whereof  were  extended  by  section  4  to  each  of  the  other  States 
in  which  there  might  be  such  landssituated.  BY  this  act  the  State  of  Illinois  received 
l,5lO,«>00  acres  more.  These  lands  were  subsequent!}' turned  over  to  the  respective 
counties  where  located,  with  the  condition  that  they  be  drained,  and  for  school  pur 
poses. 


ILLINOIS   CENTRAL  KAILROAD.  573 

tion  of  the  magnificent  grant.  The  point  of  departure  of  the  Chi 
cago  branch  from  the  main  trunk  was  not  fixed  by  the  act,  and  this 
delicate  duty  the  legislature,  it  was  generally  expected,  would  take 
in  hand.  Before  the  meeting  of  that  body,  in  January,  1851,  much 
contention  pervaded  the  press  of  the  State  regarding  the  location 
of  the  main  trunk,  and  particularly  the  routes  of  the  branches. 
Many  worthy  and  ambitious  towns  were  arrayed  against  each 
other.  The  LaSalle  interest  wanted  the  Chicago  branch  taken 
off  at  that  point.  Bloomington,  looking  to  a  continuation  of  the 
Alton  &  Sangamon  road  (now  the  Chicago,  Alton  &  St.  Louis)  to 
that  place,  wanted  the  Chicago  branch  to  connect  her  with  the 
lake.  Shelby ville,  which  was  a  point  on  the  old  line  of  the  Illi 
nois  Central,  not  dreaming  but  that  she  would  have  the  main 
trunk,  was  grasping  for  the  departure  thence  of  the  Chicago 
branch  also,  and  lost  both.  Another  route,  which  ought  to  have 
commanded  great  strength,  was  proposed  on  the  most  direct  line 
from  Cairo,  making  the  point  of  connection  with  the  main  trunk 
in  Pulaski  county,  and  taking  off  the  Galena  branch  at  Mt. 
Yernon,  thence  through  Carlyle,  Greenville,  Hillsboro,  Spring 
field,  Peoria,  Galena  and  on  to  Dubuque.  But  of  course  it  was 
to  the  interest  of  any  company  to  make  the  location  where  there 
was  the  largest  amount  of  vacant  land  that  could  be  brought 
within  the  belt  of  15  miles  on  either  side  of  the  road.  And  this 
proved  the  controlling  influence  ultimately,  both  in  the  location 
of  the  main  stem  and  the  branches. 

The  disastrous  failure  of  only  a  dozen  short  years  before,  as  con 
nected  with  the  Utopia  of  the  internal  improvement  system  by  the 
State,  was  not  forgotten;  and  now  when  the  means  of  achieving 
great  good  for  developing  the  State  were  in  hand,  the  stump  and 
press  teemed  with  advice  as  to  the  best  mode  of  disposing  of  the 
grant  of  land,  which,  it  may  be  added,  was  seldom  free  from  bias 
or  a  look  to  local  advantages.  Swarms  of  land  speculators  and 
town  site  owners,  it  was  anticipated,  would  infest  the  lobby  at  the 
next  session  of  the  legislature.  The  people  were  very  properly  ad 
vised  that  to  guard  against  the  influences  and  intrigues  of  these 
sharks  they  must  select  their  best  and  ablest  men  to  represent 
them. 

The  HolbrooJc  Charters. — One  of  the  phantoms  which  loomed 
into  public  recognition,  casting  its  shadow  across  the  path  of  bright 
promise  for  the  State,  was  what  was  known  as  the  "Holbrook 
Charters,"  whose  incorporators,  it  was  feared,  would  step  in  and 
swallow  up  the  congressional  grant  of  land  under  the  broad  terms 
of  their  franchises. 

The  Cairo  City  and  Canal  Company  was  originally  incorporated 
for  the  purpose  of  constructing  dikes,  levees  or  embankments  to 
secure  and  preserve  Cairo  city  and  adjacent  lands  against  the 
freshets  of  the  rivers.  The  cutting  of  a  canal  to  unite  the  Missis 
sippi  with  the  Ohio  through  Cash  river,  was  also  authorized.  In 
the  fall  of  1835  the  Hon.  Sydney  Breese,  through  a  well-considered 
published  letter,  had  first  called  attention  to  the  plan  of  a  central 
railroad,  connectingthe  southern  terminus  of  the  Illinois  and  Mich 
igan  canal  at  Peru  with  the  confluence  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 
rivers  at  Cairo.  An  effort  was  made  at  the  special  session  of 
1835-6  to  unite  this  project  with  the  canal,  for  which  an  appropri- 


574  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

atioii  of  $500,000  was  then  granted.  This  failing,  a  charter  for  the 
railroad  was  granted,  supplementing  this  project  with  the  Cairo 
City  Company,  the  corporators  being  Darius  B.  Holbrook,  (who 
was  also  the  president  of  the  company,)  Miles  A.  Gilbert,  John  S. 
Hacker,  Alexander  M.  Jenkins,  Anthony  Gluey  and  William  M. 
Walker.  Application  was  then  first  made  to  congress  for  aid  by 
pre-emption.  One  year  later  the  State  entered  upon  the  great  in 
ternal  improvement  system,  and,  unwilling  to  brook  a  rival,  ap 
plied  to  the  Cairo  company  to  surrender  the  charter  for  the  build 
ing  of  this  railroad  through  the  centre  of  the  State,  which  was 
complied  with  on  condition  that  the  State  build  the  road  on  a 
route  leading  from  Cairo  through  Vandalia,  Shelbyville,  Decatur, 
Blooniington,  Peru,  and  via  Dixon  to  Galena.  The  State  expended 
more  than  a  million  dollars,  it  is  said,  on  this  route  before  the 
"grand  system"  collapsed  in  1840.  Subsequently,  by  act  of  March 
6,  1843,  the  road,  in  the  condition  that  it  was  abandoned,  was  re 
stored  to  the  Cairo  company  under  the  title  of  the  Great  Western 
Railway  Company,  with  the  power  to  construct  the  road  from 
Cairo  via  the  places  named,  to  a  point  at  or  near  the  south 
ern  terminus  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  canal,  in  such  manner 
as  they  might  deem  most  expedient.  The  Cairo  Company  was 
vested  with  the  title  and  effects  of  the  old  Central  railroad.  All 
the  usual  franchises  were  granted  to  the  Great  Western  Company 
as  part  of  the  Cairo  Company,  and  in  section  18  it  was  added  that 
"  all  lands  that  may  come  into  the  possession  of  said  company, 
whether  by  donation  or  purchase,"  were  pledged  and  mortgaged 
in  advance  as  security  for  the  payment  of  the  bonds  and  obliga 
tions  of  the  company  authorized  to  be  issued  and  contracted  under 
the  provisions  of  the  charter.  By  act  of  March  3,  1845,  the  charter 
of  this  Great  Western  Railroad  Company  was  repealed;  but  by 
act  of  February  10, 1849,  it  was  revived  for  the  benefit  of  the  Cairo 
City  and  Canal  Company,  with  the  addition  of  some  30  names  as 
incorporators,  taken  from  all  parts  of  the  State,  many  of  whom 
were  well-known  politicians.  The  company  thus  revived  was  au 
thorized  in  the  construction  of  the  Central  Railroad  to  extend  it 
on  from  the  southern  terminus  of  the  canal — LaSalle — to  Chicago 
"in  strict  conformity  to  all  obligations,  restrictions,  powers  and 
privileges  of  the  act  of  1843."  The  governor  was  empowered  to 
hold  in  trust  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  said  company  whatever 
lands  might  be  donated  to  the  State  by  the  general  government, 
to  aid  in  the  completion  of  the  Central  or  Great  Western  Railway, 
subject  to  the  conditions  and  provisions  of  the  bill  (then  pending  be 
fore  congress  and  expected  to  become  a  law,)  granting  the  subsidy 
of  3,000,000  acres  of  land.  The  company  was  further  authorized 
to  receive,  hold  and  dispose  of  any  and  all  lands  secured  to  it  by 
donation,  pre-emption  or  otherwise.  There  were  other  details  of 
minor  importance,  but  these  sufficiently  indicate  the  nice  scheme 
entertained  by  the  long-headed  speculators. 

But  Douglas,  though  absent  at  Washington,  was  not  to  be 
hoodwinked  by  these  schemes  against  the  best  interests  of 
the  State.  At  the  special  session  of  the  legislature  in  the  au 
tumn  of  1849,  in.  his  able  speech  delivered  to  that  body,  October 
23d,  he  demonstrated  that  a  fraud  had  been  practiced  upon  it  the 
winter  preceding  in  procuring  from  it  this  charter;  and  that  had 
the  bill  in  congress  donating  this  land  met  with  no  delay  on  this 


ILLINOIS  CENTRAL  RAILROAD.  575 

account,  this  vast  property  would  have  gone  into  the  hands  of 
Holbrook  &  Co.,  to  enrich  these  scheming  corporators,  with  little 
assurance,  as  they  represented  no  wealth,  that  the  road  would 
ever  be  built.  Congress  had  an  insuperable  objection  to  making 
the  grant  for  the  benfit  of  a  private  corporation.  The  connection 
of  these  Holbrook  companies  with  the  Central  railroad,  in  the  es 
timation  of  congress,  presented  an  impassible  barrier  to  the  grant. 
But  this  legislature,  which  had  granted  the  charter,  refused  to  re 
peal  it. 

To  obviate  the  difficulty,  Mr.  Holbrook,  president  of  the  com 
panies,  who  ardently  sought  the  success  of  the  road,  executed  a 
promise  of  release  to  the  governor,  December  loth,  1849,  a  dupli 
cate  of  which  was  transmitted  to  Mr.  Douglas  at  Washington. 
But  the  senator  did  not  regard  this  release  as  valid  or  binding  upon 
the  company,  because  it  was  without  the  sanction  or  authority  of 
the  stockholders,  or  even  the  board  of  directors.  While  he  did 
not  impute  any  such  motive,  the  company,  he  believed,  was  still 
in  the  condition  which  would  enable  it  to  take  all  the  lands 
granted,  divide  them  among  its  stockholders,  and  retain  its  char 
tered  privileges  without  building  the  road.  He  was  unwilling  to 
give  his  approval  to  any  arrangement  by  which  the  State  could 
possibly  be  deprived  of  any  of  the  benefits  resulting  from  the  ex 
pected  grant.  For  the  protection  of  the  State,  and  as  an  assur 
ance  to  congress,  the  execution  of  a  full  and  complete  release  of 
all  rights  and  privileges,  and  a  surrender  of  the  charters,  and  all 
acts  or  parcels  of  acts  supplemental  or  amendatory  thereof,  or 
relating  in  any  wise  to  the  Central  railroad,  so  as  to  leave  the 
State,  through  its  legislature,  free  to  make  such  disposition  of  the 
lands,  and  such  arrangement  for  the  construction  of  the  road  as 
might  be  deemed  best,  was  demanded.  These  requirements  were 
deemed  not  unreasonable  by  the  agents  of  the  company  at  Wash 
ington,  the  Hon.  John  A.  Rockwell,  of  Connecticut,  and  Mr.  G. 
AY.  Billings,  and  a  few  days  after  a  release,  in  duplicate,  was  exe 
cuted  in  New  York,  one  copy  of  which  was  forwarded  to  the 
governor  of  Illinois,  and  one  retained  by  Mr.  Douglas,  to  be  used, 
if  necessary,  in  congress,  containing  these  conditions  : 

"1st.  That  the  legislature  of  said  State  shall,  within  the  period  of  TEN 
YEARS  from  the  1st  of  January,  1850,  construct  and  finally  complete,  or 
cause  to  be  constructed  and  completed,  a  railroad  from  Cairo  to  Chicago, 
and  that  the  southern  terminus  ot  said  road  shall  be  the  city  of  Cairo. 
2d.  That  the  legislature  of  said  State  shall,  during  its  next  session,  elect 
whether  to  accept  or  decline  this  release  upon  the  conditions  herein 
stated.  3d.  That  until  said  State,  through  their  legislature,  shall  have 
made  their  election,  this  company  may  with  the  approbation,  of  the  governor  of 
the,  State,  proceed  ill  the  construction  of  said  road,  and  if  said  charter 
shall  be  released  as  aforesaid  to  said  State  of  Illinois,  the  said  State  shall, 
within  one  year  from  the  time  of  said  election,  refund  to  this  company 
the  amount  which  between  that  period  and  the  present  time,  shall  have 
been  expended  in  the  construction  of  said  road,  with  6  per  cent,  interest 
thereon,  and  shall  assume  all  bona  fide  contracts  hereafter  made  by  this 
company  in  the  construction  of  the  same,  which  shall  have  been  previ 
ously  approved  by  the  governor  of  said  State." 

Nothwithstanding  this  release,  after  the  passage  of  the  bill 
granting  the  land  by  congress,  there  was  a  doubt  in  the  minds  of 
the  people  of  Illinois,  which  was  freely  canvassed  pending  the 
election  of  the  legislature,  which  was  to  dispose  of  the  splendid 
donation  to  the  best  interests  of  the  State,  regardless  of  local  con- 


576  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

si  derations  or  sectional  desires,  that  the  Cairo  company,  through 
its  president,  could  and  would  repudiate  the  relinquishineut  of  its 
charters,  or  use  some  expedient  to  induce  the  general  assembly 
to  fail  in  accepting  it  according  to  its  2d  stipulation,  which  would 
enable  that  concern  to  resume  its  former  position  and  grasp  the 
large  grant  of  land  under  the  provisions  of  its  charter  of  1849. 
The  following  curious  letter,  over  the  name  of  the  president  of  the 
company,  which  appeared  in  the  Illinois  Advocate  at  Lebanon, 
and  floated  about  considerably  in  the  public  press  of  the  day, 
seems  to  evince  a  desire  to  hold  on,  and  it  doubtless  gave  color  to 
the  public  apprehensions : 

"NEW  YORK,  Sept.  25,  1850. 
" Hon.  K  0.  Smith: 

"DEAR  SIR:  I  can  truly  say  that  I  am  under  obligations  to  those  who 
with  Gov.  Casey  prevented  the  repeal  of  the  charter  of  the  Great  West 
ern  Railway  Company.  It  was  granted  in  good  faith  and  under  no 
other  that  the  State  can  now  grant.  I  am  happy  to  say  that  when  I  ex 
plained  the  bill  to  Judge  Douglas,  and  that  my  object  was  to  have  the 
road  made  for  the  best  interest  of  the  whole  State,  I  wTould  return  the 
charter  rather  than  have  any  opposition  from  the  State,  he  was  satisfied; 
and  the  consequence  has  been  that  we  have  worked  together  at  Wash 
ington  this  winter,  and  have  obtained  the  grant  of  land  from  congress 
toward  making  the  road.  We  are  no\v  sure  that  the  road  from  Cairo  to 
Peru,  Galena  and  Chicago  will  be  built.  I  am  now  organizing  the  com 
pany  to  commence  the  work  this  fall,  and  put  a  large  part  of  the  road 
under  contract  as  early  as  possible.  We  shall  make  the  road  on  the  old 
line  of  the  Central  route,  through  Vandalia,  Shelby ville,  Decatur  and 
Bloomington.  I  rejoice  with  the  people  of  Illinois  that  this  important 
road  to  the  whole  State,  wrill  now  be  made. 

"Very  respectfully,  D.  B.  HOLBROOK." 

This  was  construed  as  a  pretension  on  the  part  of  the  presi 
dent,  that  the  State  could  not  grant  any  other  charter  than  that 
which  his  company  owned,  to  complete  the  Central  railroad,  im 
plying  a  repudiation  of  the  release.  Here  was  also  a  claim  to  a 
share  of  the  glory  in  procuring  the  grant  from  congress,  and  the 
assertion  that  his  company  was  ready  to  resume  the  work  (men 
tioning  the  route  of  the  road)  indicated  that  the  Cairo  company 
was  master  of  the  situation.  Further,  the  Chicago  Commercial 
Advertiser,  a  newspaper  in  Holbrook's  interest,  in  no  very  elegant 
language,  and  not  devoid  of  bitterness,  boldly  set  up  for  him  a  re 
pudiation  of  his  release  of  the  charters,  by  the  following  avowal : 

"Judge  Douglas  has  declared  the  first  release  of  the  Cairo  company 
illegal  and  defective  ;  but  that  he  obtained  a  second  one  that  was  legal, 
before  he  would  vote  for  the  grant  of  land.  That  will  likely  be  found 
equally  so.  For,  although  he  is  an  ex-judge,  it  is  doubted  if  he  knows 
enough  of  law  to  either  dictate  or  draw  a  legal  release  in  such  a  case; 
and  his  whole  concern  in  the  matter  may  be  looked  upon  as  much  a 
piece  of  political  trickery  as  his  bragging  about  it  is  bombastic;  and  that 
he  had  no  more  influence  in  procuring  the  grant  than  the  barking  of  a 
poodle  dog.  *  *  The  Cairo  Company  have  never  asked  anything 
of  the  State  but  the  privilege  to  expend  their  own  money  in  it,  wrhich 
would  never  injure,  but  do  much  good  to  the  State.  *  *  *  If 
Breese,  and  Casey  and  Holbrook  can  be  killed  off  by  the  politicians  of 
Illinois,  look  out  for  more  plunder." 

These  pretensions  brought  down  upon  the  Cairo  companies,  and 
particularly  their  president,  the  severest  animadversions  of  the 
press  and  many  politicians.  But  the  companies  were  not  without 
friends  in  the  legislature  and  out  of  it.  It  is  probable  that  the 


ILLINOIS   CENTRAL  RAILROAD.  577 

release  signed  in  New  York  was  not  authorized  by  the  Illinois 
resident  corporators  under  the  revival  act  of  1849. 

In  November,  before  the  meeting  of  the  legislature,  Walter  B. 
Scates,  one  of  the  new  corporators  of  the  Great  Western  Railroad 
Company  of  1849,  addressed  a  letter  of  invitation  to  all  his  co- 
corporators,  duly  named,  to  meet  at  Springfield,  January  0,  1851, 
for  the  purpose  of  taking  such  action  as  might  be  deemed  expe 
dient  tor  the  public  good  by  surrendering  up  their  charter  to  the 
State,  or  such  other  course  as  might  be  desired  by  the  general 
assembly,  to  remove  all  doubts  and  questions  relative  to  the  com 
pany's  rights  and  powers,  and  to  disembarrass  that  body  with  re 
gard  to  the  disposal  of  the  grant  of  land  from  congress  for  the 
building  of  the  miich  needed  Central  railroad. 

With  the  opening  of  the  general  assembly  there  were  not  want 
ing  wealthy  capitalists  ready  to  avail  themselves  of  this  munifi 
cence  of  the  nation,  who  proffered  to  build  the  Central  railroad 
and  its  branches.  The  following  memorial  explains  itself: 

"  To    the  Honorable  the  Senators  anJ  Representative*  of  the   State  of  Illinois,  in    Gen 
eral.  Assembly  convened: 

The  memorial  o£  Robert  Schuyler,  George  Griswold,  Gouverner 
Morris,  Jonathan  Sturgis,  George  W.  Ludlow  and  John  F.  A.  San- 
ford,  of  the  city  of  New  York,  and  David  A.  Neal,  Franklin  Haven  and 
Robert  Rantoul,  jr.,  of  Boston  and  vicinity,  respectfully  represents: 

Having  examined  and  considered  an  act  of  congress  of  the  United 
States,  whereby  land  is  donated  for  the  purpose  of  ensuring  the  con 
struction  of  a  railroad  from  Cairo,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  to  Galena 
and  the  northwest  angle  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  with  a  branch  extend 
ing  to  Chicago  on  Lake  Michigan,  on  certain  conditions  therein  ex 
pressed  ;  aud  having  also  examined  the  resources  of  the  tract  of  coun 
try  through  which  it  is  proposed  that  said  railroad  shall  pass,  and  the 
amount  of  cost  and  space  of  time  necessary  to  construct  the  same,  the 
subscribers  propose  to  form  a  company  with  such  stockholders  as  they 
may  associate  with  them,  including  among  their  number  persons  of 
large  experience  in  the  construction  of  several  of  the  principal  railroads 
in  the  United  States,  and  of  means  and  credit  sufficient  to  place  beyond 
doubt  their  ability  to  perfom  what  they  hereinafter  propose,  make  the 
following  offer  to  the  State  of  Illinois  for  their  consideration  : 

The  company  so  formed  by  the  subscribers  will,  under  the  authority 
and  direction  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  fully  and  faithfully  perform  the 
several  conditions,  and  execute  the  trust  in  said  act  of  congress  con 
tained.  And  will  build  a  railroad,  with  branches  between  the  termini 
set  forth  in  said  act,  with  a  single  track,  and  complete  the  same  ready 
for  the  transportation  of  merchandise  and  passengers,  on  or  before  the 
4th  day  of  July,  which  will  be  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1854. 

And  the  said  railroads  shall  be  in  all  respects  as  well  and  thoroughly 
built  as  the  railroad  running  from  Boston  to  Albany,  with  such  im 
provements  thereon  as  experience  has  shown  to  be  desirable  and  expe 
dient,  and  shall  be  equipped  in  a  manner  suitable  to  the  business  to  be 
accommodated  thereby. 

And  the  said  company,  from  and  after  the  completion  of  said  road, 
will  pay  to  the  State  of  Illinois,  annually,  —  per  cent,  of  the  gross  earn 
ings  of  said  road,  without  deduction  or  charge  for  expenses,  or  for  any 
other  matter  or  cause  :  Provided,  that  the  State  of  Illinois  will  grant  to 
the  subscribers  a  charter  of  incorporation,  with  terms  mutually  advan 
tageous,  with  powers  and  limitationsas  they  in  their  wisdom  may  think 
fit,  as  shall  be  accepted  by  the  said  company,  aud  as  will  sufficiently  re 
munerate  the  subscribers  for  their  care,  labor  and  expenditure,  in  that 
behalf  incurred,  and  will  enable  them  to  avail  themselves  of  the  lauds 
donated  by  the  said  act,  to  raise  the  funds,  or  some  portion  of  the  funds, 
necessary 'for  the  construction  and  equipment  of  said  road." 

37 


578  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

Mr.  Bantoul,  one  of  the  memorialists,  was  the  accredited  agent 
of  the  others,  with  full  power  to  act.  He  attended  personally  at 
Springfield  during  the  sitting  of  the  legislature,  and  the  above 
proposition,  coming  from  gentlemen  of  such  high  financial  stand 
ing,  was  very  favorably  received  from  his  hands,  particularly  as 
it  offered  the  completion  of  the  road  and  branches  in  a  much 
shorter  space  of  time  than  was  by  any  one  anticipated,  lie  was 
willing  to  adjust  the  conditions  of  the  contract  so  as  to  render  the 
completion  of  the  road  certain,  and  without  a  possibility  of  the 
misapplication  of  the  lands,  or  the  bestowal  of  a  monopoly  upon 
the  company,  which  was  ready  to  give  any  guarantee  that  might 
reasonably  be  asked  to  guard  the  State  against  loss  from  defalca 
tion,  both  as  respected  the  prosecution  of  the  work  ami  the  ap 
plication  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  lands.  The  terms  gen 
erally  were  regarded  as  highly  advantageous,  both  to  the  State 
and  the  company,  and  they  were  ultimately  made  the  basis  of  the 
Central  railroad  charter. 

But  opposition  to  the  gift  of  land  from  the  nation  being  turned 
over  by  the  State  to  a  private  corporation  was  not  wanting.  The 
magnitude  of  the  grant  was  so  overpowering  to  the  minds  of  some 
persons  that  they  fancied  and  argued  that  the  State,  by  proper 
management  of  the  means,  might  build  not  only  the  700  miles  of 
railroad,  but  pay  off  the  public  debt  of  many  millions  besides.  If  the 
State  could  have  managed  its  finances  and  property  with  the  econ 
omy,  sagacity  and  flexibility  of  a  private  corporation,  much  of  this 
doubtless  could  have  been  done.  Mr.  John  S.  Wright,  of  Chicago, 
published  a  pamphlet,  insisting  that  the  State  would  be  everlast 
ingly  dishonored  if  the  legislature  did  not  devise  laws  to  build  the 
road  and  disenthral  the  State  of  its  enormous  debt  besides  out  of 
the  avails  of  this  grant. 

Three-fourths  of  the  lands  donated,  it  is  true,  in  quality  of  soil 
and  fertility  were  unsurpassed,  and  there  was  a  most  excellent 
bargain  in  them  so  soon  as  iron  arteries  of  commerce  could  be  ex 
tended  to  them  5  but  there  they  lay,  and  had  lain  for  25  years, 
free  to  any  purchaser  at  $1.25  an  acre,  and  recently,  with  the 
abundance  of  land  warrants  thrown  upon  the  market  by  the  sol 
diers  of  the  Mexican  war,  they  might  be  had  at  about  70  cents 
per  acre,  but  they  remained  unentered.  The  bargain  in  them  was 
to  be  imparted  to  them  by  the  construction  of  a  railroad,  and  the 
bringing  of  them  within  the  range  of  markets.  It  was  a  question 
of  development,  for  which  large  and  ready  capital  was  necessary. 
Even  if  the  credit  of  the  State  would  have  commanded  the  requi 
site  capital  to  build  the  road,  judging  by  her  experience  then  some 
12  years  past,  it  is  questionable  whether  she  ought  to  have  under 
taken  it.  Certainly  there  was  no  such  disposition  on  the  part  of 
the  legislature.  The  shortness  of  time  in  which  the  road  Avas  prof 
fered  to  be  built  was  a  cardinal  consideration.  The  great  interior 
of  the  State,  then  of  no  taxable  value  to  the  treasury,  being  almost 
a  howling  wilderness,  would  in  some  three  years'  time  be  pene 
trated  by  a  commercial  highway,  and  brought  within  ready  access 
of  the  great  markets  af  the  world  throughout  the  year.  From  the 
great  lakes  and  upper  Mississippi  on  the  north,  to  the  extreme 
peninsula  of  the  State  on  the  south,  a  back-bone  of  well-settled 
country,  populous  towns  and  flourishing  cities,  with  ribs  extend 
ing  out  on  either  side,  would  spring  into  being,  and  the  life  cur- 


ILLINOIS   CENTRAL   RAILROAD.  579 

rents  of  commerce  and  prosperity  would  speedily  flow  strong  and 
healthy  from  the  sentre  to  the  extremities. 

The  bill  lingered  in  the  legislature  much  longer  than  its  ardent 
friends  had  anticipated,  to  their  no  little  anxiety.  Many  amend 
ments  were  offered  and  rejected,  such  as  requiring'  payment  for 
the  right  of  way  to  pre-emptionists,  or  settlers  upon  the  govern 
ment  land,  the  same  as  to  actual  owners,  though  their  benefits, 
and  the  enhanced  value  of  their  lands  by  the  building  of  the  road 
would  be  500  per  cent.  The  point  of  divergence  for  the  Chicago 
branch  was  strenuously  attempted  to  be  fixed,  but  was  finally  left 
with  the  company  anywhere  u north  of  the  parallel  of  39d.  30 
in.  of  north  latitude.'7  JMuch  discussion  was  had  upon  the  location 
of  the  main  stem,  what  towns  it  should  touch  between  its  termini 
designated  in  the  congressional  grant,  but  all  intermediate  points 
failed  of  being  fixed  in  the  act  except  a  single  one,  the  N.  E.  cor 
ner  of  T.  21  N.,  E.  2  E.  3d  P.  M.,  from  which  the  road  in  it  course 
should  not  vary  more  than  five  miles,  which  was  effected  by  Gen. 
Gridley,  of  the  senate,  and  by  which  the  towns  of  Decatur,  Clinton 
and  l>loomington  were  assured  of  the  road. 

A  scheme  was  also  developed,  but  never  yet  explained,  by  which 
it  was  proposed  to  place  this  grand  enterprise  into  the  hands  of 
the  state  bondholders,  adding  a  bank.  It  was  known  as  the  bond 
holders*  plan.  Early  in  January  the  legislature  received  a  vol 
uminous  printed  bill  for  a  charter,  the  provisions  whereof,  closely 
scrutinized,  contained  about  as  hard  a  bargain  as  creditor  ever 
offered  bondsman.  It  was  coolly  proposed,  among  other  provisions, 
that  the  State  appoint  commissioners  to  locate  the  road,  survey 
the  routes  for  the  main  stem  and  branches,  and  select  the  lands 
granted  by  congress,  all  at  the  expense  of  the  State  ;  agents  were 
further  to  be  appointed  by  the  governor  to  apply  to  land-holders 
along  the  routes,  who  might  be  benefited  by  the  road,  for  sub 
scriptions,  also  at  the  expense  of  the  State. 

'*  All  persons  subscribing  and  advancing  money  for  said  purpose,  shall 
be  entitled  to  draw  interest  upon  the  sums  advanced,  at  the  rate  of  —  per 
cent,  per  annum  from  the  day  of  said  advance,  aud  shall  be  entitled  to 
designate  aud  register  an  amount  of  'New  Internal  Improvement  stock 
of  this  State'  equal  to  four  times  the  amount  so  advanced,  or  of  stock  of 
this  State  known  as  'Interest  Bonds,'  equal  to  three  times  the  money  so 
advanced  ;  and  said  stock,  so  described,  may  be  registered  at  th  eageucy 
of  the  State  of  Illinois,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  by  the  party  subscrib 
ing,  or  by  any  other  persons  to  whom  they  may  assign  the  right  at  any 
time  after  paying  the  subscription,  in  the  proportion  of  the  amount  paid; 
and  said  stock  shall  be  endorsed,  registered  and  signed  by  the  agent  ap 
pointed  by  the  governor  for  the  purpose,  and  a  copy  of  said  register  shall 
be  filed  in  the  office  of  the  auditor  of  public  accounts,  as  evidence  to  show 
the  particular  stock  secured  or  provided  for  as  hereinafter  mentioned." 

The  lands  were  to  be  conveyed  by  the  State  to  the  managers  of 
the  road  ;  to  be  by  them  offered  for  sale  upon  the  completion  of 
sections  of  00  miles,  expenses  to  be  paid  by  the  State  ;  the  money 
was  to  go  to  the  managers,  but  the  State  was  to  receive  certifi 
cates  of  stock  for  the  same;  two  of  the  acting  managers  were  to 
receive  salaries  of  $2,500  and  the  others  .$1,500— large  sums  at 
that  time;  the  company,  with  the  sanction  of  the  governor,  to 
purchase  iron,  &c.,  pledging  the  road  for  payment;  and  the  road, 
property  and  stock,  to  bo  exempt  from  taxation.  The  bill  also 
embraced  a  bank  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  gen- 


580  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

enral  free  banking'  law  adopted  at  that  session,  making  the  rail 
road  stock  the  basis.  It  also  provided  that  if  the  constitution  was 
amended  (which  failed  to  carry,)  changing  the  2  mill  tax  to  a 
sinking  fund  to  be  generally  applied  in  redemption  of  the  State 
debt,  that  then  the  stock  registered  under  this  act  should  also  par 
ticipate  in  the  proceeds  thereof. 

Here  was  a  scheme  to  fasten  upon  the  State  treasury  a  horde 
of  high-salaried  officials  to  eat  out  the  substance  of  the  people, 
empowering  the  company  to  create  additional  officers  and  fix  their 
compensation  at  pleasure;  no  limit  was  fixed  for  the  completion 
of  the  road;  extended  advantages  were  offered  to  holders  of  in 
terest  bonds,  then  low  in  market,  to  control  the  road  to  an  amount 
'of  four  times  their  actual  outlay,  mortgage  it  for  iron,  attach  a 
wild-cat  bank  to  the  enterprise,  and  strangle  it  to  death.  But 
the  measure  was  so  preposterous  that  it  received  little  counte 
nance.* 

The  next  apprehensions  of  the  friends  of  the  measure  were  the 
efforts  interposed  early  in  February,  through  the  Holbrook  influ 
ence,  to  delay  action  at  the  then  session  of  the  general  assembly, 
which  would  revive  the  Cairo  city  company's  charters  by  the 
terms  of  their  release.  To  this  end  a  resolution  was  offered  in  the 
senate  instructing  the  committee  on  internal  improvements  to 
prepare  and  bring  in  a  bill  providing  for  the  appointment  of  agents 
to  locate  the  road,  with  a  view  to  future  construction,  and  to 
select  the  lands  under  the  grant  of  congress.  It  is  one  of  the 
unfortunate  features  incident  to  representative  forms  of  govern 
ment  that  for  selfish  and  partisan  ends  men  will  entail  large  losses 
indirectly  upon  a  tax-ridden  community.  So  now  men  were  not 
wanting  who  exerted  themselves  to  create  a  hobby  for  their  future 
political  advancement  by  efforts  to  delay  a  work  which  would  in 
a  short* time  render  the  central  portion  of  the  State  populous  by 
pouring  into  it  a  Hood  of  immigration  to  build  towns  and  cities 
and  improve  the  country,  create  wealth  and  increase  by  millions, 
annually,  the  aggregate  taxable  property  of  the  State — so  badly 
needed  to  relieve  her  of  an  oppressive  debt.  For  "the  State  might 
own,  in  fee  simple,  many  millions  of  acres  of  land  and  yet  be  all 
the  poorer  for  it,  unless  the  lands  by  settlement  and  improvement 
were  rendered  capable  of  yielding  a  revenue.7'  Such  were  some 
of  the  arguments  held  up  to  these  men. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  memorialists,  in  their  proposi 
tion  to  the  legislature  to  obtain  the  charter,  offered,  among  other 
things,  to  pay  the  State  of  Illinois  annually  a  certain  per  centum 
of  the  gross  earnings  of  the  road,  without  deduction  for  expense 
or  other  cause.  The  amount  was  left  blank,  to  fix  which,  how 
ever,  became  subsequently  a  matter  of  no  little  scheming  and 
trouble.  In  the  first  gush  of  desire  to  obtain  the  splendid  grant 
of  land  from  the  State,  it  is  said,  the  corporators  would  have 
readily  consented  to  fill  this  blank  at  10  per  centum  of  the  gross 
earnings.  But  unfortunately  for  the  tax  payers  and  the  treasury 
of  the  State,  as  is  charged  in  the  press  of  the  day,  the  shrewd 

*The  origin  of  the  bondholders1  plan  was  involved  in  mystery.  Dr.  Holford,  the 
larg-est  of  the  Illinois  bondholders,  denounced  it,  and  declared  he  had  no  hand  in  it. 
Mr.  King,  of  New  Jersey,  the  next  largest,  also  refused  to  endorse  it.  It  was  a  ques 
tion  from  whom  did  it  emanate  :  who  was  it  that  wanted  to  rob  Illinois  and  grind  her 
farther  in  the  dust?  It  w<is  manifestly  an  underhanded  scheme  for  purposes  of  spec 
ulation.  Had  the  bill  become  a  law,  the  beneficiaries  would  doubtless  have  avowed 
themselves  readily  enough. 


ILLINOIS  CENTRAL  RAILROAD.  581 

capitalists  employed  a  gentleman  as  their  attorney — a  citizen  of 
Illinois  and  member  of  congress  at  the  time,  than  whom  none  was 
more  popular  and  wielded  a  greater  influence  at  home — an  orator, 
statesman  and  soldier  of  renown — who  had  within  the  year 
emerged  from  an  afl'air  of  honor  with  no  little  eclat,  and  which 
gained  national  notoriety — who  left  his  seat  in  congress  and  at 
tended  at  Springfield  in  the  capacity  of  a  lobbyist  for  the  com 
pany,  and  the  result  was  the  State  conceded  a  deduction  of  3  per 
cent,  from  that  figure,  the  amount  being  fixed  at  7  per  centum, 
and  that  in  lieu  of  all  taxes,  State  or  local.*  The  gross  earnings 
of  that  corporation  now  amount  to  about  half  a  million  dollars 
annually.  Xo  little  effort  has  been  made  to  get  rid  of  the  pay- 
men  t  of  this  percentage  into  the  State  treasury,  but  since  the 
lands  turned  over  to  the  company  have  yielded  so  well  in  price, 
repaying  the  cost  of  the  road  perhaps  twice  over,  the  people  set 
their  faces  against  it.  and  have  been  exercised  by  no  little  anxiety 
that  this  now  wealthy  corporation  would  succeed  in  buying  up 
enough  members  of  the  legislature  at  some  future  session  to  re 
lieve  it  of  this  percentage.  To  satisfy  the  popular  clamor  a  limi 
tation  has  been  irrevocably  fixed  in  the  organic  law  of  1870, 
which  places  the  subject  beyond  the  control  of  further  legislative 
meddling,  and  the  public  anxiety  is  allayed.t 

In  the  legislature,  after  procrastinating  action  until  the  heel  of 
the  session,  Mr.  J.  L.  D.  Morrison,  of  the  senate,  brought  in  a 
substitute  for  the  pending  bill,  which,  after  being  amended  in. 
several  important  particulars— that  by  Gen.  Gridley  has  already 
been  noticed — was  passed  finally  with  but  two  dissenting  votes"; 
and  shortly  after,  the  house  took  up  the  senate  bill  and  passed  it 
without  amendment,  also  by  two  dissenting  votes,  and  it  became 
a  law  February  10,  1851.  The  law  is  so  accessible  that  it  is  unne 
cessary  to  give  a  synopsis  of  it.  The  final  passage  of  the  bill 
was  celebrated,  in  Chicago  by  the  firing  of  cannon  and  other  civic 
demonstrations  in  honor  of  the  glorious  event. 

But  in  the  spring  following,  when  the  surveys  of  the  Chicago 
branch  were  under  way,  there  arose  quite  a  fever  of  excite 
ment  in  that  teity,  fearing  that  the  branch  road  would  be  carried 
to  the  Indiana  line  to  form  a  junction  with  the  Michigan  Central, 
and  thus  practically  become  an  extension  of  the  latter  road  to 
Cairo,  leaving  Chicago  northward  of  this  thoroughfare  a  bout  20 
or  30  miles.  Prominent  gentlemen  addressed  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Douglas,  requesting  his  opinion  respecting  the  power  of  the  com 
pany  to  make  such  a  divergence  from  a  direct  line.  Mr.  Douglas 
replied  at  length,  denying  the  power  of  the  company  to  do  so; 
citing  the  language  of  the  charter  that  the  Chicago  branch  should 
diverge  "from  the  main  trunk  at  a  point  north  of  the  parallel  of 
39  deg.  30  min.,  and  running  on  the  most  eligible  route  into  the 
city  of  Chicago ;"  that  one  object  in  the  grant  of  land  by  Congress 
was  to  render  saleable  the  public  land  in  Illinois  which  had  been 
20  or  30  years  in  market ;  that  the  union  with  another  road  nega 
tived  the  provision  of  free  transportation  of  United  States  troops 

*See  Chicago  Democrat,  Aug.   1853. 

•While  theStatfl  treasury  is  doubtless  largely  benefited  by  this  permanent  arrange 
ment,  it  is  a  question  whether  the  company  is  not  after  all  the  gainer  in  being  rid  of 
all  taxes  for  State,  county,  township,  school  and  municipal  purposes  along-  the  entire 
line  of  its  roads,  and  whether  this  is  just  to  the  localities  concerned.. 


582  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

and  property  forever  from  Chicago  to  Mobile — from  the  lakes  of 
the  north  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  &c. 

There  was  some  delay  in  commencing  the  work,  occasioned  by 
the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office  at  Washington, 
Justin  Butterfield.  The  company  had  negotiated  a  loan  of  $100,- 
000,  but  before  it  could  be  consummated  it  was  necessary  that 
there  should  be  a  conveyance  of  the  lands  from  government. 
The  commissioner,  who  was  from  Chicago,  construed  the  grant  as 
entitling  the  company  to  lands  for  the  branch  on  a  straight  line 
to  Chicago,  which  would  avoid  the  junction  with  the  Michigan 
Central.  But  this  construction  was  reversed  by  the  President  and 
Secretary  of  the  Interior.  In  March,  1852,  the  necessary  docu 
ments  of  conveyance  were  finally  secured,  contracts  were  let,  and 
the  work  carried  forward.  The  road  was  completed  with  little  in 
terruption. 

As  an  instructive  example  of  how  money  may  quicken  other 
property  into  manifold  life,  scattering  its  gains  in  many  unex 
pected  directions,  the  Illinois  Central  railroad  is  a  subject  in  point. 
This  work  was  one  of  the  most  stupendous  and  ingenious  specu 
lations  of  modern  times.  By  means  of  it  a  few  sagacious  capital 
ists  became  the  owners  of  a  first-class  railroad,  more  than  700 
miles  long,  in  full  running  order,  complete  in  rolling  stock  and 
every  equipage,  and  millions  of  acres  of  land,  worth  in  the  aggre 
gate  perhaps,  $40,000,000,  without  the  actual  outlay  of  a  cent  of 
their  owrn  money.  This  project  was  among  the  first  to  illustrate 
the  immense  field  there  was  opening  up  in  this  country  for  bold 
and  gigantic  railroad  operations  by  capitalists;  and  as  contrasted 
with  the  State  internal  improvement  scheme  of  1836-7,  it  was 
furthermore  an  example  of  the  superiority  of  private  enterprise 
over  State  or  govennental  undertakings.  The  State  at  that  time, 
with  a  population  of  about  350,000,  mostly  small  farmers,  author 
ized  a  loan  exceeding  $10,000,000,  to  construct  public  works.  One 
of  these  was  the  Central  Railroad,  upon  which  a  considerable 
sum  was  expended.  Hard  times  and  a  general  collapse  followed 
in  rapid  order.  I^ow,  with  this  grant  of  land  from  the  general 
government,  not  far  short  of  3,000,000  acres  within  a  belt  of  15 
miles  along  the  route  of  the  road,  to  aid  its  construction,  these 
gentlemen,  backed  by  credit  and  capital,  step  forward,  propose  to 
take  the  lands  and  build  the  road,  which  is  to  belong  to  them 
when  built.  The  State  accepts  the  offer,  incorporates  the  gentle 
men's  scheme  by  perpetual  charter,  and  endows  them  with  this 
munificent  domain  and  all  the  property  and  remains  of  the  old 
Central  road.  After  the  road  is  put  in  operation,  the  company 
pays  the  State  annually  7  per  centum  of  its  gross  earnings  in  lieu 
of  all  taxes  forever.  Having  acquired  a  vested  right,  the  State 
has  no  other  than  police  control  over  the  company,  and  as  it  is  a 
foreign  corporation,  disputes  between  them  must  be  settled  in 
foreign,  i.  e.  U.  S.,  courts.  The  minimum  valuation  of  the  lands 
acquired,  so  soon  as  the  road  should  be  completed,  was  $20,000.000, 
exceeding  by  $0,000,000,  the  cost  of  the  road,  estimated  at  $20,000 
per  mile,  which  in  Illinois,  was  liberal,  because  she  presented  the 
most  uniform  and  favorable  surface  for  the  construction  of  rail 
roads  of  any  other  State  in  the  Union.  Two-thirds  of  the  land 
was  stipulated  as  security  for  the  principal  of  the  construction 
bonds  j  250,000  acres  to  secure  the  interest  fund,  and  the  remain- 


ILLINOIS   CENTRAL   RAILROAD.  583 

der  as  a  contingent  fund.  The  construction  bonds  found  ready 
sale  at  par,  and  built  the  road.  The  laud  sales  yielded  interest  to 
set  off  in  part  the-  accruing  interest  on  the  bonds.  The  redemp 
tion  of  the  bonds  completed,  the  road  and  all  its  appurtenances 
remains  the  property  of  the  fortunate  gentlemen  who  had  the  sa 
gacity  to  see  how  it  could  be  built  without  costing  them  a  cent.  J 

But  they  did  not  reap  all  the  developed  benefits  of  this  grand 
enterprise.  The  alternate  sections  of  land  reserved  by  the  federal 
government  within  15  miles  of  the  route  of  the  road,  num 
bered  as  many  acres  as  the  grant  to  the  State;  it  had  been 
for  20  odd  years  in  market  at  $1  25  per  acre  without  sale,  but 
now  when  again  put  in  market  in  the  fall  of  1852,  it  was  eagerly 
taken  up  and  readily  brought  from  $3  to  $7  per  acre,  and  more, 
had  not  settlers  and  speculators  combined  not  to  bid  against  each 
other.  As  it  was,  the  sales  averaged  $5  per  acre.  The  govern 
ment  thus  realized  a  profit  of  some  $9,000,000  by  its  munificent 
policy  of  giving  away  half  its  lands  in  this  locality.  This  was 
indeed  casting  bread  upon  the  water,  which  after  many  days  re 
turned  several  fold.  The  lands  in  the  railroad  belt,  so  long  neg 
lected  by  buyers,  Avere  situated  as  follows :  In  the  Kaskaskia  land 
office  district,  23,081  acres,  over  30  years  on  the  market ;  Shaw- 
neetown,  401,873  acres,  over  30  years;  Vaudalia,  344,672  acres, 
over  25  years ;  Danville,  345,702  acres,  over  20  years ;  and  in  the 
Dixon  405.949  acres,  over  10  years. 

But  besides  the  general  government,  the  State  too,  was  at  the 
same  time  benefited  by  having  its  unsettled  interior  opened  up  to 
tides  of  thronging  immigrants;  its  rich  soil  brought  into  cultiva 
tion  ;  population  increased,  and  its  resources  and  taxable  wealth 
augmented  by  many  millions  of  dollars.  The  products  of  the 
newly  developed  region  found  a  ready  avenue  to  the  markets  01 
the  world.  Chicago,  too,  was  thus  furnished  with  another  iron 
tentaculum  to  reach  far  into  the  interior  of  the  State  for  commer 
cial  food  to  give  increase  to  her  marvelous  life.  But  the  greatest 
immediate  benefit  resulting  from  the  building  of  the  road  and 
branches,  accrued  to  the  lands  within  due  and  proper  marketing 
distance  of  the  lines,  estimated  at  the  enormous  amount  of  $10,- 
000,000  acres  in  private  hands,  selected  early  because  of  their 
choice  quality,  which  were  directly  enhanced  at  least  $4  per  acre 
and  rendered  more  saleable.  Here  was  an  increase  of  wealth, 
amounting  to  $40,000,000. 

[NOTE.]— Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  jealousy  which  the  success  of  ob 
taining  this  subsidy  from  Congress,  excited  among-  some  of  our  public  men  as  to  who 
was  entitled  to  the  meed  of  praise  for  carrying  the  measure  through,  and  the  honor 
of  originally  suggesting  the  plan  or  line  of  such  a  railroad.  It  was  a  conception  and 
labor  worthy  the  pride  and  ambition  of  any  man.  Visions  of  office,  emolument  and 
tame  were  doubtless  discovered  in  it.  While  some  apparently  shunned  it  but  to  make 
it  sure,  others  boldly  claimed  the  credit.  In  this  connection  we  are  tempted  to  ex 
tract  from  the  piquant  correspondence  between  the  Hons.  Sidney  Breese  and  S.  A. 
Douglas.  The  former  had  been  a  senator  in  congress  up  to  March  4th,  1849,  when  he 
was  succeeded  by  Gen.  Shields.  In  l&r>0  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature.  Under 
date  of  December  23, 1850,  among  other  things  in  reply  to  the  Illinois  State  Register, 
regarding  his  favoring  the  "  Holbrook  Chart'-rs,"  he  says: 

''The  Central  Railroad  has  been  a  controlling  object  with  me  for  more  than  15  years, 
and  I  would  sacrifice  all  my  personal  advantages  to  see  it  made.  These  fellows  who  are 
making  such  an  ado  about  it  now  have  been  whipped  into  its  support.  They  are  not 
for  it  now,  and  do  not  desire  to  have  it  made  because  I  get  the  credit  of  it.  This  is  in 
evitable.  I  must  have  the  credit  of  it,  for  I  originated  it  in  1835.  and,  when  in  the  sen 
ate,  passed  three  different  bills  through  that  body  to  aid  in  its  construction.  My  suc 
cessor  had  an  easy  task,  as  I  had  opened  the  way  for  him.  It  was  the  argument  con 
tained  in  my  reports  on  it  that  silenced  all  opposition,  and  made  its  passage  easy-  I 
claim  the  credit,  and  no  one  can  take  it  from  me." 


584  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

This  fell  under  the  eye  of  Senator  Doug-las,  at  AVashington,  who  took  occasion  to  re 
ply  on  January  5th,  1851,  at  length,  giving  a  detailed  history  of  all  the  efforts  made  in 
congress  to  procure  either  pre-emption  or  grant  of  land  in  aid  of  building  this  road, 
saying  :  "You  were  the  champion  of  the  policy  of  granting  pre-emption  rights  for  the 
benefit  of  a  private  company  [the  Holbrook,]  and  I  was  the  advocate  of  alternate  sec 
tions  to  the  State."  The  letter  is  quite  long,  but  very  interesting,  and  may  be  tound 
ill  the  Illinois  State  Roister,  and  papers  of  the  State  of  that  period  generally. 

Judge  Breese  rejoined  under  date  of  January  25,  1851,  through  the  columns  of  the 
same  paper,  at  great  length,  claiming  that  beside  seeking  to  obtain  pre-emption  aid  he 
also  was  the  first  to  introduce  "a  bill  for  an  absolute  grant  of  the  alternate  sections  for 
the  Central  and  Northern  Cross  Railroads,"  but  finding  no  favorable  time  to  call  it  up, 
it  failed.  "It  was  known  from  my  first  entrance  into  congress  that  1  vyould  accomplish 
the  measure,  in  some  shape,  if  possible  ;"  but  the  Illinois  members  of  the  house,  he  as 
serts,  took  no  interest  in  the  passage  of  any  law  for  the  benefit  of  the  Central  road, 
either  by  grant  or  pre-emption.  He  claims  no  share  in  the  passage  of  the  law  of  1850  : 
"Your  (Douglas1,)  claim  shall  not,  with  my  consent,  be  disparaged,  nor  those  of  your 
associates.  1  will  myself  weave  your  chaplet,  and  place  it,  with  no  envious  hand,  upon 
your  brow.  At  the  same  time  history  shall  do  me  justice,  [claim  to  have  first  pro 
jected  this  great  road,  in  my  letter  of  1835,  and  in  the  judgment  of  impartial  and  disin 
terested  men  my  claim  will  be  allowed.  I  have  said  and  written  .more  in  favor  of  it 
than  any  other.  It  has  been  the  highest  object  of  my  ambition  to  accomplish  it,  and 
when  my  last  resting  place  shall  be  marked  by  the  cold  marble  which  gratitude  or  af- 
ffection  may  erect,  I  desire  for  it  no  other  inscription  than  this,  that  he  who  sleeps  be 
neath  it  projected  the  Central  Railroad." 

He  also  cited  at  length  his  letter  of  October  16, 1835,  to  John  Y.  Sawyer,  in  which  the 
plan  of  the  Central  Railroad  was  first  foreshadowed,  which  opens  as  follows  •  "Having 
some  leisure  from  the  labor  of  my  circuit,  I  am  induced  to  devote  a  portion  of  it  in 
giving  to  the  public  a  plan,  the  outline  of  which  was  suggested  to  me  by  an  intelligent 
friend  in  Bond  county,  a. few  days  since."  *  * 

To  this  Douglas,  under  date  of  Washington,  Feb.  22, 1851,  surrejoins  at  considerable 
length,  and  in  reference  to  this  opening  sentence  in  the  Sawyer  letter,  exclaims,  ''How 
is  this  !  The  father  of  the  Central  railroad,  with  a  Christian  meekness  worthy  of  all 
praise,  kindly  consents  to  be  the  reputed  parent  of  a  hopeful  son  begotten  for 'him  by 
an  intelligent  friend  in  a  neighboring  county  !  I  forbear  pushing  this  inquiry  further. 
It  involves  a  question  of  morals  too  nice,  of  domestic  relations  too  delicate,  tor  me  to 
expose  to  the  public  gaze.  Inasmuch,  however,  as  you  have  furnished  me  with  becom 
ing  gravity,  the  epitaph  which  you  desire  engrossed  upon  your  tomb,  when  called  upon 
to  pay  the  last  debt  of  nature,you  will  allow  me  to  suggest  that  as  such  an  inscription  is 
a  solemn  and  a  sacred  thing,  and  truth  its  essential  ingredient,  would  it  not  be  well  to 
make  a  slight  modification,  so  as  to  correspond  with  the  facts  as  stated  in  your  letter 
to  Mr.  Sawyer,  which  would  make  it  read  thus,  in  your  letter  to  me  :  "Jt  has  been  the 
highest  object  of  my  ambition  to  accomplish  the  Central  Railroad,  and  when  my  last  resting 
place  shall  be  marked  ty  the  cold  marble  wJiich  gratitude  or  affectum  may  erect,  1  desire  for 
it  no  other  inscription  than  this:  HE  WHO  SLEEPS  BENEATH  THIS  STONE  VOLUNTARILY  CON 
SENTED  TO  BECOME  THE  PUTATIVE  FATHER  OP  A  LOVELY  CHlLDj  CALLED  THE  CENTRAL 

RAILROAD,  AND  BEGOTTEN  FOR  HIM  BY  AN  INTELLIGENT  FRIEND  IN  THE  COUNTY   OF 
BOND."    We  find  no  further  correspondence.    See  Illinois  State  Journal,  Marcn,  1851. 


CHAPTER  XL VII. 
OUE  FBEE  OR  STOCK  BANKS— 1851-1805. 

How  a  Bank  might  le  started— Ultimate  Security  of  the  Bill  holder — 
The  Small  Rote  Act— Panic  of  1854 — Revulsion  of  1857 — Wind 
ing  up. 


Notwithstanding  the  State,  in  1851,  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
democratic  party  by  an  increased  majority,  and  that  this  domi 
nant  party  had  for  years  in  its  State  platforms  fulminated  resolu 
tions  against  the  enormity  of  banking  as  the  source  of  all  our 
financial  woes,  the  legislature,  also  largely  democratic,  neverthe 
less  passed  another  general  banking  law,  authorizing  free  or  stock 
banks.  The  democratic  governor  vetoed  the  bill,  but  it  was 
promptly  passed  over  his  objections,  and  the  people  of  the  State, 
notwithstanding  their  experiences  of  the  disastrous  results  from 
the  banks  authorized  in  1821  and  in  1836-7,  and  in  spite  of  their 
teachings  and  democratic  majority,  approved  it  by  their  votes  at 
the  election  of  November  of  that  year.  As  a  rule,  the  masses 
favor  any  scheme  which  promises  an  abundant  currency — they  are 
naturally  for  expansion — while  capitalists  favor  contraction. 

Directly  after  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  of  1848,  the  es 
tablishment  of  another  banking  system  was  agitated.  The  project 
advanced  was  to  divide  up  the  State  into  3  banking  districts, 
with  boards  of  bank  trustees  for  each.  As  security,  banking 
associations  were  to  deposit  United  States  stock  and  a  certain  por 
tion  of  gold,  when  circulating  notes  as  money  were  to  be  issued  to 
them.  The  democratic  press  made  a  great  outcry  against  the 
whig  scheme,  as  it  was  called,  to  fasteii  again  upon  the  then  once 
more  thriving  and  prosperous  State  the  withering  curse  of  banks. 
This  plan,  which  proposed  but  one  class  of  securities — United 
States  C's — was  certainly  preferable  to  that  adopted  two  years 
later,  which  allowed  as  security  the  stocks  of  any  or  all  the  States. 
The  former  presented  the  advantage  of  having  a  uniform  secu 
rity  for  all  the  banks  of  the  country,  giving  a  like  uniformity  of 
value  to  their  issues  all  over  our  broad  domain  ;  while  to  the  lat 
ter,  with  bonds  of  anj'  State,  many  far  from  home  perhaps,  the 
liuetiiations  of  a  varying  market  would  severely  attach.  But  in 
principle  the  State  stock  banks  were  the  forerunners  of  the  pre 
sent  national  banking  system. 

The  banking  law  of  1851  required  as  a  basis  or  security  for  all 
banks  operating  under  it,  the  depost  with  the  auditor  of,  1st, 
United  States  stocks ;  2d,  stocks  of  any  other  State;  3d,  stocks 
of  Illinois  valued  at  20  per  cent,  below  the  market  price.  Stocks 

585 


586  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

on  which  the  interest  uas  not  annually  paid  could  not  be  deposited 
except  in  double  amounts.  It  they  depreciated  in  the  market, 
further  deposits  were  to  be  made.  The  depositors  were  entitled 
to  the  interest  accruing  on  the  bonds.  When  the  deposit  of 
stocks  was  perfected,  the  auditor  was  authorized  to  have  engraved 
and  issue  bank  notes  to  the  OAvners  in  nearly  equal  amounts,  not 
less  than  $50,000,  to  circulate  as  money.  The  notes  on  presenta 
tion  at  the  bank  were  required  to  be  redeemed  in  specie,  the 
amount  to  be  kept  on  hand  not  being  specified,  and  for  refusal 
and  after  protest  it  became  liable  to  12J  per  cent  damages  in  lieu 
of  interest.  On  failure  of  the  bank,  it  was  to  be  Avound  up  by 
sale  of  its  stocks  at  auction  in  New  York,  and  the  proceeds  were 
first  to  be  paid  out  on  the  circulating  notes.  If  the  stocks  and 
other  effects  of  the  banks  proved  insufficient,  then  the  stockhold 
ers  became  liable  respectively  to  the  amount  of  their  stocks  in 
their  private  property,  to  pay  the  bill  holders.  Interest  was 
fixed  at  7  per  cent.,  and  loans  might  be  made  on  real  or  personal 
property.  Dealing  in  real  estate  was  not  allowed,  other  than  to 
sell  that  which  fell  into  their  hands  as  security.  The  usual  bank 
ing  privileges  of  buying  and  selling  exchange,  coin,  &c.,  were  ex 
tended  to  them.  A  board  of  3  bank  commissioners,  with  power 
of  examination  into  their  affairs,  was  also  provided  ;  and  the  offi 
cers  of  the  banks  were  required  to  render  quarterly  statements 
to  the  auditor,  under  oath,  as  to  their  condition. 

With  these  provisions,  it  was  thought  that  the  notes  would  cer 
tainly  be  safe.  Indeed  the  law  was  first  regarded  as  so  strin 
gent  that  few  would  attempt  banking  under  it — certainly  mere 
speculators  would  not.  The  bill  holders  appeared  to  be  ultimately 
secure.  New  York,  we  have  seen,  as  early  as  1838,  authorized 
banking  on  State  stocks,  and  by  the  time  Illinois,  which  subse 
quently  copied  the  New  York  law,  embarked  in  the  project,  half 
the  States  of  the  Union  ran  wild  after  the  discovery  of  the  new 
and  safe  scheme,  by  means  of  which  the  capitalist,  contrary  to 
Franklin's  aphorism,  might  "  eat  his  cake  and  have  his  cake" — 
invest  his  money  in  bonds,  deposit  them,  and  from  the  hands  of 
the  auditor  have  his  money  again  and  own  his  bonds  too. 

While  the  banking  bill  was  pending  before  the  people,  the 
friends  of  the  measure,  to  secure  its  adoption,  pointed  to  the  fact 
that  the  State  was  inundated  with  millions  of  the  notes  of  banks 
of  foreign  States,  of  the  value,  solvency,  or  genuineness  of  which 
little  or  nothing  was  known  here  ;  that  by  allowing  aliens  to  fur 
nish  us  a  circulating  medium  we  not  only  paid  tribute  to  them  but 
yielded  our  State  pride  ;  that  it  was  but  just  to  ourselves  and  to 
our  interests  to  replace  this  exotic  trash  by  a  sound  and  safe  cur 
rency  of  our  own  j  that  the  basis  for  banks  required  by  this  law 
made  them  not  only  perfectly  secure  to  the  bill  holders,  but  that 
a  home  currency,  within  easy  reach  of  the  places  of  redemption 
and  its  ready  convertibility  into  specie,  would  directly  drive  out 
the  foreign  bills;  that  with  the  greater  abundance  of  money, 
times  would  become  easy,  produce  would  rise  in  price,  lands  en 
hance  in  value,  the  influx  of  emigrants  be  augmented,  and  gen 
eral  prosperity  would  shower  its  glad  smiles  upon  all  our  people 
with  a  profuse  hand.  Experience  shows  that  the  masses  are  but 
too  ready  to  grasp  at  a  project  which  promises  plenty  of  money 
to-day,  although  assured  that  it  will  be  worthless  to-morrow. 


FREE   OR   STOCK  BANKS.  587 

Its  opponents  argued  that  under  the  new  law,  the  currency  pro 
posed  to  be  introduced  was  susceptible  of  multiplication  to  an  in 
definite  amount,  and  if  the  bill  carried,  an  avalanche  of  paper 
money  might  be  thrown  into  circulation,  dazzling  and  bewildering 
the  senses  of  the  people,  leading  them  into  a  wild,  headlong  mania 
of  speculation,  the  sequel  to  which,  as  had  eA~er  been  the  case, 
must  be  disaster  and  ruin.  With  an  inflated  currency  property 
would  attain  to  unhealthy  prices,  purchases  would  be  made  at 
perhaps  half  cash,  balance  on  time,  secured  by  mortgages  on  the 
premises.  While  the  obligations  were  maturing  a  contrac 
tion  would  take  place,  stagnation  ensue  and  prices  be  de 
pressed  below  the  normal  standard  ;  claims  would  be  pressed 
upon  debtors,  mortgages  foreclosed,  and  many  an  unwary  pur 
chaser  would  be  stripped  of  his  all  under  the  hammer  of  the 
sheriff,  his  vendor  buying  back  the  property  at  less  than  the 
mortgage  claim,  leaving  an  unsatisfied  judgment  still  hanging  over 
him.  The  bank  measure  was  held  to  be  a  project  to  swell  the  cof 
fers  of  the  rich  from  the  labor  and  necessities  of  the  poor. 

They  further  showed  that  the  bank  securities  might  be  of  un 
stable  value,  which  would  rise  and  fall  in  the  market  with  the 
operations  and  machinations  of  financiers;  that  money  based 
upon  them  would  be  subject  to  similar  fluctuations  ;  that  these 
pledges  of  stock  were  as  nothing  to  the  man  Avith  this  money  in 
his  hand  which  he  desired  to  convert.  Let  but  an  actual  case  of 
suspension  be  contemplated.  To  sell  the  stocks  and  redeem  the 
notes  required  time  and  was  attended  by  circumlocution.  The 
poor  or  needy  cannot  wait.  Want  and  exigence  press  from 
myriad  directions.  Now  the  broker  steps  in,  himself  perhaps  a 
shareholder  in  the  suspended  bank,  and  offers  50  or  75  cents  on 
the  broken  promises.  The  holder  of  this  money  received  in  ex 
change  for  his  labor  or  other  equivalent,  cannot  wait  the  ultimate 
redemption  by  the  auditor,  but  is  compelled  to  suffer  a  shave  to 
this  depth.  The  broker,  however,  is  in  no  such  stress;  he  quietly 
awaits  the  sale  of  the  stocks,  the  redemption  of  the  notes  with  the 
proceeds,  and  realizes  the  25  or  50  per  cent,  which  his  thousands 
of  victims  have  lost,  and  with  the  gains  starts  another  bank. 

The  (5th  section  of  the  bank  bill  provided  for  the  association  of 
persons  "to  establish  offices  of  discount,  deposit  and  circulation^ 
with  an  aggregate  capital  stock  of  not  less  than  $50,000.  This 
section  served  the  opponents  of  the  bill  a  good  turn  before  the 
people.  It  was  deduced  thence  and  asserted  that  the  bill  was  a 
trick,  concealing  deceptive  phraseology  ;  that  it  provided  for  two 
classes  of  banks,  one  secured  by  the  pledge  of  public  stocks,  the 
other  totally  irresponsible,  allowing  its  issues  to  "circulate"  on  no 
other  basis  than  pen,  ink  and  paper  to  write  out  its  articles  of  as 
sociation,  money  enough  to  pay  for  recording  and  posting  copies 
thereof  to  Springfield  to  be  filed  with  the  secretary  of  state;  that 
the  former  were  to  catch  the  votes  of  the  people,  but  the  latter 
concerns  were  to  furnish  the  currency.  The  phraseology  of  this 
section  in  connection  with  the  word.  u  circulate,"  it  must  be  con 
fessed,  was  somewhat  ambiguous.* 

*The  Chicago  Pro's,  December,  1852,  says  it  has  warned  the  people  that  paper  would 
be  issued  not  secured  by  stocks,  and  there  were  then  various  issues  of  certificates  of 
deposit  in  ihe  similitude  of  bank  notes,  signed  and  subscribed  by  the  officers, desig 
nated  by  the  utterers  to  circulate  the  same  as  bank  notes. 


588  HISTORY   OF    ILLINOIS. 


Notwithstanding  these  arguments  against  it,  the  people  in  No 
vember,  1851,  elected  the  bank  bill,  and  it  became  the  law  of  the 
State.  The  vote  stood  37,626  for  to  31,405  against  it.  This  poll 
was  less  by  7,000  than  half  the  votes  cast  at  the  gubernatorial 
election  one  year  later,  being  153,882. 

The  constitution  provided  that  no  banking  law  should  be  en 
acted  except  by  the  sanction  of  a  majority  of  the  people  voting 
for  it  at  a  general  election.  A  special  election,  it  was  doubtless 
thought  by  the  trainers,  would  not  call  forth  a  full  expression  of 
the  sentiment  of  the  people  upon  such  a  measure.  In  their  haste 
to  have  the  people  pass  upon  the  bank  bill,  the  legislature 
created  a  general  election  for  this  purpose,  by  repealing  all  the 
county  treasurers  out  of  office,  and  ordering  a  newr  election  for 
those  officials  at  the  same  time  the  bank  bill  was  to  be  voted  upon. 
With  this  action  of  the  legislature,  after  the  election,  the  defeated 
opponents  of  the  measure  found  much  fault,  and  it  was  severely 
denounced.  It  was  claimed  that  a  presidential,  biennial  election 
for  members  of  congress,  or  the  state  legislature  alone,  were  gen 
eral  elections,  where  the  bill  would  have  been  full}'  discussed  be 
fore  the  people.  The  spirit  of  the  constitution  was  doubtless  vio 
lated  by  the  legislature. 

The  apprehensions  that  the  law  was  so  stringent  that  few,  if 
any,  banks  would  be  organized  under  it,  was  speedily  dispelled. 
Within  the  first  year  the  democratic  press  cried  aloud  that  the 
country  was  flooded  with  paper  money  to  an  alarming  extent. 
Property  rose  in  price,  and  a  speculative  spirit  became  rife.  All 
who  could  command  the  means  were  enlarging'the  area  of  their 
territorial  possessions  and  debts  were  freely  incurred.  The  mania 
of  1836-7,  it  was  urged,  would  be  repeated,  and  irretrievable  ruin 
overtake  thousands.  Indeed  the  new  plan  of  stock  bank 
ing  became  very  general  throughout  the  Union,  and  there  was  no 
little  expansion.  But  in  Illinois  much  of  all  this  was  owing  to  the 
inauguration  of  the  railroad  era  just  at  that  time,  and  enhance 
ments  had  a  solid  basis,  very  unlike  the  period  of  1830-8. 

When  the  organization  of  banks  under  the  new  loan  was  com 
menced,  nothing  further  was  heard  of  the  great  part  the  associations 
under  section  6  were  to  play;  no  issues  were  uttered  without  the 
deposit  of  stocks  by  any  associations.  But  as  the  law  stood  and 
the  courts  afterwards  held,  the  deposit  of  $50,000  in  bonds  was 
a  sufficient  compliance  with  its  provisions  as  to  capital.  The 
amount  of  specie  capital  to  be  kept  on  hands  was  a  question  of 
risk  for  the  banks,  the  law  not  fixing  any  am  out.  This  caused 
much  of  the  business  of  free  banking  to  go  into  the  hands  of  ir 
responsible  and  non-resident  persons,  who,  having  no  object  or  in 
terest  further  than  to  get  their  notes  into  circulaton  and  leaving 
the  bill-holders  to  take  care  of  them,  located  their  concerns  in  re 
mote  and  inaccessible  places,  where  no  legitimate  banking  busi 
ness  could  or  was  expected  to  be  done,  and  flooded  the  country 
with  u  wild  cats."  And  as  such  barks  did  not  often  keep  any 
place  of  business  in  the  apparent  location  thereof,  the  power  of 
demand  and  protest  was  destroyed.* 

How  a  Stoclc  Bank  Might  be  Started — While  doubtless  many 
of  these  free  banks  w^ere  started  with  an  actual  paid  up  capital, 

*  See  Report  House  Committee,  186L 


FREE   OR   STOCK  BANKS,  589 

did  a  regular  and  legitimate  banking-  business,  for  the  remu 
neration  was  ample,  it  is  als'o  true  that  the  following-  perfectly 
leasable  manner  of  organization  under  the  law,  was  freely  recog 
nized  and   often  approachably  put  into  practice.     A  few  sharp 
operators,  hailing  from,  it  mattered  little  where,  with  ready  money 
enough  to  meet  the  expenses  of  getting  up  the  bills,  notify  the 
auditor  in  the  proper  way,  that  they  have  organized  a  company  to 
start  the,  say  u  Absolute  Safety  Bank  of  the  town  of  Wildcat,  in 
Brush  county  ;  capital  $200,000."     They  now  contribute  perhaps 
$5,000  for  the  cost  of  engraving  the  plates,  printing  the  bills  and 
other  incidental  expenses.     Having  credit  they  obtain  letters  and 
next  apply  to  a  broker  and  borrow  on  short  time,  say  Missouri  C's 
or  stocks  of  other  States,  to  the  amount  they  want.     Perhaps  as 
security  They  hypothecate  or  mortgage  other  property,  either  to 
the  broker  or  some  well  known  financier.     By  the  time  the  notes 
are  printed,  countersigned  and  registered  the  bonds  are  taken  to 
Springfield  and  deposited.     The  auditor,  in  accordance  with  the 
law,  turns  over  to  them  their  nicely  executed  bright  new  bills, 
representing  8200,000,  declared  by  law  to  be  money.    Appropriate 
and  exquisite  devices,  representing  perhaps  stacks  of  money  bags, 
out  of  which   a  stalwart  Indian  is  pouring  the  yellow  eagles  in 
great  heaps  of  precious  gold,  embellish  the  crisp  "  promises  on 
demand.7     The  bills  are  next  taken   or  sent,  say  to  Georgia,  or 
some  other  distant  State  where  a.  similar  banking  system  is  in 
operation,  and  there  swapped  for  the  issues  of  various  banks,  the 
more  scattered  the  better,  so  as  to  have  them  from  home  as  far  as 
possible.     The  money  received  in  exchange  is  now  either  directly 
paid  over  for  the  bonds  bought  or  deposited,  or  perhaps  brought 
home  and  vested  in  grain,  pork  or  beef,  which  is  shipped  east,  the 
bills  of  lading  transmitted  to  the  broker,  who  pays  out  of  the  pro 
ceeds  for  the  bonds  advanced,  and  forwards  the  residue,  perhaps 
a  handsome  margin  besides,  to  the  bankers  in  Illinois.     And  thus 
the  money  is  turned.     In  the  meantime   the   bank  at  Wildcat  is 
opened  for  a  few  hours  each  day,  but  no  piles  of  bank  notes  ap 
pear  on  its  desks,  no  exchange  is  bought  or  sold,  no  accommoda 
tions  are  granted-  or  discounts  made.     Xo  drearier  looking  bank 
ever  opened  its  doors.     But  then  in  the  out  of  the  way  -place  of 
its  location  there  is  little  demand  for  these   ordinary  transactions 
of  a  bank.    Notwithstanding  the  rather  sorry  looking  appearance 
of  this  concern  with  its  capital  of  $200,000,  the  owners  are  making 
the  interest  on  the  bonds  deposited,  amounting  to  double  the  orig 
inal  capital  invested  in  the  bank.     If  the  bills  are  a  long  time  in 
finding  the  retreat  for  their  redemption,  it  is  a  good  thing  for  the 
ingenious  bankers.     To   guard  against  their  ready  presentation 
for  this  purpose  the  institution  has  been  located  in  Brush  county, 
where  it  may  be  both  difficult  to  find  and  tedious  of  access,  and 
where  a  small   amount  of  coin  in  the  vault  serves  to  sustain  it 
against   failure.     Perhaps,  by  fortunate  investments,  the  bank 
prospers ;  the  owners  add  some  paid  up  capital,  and  with  th^se 
means  a  general  banking  business  is  engaged  in.     Of  the  banks 
located  in  cities,  or  at  conveniently  accessible  points,  it  was  noted 
that  the  same  companies  would  start  several  banks  with  a  large 
nominal  capital  for  each,  though  the  actual  banking,  or  the  utter 
ing  of  their  bills,  was  restricted  to  the  minimum  amount  allowed 
by  the  law.     This  would  enable  them,  by  shifting  coin  from  one  to 


590  HISTORY    OF   ILLINOIS. 


another  in  times  of  a  run  to  get  along  with  perhaps  half  or  less  of 
the  ordinary  amount  of  specie  kept' on  hands  for  redemption .  Ke- 
demption  of  each  bill  separately  was  allowable  at  this  time,  and 
separate  protests  were  likewise  required.  In  1857  the  legislature 
amended  the  law  so  that  in  presenting  notes  for  payment  it  was 
not  required  to  receive  redemption  for  each  note  separately,  but 
the  whole  amount  might  be  presented  as  a  general  obligation  and 
one  payment  demanded. 

In  the  summer  of  1859  the  Gray v ill e  bank  sought  to  restrain 
the  auditor  from  putting  it  in  liquidation,  because  its  bills  were  pro 
tested  in  amounts  of  $0,000  and  $8,100  upon  the  ground  that  this 
amendment  was  null  and  void,  not  having  been  submitted  to  a 
vote  of  the  people  for  ratification  like  the  original  law.  A  readi 
ness  to  redeem  separately  was  alleged.  In  18GO  Willard  &  Ad- 
sit  of  Chicago  presented  a  number  of  bills  for  redemption  to  the 
Reapers'  Bank  at  Fairfield.  Payment  was  commenced  in  dimes 
and  half  dimes,  occuping  a  whole  day  in  redeeming  $150.  After 
this  trifling,  the  remainder  was  protested  for  non-payment  and  for 
warded  to  the  auditor,  who  being  about  to  force  the  bank  into 
liquidation, was  enjoined.  But  Judge  Wilson,  of  Chicago,  decided 
that  ua  bank  had  no  right  to  throw  such  obstacles  in  the  way  of 
a  prompt  and  speedy  redemption."  But,  however  the  bonds  were 
obtained  for  banking  purposes,  the  issues  based  upon  them  added 
to  the  currency  of  the  country  and  benefited  very  many  people; 
and  with  a  faithful  auditor  to  look  after  these  securities,  who,  in 
case  they  depreciated  in  market  would  promptly  call  on  the  banks 
affected  to  make  good  the  margin  declined  with  additional  depos 
its,  no  ultimate  loss  could  well  occur  to  the  bill  holder.*  Nothing 
would  permanently  have  depreciated  these  state  securities  except 
the  unprecedented  occasion  offered  by  the  rebellion  of  lli  States 
of  the* Union. 

*As  a  good  commentary  on  the  argument  of  ultimate  security  to  the  bill  holder,  how 
ever,  upon  which  much  stress  was  laid  at  the  time  by  the  advocates  of  the  stock  bank 
system,  and  also  as  illustrating  the  manner  of  hindering  and  throwing  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  a  ready  redemption  in  specie  that  might  be  made  use  of  by  bankers,  the  fol 
lowing  pleasantly  related  experience,  current  at  the  time,  though  applied  to  Indiana, 
fitted  Illinois  as  well,  and  will,  we  trust,  prove  not  uninteresting  to  the  reader.  It  is 
the  invention  of  some  fertile  newspaper  genius  of  the  time,  ana  first  appeni'ed  in  the 
Cincinnati  Commercial : 

Suppose  a  gentleman  should  be  so  unfortunate  as  to  fall  heir  to  a  five  dollar  note 
upon  one  of  these  institution,  and  desires  to  realize  upon  it  specie  or  exchange,  $  * 
what  is  he  to  do  ?  First,  find  the  bank  !  that  of  course  ;  and  that  is  not  always  an  easy 
matter.  Banks  in  Indiana  lurk  in  ont-ot-the-way  places.  Like  the  insect  hunted  by 
the  entomological  Hibernian,  when  you  find  them  they  ar'nt  there.  They  don't  affect 
corner  lots,  but  shun  the  din  of  crowded  cities,  nestling  close  under  the  lee  of  prime 
val  forests,  marked  by  an  ancient  Indian  trail  or  solitary  cow  path.  They  are  things 
to  be  found  by  the  bee  hunters,  are  seen  far  off  by  the  midnight  Nimrod  in  search  of 
coons,  with  the  moonlight  sleeping  upon  their  shingle  roofs  and  primitive  cornices. 
Capital  has  become  modest,  and  wealth  retires  from  the  world  into  the  cloisters  of  the 
deep  old  woods,  or  the  holy  solitudes  of  the  prairies,  conversing  with  nature— laying 
up  its  treasures  "where  neither  moth  nor  rust  doth  corrupt,"  and  where  none  [but  the 
auditor  of  state]  can  find  them. 

But  suppose  that  the  institution  is  revealed,  and  the  monetary  anchorite  stands  con 
fessed,;  suppose  that  the  business  hours  have  arrived,  and  the  shingle  whose  opposing 
sides  give  each  other  the  lie,  faces  the  sun  with  the  announcement — 'bank  open'' — 
we  see  the  aforesaid  heir,  with  rapid  steps,  approach  the  edifice.  He  enters;  he  draws 
his  pictorial  evidence  of  a  promise  from  his  pocket  book;  he  approaches  the  counter, 
presents  his  note  to  the  paying  teller,  and  a  coloquy  ensues: 

'  Can  you  give  me  specie  for  this  ?" 

'No.1' 

'  Sight  or  short  time  eastern  exchange  !" 

'Nothing." 

1  ^yh.y  ?" 

"  You  are  making  a  run  on  our  institution ;  this  species  of  presentation  we  are  bound 
to  resist.  You  are  try  ing  to  break  us,  sir— to  make  us  stop  payment,  sir;  you  can't  do 
it,  sir." 

"  But  haven't  you  stopped  payment  when  you  refuse  to  redeem  ?" 

"No,  sir;  ours  is  a  stock  institution.    There's  your  ultimate  security,  sir,  deposited 


FREE   OR  STOCK  BANKS.  591 

"  The  Foreign  Small  Note  Act." — AVith  the  meeting  of  the  leg 
islature,  in  1853,  a  contrariety  of  opinion  obtained  among  the 
members  as  to  the  power  to  amend,  modify  or  repeal  the  general 
free  banking  law.  One  view  was  that  the  original  act  having 
been  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people  for  their  sanction,  it  was 
now  their  law  and  beyond  the  control  of  the  legislature,  fixed  as 
the  laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians;  that  the  voice  of  the  people 
had  imparted  to  it  its  vitality,  and  it  must  live  to  procreate  its 
nursling  banks  until  the  same  mighty  voice  deprived  it  of  its  ex 
istence;  that  by  the  terms  of  the  constitution  the  people  had  to 
sanction  such  law  by  their  vote,  first  authorized  by  the  legislature; 
and  that  the  same  routine  had  to  be  undergone  with  all  its  amend 
ments.  A  "supplemental"  banking  law  without  all  this  routine 
was,  however,  ventured  upon  and  adopted  by  the  legislature. 
But  its  reception  by  the  people  indicated  that  the  legislature 
might  have  spared  themselves  this  trouble;  for  the  want  of  obe 
dience  to  this  law  was  not  based  upon  any  technical  ground  of 
want  of  power  by  the  legislature.  It  was  probably  more  a  ques 
tion  of  convenience. 

This  was  the  well  known  "  foreign  small  note  act,"  by  which  to 
foster  home  banks  and  prevent  the  retirement  of  specie  from  cir 
culation,  a  penalty  of  $50  was  imposed  for  every  foreign  bank 
bill  of  a  less  denomination  than  $5,  uttered  after  the  1st  of  August, 
1853.  It  was  sought  to  absolutely  squelch  the  foreign  small 
trash.  Bankers  and  general  dealers,  or  their  employees,  guilty 
of  this  offense  were  to  be  additionally  punished  by  imprisonment 
in  the  county  jail;  and  no  suit  could  be  maintained  upon  any  ob 
ligations  the  consideration  of  which  was  these  small  notes  of 
banks  of  alien  States.  Great  latitude  in  pleadings  under  the  act 
was  specially  enjoined. 

with  the  auditor.  We  can't  break,  sir;  we  can't  stop  payment.  Look  at  the  law  I 
Look  at  the  (auditor's]  circular  !" 

"  But  have  you  no  specie  on  hand  ?'' 

••Yes,  sir;  and  we  are  bound  to  keep  it.  The  law  obliges  us  to  keep  12y2  per  cent,  of 
specie  on  hand.  If  we  pay  out  every  time  one  of  you  fellows  call,  how  can  we  keep 
it  on  hand  ?" 

"  Then  I  shall  proceed  and  have  the  note  protested." 

"Very  well,  sir.  You  will  find  a  notary  public  at  Indianapolis,  provided  he  is  at 
home,  which  is  only  about  140  miles  from  here.  But,  sir,  you  had  better  go  home,  and 
rely  upon  your  ultimate  security.  We  can't  pay  specie— rind  it  won't  do;  but  you  are 
ultimately  secure :  you  can't  lose  your  money,  though  you  never  get  it.  Remember 
that." 

We  will  suppose  our  gentleman  so  unreasonable  as  not  to  be  satisfied  with  the  pre 
sentation  of  the  paying  teller  of  the  great  principle  of  ultimate  security.  He  finds 
his  way  to  Indianapolis,  makes  protest  in  due  form,  and,  note  in  hand,  proceeds  to  the 
auditor  of  state,  where  another  dialogue  ensues: 

"  Sir.  I  have  a  note  of  the  Squash  Bank,  at  Lost  Prairie,  with  certificate  of  protest, 
which  I  want  to  deposit  in  your  hands,  with  a  request  that  you  make  collection  as 
speedily  as  possible." 

"Certainly,  sir." 

'•  How  long  before  I  can  expect  to  realize  upon  the  ultimate  securities  of  the  insti 
tution  ?  Thirty  days,  is  it  not  ?M 

"  Not  quite  as  soon  as  that  sir.  I  shall  give  notice  to  the  officers  of  the  Squash  Bank. 
If  they  pay  noattention to  it,  I  shall  offer  its  securities  in  my  hands  for  sale;  but  in 
dis  harging  my  duty  to  all  the  creditors  of  the  institution,  I  shall  not  proceed  to  offer 
any  of  its  assets  in  this  market  until  after  at  least  60  days'  notice  in  New  York,  Lon 
don  and  Paris,  so  as  to  insure  the  largest  and  best  price  for  the  securities;  and  not 
then,  if,  in  my  opinion,  the  ultimate  interests  of  all  concerned  will  be  promoted  by 
a  further  extension  !  Hem  !" 

"  But,  my  dear  sir,  how  long  will  it  be  before  I  can  realize  upon  my  demand  ?'* 

"  Can't  say,  sir;  stocks  are  down  just  now— may  rise  in  a  year  or  two— depends  some 
what  upon  the  fate  of  the  war  in  Europe.  But  never  fear,  your  ultimate  security  is 
undoubted.  If  you  should  never  get  it.  you  will  never  lose  it;  remember  that.  Rely 
upon  your  ultimate  security  and  you  are  safe." 

tv  D-n  ultimate  security!    I  want  my  money." 

"  Well,  sir,  if  that's  your  game,  when  you  get  it,  please  give  us  the  information." 


592  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

The  exceeding  stringency  of  the  provisions  overleaped  them 
selves.  While  no  law  was  ever  more  generally  understood,  both 
as  regards  its  provisions  and  the  time  when  it  was  to  go  into 
effect,  for  the  press  constantly  invited  attention  to  it,  urging  its 
observance  in  every  particular,  so  no  law  was.  ever  more  totally 
ignored  by  everybody,  or  became  a  more  complete  dead  letter 
from  the  start.  It  was  violated  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  State  many  thousands  of  times  daily  in  the  multiform  busi 
ness  relations  of  society,  without  the  least  attention  being  paid  to 
it.  The  floods  of  foreign  small  notes  continued  to  infest  our  com 
munities  and  retained  their  ground. 

The  Panic  of  1854. — In  the  fall  of  1854  there  was,  for  a  short 
time,'  quite  a  monetary  crisis  in  the  country.  Among  the 
free  banks  of  especially  Ohio  and  Indiana  there  were  a  num 
ber  of  failures,  and  much  alarm  prevailed.  Missouri  and  Virginia 
bonds  had  been  thrown  in  large  amounts  upon  the  Xew  York 
market,  and  declined  to  95  and  93  cents;  though  their  interests 
had  been  regularly  kept  up.  Dame  rumor,  with  her  many  tongues, 
doubtless  considerably  enlarged  upon  the  facts,  and  much  distrust 
obtained  in  Illinois.  Chicago  was  flooded  with  Georgia  shin- 
plasters.  Brokers  sought  to  take  advantage  of  the  public  solici 
tude  to  precipitate  a  panic  ;  its  effects,  however,  did  not  extend 
much  beyond  the  city.  There,  a  heavy  run  was  made  on  the  banks 
by  bill  holders  and  depositors,  and  a  pretty  general  suspension 
took  place. 

In  the  meantime,  W.  B.  Fondey,  of  the  bank  commission,  coun 
selled  the  people  that  the  panic  was  a  mere  brokers7  trick,  that  no 
default  had  been  made  in  interest  payments  on  the  depreciated 
bonds,  and  therefore  it  could  only  be  temporary,  and  warned  them 
not  to  part  with  their  money  at  discount  or  sacrifice.  The  mer 
chants  of  Chicago  had  steadily  taken  the  money  in  exchange  for 
goods,  and  the  wholesale  dealers,  feeling  assured  of  the  ultimate 
security  of  the  stock  banks,  and  perceiving  no  adequate  cause  for 
the  panic,  also  lent  their  support  in  sustaining  the  banks,  and  the 
result  was  that  in  a  few  days  they  resumed  business,  and  the  panic 
only  gave  them  greater  confidence  with  the  people.  The  storm 
was  successfully  weathered,  and  those  banks  whose  deposits  were 
depreciated  complied  with  the  call  of  the  commissioners,  and  put 
up  an  additional  margin  of  security. 

After  the  flurry  the  press  took  up  the  subject  of  revising  our 
banking  law.  The  discrimination  of  20  per  cent,  against  Illinois 
bonds  as  a  banking  basis  was  demanded  to  be  removed.  Under 
the  law  of  1849  private  persons  might  make  valid  agreements  for 
interest  at  10  per  cent.;  not  so,  however,  the  banks— they  were  re 
stricted  to  7.  In  this  connection  the  bank  commissioners,  ex-Gov. 
A.  C.  French,  P.  Maxwell  and  W.  B.  Fondey,  in  their  report  of 
Dec.  30, 1854,  say  it  had  been  the  custom  with  banks  to  loan  their 
money  to  other  corporations  and  associations  composed  for  the 
most  part  of  the  same  stockholders,  to  be  re-loaned  by  them  as 
individuals  at  an  advanced  rate  of  interest,  10  per  cent.,  and  the 
result  was  that  the  community  had  not  been  enabled  to  get  money 
any  cheaper  than  formerly,  while  the  difference  of  3  per  cent,  in 
the  rate  of  interest  obtained  in  this  manner,  had  induced  the 
banks  to  evade  the  intention  of  the  law,  and  pursue  a  course  cal- 


FREE   OR   STOCK  BANKS.  593 

cubited  to  weaken  the  confidence  which  they  should  endeavor  to 
inspire  in  the  community  where  located.  It  was  also  urged  that 
those  banks  which  wanted  to,  should  be  permitted  to  withdraw 
their  bills  from  circulation  and  take  up  their  bonds  with  the  au 
ditor  in  sums  of  $5,000  or  $10,000,  instead  of  all  but  10  per  cent., 
as  the  law  then  stood.  But  the  legislature  of  1855  disregarded 
all  the  objections  with  the  single  exception  of  the  last,  and  sim 
ply  allowed  banks  to  surrender  to  the  auditor  their  bills  in  sums 
of  8 1,000  for  their  securities. 

Two  years  later,  however,  another  legislature  put  Illinois  bonds 
on  an  equal  footing  with  those  of  other  States  as  a  basis  for  bank 
ing,  all  to  be  valued  10  per  cent,  less  than  the  market  price ; 
allowed  banks  to  discount  paper  or  make  loans  at  the  rate  of  10 
per" cent;  forbade  the  location  of  banks  at  places  of  less  than  200 
inhabitants;  made  the  issues  redeemable  at  the  places  where 
dated,  in  packages,  to  be  treated  as  a  single  obligation,  and  which 
might  thus  likewise  be  protested  for  non-payment. 

The  Revulsion  of  1857.— On  the  first  of  January,  1857,  the  whole 
number  of  banks  which  had  been  organized  since  the  law  took 
effect  in  1851,  was  61,  eleven  had  been  closed  voluntarily  or  by 
protest  and  forfeiture  of  charter,  leaving  50  in  operation,  with  a 
circulation  of  $6.480,873,  on  a  basis  of  stock  security  whose  cash 
valuation  was  $6,663,389  ;  and  up  to  the  time  when  the  financial 
crash  swept  the  country  in  September  of  this  year  banking  capital 
and  operations  were  largely  on  the  increase. 

The  period  of  the  existence  of  the  banks  up  to  this  time  had 
been  one  of  unparalleled  prosperity  in  this  State.  Its  rapid  strides 
to  opulence  and  empire  had  never  been  equalled  before,  nor  have 
they  since.  Our  taxable  wealth  had  nearly  trebled  itself,  being, 
for  the  year  1851,  $137,818,079,  and  for  the  year  1857,  $407,447,367. 
This  period  being  within  the  railroad  era,  the  increase  of  wealth 
was  either  solid  or  based  upon  a  just  and  reasonable  expectation, 
of  values,  though  something  was  attributable  to  bank  expansions. 
The  whole  country  was  prosperous,  stimulated  greatly  by  the 
number  of  free  banks  then  very  generally  in  vogue.  It  is  in  pe 
riods  of  this  sort,  when  times  are  good,  paper  money  abundant, 
and  confidence  strong,  that  communities  incline  to  the  abandon 
ment  of  the  old,  slow  but  safe  pursuits,  for  the  tempting  prospects 
of  realizing  large  gains  on  small  capital  in  short  times.  There- 
was  an  inflation  of  values  throughout  the  west,  which  affected 
landed  property  in  cities,  towns  and  country.  Chicago  corner  lots 
shared  in  this  to  a  wonderful  degree.  A  spirit  of  speculation  was 
rife,  but  it  was  more  intensified  in  the  east  than  the  west.  There 
large  amounts  of  western  unproductive  property  had  been  bought 
purely  on  speculation,  with  money  borrowed  from  the  abundant 
coffers  of  the  banks  at  home,  depending  upon  its  steady  advances 
in  quoted  values  to  meet  payments  as  they  matured  :  here  pur 
chases  were  made,  many  of  them  on  better  time,  and  the  property 
developed  and  made  productive.  When  the  financial  storm  burst 
upon  the  country  its  disastrous  effects  were  therefore  more  severely 
and  more  lastingly  experienced  in  the  east  than  the  west.  As 
western  lands  and  lots  had  been  in  great  part  the  means,  but  not 
the  cause,  of  the  monetary  crisis,  so  now  western  industry  and 
western  products  became  the  medium  of  unlocking  the  wheels  of 
38 


594  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

commerce  and  righting  the  business  of  the  country.  The  eastern 
currency  sent  west  to  move  the  crops,  had  been,  on  the  first  mut- 
terings  of  the  approaching  storm,  very  generally  recalled.  West 
ern  merchants  had  bought  very  largely  on  time  in  the  east.  It 
now  became  the  duty  of  the  western  producers  to  throw  their 
staples  of  grain,  pork,  beef  and  other  commodities  into  the  market 
on  time  to  release  these  merchants  and  debtors,  which  was  nobly 
done. 

In  January,  1857,  an  effort  had  been  made,  mostly  on  the  part 
of  western  brokers,  to  discredit  some  of  the  stock  securities  of  Illi 
nois  banks,  which  created  some  alarm.  St.  Louis  merchants  issued 
a  circular  stating  that  they  would  continue  to  receive  the  notes 
of  the  discredited  banks  as  heretofore.  The  determined  stand  thus 
taken  inspired  the  public  with  confidence,  and  the  brokers' scheme 
proved  a  failure.  Later,  the  securities  of  some  of  the  banks  having 
sustained  a  diminution  in  value,  the  bank  commissioners,  on  the 
8th  of  May,  made  a  requisition  on  them  to  file,  within  40  days,  ad 
ditional  security.  All  responded,  but  two.  By  the  27th  of  July, 
such  was  the  fluctuation  of  stocks  in  market,  and  the  signs  of  the 
impending  revulsion,  that  it  became  necessary  to  make  a  similar 
requisition,  this  time  on  29  banks,  being  more  than  half  of  those 
in  the  State.  They  were  given  90  days  to  make  good  the  margin. 
These  29  banks  had  a  deposit  of  stock  securities  of  $4,500,000,  of 
which  $2,738,000  were  Missouri  6's.  The  total  number  of  Missouri 
bonds  upon  which  banking  was  done  in  Illinois  was  at  this  time 
not  less  than  $4,500,000  ;  notwithstanding  which  the  brokers  and 
merchants  of  St.  Louis  now  refused  Illinois  currency,  causing  much 
embarrassment  to  our  people  in  the  central  and  southern  parts 
of  the  State.  One  of  the  bank  commissioners  visited  St.  Louis, 
audy  before  a  meeting  of  her  merchants,  brokers  and  busines  men, 
made  a  masterly  exposition  of  our  banking  system,  and  failed  not 
to  show  to  those  gentlemen  that  the  credit  of  Missouri,  whose 
bonds  formed  nearly  three-fourths  of  the  bases  of  our  banks,  was 
also  involved  in  their  attempts  to  bring  Illinois  currency  into  dis 
repute.  His  action  was  also  seconded  by  candid  and  intelligent 
discussions  by  the  newspapers  of  the  city.  The  whole  was  crowned 
with  the  success  of  restoring  Illinois  currency  to  its  former  stand 
ing  in  St.  Louis  at  gold  par.  This  was  a  noble  stand  for  a  for 
eign  city  to  take,  but  a  severe  shock  to  her  commerce.  Chicago 
banks  and  business  men  arranged  a  different  standard  for  this 
currency,  nominally  known  as  a  par  standard — par  for  that  city 
— which  Avas  never  less  than  10,  and  generally  15  per  cent,  below 
a  real  par  representing  a  specie  equivalent. 

Owing  to  the  general  prosperity  of  the  country  and  the  public 
feeling  of  security,  many  of  our  banks  which  desired  to  do  only 
a  legitimate  business,  had  been  tempted  into  excessive  issues. 
Now  the  large  number  of  suspensions  and  failure  of  banks,  in 
surance  and  trust  companies  in  other  States,  carrying  down  with 
them  many  of  the  staunchest  mercantile  houses  in  the  country, 
created  a  panic  which  bore  heavily  upon  our  banks,  brokers,  capi 
talists  and  business  men  generally.  The  discredited  banks 
protested  their  inability  of  complying  with  the  requisition  of  the 
commissioners,  but  these  functionaries  were  firm  in  their  demand. 
And  the  banks,  notwithstanding  their  condition  and  the  disas 
trous  monetary  crisis  prevailing,  with  but  very  few  exceptions, 


FREE   OR   STOCK  BANKS.  595 

struggled  nobly  through  the  prostrating-  storm,  and  subsequently 
enjoyed  a  larger  share  of  public  confidence  than  at  any  former  pe 
riod*  The  financial  standing  of  the  State  among  all  the  private 
and  corporate  calamities  of  that  period  stood  unshaken. 

The  effects  of  the  revulsion  of  1857  was  stated  as  follows : 
Whole  number  of  firms  in  the  U.  S.  (except  California)  which 
failed  was  204,()(>1 ;  liability  $299,801,000;  assets  $150,021,000; 
total  loss  $149,780,000,  of  annihilated  commercial  wealth.  The 
number  of  firms  failing  in  Illinois,  was  316,  with  an  aggregate  lia 
bility  of  $9,338,000.  Of  these  117  belonged  to  Chicago,  with  a 
liability  of  $6,562,000.  The  remaining  199  Illinois  firms  had  a 
liability  of  $2, 76(1,000.  t  If  the  losses  in  Illinois  averaged  with 
that  of  the  country  at  large  they  were  about  $4,500,000.  These 
incredible  sums  must  have  been  largely  speculative.  In  Chicago, 
legitimate  business  received  only  a  staggering  blow,  but  specula 
tion  was  totally  prostrated.  The  depreciating  effects  on  the  prices 
of  real  estate,  with  the  h  arras  sing  influence  of  maturing  pay 
ments,  were  not  checked  for  2  years ;  and  the  business  of  erecting 
buildings,  or  in  some  cases  finishing  those  begun,  watt  stopped. 
Workmen  in  large  numbers  forsook  the  city,  improvements  lan 
guished,  store-rooms  and  houses  stood  vacant,  rents  declined,  and 
vendors  and  mortgagees  received  back  the  property  sold,  with  the 
added  improvements,  finished  or  otherwise,  and  the  forfeiture  of 
one  or  more  payments  by  purchasers  besides. 

The  revul-sion  of  1857.  unlike  that  of  1837,  involved  mostly  only 
individuals  and  certain  speculative  and  commercial  centres/  Had 
the  State  been  involved  by  its  connection  with  the  banks,  as  20 
years  before,  the  extent  of  this  mad  panic  torrent  upon  the  en 
tire  people,  with  the  expanded  credits  and  inflated  prices  of  the 
period,  is  fearful  to  contemplate.  But  thanks  to  the  provision  of 
the  constitution,  forbidding  State  connection  with  banking  oper 
ations.  And  the  collapse  coming  when  our  abundant  crops 
were  matured,  with  exchange  in  our  favor,  the  mines  of  Califor 
nia  pouring-  their  volumes  of  precious  inetals  into  the  current  of 
specie  exchange,  the  panic  could  not  and  did  not  produce  a  last 
ing  effect  upon  the  prosperity  of  the  State.  Still  the  taxable 
wealth  of  the  State  the  second  year  after  the  revulsion  was  re 
ported  840.000,000  less  than  in  1857. 

Ik'fore  1800  the  free  banking  system  had  amply  demonstrated 
that,  however  a  law  might  compel  a  banker  to  "fully  secure  his 
issues  by  pledge  of  State  stocks,  it  was  practically  impossible  to 
engraft  upon  it  peremptory  and  immediate  redemption  of  issues 
in  specie. f  The  notes  of  Illinois  banks  were  current  only  in  our 
own  State,  and  to  any  considerable  extent  beyond  they  were  at  a 
discount  of  one  per  cent,  or  more.||  Before  the  close  of  this  year 
the  banks  had  increased  to  110,  with  a  circulation  of  $12,320,*964, 
which  constituted  almost  exclusively,  the  currency  of  this  State. 
The  bank  securities  on  deposit  were  valued  at  $13,980,971.  Of 
the  14  banks  withdrawn  from  existence  up  to  this  time  in  the  9 
preceding  years,  some  voluntary  and  others  by  forfeiture  under 
the  law,  the  securities  of  all  save  one  had  been  ample  to  redeem 

*  See  Bk.  Corn's.  Report,  Jan.  1809. 

+  B.  Doglas  &  Co/s  Corn.  Ajrency,  N.  Y.  Herald. 

%  See  Report  H.  Com.  1861. 

I  Bissell's  iMessuge  1859. 


596  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

every  note,  dollar  for  dollar  in  specie ;  mid  in  the  exceptional  case 
there  was  only  a  loss  of  3  per  cent.*  This  demonstrated  their  ul 
timate  security  to  the  bill  holder  in  ordinary  civil  times. 

And  now  with  this  large  volume  of  home  currency,  based  for 
the  most  part  upon  the  stocks  of  southern  States,  in  the  midst 
of  rapid  and  solid  prosperity  to  this  State,  was  wantonly  precipi 
tated  the  great  and  disastrous  war  of  the  rebellion.  State  after 
State  shot  madly  from  the  orbit  of  the  Union.  Confidence  in  their 
securities  was  disturbed.  Before  the  close  of  November,  I860, 18 
banks  were  a-lreadj'  in  discredit  on  account  of  depreciated  securi 
ties,  and  were  subjected  to  the  call  of  the  commissioners.  Eastern 
exchange  advanced  to  8  per  cent.  Business  men  held  meetings  to 
counsel  together  and  devise  ways  out  of  the  financial  trouble  that 
was  thickening  daily.  In  the  impenetrable  political  darkness  of 
the  times,  the  bank  commissioners  left  the  banking  interests  of 
the  State  to  the  correction  of  the  legislature.  That  body,  which 
met  in  January,  1861,  revised  the  free  banking  law  by  restricting 
banks  thereafter  to  be  organized,  to  the  deposit  of  U.  S.  and  Illi 
nois  stocks  as  security,  which  would  also  enhance  the  salable  value 
of  our  State  stocks;  granted  to  existing  banks  6  months'  time  after 
call  in  which  to  make  good  any  margin  suffered  by  the  decline  of 
their  securities  in  market,  before  being  forced  into  liquidation  or 
their  assets  could  be  reached  for  failure  to  redeem  5  designated 
Chicago  and  Springfield  as  general  points  of  redemption,  through 
agents  of  the  banks,  at  a  discount  of  f  of  1  per  cent.,  the  money 
having  for  some  time  been  1  per  cent,  below  par,  which  was  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  recommendation  of  Chicago  business  men ; 
raised  the  interest  damages  on  notes  protested  for  non-payment 
from  12  J  to  25  per  cent.,  and  allowed  the  auditor  to  surrender 
bonds  deposited  pro  ratato  holders  of  notes  protested,  or  on  banks 
in  process  of  liquidation  from  other  causes.  If  the  legislature  had 
not  thus  temporized,  but  with  a  due  appreciation  of  that  juncture 
in  national  affairs,  rigidly  forced  every  bank  in  default  into  liqui 
dation  on  10  day's  call,  and  required  the  auditor  to  sell  the  securi 
ties  immediately,  if  the  market  was  a  little  depressed  by  the  abun 
dance  of  bonds  cast  upon  it,  it  would  have  would  have  wound  up 
almost  every  one,  and  the  final  result  would  have  been  better  for 
both  the  bill-holders  and  the  banks. 

The  legislature  at  this  session  passed  also  another  general  bank 
ing  bill  predicated  solely  upon  a  specie  basis.  We  will  not  syn- 
opsize  this  measure;  suffice  it,  the  people,  tired  of  a  rotten  bank 
currency  which  the  history  of  the  State  showed  had  been  fur 
nished  by  every  banking  system  which  had  ever  yet  been  in  oper 
ation,  they,  by  their  votes  cast  at  the  November  election  of  1861, 
rejected  it.  Besides,  a  revision  of  the  constitution  had  been  or 
dered,  and  it  was  not  deemed  advisable  to  hamper  in  any  way  the 
convention  soon  to  meet. 

But  besides  this  legislation,  the  days  of  free  banking  in  Illinois, 
as  in  every  other  State,  were  numbered.  Secession  was  on  the 
rampage.  In  the  latter  part  of  March,  but  before  open  hostilities, 
Chicago  brokers  threw  out  the  issues  of  32  Illinois  stock  banks. 
Forty  odd  were  now  uncurrent.  This  act  was  purely  arbitrary, 
for  the  auditor's  report  showed  many  of  these  to  stand  as  well  as 
many  of  those  bank-quotable.  Perhaps  it  was  shrewdly  calculated 

Gov.  Wood's^!  essage,  1861. 


FREE   OR   STOCK  BANKS.  597 

that  the  masses,  with  small  amount  of  uncurrent  money,  would 
sacrifice  it  blindly  at  the  first  broker's  office.  St.  Louis  continued 
to  receive  this  currency.  Prior  to  this,  owing  to  the  general  dis 
trust,  in  which  country  shared  perhaps  more  fully  than  city,  large 
amounts  of  the  Illinois  issues  had  accumulated  in  Chicago,  where 
they  were  current,  making  trade  brisk.  Before  long  the  Merchants' 
Loan  and  Trust  Company,  anticipating  an  early  heavy  deprecia 
tion,  and  having  perhaps  first  worked  off  its  supply,  refused  to 
further  take  this  curreucj'.  The  other  banks,  with  their  coffers 
full  of  it,  attempted  to  sustain  it,  doubtless  with  no  other  view 
than  to  gain  time  to  get  rid  of  it.  Hence  it  remained  current  in 
trade,  and  large  amounts  were  sent  to  the  country  to  buy  produce, 
which  advanced  rapidly  in  price;  but  as  the  country  was  fully 
infected  with  the  distrust,  the  money  showed  evidence  of  exceed 
ing  nimbleness,  and  would  return  to  the  city  faster  than  it  could 
be  shoved  off.  Local  trade  was  unusually  active.  In  this  straight, 
to  keep  the  stuff  up,  leading  business  men  and  bankers  in  Chicago 
actually  pledged  themselves,  and  signed  and  issued  a  circular,  to 
take  the  money  at  par  during  the  war.  But  the  pledge  was  broken 
a  very  few  days  after.  Other  distinctions  now  obtained  in 
this  currency,  such  as  "Illinois  preferred,"  which  the  seller  of  pro 
duce  could  only  obtain  at  a  deep  shave.  Exchange  on  STew  York 
speedily  advanced  above  the  "preferred"  to  13  per  cent.  While 
the  farmer  thus  got  a  few  cents  more  for  his  grain,  it  cost  him  a 
heavy  per  centage  to  exchange  for  good  money,  or  he  paid  it  out 
in  double  profit  to  the  merchant.  The  list  of  discredited  banks 
rapidly  increased.  All  the  stock  banks,  regardless  of  the  State 
stocks  which  formed  their  security,  shared  more  or  less  in  the  de 
preciation,  but  after  the  breaking  out  of  actual  hostilities  those 
based  upon  southern  stocks  declined  directly  to  50  cents  on  the 
dollar. 

With  the  meeting  of  the  legislature  in  extraordinary  session, 
April,  1861,  there  were  various  schemes  mooted  to  have  the  State 
guarranty  the  ultimate  redemption  of  this  free  bank  money  of  the 
Illinois  banks.  Some  plans  embraced  all  of  the  $12,000,000  of 
circulation,  and  others  half,  selecting  those  secured  by  the  best 
stocks.  In  behalf  of  the  latter  proposition  petitions  were  freely 
circulated  among  the  people  praying  the  legislature  to  this  end. 
This  plan  was  by  a  certain  portion  of  the  press  denounced  as  an 
invidious  distinction.  To  obviate  the  constitutional  provision,  the 
power  of  the  legislature  was  claimed  upon  the  ground  of  necessity, 
this  money  in  that  desperate  crisis  constituting  the  sole  circula 
ting  medium  of  the  people  of  the  State.  There  was  a  senate  bill 
guarantying  the  issues  of  certain  banks,  and  there  was  an  effort 
made  to  have  the  State  take  this  bank  currency  for  its  war  bonds, 
authorized  at  that  session,  but  all  failed. 

After  this  the  money  got  into  a  still  more  mercurial  and  unset 
tled  condition.  No  one  knew  what  his  money  would  be  worth  on 
the  morrow.  Of  course  the  wiles  and  arts  of  the  brokers  added 
no  little  to  this  instability,  and  the  perplexity  of  the  people.  Be 
fore  June  every  important  city  and  many  different  railroads  issued 
from  day  today  their  special,  and  sometimes  their  exclusive,  lists 
of  banks,  whose  notes  they  designated  as  current.  These  lists 
were,  for  the  most  part,  arbitrary.  Every  tradesman,  and  even 
farmers,  carried  in  their  pockets  bank  lists  of  this  kind,  often  only 


598  HISTORY  OF   ILLINOIS. 

to  hear  of  new  break-downs  and  revised  lists  just  after  having 
taken  in  some  of  the  money.  It  was  a  period  of  annoyance,  trial 
and  vexation. 

The  banks,  from  their'  location — often  at  remote  and  inaccessi 
ble  points — had  earned  the  not  inexpressive  soubrequet  of  "wild 
cats  f  and  now,  since  their  general  depreciation,  their  issues  re 
ceived  the  rather  inelegant  appelation  of  "stump-tail."  To  aid  in 
hurrying  forward  the  approaching  end  of  their  reign,  the  press  in 
many  ways  lent  its  powers  of  ridicule.* 

By  the  time  the  rather  abundant  wheat  crop  of  1861,  notwith 
standing  the  devastation  of  the  army  AY orm  that  season,  went  into 
the  market,  the  stock  "banks  were  driven  to  the  wall,  and  gold  and 
silver  sent  from  the  east  was  paid  into  the  farmer's  hand,  though 
the  prices  ranged  low — 00  to  70  cents  per  bushel.  By  1803  all 
except  17  of  the  110  banks  were  in  process  of  liquidation,  with  the 
circulation  reduced  from  about  $12,000,000  to  about  $500,103. 
The  retirement  of  this  vast  circulation  was  effected  mainly  by  the 
bill-holders  voluntarily  surrendering  the  money  for  the  bonds  de 
posited,  for  which  purpose  every  facility  was  extended  to  them  by 
the  auditor  in  accordance  with  the  law.  Five  banks  had  organized 
under  the  amended  act  of  1861,  with  an  aggregate  circulation  of 
$51,915.  By  the  first  of  January,  1865,  the  circulation  of  Illinois 
banks  had  dwindled  down  to  $132,430,  all  secured  by  Illinois  O's 
— $175,034.  Some  of  the  free  banks  were  under  the  act  of  con 
gress  of  1803  converted  into  national  banks;  and  it  was  the 
national  banking  law,  taxing  the  issues  of  all  other  banks  2  per 
cent.,  which  has  finally  wholly  extinguished  them. 

*(One  of  the,banks  became  the  property  of  the  Hon.  J.  Young  Scammon,  a  well  known 
wealthy  resident  of  Chicago,  who,  to  give  them  currency,  endorsed  all  its  notes.  Mr. 
Wentworth.  of  the  Democrat,  who  had  fought  the  "wild  cats"  with  an  unflagging'  will, 
heading  hts  editorials  on  that  subject  with  a  family  aroup  of  wild  cats  in  various  sug 
gestive  attitudes,  when  this  Scaminon  money  came  to  his  hands,  which  was  not  slow, 
printed  across  the  back  of  each  note,  his  fayorite  family  group  of  wild  cats,  and  set 
it  afloat  again.  These  caricatures,  it  was  said,  had  the  effect  to  greatly  stimulate  the 
proprietor  of  the  notes  to  retire  them.) 


CHAPTER  XLV1II. 
1853-1857—  ADMINISTRATION    OF  GOY.    MATTESON. 

Democratic  and  Whig  Conventions — Sketches  of  the  Gubernatorial 
Candidates — Financial  Condition  and  Physical  Development  of 
the  State — Legislation,  1853-5 — Maine  Law  and  Riot  at  Chicago — 
Our  Common  Schools  and  trials  in  the  establishment  of  the  Free 
School  System. 


The  Democratic  State  Convention  of  1852,  to  make  a  ticket  for 
State  officers,  met  in  Springfield  April  20th.  The  political  out 
look  for  that  party  appeared  clear  all  around  the  horizon  auguring 
an  easy  victory  at  the  coming  November  election.  Hence  there 
was  no  lack  of  aspirants  for  place  on  a  ticket  of  such  promise. 
For  the  position  of  governor  seven  names  were  presented.  For 
some  time  previous  it  had  been  confidently  expected  that  the  Hon. 
David  L.  Gregg,  then  secretary  of  State,  an  accomplished  gentle 
man  of  learning,  varied  political  experience,  and  great  influence 
with  his  party,  would  receive  the  nomination.  Quite  a  number 
of  counties  had  instructed  for  him,  the  public  press  in  its  com 
ments  and  surmises,  had  settled  on  him  with  a  degree  of  certainty, 
causing  the  opi>osition  to  discharge  their  batteries  at  him,  as  if  his 
nomination  had  been  consummated.  The  attack  upon  him  was 
mainly  on  account  of  his  religion,  he  being  a  Catholic.  The  even 
ing  before  the  meeting  of  the  convention,  a  sermon  of  a  political 
bearing,  violently  attacking  Romanism,  was  preached  at  the  Cap 
ital,  which  was  largely  attended  by  the  assembled  members  of  the 
convention.  Some  controversy  was  indulged  afterward  as  to 
whether  the  minister  was  a  whig  or  democrat.  One  thing,  how 
ever,  was  certain,  it  was  preached  to  influence  the  action  of  the 
convention  in  the  defeat  of  Mr.  Gregg.  How  much  influence  it 
had  we  do  not  say.  No  sooner  had  members  begun  to  collect  than 
it  was  whispered  about  tluit  it  would  never  do  to  nominate  Gregg 
because  of  his  Catholicism;  and  this  objection  was  industriously 
but  quietly  urged  against  him  in  the  convention.  After  his  sacri 
fice  there  was  an  effort  to  smother  the  matter,  but  it  could  not  be 
done.  Mr.  Gregg  knew  and  felt  it  all  the  time,  but  he  was  to  true 
to  party  to  bolt  the  ticket,  and  he  gave  it  the  support  of  all  his 
power.  In  a  letter  to  I.  N.  Morris,  scouting  the  idea  that  the  con 
vention  was  governed  by  such  intolerant  motives,  he  nevertheless 
adds,  "  it  is  doubtless  true  that  a  few  men  in  the  convention 
sought  to  stir  up  religious  prejudices  with  the  viewr  of  accom 
plishing  my  defeat.7'  Aside  from  this  quiet  persecuting  intrigue, 
the  convention  was  entirely  harmonius. 

599 


600  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

The  convention  was  organized  with  the  Hon.  J.  A.  McClernand 
as  its  permanent  chairman.  The  names  presented  for  the  posi 
tion  of  governor  on  the  ticket,  together  with  the  number  of  votes 
on  the  first  ballot,  were  as  follows  :  D.  L.  Gregg,  of  Cook,  84  votes; 
Joel  A.  Matteson,  of  Will,  56;  John  Dement,  of  Lee,  53;  F.  0. 
Sherman,  of  Cook,  23 ;  Thomas  L.  Harris,  of  Menard,  10 ;  Lewis 
W.  Boss,  of  Fulton,  7;  and  D.  P.  Bush,  of  Pike,  0.  Joel  A.  Mat 
teson  afterwards  received  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast  and  was 
declared  the  nominee  of  the  convention  for  governor.  Gustavus 
Koerner  received  the  nomination  for  lieutenant-governor;  Alex 
ander  Starne,  secretary  of  State;  Thomas  H.  Caihpbell,  auditor, 
and  John  Moore,  State  treasurer. 

The  platform  stood  by  the  compromise  measures  of  1850,  and 
non-iutervention  ;  against  meddling  witn  the  domestic  affairs  of 
other  States  to  stir  up  strife  and  hatred  ;  for  free  homesteads  to 
heads  of  families  on  the  public  domain ;  and  declared  in  favor  of 
Douglas  for  the  presidency — that  he  a  embodied  all  the  elements 
of  popularity  and  success  to  such  a  degree  as  to  stamp  him 
as  the  man  for  the  coming  crisis."  Statue  affairs  received  no 
notice  at  its  hands,  and  as  the  free  banking  law  was  in  full  opera 
tion,  democratic  hostility  to  banks,  so  strenously  asserted  in  1846- 
?4S,  was  not  repeated. 

The  Whig  State  Convention  of  1852,  met  also  at  Springfield  on 
the  7th  of  July.  It  was  but  sparingly  attended.  The  regularly 
appointed  delegates  failed  to  appear  and  their  places  were  in  part 
filled  by  proxies  taken  from  the  grand  and  petit  juries,  litigants 
and  witnesses  in  attendance  upon  the  U.  S.  district  and  circuit 
courts  then  in  term.  It  was  organized  by  the  choice  of  the  Hon. 
O.  H.  Browning,  of  Adams,  as  chairman,  who  in  his 
opening  speech  candidly  remarked  in  effect,  that  it  was  not 
expected  that'  the  ticket  to  be  by  them  nominated  would  carry 
the  State,  but  it  Avould  prove  important  in  tending  to  hold  up  the 
hands  of  their  party  friends  in  those  States  where  there  was  hope 
of  success  for  Gen.  Scott,  candidate  for  the  presidency. 

The  ticket  was  mostly  made  by  acclamation.  Aspirants 
for  the  barren  honors  were  not  numerous  as  in  the  case  of  the  de 
mocracy.  The  Hon.  E.  B.  Webb,  of  White,  was  nominated  for 
governor;  J.  L. D.  Morrison,  of  St.  Clair,  for  lieutenant-governor; 
Buckner  S.  Morris  for  secretary  of  State;  Charles  Betts  for  audi 
tor;  and  Francis  Arnz,  a  German,  then  on  a  visit  to  Europe,  for 
treasurer.  Owing  to  the  wide  spread  disgust  in  the  whig  ranks 
regarding  the  compromise  measures  of  1850,  and  the  national 
whig  platform,  which  approved  them,  it  was  planned  on  the  part 
of  the  managers  that  with  the  endorsement  of  the  nomina 
tion  of  Gen.  Scott,  to  show  party  loyalty,  it  might  be  best  to 
quietly  stop,  leaving  candidates  free  to  assume  such  grounds  upon 
the  slavery  question  and  fugitive  slave  law,  either  pro  or  con,  as 
might  be  deemed  to  accord  best  with  the  varying  sentiments  of 
different  localities  in  the  State.  But  this  plan  was  sadly  deranged 
by  Mr.  Herndon,  of  Sangamon,  who  unexpectedly,  introduced  a 
resolution,  approving  the  Baltimore  platform.  Here  was  a  dilem 
ma.  To  refuse  to  adopt  what  was  clearly  their  duty  as  national 
W7higs,  would  be  to  break  their  party  adhesions  and  become  des 
pised  disorganizes  ;  to  do  so,  division  and  estrangement  in  their 
ranks,  at  home  was  inevitable.  The  whig  party,  in  the  north  of 


MATTESON'S  ADMINISTRATION.  601 

this  State  especially,  was  largely  anti-slavery.  Herndoii  was 
firm,  and  the  resolution  passed,  it  is  said,  with  feelings  of  melan 
choly  and  mutterings  of  discontent.  It  was  first  omitted  from 
the  published  report  of  the  proceedings,  but  the  alert  democracy 
promptly  called  attention  to  the  direlictiou,  whereupon  the  official 
proceedings  were  republished  "  to  correct  the  many  inaccuracies 
of  the  first  report,"* 

The  abolitionists,  who  probably  expected  to  gain  by  the  large 
defection  in  the  whig  party,  also  brought  out  a  State  ticket  with 
Dexter  A.  Knowlton,  of  Stephen  sou,  for  governor,  and  Philo  Car 
penter,  of  Cook,  for  lieutenant-governor. 

Mr.  Webb,  the  head  of  the  whig  ticket,  was  a  lawyer,  deeply 
read  in  his  profession,  and  of  excellent  standing  in  the  State.  He 
had  been  for  many  years  State's  attorney,  and  repeatedly  repre 
sented  his  county  in  the  legislature.  He  did  not  possess  the  gifts 
of  oratory.  In  1836,  as  a  member  of  the  legislature,  he  opposed 
the  adoption  of  the  State  improvement  system,  and  spread  his 
protest  upon  the  journal,  containing  language  of  prophesy,  whose 
verification  in  a  few  years,  was  but  too  emphatic.  In  1855  he  was 
a  candidate  for  the  supreme  bench  against  Judge  Breese,  who  was 
elected  While  yet  a  boy  his  father  removed  to  Carmi,  Illinois, 
where  Mr.  Webb  continued  to  live,  and  died  in  1859.  When  the 
writer  personally  knew  him  in  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  he  was 
exceedingly  fond  of  a  small  social  circle  of  friends  with  whom  to 
discuss  the  political  and  other  questions  of  the  day,  and  to  talk 
over  old  times  in  his  peculiar  didactic  and  instructive  mamier.t 

The  whig  candidate  for  lieutenant-governor,  Col.  Don  Morrison, 
was  also  by  profession  a  lawyer.  He  had  served  with  acceptability 
in  both  the  State  and  national  legislatures,  and  as  lieutenant-col 
onel  of  the  2cl  Illinois  regiment  in  the  Mexican  war.  He  was  a 
native  Illinoisan;  an  orator  of  distinguished  manners,  daring  ad 
dress,  and  an  ardent  whig.  He  had  been  very  successful  in  accum 
ulating  a  large  and  valuable  landed  estate,  which  he  still  lives  to 
enjoy.  Neither  of  these  candidates  was  tinctured  with  the  grow 
ing  anti-slavery  sentiments  of  the  party  at  that  day. 

Beside  the  disappointment  of  public  expectation  in  the  defeat 
of  Gregg  before  the  democratic  convention,  the  nomination  of 
Matteson  for  governor  did  not  at  first  give  general  satisfaction  to 
the  party  in  all  parts  of  the  State.  From  the  south,  hostile  to  all 
banks,  the  press  indicated  the  impression  to  be  that  the  head  of 
the  ticket  had  warmly  advocated  the  adoption  of  the  general 
banking  law ;  that  he  favored  a  U.  S.  bank,  or  any  kind  of  "wild 
cat  system  ;"  that  he  had  not  besides  been  sound  on  the  Wilmot 
proviso ;  was  against  the  compromise  measures  of  1850,  and  fa 
vored  free  soilism.  The  democratic  organ  at  the  capital  called  on 
the  Joliet  paper  (where  Matteson  resided,)  to  give  to  the  democ 
racy  a  "full  and  explicit  statement  of  [his]  views"  upon  the  im 
portant  subjects  named.  To  Koerner  was  ascribed  a  position  upon 
these  questions  in  perfect  accord  with  the  sentiments  of  the  party. 

*  See  Illinois  State  Journal. 

[N'OTE-tFor  his  own  amusement,  unaided  by  any  teacher  and  perhaps  before  he 
was  aware  of  his  proficiency,  he  became  a  most  excellent  French  scholar,  without 
being  able,  however,  to  his  knowledge,  to  pronounce  a  word  of  the  language  correctly. 
This  was  done  by  regularly  r  ading  the  Courier  dcs  Etat  Unis,  a  French  newspaper 
printed  in  New  York,  for  which  he  was  a  subscriber.  The  writer  has  heard  him  read 
in  English  fresh  from  its  columns,  time  and  again,  translating  with  such  readiness  that 
one  would  suppose  him  to  be  reading  from  an  ordinary  American  newspaper. 


602  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

It  was  said  that  if  the  ticket  had  been  reversed  as  regards  these 
candidates  it  would  have  been  preferable — "but  as  it  is  we  adhere 
to  it,"  commanded  the  party  drill-sergeants.  Two  short  years  or 
less  demonstrated  the  fallacy  of  these  apprehensions  by  the  going 
over  of  Koerner  to  the  an ti -Nebraska  party,  and  Matteson's  sup 
port  of  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise. 

The  campaign  of  1852,  as  might  have  been  expected  by  the  whigs 
giving  up  the  contest  in  advance,  was  attended  by  little  excitement ; 
nothing  of  interest  occurred,  and  upon  its  close  in  November,  re 
sulted  in  an  overwhelming  victory  for  the  democracy.  Joel  A. 
Matteson  received  80,645  votes,  Edwin  B.  Webb  64,408,  and 
Dexter  A.  Knowlton  8,829. 

Joel  A.  Matteson  was  born  August  8,  1808,  in  Jefferson  county 
New  York,  whither  his  father  had  removed  from  Vermont  three 
years  before.  His  father  was  a  farmer  in  fair  circumstances,  but 
a  common  English  education  was  all  that  his  only  son  received. 
Joel  first  tempted  fortune  as  a  small  tradesman  in  Prescott,  Can 
ada,  before  his  majority.  He  returned  thence  home,  entered  an 
academy,  taught  school,  visited  the  large  eastern  cities,  improved 
a  farm  his  father  had  given  him,  made  later  a  tour  south,  worked 
there  in  building  railroads,  experienced  a  storm,  on  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  visited  the  gold  diggings  of  northern  Georgia,  whence  he 
returned  via  Nashville  to  St.  Louis  and  through  Illinois  to  his  fath 
er's  home,  and  married.  In  1833,  having  sold  his  farm,  he  removed 
with  his  wife  and  one  child  to  Illinois,  and  took  a  claim  on  govern 
ment  land  near  the  head  of  Au  Sable  river,  in  the  present  Ken 
dall  county.  At  the  time  there  were  not  exceeding  two  neighbors 
within  a  range  of  ten  miles,  and  only  three  or  four  houses  between 
his  location  and  Chicago.  He  opened  a  large  farm;  his  family 
was  boarded  twelve  miles  away  while  he  erected  a  house  on  his 
claim,  'sleeping,  during  this  time,  under  a  rude  pole  shed.  Here 
his  life  was  placed  in  imminent  peril  by  a  huge  prairie  rattlesnake 
sharing  his  bed.  In  1835  he  bought  largely  at  the  government 
land  sales.  During  the  speculative  real  estate  mania  which  broke 
out  in  Chicago  in  1836,  and  spread  all  over  the  State,  he  sold  his 
lands  under  the  inflation  of  that  period,  and  removed  to  Joliet. 
In  1838  he  became  a  heavy  contractor  on  the  Illinois  and  Michi 
gan  canal.  Upon  the  completion  of  his  job  in  1841,  when  hard 
times  prevailed,  business  at  a  stand,  contracts  paid  in  State  scrip  ; 
when  all  the  public  works  except  the  canal  were  abandoned,  the 
State  offered  for  sale  700  tons  of  railroad  iron,  which  was  pur 
chased  by  Matteson  at  a  great  bargain.  This  he  shipped  and  sold 
at  Detroit,  realizing  a  very  handsome  profit,  enough  to  pay  off  all 
his  canal  debts,  and  leave  him  a  surplus  of  several  thousand  dol 
lars.  His  enterprise  next  prompted  him  to  start  a  woolen  mill  at 
Joliet,  in  which  he  prospered,  and  which,  after  successive  enlarge 
ments,  became  an  enormous  establishment.  In  1842  he  was  first 
elected  a  State  senator,  but,  by  a  bungling  apportionment,  John 
Pearson,  a  senator  holding  over,  was  found  to  be  in  the  same  dis 
trict,  and  decided  to  be  entitled  to  represent  it.  Matteson's  seat 
was  declared  vacant.  Pearson,  however,  with  a  nobleness  difficult 
to  appreciate  in  this  day  of  greed  for  office,  unwilling  to  represent 
his  district  under  the  circumstances,  immediately  resigned  his  un- 
expired  term  of  two  years.  A  bill  was  passed  in  a  few  hours  or 
deriug  a  new  election,  and  in  ten  days'  time  Matteson  was  re- 


MATTESON'S  ADMINISTRATION.  603 

turned  re-elected  and  took  his  seat  as  senator.  From  bis  well- 
known  capacity  as  a  business  man,  be  was  made  chairman  of  the 
committee  on  finance,  a  position  which  lie  held  during  this  half  and 
two  full  succeeding  senatorial  terms,  discharging-  its  important 
duties  with  ability  and  faithfulness.  Besides  his  extensive  woolen 
mill  interest,  when  work  was  resumed  on  the  canal  under  the  new 
loan  of  $1,600,000  he  again  became  a  heavy  contractor,  and  also 
subsequently  operated  largely  in  building  railroads.*  He  had 
shown  himself  a  most  energetic  and  thorough  business  man. 

Mattesou's  forte  was  not  on  the  stump ;  he  had  not  cultivated 
the  art  of  oily  flattery,  or  the  faculty  of  being  all  things  to  all 
men.  His  qualities  of  head  took  rather  the  direction  of  efficient 
executive  ability  j  his  turn  consisted  not  so  much  in  the  adroit 
management  of  party,  or  the  powerful  advocacy  of  great  govern 
mental  principles,  as  in  those  more  solid  and  enduring  operations 
which  cause  the  physical  development  and  advancement  of  a  State 
— of  commerce  and  business  enterprise,  into  which  he  labored 
with  success  to  lead  the  people.  As  a  politician  he  was  just  and 
liberal  in  his  views,  and  both  in  official  and  private  life  he  then 
stood  untainted  and  free  from  blemish.  As  a  man,  in  active  be 
nevolence,  social  virtues,  and  all  the  amiable  qualities  of  neighbor 
or  citizen,  he  had  few  superiors.  His  messages  present  a  perspic 
uous  array  of  facts  as  to  the  condition  of  the  State,  and  are  often 
couched  in  forcible  and  elegant  diction.  The  helm  of  State  was 
confided  to  no  unskillful  hands. 

Gustavus  Koerner,  the  lieutenant-governor  elect,  was  born  in 
1809,  in  the  old  free  city  of  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  Germany,  and 
received  in  his  youth  the  usual  thorough  common  .school  educa 
tion  of  that  country.  At  the  age  of  19  he  entered  the  University 
of  Jena;  in  1832,  at  Heidelberg  he  took  the  degree  of  doctor  of 
laws,  and  was  soon  after  admitted  to  the  bar  of  his  native  city. 
While  at  Jena  the  French  revolution  of  1830  inspired  him,  like 
many  other  ardent  youths,  with  the  principles  of  liberty.  Thus 
imbued,  he  could  illy  brook  the  decrees  of  the  Germanic  diet  sup 
pressing  the  freedom  of  the  press,  and  prohibiting  public  discus 
sions  of  political  questions,  and  connected  with  a  political  associa 
tion  having  for  its  aim  an  enlarged  liberty  and  more  perfect  union 
of  the  Germanic  States,  he  became  implicated  in  a  revolutionary 
movement  against  the  government,  which  proved  a  failure,  when 
he  sought  exile.  Finding  no  security  in  France,  then  under  Louis 
Philippe,  in  May,  1833,  at  the  age  of  22,  he  embarked  at  Havre  for 
America,  and  on  arrival  proceeded  to  Illinois,  and  settled  in 
Belleville.  Here  he  determined  to  pursue  the  practice  of  the  law, 
notwithstanding  the  obstacles  of  a  foreign  tongue,  of  which  he 
had  but  a  student's  knowledge,  and  immediately  commenced  a  dil 
igent  course  of  reading,  attended  the  Lexington  law  school,  and 
afterward  became  the  law  partner  of  Adam  W.  Snyder  and  James 
Shields.  He  attached  himself  to  the  fortunes  of  the  democratic 
party,  and  took  an  active  part  in  politics.  In  1840  he  edited  a 
German  campaign  paper  named  Messenger  of  Liberty,  and  carried 
the  electoral  vote  of  Illinois  to  Washington.  In  1842  be  was 
elected  to  the  lower  house  of  the  legislature,  and  in  1845  appointed 
a  judge  of  the  supreme  court,  by  Gov.  Ford,  vice  Gen.  Shields,  re 
signed.  In  1848  he  was  appointed  consul  to  Hamburg.  This 

*  See  speech  of  D.  L.  Gregg-,  1852 


604  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

place  Avas  procured  for  him  by  his  political  friends,  knowing  well 
Ms  ardent  wishes  to  revisit  the  scenes  of  his  youth  during-  the  then 
struggle  of  that  country  for  liberty.  But  when  the  effort  was 
crushed,  and  crowds  oi'  political  refugees  tied  the  oppressed 
fatherland,  Koerner,  nothaving  started,  resigned  his  commission.* 
In  1854  he  went  off  with  the  anti-Nebraska  movement,  since  when 
he  has  acted  with  the  republican  party.  He  presided  over  the 
State  republican  convention  in  1858,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  desig 
nated  as  a  candidate  for  U.  S.  senator.  In  1860  he  was  a  delegate 
at  large  to  the  Chicago  convention.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the 
rebellion  he  raised  the  43d  Illinois  regiment,  but  before  it  was  fully 
organized  he  was  appointed  a  colonel  on  the  staff*  of  Gen.  Fremont. 
In  1862  he  was  appointed  minister  to  Spain,  which  place  he  re 
signed  in  1865.  Since  then  he  has  acted  in  various  public  capa 
cities  for  the  State.  He  was  in  1872  the  liberal  republican  and 
democratic  candidate  for  governor,  but  was  defeated. 

The  new  administration  was  entrusted  with  the  helm  of  State  at 
a  time  when  she  was  rising  with  great  rapidity  from  the  long  and 
gloomy  spell  of  pecuniary  embarrassment  following  the  failure  of 
the  internal  improvement  system  of  1837.  The  building  of  the 
great  net- work  of  railroads  was  just  fairly  inaugurated,  and  about 
400  miles  of  track  completed.  The  first  year  of  this  administra 
tion  the  increase  of  taxable  wealth  in  the  State  amounted  to  $75,- 
865,328,  equal  to  about  51  per  cent.  Only  a  small  portion  of  this 
unprecedented  increase  was  reasonably  attributable  to  the  new 
assessment  law.  The  commerce  of  Chicago,  with  a  population  of 
50,000,  had  gone  beyond  $20,000.000,  and  the  trade  and  commerce 
of  the  Illinois  river  and  canal  amounted  to  $42,345,000.  The  State 
debt,  principal  and  interest,  on  the  1st  of  January,  1853,  was  $17,- 
398,985.35,  which,  as  the  State  increased  at  the  rate  of  10  per 
cent,  and  the  debt  at  6  per  cent.,  was  estimated  to  be  extinguish- 
able  in  11  years'  time — by  1864. 

In  his  elaborate  inaugural  message,  indicating  that  a  master  of 
finance  had  cast  his  eye  over  the  field  of  State,  Gov.  Matteson  al 
luded  to  her  flattering  prospects ;  how  she  was  in  the  track  of 
empire;  the  great  number  of  railroads  in  course  of  construction, 
and  bespoke  the  liberality  of  the  legislature  in  granting  further 
charters,  and  affording  every  proper  encouragement  to  bring  new 
fields  of  labor  into  market.  True  to  the  place  of  his  abode,  he  re 
commended  the  building  of  a  State  prison  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  State.  The  Alton  penitentiary  was  then  crowded  with  227 
convicts.  He  also  recommended  the  adoption  of  a  free  school  sys 
tem,  and  if  that  should  be  deemed  premature,  at  any  rate  to  au 
thorize  a  general  superintendent  of  the  common  schools.  The  new 
free  banking  law  he  did  not  want  to  see  disturbed  by  the  legisla 
ture,  but  those  unauthorized  institutions  still  operating  under  the 
semblance  of  banks  and  issuing  their  notes,  should  be  stopped. 
He  also  desired  a  re-submission  to  a  ATote  of  the  people  the  ques 
tion  of  changing  the  distribution  of  the  2  mill  tax ;  and  such 
amendment  of  the  constitution  as  would  give  to  the  foreigner  a 
speedier  right  of  suffrage,  out  of  which,  he  argued  at  length,  no 
evil  could  grow.  In  his  view  the  hard  times  constitution  Avas  too 
parsimonious  in  the  salaries  and  fees  fixed  for  officers  ;  the  judi- 

*See  D.  L.  Greg-g's  speech,  1852. 


MATTESON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


ciary  should  be  placed  above  pecuniary  want,  upon  that  high 
ground  which  would  command  the  confidence  and  respect  of  intel 
ligent  men.  He  regarded  the  compensation  of  members  of  the 
general  assembly  so  low  as  to  be  attended  with  embarrassments. 
This  he  desired  also  amended.  The  constitution  was  not  amended, 
however,  in  any  of  these  or  other  particulars  for  17  years  ;  and 
these  objections,  urged  from  so  high  a  source,  doubtless  contrib 
uted  to  the  first  feeling  and  impulse  that  license  taken  with  its 
rigid  provisions  would  not  perhaps  incur  any  great  public  obloquy, 
which  was  subsequently  improved  upon  until  their  violations  were 
practiced  by  every  department  of  government  in  the  grossest 
manner. 

During  the  legislative  session  of  185S  was  enacted  the  small 
bank  bill  law,  which  was,  from  the  start,  as  dead  a  letter  as  law 
ever  became  ;  also  acts  to  use  the  surplus  fund  of  the  treasury 
in  the  purchase  of  State  indebtedness  ;  to  condemn  the  right  of 
way  for  purposes  of  internal  improvement  ;  to  build  the  present 
government  mansion;  incorporate  the  State  Agricultural  Society; 
sell  the  State  lands,  of  which  128,954  acres,  valued  at  $747,190, 
were  still  on  hand,  and  granting  the  right  of  pre-emption  on 
them  ;  re-enact  the  law  prohibiting  the  retailing  of  intoxica 
ting  drinks,  fixing  the  license  at  from  850  to  $300  ;  and,  under  the 
partisan  lash,  that  inhuman  and  disgraceful  act,  preventing  free 
negroes  and  mulattoes  from  settling  in  the  State,  under  severe  pen 
alties,  was  passed. 

In  1855  was  passed  that  law,  more  than  any  other  upon  our 
statutes  fraught  with  untold  benefactions  to  the  youth  of  our 
State,  to  maintain  a  system  of  free  schools  ;  also  an  act  authorizing 
the  erection  of  150  additional  prison  cells  to  the  Alton  peniten 
tiary.  The  most  important  measure  bearing  upon  the  treasury 
of  the  State,  at  this  session,  was  the  act  for  a  settlement  of  old 
canal  claim  damages,  dating  back  beyond  1840,  in  favor  of  cer 
tain  contractors,  &c.  The  commission  appointed  for  the  final  ad 
justment  of  these  claims  consisted  of  S.  H.  Treat,  John  D.  Caton, 
and  Walter  B.  Scates.  By  resolution  it  was  ordered  that  with 
the  State  census  to  be  taken  in  1855  should  be  separately  returned 
the  name,  residence  and  postoffice  address  of  all  the  deaf  and 
dumb,  blind  and  insane  persons  in  the  State.  A  resolution  rela 
tive  to  the  calling  of  a  convention  to  alter  the  constitution  was 
also  again  submitted  to  the  people,  to  again  meet  defeat. 

During  the  4  years  of  Matteson's  administration  the  taxable 
wealth  of  the  State  was  about  trebled,  being  for  the  year  1851, 
$137,818,079,  and  for  the  year  185G,  $349,951,272;  there  were 
raised  and  paid  out  on  the  public  debt,  $7,079,198,  reducing  it 
from  $17,398,985  to  $12,843,144  ;  in  the  meantime  taxation  had 
been  reduced,  and  the  State  had  resumed  paying  interest  in  Xew 
York  as  it  fell  due.  While  the  public  debt  was  thus  being  re 
duced,  the  means  of  its  ultimate  extinction  were  rapidly  on  the 
increase.  When  Matteson  came  into  office,  less  than  400  miles  of 
railroad  were  constructed  in  the  State;  when  he  went  out,  the 
number  would  vary  little  from  3,000,  "  penetrating  almost  every 
section  and  filling  the  country  with  activity  and  business."  Dur 
ing  his  term,  the  population  of  Chicago  was  nearly  doubled  and 
its  commerce  more  than  quadrupled. 


606  HISTOKY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


The  Maine  Liquor  Law  in  Illinois. — In  1855  the  legislature 
passed  a  very  stringent  prohibitory  liquor  bill,  commonly  known 
as  the  "Maine  law" — being  a  total  prohibition  of  both  the  sale 
and  manufacture  of  spirituous,  vinous  or  malt  liquors,  under  heavy 
penalties  of  fines,  imprisonments,  or  both,  and  destruction  of  li 
quors.  It  contained  certain  exceptions  in  favor  of  the  making  of 
cider,  wines  and  beer  and  ale  for  export.  Importers  were  allowed 
to  sell  in  the  original  packages  only.  The  law  was  not  to  go  into 
effect  unless  approved  by  a  majority  vote  of  the  people  at  a 
special  election  to  be  held  in  June  of  that  year. 

In  1851  had  been  adopted  a  somewhat  stringent  act  known  as 
the  "quart  law."  It  was  designed  to  strike  at  tippling  establish 
ments,  in  prohibiting  the  sale  of  spirituous  and  mixed  (not  malt) 
liquors  in  less  quantity  than  a  quart,  by  forbidding  them  to  be  drank 
on  the  premises  where  sold  or  given  away ;  and  by  repealing  all  laws 
granting  license  for  these  purposes.  The  penalty  was  a  tine  of 
$25.  The  law  produced  a  great  outcry  of  popular  indignation, 
and  was  in  1853  repealed.  While  the  legislature  was  thus  bowing 
to  low  clamor,  the  friends  of  temperance  were  not  idle.  A  State 
temperance  convention  met  at  the  capital  in  January.  Delegates 
to  the  number  of  200,  from  all  parts  of  the  State,  were  in  attend 
ance.  The  leading  participants  were  S.  D.  Lockwood,  formerly 
supreme  judge,  the  distinguished  pioneer  and  divine,  J.  M.  Peck, 
D.  D.,  Hons.  B.  S.  Edwards,  S.  W.  liobins,  Thomas  M.  Taylor,  G. 
P.  West,  W.  C.  Yanmeter,  Judge  Grover,  &c.  Believing  intoxi 
cating  drink  to  be  the  great  incentive  to  crime,  they  sought  to  re 
form  society  by  abolishing  this  terrible  temptation.  The  Maine 
law  was  undergoing  trial  in  several  States  at  the  time.  The  use 
of  the  hall  of  representatives  was  denied  them  after  a  protracted 
debate  in  the  house,  by  a  vote  of  33  to  36.  The  convention  drafted 
a  bill  similar  in  its  provisions  to  the  Maine  law,  which  was  pre 
sented  to  the  general  assembly  for  adoption,  but  met  with  speedy 
defeat;  some  of  the  strongest  temperance  members  believing  that 
moral  suasion,  and  not  arbitrary  legislation,  was  the  only  mode  of 
approaching  a  free,  thinking  people  like  the  Americans,  voted 
against  it.  At  the  special  session  of  February,  1854,  the  friends 
of  temperance  again  assembled  at  Springfield.  The  attendance 
was  chiefly  from  the  northern  part  of  the  State.  The  prohibitory 
bill  was  again  introduced  in  the  legislature,  and  this  time  favora 
bly  reported  upon  by  the  select  committee  on  temperance.  Mr. 
Palmer  (since  governor,)  moved  the  submission  clause  as  an  amend 
ment,  but  for  want  of  time  no  final  action  was  had  upon  it. 

There  were  at  the  time  grave  doubts  as  to  the  constitutionality  of 
such  a  law;  but  at  the  June  term  of  the  Supreme  court,  in  the 
case  of  Jacksonville  vs.  Godard,  these  were  in  a  measure  removed. 
Jacksonville  by  ordinance  had  declared  the  sale  of  liquors  a  nui 
sance,  making  the  offense  punishable  by  fine.  It  was  contended 
by  the  defendant  that  liquor  was  property,  and  that  the  right  to 
acquire  property,  and  holding,  using  and  disposing  of  it  Avas  both 
natural  and  constitutional,  and  could  not  be  invaded  by  any  mu 
nicipality  under  authority  of  the  State ;  the  right  might  be  regu 
lated  but  not  destroyed.  The  court  held  that  this  doctrine  as  a 
universal  principle  was  not  tenable.  It  depended  upon  the  kind 
of  property;  its  use  and  disposal.  We  surrendered  both  natural 


MATTESON7S  ADMINISTRATION.  607 

and  social  rights  iii  the  political  state,  which  was  necessary  and 
paramount  for  the  well  being  of  society.  These  police  powers  de 
stroyed  neither  Magna  Charta  nor  any  constitution.  The  act  and 
the  thing,  with  its  use,  must  be  judged  by  its  effects,  and  when 
they  brought  it  within  the  reason  and  mischiefs  of  the  law  the 
power  of  government  must  regulate  them.  We  had  a  right  to  our 
gold  and  silver,  and  the  disposal  of  it,  yet  could  not  coin  it,  We 
might  labor  and  rest,  yet  were  disallowed  to  become  idlers,  va 
grants  or  vagabonds.  We  might  dispose  of  our  property,  yet  had 
no  right  to  gamble  it  off.  And  to  punish  the  effect  we  might  re 
move  the  cause.  Judge  Scates  delivered  the  opinion  of  the  court. 

The  prohibitory  bill  came  again  before  the  legislature  in  1855. 
That  body  was  unexpectedly  republican,  or  rather  "fusion77 by 
a  combination  of  whigs  and  anti-Nebraska  democrats.  For  the 
first  time  in  the  history  of  the  State,  since  the  organization  of  the 
whig  and  democratic  parties,  it  was  not  in  the  control  of  the  latter. 
The  bill,  after  being  amended  by  the  senate,  passed  both  houses, 
and  under  the  submission  clause  went  before  the  people  for  ap 
proval. 

It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  give  an  idea  of  the  arguments 
advanced  for  and  against  the  measure.  The  opponents  held  that 
drinking  men  must  be  restrained,  if  restrained  at  all,  by  convinc 
ing  their  judgment  that  dissipation  led  to  ruin  and  death  ;  by  a 
conviction  that  temperance  was  the  way  to  prosperity,  happiness, 
health  and  longevity;  that  their  sympathies  must  be  enlisted  in 
the  cause  by  moral  suasion,  which  was  the  only  effectual  lever  to 
bear  on  such  a  work ;  that  penal  and  prohibitory  laws  had  in 
every  instance,  proved  a  total  failure,  and  were  calculated  to  pro 
voke  resistance.  It  was  hard  to  establish  the  belief  that  liquor 
was  not  property  which  men  might  not  defend  from  destruction, 
and  the  principle  was  the  same  whether  ten  dollars  worth  of  li 
quor  was  destroyed  or  ten  millions  worth.* 

The  friends  of  the  bill  argued  that  as  the  people  of  this  State 
were  law  abiding  they  would  not  resist  so  beneficent  a  law.  Every 
man  in  society  or  government  had  to  yield  something  of  his  sav 
age  liberty — the  liberty  of  each  was  circumscribed  by  the  equal 
liberty  of  all.  The  effect  of  intemperance  in  producing  crime  and 
pauperism  called  for  taxation  to  defray  and  support  a  double  wrong. 
It  might  destroy  a  husband  or  son,  in  whom  the  wife  or  mother  had 
a  right  of  support — a  form  of  property.  1  f'lujiior  was  property,  so 
was  iron,  yet  convert  that  iron  into  counterfeiting  tools  it  became 
contraband  and  lost  the  character  of  property.  All  things  were 
sacred  until  desecrated.  Man  was  entitled  to  personal  liberty, 
yet  inebriation  would  subject  him  to  arrest  under  police  regula 
tions  •,  liberty  was  regulated  by  law  j  governments  were  instituted 
among  men  to  promote  their  general  welfare,  and  prevent  wrong 
and  injury  to  the  rights  of  persons  and  property.  The  general 
good  of  the  people  was  the  object  of  all  law,  and  whatever  stood 
in  the  way  of  its  attainment  should  be  removed  by  appropriate 
legislation.  Finally,  it  simply  resolved  itself  into  a  question  whether 
intemperance  was  an  evil,  and  whether  intoxicating  liquors  pro 
duced  intemperance.t 

*  Illinois  State  Register,  April  1853. 
t  Journal  (111.  State,)  March.  1855. 


608  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

The  Hon.  B.  S.  Edwards,  a  lawyer  of  ability  and  eminent 
standing,  framed  the  bill,  and  labored  earnestly  before  the  peo 
ple  to  secure  its  adoption;  many  others,  influenced  by  philan 
thropic  motives,  did  the  same.  The  State  received  a  pretty  thor 
ough  canvassing  by  speakers  and  the  press.  But  politicians,  a 
craven  set,  with  an  eye  ever  to  the  future  of  their  personal  ad 
vancement,  stood  aloof  from  it.  The  opponents  circulated  gar 
bled  copies  of  it  among  farmers,  with  forged  interpolations,  for 
bidding  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  cider.  The  bill  read,  if  a 
man  was  found  drunk  and  committed  a  breach  of  the  peace,  he 
should  be  arrested.  From  this  the  words  "committing  a  breach  of 
the  peace'7  were  omitted.  It  was  further  characterized  as  the  great 
abomination  of  modern  times — it  circumscribed  the  privilege  of  the 
citizen,  it  outraged  his  free  con  science,  and  by  its  adoption  liberty 
would  be  crushed.  The  bill  was  defeated  before  the  people  by  a 
small  aggregate  majority.  The  southern  counties  voted  mostly 
against  it,  and  the  northern,  Avith  the  exception  of  Cook  and  Hock 
Island,  for  it. 

Maine  Law  Riot  in  Chicago. — Section  36  of  the  prohibitory  bill 
provided  that  "  all  laws  authorizing  the  granting  of  licenses  to 
sell  spirituous,  intoxicating  or  mixed  liquors  shall  be  repealed 
from  and  after  the  date  of  the  passage  of  this  act" — February 
12th.  Section  39  read  :  "The  provisions  of  this  act  shall  take 
effect  on  the  first  Monday  of  July  next,"  provided  that  if  a  major 
ity  of  the  ballots  to  be  deposited  were  against  prohibition  then  the 
act  was  to  be  of  no  force  or  effect  whatever.  Section  39  being  a 
later  expression  of  the  will  of  the  legislature  than  the  connieting 
provision  of  section  36,  according  to  numerical  order,  ought 
plainly  to  have  prevailed.  In  March  the  city  council  of  Chicago, 
said  ta  have  been  Knownothing,  required"  all  persons  selling 
liquor  to  take  out  license  at  the  rate  of  $300  a  year.  Many  of  the 
saloon-keepers  were  Germans.  These,  acting  under  legal  advice 
as  to  the  construction  of  the  State  prohibitory  law,  that  the  city 
had  no  legal  authority  to  issue  licenses  from  February  to  July, 
and  that  every  person  choosing  to  had  the  right  to  sell  liquor 
within  that  period  according  to  section  36,  refused  to  comply  with 
the  requirements  of  the  council,  and  continued  to  sell  liquors. 
Warrants  were  issued,  and  some  30  German  saloon-keepers  were 
arrested.  The  question  being  an  important  one,  it  was  concluded 
to  try  them  before  Judge  Bucker.  On  the  day  set  Germans 
thronged  the  court  room  until  it  was  impossible  to  proceed  with 
the  trials.  The  police  cleared  the  room,  and  the  crowd  retired  to 
the  next,  from  which,  on  account  of  their  noise,  they  were  also  ex 
cluded.  With  the  beating  of  drums  the  crowd  now  took  posses 
sion  of  the  sidewalk  on  Eandolph  street,  excluded  the  passing  pe 
destrians,  and,  armed  with  bludgeons,  knives  and  pistols,  speed 
ily  developed  into  a  mob,  insulting  every  one  coming  within  range, 
and  bidding  defiance  to  the  police.  The  latter  attempted  to  open 
the  sidewalk  by  force,  and  a  general  melee  ensued,  resulting  in 
the  death  of  two  policemen,  as  many  Germans,  and  the  serious 
wounding  of  a  great  number.  The  streets  were  cleared,  and  order 
re-established  by  the  aid  of  the  military  ;  53  Germans  were  ar 
rested  and  lodged  in  jail.  It  was  a  day  of  outraged  law,  disgrace 


MATTESON'S  ADMINISTRATION.  609 

and  blood  for  Chicago.     On   the  next  day  (Sunday,)   the  city  was 
put  under  martial  law. 

OUR  COMMON  SCHOOLS. 

Trials  Incident  to  the  Establishment  of  the  Free  School  System. — 
The  free  school  system,  entered  upon  in  1855,  marks  the  turn 
ing  point  in  the  history  of  common  school  education  of  the  State. 
The  right  of  the  State  to  maintain  such  a  system  is  founded  upon 
the  idea  that  where  ignorance  predominates  vice  and  crime  are  its 
inseparable  concomitants,  and  that  by  education  the  masses  will 
be  elevated,  society  benefited,  offenses  lessened,  and  good  gov 
ernment  promoted.  But  the  main  incentive  to  its  establish 
ment  in  Illinois  was  the  great  necessity  that  efficiency  be  infused 
into  the  cause  of  education;  and  the  a  wakening  of  the  people  from 
the  deep  lethargy  into  which  they  had  sunk  to  an  appreciation  of 
its  importance.  Keeping  in  view  the  wonderful  power  of  money 
upon  all  the  affairs  of  men,  it  \vas  invoked  in  this  case  to  stir  them 
up,  and  a-  law  was  devised  which  offered  essentially  a  premium  to 
stimulate  them  to  take  hold  of  those  benefits  \vhich  had  been  ten 
dered  them  for  10  years  past  under  then  existing  laws,  but  which 
they  had  steadily  refused  to  fully  accept.  The  main  feature  of  the 
law  is  bringing  the  strong  hand  of  government,  operating  through 
the  taxing  power,  to  bear  upon  the  property  of  the  State,  and 
causing  it  to  contribute  to  the  education  of  its  youth.  To  effect 
this  was  no  easy  task.  Many  old  and  deep-rooted  prejudices  as  to 
taxation  for  this  purpose  had  to  be  eradicated  5  the  judgment  of 
men  as  to  its  power  and  rightful  ness  was  to  be  convinced  ;  false 
ideas  of  economy  for  ten  years  sedulously  pursued  by  the  State, 
were  to  be  unlearned  ;  ignorant  parents  enlightened ;  and  teachers 
of  the  requisite  qualifications  and  earnestness  obtained.  It  was  a 
problem  both  difficult  and  delicate  5  but  indefatigable  men  labored 
unceasingly  for  its  solution,  and  it  was  finally  accomplished  ;  and 
the  law  and  its  results  point  an  instructive  lesson  in  the  science 
of  government. 

The  ordinance  of  1787,  declared  knowledge  in  connection  with 
religion  and  morality,  "  to  be  necessary  to  the  good  government 
and  happiness  of  mankind,"  and  enjoined  that  "schools  and  the 
means  of  education  shall  forever  be  encouraged."  Accordingly, 
congress,  in  the  Enabling  Act  for  this  State,  April  18,  1818,  ap 
propriated  3  per  cent,  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  pub 
lic  lands,  lying  within  her  limits,  for  the  encouragement  of  learn 
ing,  l-16th  parth  thereof  to  be  exclusively  bestowed  on  a  college 
or  university.  Two  townships,  one  then  and  one  sometime  prior, 
were  besides  donated  for  founding  and  maintaining  a  seminary  of 
learning.  The  proceeds  of  the  3  per  cent,  fund  and  the  sales  of 
the  seminary  lands,  were  blended  in  1835,  and  borrowed  by  the 
State  at  6  per  cent.,  the  interest  to  be  annually  distributed  for 
school  purposes.  In  1845  the  receipts  of  the  proceeds  of  the  3 
per  cent,  school  fund  were  suspended  for  a  time.  Owing  to  the 
embarrassed  condition  of  the  finances,  this  State,  like  many  others. 
had  stopped  paying  interest  on  her  public  debt,  and  congress,  by 
resolution,  ordered  the  3  per  cent,  fund  to  be  withheld  from  them 
and  applied  toward  the  payment  of  interest  on  bonds  held  in  trust 
by  the  general  government.  This  action  was  denounced  at  home 
39 


610  HISTOTJY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

as  a  grievous  and  unwarranted  wrong,  but  our  delegation  in  con 
gress  raised  no  voice  against  it.  After  the  Mexican  war  the  free 
entry  of  lands  by  land  warrants  caused  the  3  percent,  fund  to  be 
materially  lessened,  and  the  legislature,  in  1849,  authorized  its 
proceeds  to  be  invested  in  Illinois  bonds,  then  low  in  market, 
which  would  have  been  a  wise  expedient  for  the  8  preceding  years 
but  now  nothing  much  came  of  it.  The  seminary  fund  received 
additions  from  time  to  time,  as  sales  were  made,  and  in  1801,  the 
residue  of  the  laud  was  turned  over  to  the  agricultural  college, 
the  principal  of  the  fund  being  $59,838.  The  State  in  1857  had 
set  apart  the  interest  of  the  college  and  seminary  funds  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  normal  university,  except  one-fourth  for 
the  deaf  and  dumb  asylum.  In  1837  the  legislature  added  to 
the  common  school  fund  the  proceeds  of  the  surplus  revenue  of 
the  U.  S.,  distributed  to  the  several  States  by  act  of  congress, 
amounting  at  that  time,  to  $132,850,  the  State  paying  interest 
thereon  at  the  rate  of  0  per  cent.  This  fund  thus  escaped  being 
swallowed  up  in  the  vortex  of  the  internal  improvement  system  of 
that  period.  The  several  sums  thus  derived  may  be  called  the 
permanent  State  common  school  fund,  the  whole  amounting, 
when  the  tree  school  system  was  entered  upon  in  1855,  to  $951,- 
504,  yielding  an  annual  interest  of  $57,700,  one-fourth  of  which 
was  distributed  to  the  deaf  and  dumb  asylum. 

But  a  more  important  and  really  inuniticent  donation  from  con 
gress  was  the  16th  section  of  every  congressional  township,  or  if 
sold,  lands  equivalent  thereto,  as  contiguous  as  might  be,  for  the 
use  of  the  inhabitants  of  such  township  for  school  purposes. 
This  amounted  to  998,448  89-100  acres,  which,  had  it  been  prop 
erly  husbanded  and  managed,  would  have  given  the  people  such 
an  ample  school  fund  as  would  have  saved  them  from  local  taxa 
tion.  One  trouble  of  most  new  countries  is  that  immigrants  come 
empty-handed  and  are  both  averse  and  unable  to  pay  taxes.  Such 
was  emphatically  the  case  in  Illinois  at  an  early  day.  To  the 
sentiments  of  a  people,  lawmakers,  seeking  office  at  their  hands, 
will  bend,  and  the  result  in  Illinois,  was  that  as  early  as  1828, 
with  an  empty  treasury  and  the  fear  of  providing  adequate  rev 
enue  by  taxation,  the  legislature  unfortunately  authorized  the  sale 
of  the  school  lands,  and  borrowed  the  proceeds  to  defray  the  cur 
rent  public  expense.  At  first  the  lands  were  leased  and  squatted 
on  to  a  large  extent.  The  occupants  shortly  desiring  better  titles, 
possessing  the  elective  franchise,  and  being  united  by  a  common 
interest,  their  influence  with  our  law-makers  was  sufficient  to  pro 
cure  the  passage  of  laws  to  sell  them  at  very  low  prices,  and  thus 
this  magnificent  gift  of  the  nation  for  the  highest  of  purposes,  was 
in  great  part  squandered.  The  seminary  township  largely  shared 
the"  same  fate.  By  1855  the  township  fund  amounted  to  $1,441, - 
427,  yielding  then"  an  annual  interest  of  $111,191.  In  1808  the 
principal  was  $4,873,232,  varying  in  different  townships  from  $100 
to  more  than  $100,000,  owing  to  losses  and  maladministration  in 
the  one  case,  and  provident  management,  a  later  settlement  of  the 
districts,  and  fortuitous  circumstances  as  to  location  in  the  other. 

In  1835,  as  we  have  noted,  the  interest  on  the  several  school 
funds  thus  borrowed  by  the  State,  Avas  first  distributed  to  the 
counties  according  to  the  number  of  children  under  21  years,  to 
be  paid  to  teachers  at  a  rate  of  not  more  than  one-half  due  them 


MATTESON'S   ADMINISTRATION.  611 

for  services  rendered  in  the  preceding  12  months,  the  overplus, 
it'  any,  to  constitute  forever  a  county  school  fund,  a  wise  pro 
vision,  but  lost  in  the  subsequent  changes  of  the  law.  Of  course 
there  was  no  county  fund  made  if  the  distributive  share  was  less  than 
one-half  the  sums  due  to  teachers;  hence  there  are  some  counties 
without  this  fund.  The  aggregate  county  fund  in  1855  was  about 
$50,000.  In  1852  the  balance  of  the  swamp  and  overflowed  lands, 
after  paying  for  drainage  and  levees  built  to  reclaim  them,  was 
granted  to  the  counties  where  situate,  their  proceeds  to  be  equally 
divided  among  the  townships  for  educational  purposes,  roads  and 
bridges,  as  might  be  deemed  expedient.  In  1853  the  tines  col 
lected  and  criminal  forfeitures  on  bail  were  further  added  to  the 
school  fund  and  school  property  was  exempted  from  taxation. 

The  first  free  school  system  of  this  State  was  adopted  30  years 
before  the  present  one.  Schools  flourished  in  almost  every  neigh 
borhood,  and  the  law  " worked  admirably  well."*  Gov.  Coles,  in 
his  message  to  the  legislature  of  1824-5,  directed  attention  to  the 
liberal  donation  of  congress  in  lands  for  educational  purposes, 
asking  that  they  be  husbanded  as  a  rich  treasure  for  future  gen 
erations,  and  in  the  meantime  to  make  provision  for  the  support 
of  local  schools.  Later  during  the  session,  Joseph  Duncan,  after 
wards  governor,  then  a  senator,  introduced  the  bill  for  this  act. 
The  preamble  declares  that : 

"To  enjoy  our  rights  and  liberties,  we  must  understand  them  ;  their 
security  and  protection  ought  to  be  the  first  object  of  a  free  people  ;  and 
it  is  a  well  established  fact  that  no  nation  has  ever  continued  long  in 
the  enjoyment  of  civil  and  political  freedom  which  was  not  both  virtu 
ous  and  enlightened.  And  believing  that  the  advancement  of  literature 
always  has  been  and  ever  will  be  the  means  of  more  fully  developing 
the  rights  of  man — that  the  mind  of  every  citizen  in  a  republic  is  the 
common  property  of  society,  and  constitutes  the  basis  of  its  strength  and 
happiness — it  is  therefore  considered  the  peculiar  duty  of  a  free  govern 
ment,  like  ours,  to  encourage  and  extend  the  improvement  and  cultiva 
tion  of  the  intellectual  energies  of  the  whole." 

It  \vas  provided  that  common  schools  should  be  established, 
free  and  open  to  every  class  of  white  citizens  between  the  ages  of  5 
and  21  •  and  persons  over  21  might  be  admitted  on  such  terms  as 
the  trustees  should  prescribe.  Districts  of  not  less  than  15  fami 
lies  were  to  be  formed  by  the  county  courts  upon  petition  of  a  ma 
jority  of  the  voters  thereof  5  officers  were  to  be  elected,  sworn  in, 
and  their  duties  were  prescribed  in  detail.  The  system  was  full 
and  complete  in  all  particulars.  The  legal  voters  were  empowered 
at  the  annual  meeting  to  levy  a  tax,  in  money  or  merchantable 
produce  at  its  cash  value,  not  exceeding  £  off  per  cent.,  subject 
to  a  maximum  limitation  of  $10  to  ;my  one  person.  But  aside 
from  this  tax,  the  best  and  most  effective  feature  of  the  law,  in 
principle,  the  great  stimulant  of  our  present  system,  was  an  an 
nual  appropriation  by  the  State  of  $2  out  of  every  $100  received 
into  the  treasury,  and  the  distribution  of  5-0  of  theinterest  arising 
from  the  school  funds,  apportioned  among  the  several  counties  ac 
cording  to  the  number  of  white  children  under  the  age  of  21  years, 
which  sums  were  then  re-distributed  by  the  counties  among  their 
respective  districts,  none  participating  therein  where  riot  at  least 
3  months  school  had  been  taught  during  the  12  months  preced 
ing.  In  this  law  were  foreshadowed  some  of  the  most  valuable 

*  Gov.  Ford. 


612  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

features  of  our  present  efficient  free  school  system.  But  it  is  as 
serted  tbat  the  law  of  1825  was  in  advance  of  the  times  ;  that  the 
people  preferred  to  pay  their  tuition  fees,  or  do  without  education 
for  their  children,  rather  than  submit  to  the  bare  idea  of  taxation, 
however  it  might  fall  in  the  main  upon  the  wealthier  property- 
holders  for  the  benefit  of  all ;  and  the  law  was  so  amended  in  1827 
as  to  virtually  nullify  it,  by  providing-  that  no  person  should  be 
taxed  for  the  maintenance  of  any  school  unless  his  consent  was 
first  obtained  in  writing,  and  the  continuance  of  the  State  appro 
priation  of  $2  out  of  every  $100  received  into  the  treasury,  being 
its  very  life,  was  denied.  The  legislature  of  1827,  unlike  its  prede 
cessor,  not  only  in  this  but  many  other  respects,  was  one  of  the 
worst  that  has  ever  afflicted  the  State. 

After  that  there  were  repeated  amendments  and  revisions  of  the 
school  law  by  the  legislature,  but  for  the  want  of  the  vital  prin 
ciple  of  the  taxing  power,  little  efficiency  was  imparted  to  the 
cause  of  education  in  Illinois.  For  18  years,  it  may  be  said,  the 
darkness  of  ignorance  hung1  over  the  land,  unrelieved  by  a  ray  of 
promise  in  the  right  direction.  Still,  zealous  men  labored  inde- 
fatigably  in  the  cause.  In  1844  an  earnest  common  school  conven 
tion  met  in  Peoria,  and,  after  deliberation,  Messrs.  John  S.  Wright, 
of  Chicago,  H.  M.  Weed,  of  Lewiston,  and  Thomas  M.  Kilpatrick, 
of  Winchester,  drafted  a  memorial  to  the  legislature  in  favor  of 
an  efficient  common  school  system,  which  is  an  able  and  exhaust 
ive  document  on  the  subject.*  To  arouse  public  interest  and  stir 
up  the  masses  to  the  necessity  of  educating  their  children  they 
deemed  of  prime  importance,  and  to  this  end  pleaded  earnestly 
for  a  State  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  as  a  separate  a  nil 
distinct  officer,  with  a  fair  salary,  whose  duty  it  should  be,  among 
other  tjiings,  to  travel  into  every  county  and  neighborhood  in  the 
State,  deliver  lectures  to  the  people,  impress  upon  them  the 
importance  of  education,  carefully  examine  such  schools  as  there 
were,  note  the  operation  of  the  existing  law,  learn  the  wishes  and 
plans  of  the  people,  and  from  sources  outside  of  the  State  collect 
such  valuable  information  as  could  be  obtained  respecting  im 
provements,  &c.,  and  report  from  time  to  time  to  the  legislature. 
That  such  an  officer  would  see  to  it  that  the  public  moneys  raised 
were  rightfully  applied  and  made  useful  in  the  highest  degree. 
Gov.  Ford  added  his  recommendation,  saying  such  an  officer 
"  must  be  a  rare  man,  endowed  Avith  talents,  zeal  and  discretion 
of  the  highest  order."  They  further  declared  education  a  public 
benefit,  indispensable  to  the  welfare  of  the  State,  and  as  much  en 
titled  to  support  from  general  taxation  as  the  judiciary,  or  the 
maintenance  of  public  highways;  and  asked  why  single  out  edu 
cation  from  ail  other  public  benefits  and  exempt  a  man's  prop 
erty  from  paying  its  expense.  Well  knowing,  however,  the  then 
crippled  condition  of  the  State  treasury,  resulting  from  the  late 
internal  improvement  scheme,  they  asked  no  contribution  Iroin 
it,  but  boldly  recommended  local  taxation,  and  frankly  acknowl 
edged  that  their  every  eifort  was  intended  as  a  lure  to  draw  the 
people  into  the  grasp  of  the  awful  monster,  a  school  tax.  Let 
them  but  give  permission  to  use  this  monster  to  those  so  inclined, 
and  others,  seeing  the  result,  would  fall  into  his  embrace.  In 

*  See  111,  Reports,  1845. 


MATTESON'S  ADMINISTRATION.  613 

. i 

other  words,  allow  such  townships  or  districts  as  wanted,  by  a 
majority  of  their  legal  voters,  to  adopt  this  method  of  sustaining 
their  schools.  The  local  tax  would  incite  inquiry,  and  insure  the 
faithful  use  of  the  public  money,  both  from  the  State  treasury  and 
the  township  fund. 

The  legislature  at  the  session  of  1844-5,  unable  to  resist  the 
force  of  this  reasoning,  yielded  its  partial  assent.  Actuated  by  a 
feeling  of  economy,  under  the  pressure  of  the  times,  the  secretary 
of  State,  already  burdened  with  the  business  of  his  office,  was 
made  ex-officio  State  superintendent  of  public  instruction;  and  in 
reference  to  local  taxation  it  was  required  that  a  two- thirds  legal 
vote  of  any  district  concur  in  ordering  the  tax.  Considering  the 
influence  of  large  property  holders,  who  were  mostly  opposed  to 
the  assessment  of  taxes  for  school  purposes,  it  may  well  be  imag 
ined  that  little  school  revenue  was  thence  derived.  Indeed  the 
whole  of  the  local  school  taxes  for  the  years  1846-47  did  not 
amount  to  1  mill  on  the  $100  of  taxable  wealth  of  the  State.  The 
auditor  was  to  distribute  the  interest  of  the  State  school  fund  ac 
cording  to  the  number  of  children  in  each  county  under  20  years, 
based  upon  the  preceding  census,  and  these  distributive  shares 
were  again  to  be  distributed  by  the  counties  to  the  townships  ac 
cording  to  the  number  of  children  in  each,  under  21.  But  if  no 
school  had  been  taught  for  10  months  preceding,  the  money  was 
to  be  added  to  the  principal  of  the  township  fund.  Many  of  the 
features  of  the  law  of  1845  are  incorporated  in  that  of  1855. 

As  a  qualification  for  teaching,  the  law  required  a  knowledge  of 
reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  geography,  grammar  and  history, 
which,  strange  as  it  may  now  appear,  was  far  too  high  a  standard, 
and  many  districts  were  deprived  of  their  distributive  shares  of 
the  State  school  fund  on  this  account. 

Thus,  while  the  statute  books  were  swollen  with  school  laws, 
this,  like  many  others  which  preceded  it  being  most  voluminous 
and  anything  but  clear,  repelling  nearly  all  from  reading  it,  the 
cause  of  education  was  not  carried  into  as  vigorous  and  efficient 
operation  as  might  have  been  done  under  the  law,  and  a  most  la 
mentable  apathy  still  pervaded  the  people.  In  many  counties  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  State,  and  notably  in  Cook,  the  schools 
were  in  a  flourishing  condition.  But  out  of  the  99  counties  in  the 
State,  the  secretary  of  State,  ex-officio  superintendent,  in  1846, 
was  able  to  obtain  reports  from  57  only,  as  to  the  condition  of 
their  schools.  The  county  school  commissioners  received  very 
inadequate  compensation,  and  were  mostly  'negligent  of  their  du 
ties  or  incompetent. 

In  1847  the  standard  of  the  qualification  for  teachers  was  low 
ered,  or  sought  to  be  brought  within  the  reach  of  the  material  that 
existed,  by  amending  the  school  law  so  as  to  allow  the  granting 
of  certificates  for  any  one  or  more  of  the  before  named  branches, 
as  the  applicant  might  desire ;  and  the  requirement  of  a  §  vote 
to  levy  a  local  tax  was  was  modified  to  a  majority  of  all  the  legal 
votes  of  any  district — whence  it  followed  that  a  simple  absence 
could  defeat  the  tax,  and  as  might  be  expected,  great  difficulty 
was  experienced  to  induce  a  sufficient  number  of  voters  to  assem 
ble,  and  efficiency  was  still  in  abeyance.  In  1849  the  qualification 
of  teachers  was  raised  to  the  former  grade,  subject,  however,  to 
the  will  of  directors,  as  to  any  of  the  branches,  and  a  certificate 


614  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

of  that  kind  was  valid.  The  local  tax  which  might  be  levied  was 
limited  to  25  cents  on  the  $100,  its  purpose  to  be  designated.  In 
corporated  towns  and  cities  were  allowed  to  go  to  50  cents  on  the 
$100.  Li  1851  a  majority  of  the  legal  voters,  attending  at  any 
legally  convened  meeting  for  the  purpose,  were  allowed  to  levy 
a  local  tax  not  exceeding  $1  on  every  $100  of  the  taxable  prop 
erty  of  the  district.  The  taxable  wealth  of  the  State  at  this  time  ex 
ceeded  $100,000,000,  and  $1,000,000  might  have  been  raised,  which 
added  to  the  State  school  fund  annually  distributed,  and  that  of  tlie 
township,  would  have  furnished  the  people  an  ample  fund  for  a  com 
plete  free  school  system.  But  it  depended  upon  their  election 
to  avail  of  it,  and  instead  of  $1,000,000  and  more,  we  iind  that 
for  the  year  1852  the  total  local  ad  valorem  school  tax  in  the  whole 
State  amounted  to  only  $51,000,  being  less  than  one-twentieth 
part  of  the  limits  of  the  law.  Mr.  Gregg,  secretary  of  State  and 
superintendent  of  public  instruction  at  the  time,  says:  "  I  am  not 
aware  that  in  a  single  instance  has  this  been  done  [that  is,  the 
full  benefit  of  the  law^  availed  of],  nor  can  any  motive  be  assigned 
for  the  action  of  the  people  in  this  respect,  unless  it  grows  out  of 
a  preference  for  the  system  which  now  prevails."  The  school  law, 
in  educational  effects,  was  a  dead  letter. 

As  stated  in  the  outset,  the  problem  remained  how  to  lift  pub 
lic  sentiment  from  the  slough  of  apathy  into  which  it  had  sunk, 
to  the  great  importance  of  education.  Happily,  from  many 
parts  of  the  State  the  question  of  a  general  free  school  system 
was  beginning  to  be  agitated.  The  press,  which  had  long  stood 
aloof,  took  hold  and  began  to  discuss  the  subject  in  earnest.  The 
Illinois  Teacher,  a  publication  devoted  to  the  cause  of  education 
and  numbering  among  its  contributors  many  of  the  ablest  teach 
ers,  exerted  a  wide  influence  and  did  efficient  service.  The  finan 
cial  condition  of  the  State,  too,  wras  undergoing  a  most  desirable 
change.  Our  rapid  increase  in  population  and  wealth  was  dissi 
pating  the  clouds  of  embarrassment  which  for  10  years  had  cast 
their  shadow  over  the  land,  and  the  people  beheld  the  future 
bright  with  promise.  The  railroad  era  had  dawned  upon  the 
State,  a  new  impulse  was  given  to  its  development,  and  its  strides 
to  empire  were  unequaled.  Gov.  Matteson,  in  his  inaugural  mes 
sage,  in  a  forcible  manner  directed  attention  to  the  great  impor 
tance  of  a  broad  and  comprehensive  common  school  system,  free 
to  all  alike,  and  supported  by  a  tax  upon  all  the  property  in  the 
State,  to  fit  the  rising  generation  in  its  intellectual  capacity  for 
the  proper  direction  of  the  grand  future  of  the  State.  Still  there 
were  in  the  then  views  of  the  people  many  weighty  objections  to  a 
scheme  of  such  extraordinary  State  dictation,  as  it  was  called. 
It  was  regarded  as  wholly  at  war  with  the  property  rights  of  the 
individual,  exacting  and  oppressive  to  those  unable  or  unwilling 
from  various  motives,  to  favorably  view  or  participate  in  the  com 
mon  advantages  to  be  derived  from  it;  and  the  legislature  ad 
journed  without  haAring  accomplished  anything  toward  a  solution 
of  the  problem. 

In  December,  1853,  anticipating  an  extra  session  of  the  legisla 
ture,  two  large  common  school  conventions  met,  one  at  Jersey  ville 
composed  of  many  adjoining  counties,  and  one  at  Bloomington, 
for  the  whole  State.  These  conventions,  whose  earnest  spirit  was 
widely  felt,  indicated  not  only  a  growing  dissatisfaction  with  the 


MATTESON'S  ADMINISTRATION.  G15 

existing  common  school  system,  but  evinced  a  ripened  determina 
tion  in  the  public  mind  to  make  a  radical  change.  These  move 
ments,  and  the  very  general  approbation  of  their  expressions, 
were  so  emphatic  as  to  produce  a  decided  impression  upon  the 
general  assembly,  which  met  in  February  following,  and  took  the 
first  step  ii»  the  right  direction,  by  the  enactment  of  a  law  separa 
ting  the  office  of  superintendent  of  public  instruction  from  that 
of  secretary  of  State,  the  former  being  neglected  on  account  of 
the  arduous  duties  of  the  latter,  and  creating  it  a  distinct  depart 
ment  of  State  government,  the  incumbent  to  receive  a  salary  of 
$1500.  Besides  other  duties,  he  was  required  to  draft  a  bill  em 
bodying  a  system  of  free  education  for  all  the  children  of  the  State, 
and  report  it  to  the  next  general  assembly.  On  the  15th  of  March, 
1854,  Gov.  Matteson  appointed  the  Hon.  N.  W.  Edwards  State 
superintendent  of  common  schools.  This  most  important  office, 
at  that  juncture,  was  bestowed  upon  Mr.  Edwards  on  account  of 
his  long  experience  in  public  life,  and  from  the  conviction  that  he 
would  carry  into  effect  the  hopes  of  the  people  and  the  designs  of 
the  legislature  in  creating  it.  In  January  following  he  submitted 
to  the  general  assembly  a  full  report  upon  the  condition  of  the 
public  schools  throughout  the  State,  ably  urged  the  education  of 
the  children  in  the  State  at  the  public  expense,  and  presented  a  well- 
drawn  bill  for  a  complete  system  of  free  schools,  which,  with  some 
alterations,  became  a  law.  And  thus  the  great  desideratum,  long 
sought,  was  found  ;  and  the  earnest  and  indefatigable  men,  who 
had  labored  unceasingly  to  advance  the  cause  of  education,  and 
who  had  never  faltered  even  in  the  darkest  hours  of  the  State's 
finances,  were  rewarded  by  beholding  the  completed  machinery 
prepared  for  its  accomplishment. 

The  act  bore  date  Feb.  15,  1855,  and  embraced  all  the  essential 
principles  now  in  force.  In  them,  as  we  said  in  the  outset,  is 
evinced  something  of  the  science  of  government.  We  have  noted 
the  educational  needs  of  the  people,  and  how  they  might  have 
provided  the  means  under  the  laws  for  free  schools  in  every  dis 
trict  of  the  State,  but  they  would  not.  It  remained,  therefore,  to 
compel  them,  not  by  force  or  the  strong  arm  of  the  government, 
but  in  a  way  whose  results  would  be  fully  as  efficient.  And  this 
was  accomplished  by  recognizing  and  enforcing  the  principle  that 
the  State  has  the  sovereign  right  to  levy  and'collect  a  sufficient 
tax  from  the  real  anil  personal  property  within  its  limits,  and  ex 
pend  it  in  giving  its  youth  a  common  education.  For  State  pur 
poses  the  school  tax  was  fixed  at  2  mills  on  the  $100.  To  this  was 
added  the  interest  from  the  permanent  school  fund,  when  the 
whole  would  be  given  back  to  the  people,  f  of  it  in  proportion  to 
the  number  of  children  under  21  in  each  county,  and  the  residue  to 
the  townships,  whole  or  fractional.  In  allowing  territory  to  con 
trol  £  of  the  fund,  which  is  unvarying  in  the  distribution,  new  or 
sparsely  settled  counties  were  stimulated  to  the  establishment  of 
schools,  which  otherwise  could  not  have  coped  with  the  denser 
settlements.  But  before  the  State  fund  could  be  shared  in,  cer 
tain  prerequisites  must  be  complied  with.  A  free  school  had  to 
be  maintained  for  at  least  6  months  in  the  year,  and  it  was  made 
imperative  upon  the  directors  of  every  organized  school  district 
to  levy  such  a  tax  annually  as  if  added  to  the  public  funds  would 
be  sufficient  for  that  purpose;  and,  as  if  fearing  that  this  might 


616  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

not  prove  successful,  it  was  made  collectable  the  same  as  the  State 
ami  county  tax.  Other  taxes  might  still  be  voluntarily  added  by 
a  vote  of  the  people,  to  extend  the  term  of  schools,  build  or  repair 
school  houses,  purchase  sites,  &c.  The  local  tax  made  thus  obli 
gatory,  is,  however,  the  main  resource  of  our  free  school  system, 
which,  in  1868,  aggregated  $4,250,679.  The  public  school  funds 
having  reached  the  hands  of  the  township  trustees,  a  new  rule  ob 
tains  as  to  their  distribution  among  the  districts.  To  encourage 
school  attendance,  half  of  the  funds  are  apportioned  on  the  ex 
hibits  of  the  teachers'  schedules,  and  half  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  children  under  21  years  old  in  each  district.  Such  are 
the  leading  and  sagacious  combinations  of  the  scheme  to  bring 
education  nearer  to  the  people,  and  induce  them  to  partake  of  it. 
This  is  the  force  resorted  to  by  government  to  render  the  system 
efficient.  It  is  essentially  the  offering  of  large  yearly  premiums 
to  every  district  to  establish  and  maintain  a  free  school  for  its 
youth. 

The  new  school  system  showed  directly  a  marked  improvement 
in  educational  efforts  and  results.  Of  the  number  of  children  in 
the  State,  under  21,  only  about  one-third  attended  any  kind  of 
school  before  its  establishment,  now  the  average  reached  nearly 
half;  before,  the  total  number  of  schools  was  4,215,  now  the  num 
ber  rose  directly  to  7,694 ;  before,  the  average  monthly  wages  of 
teachers  were  $25  for  males  and  $12  for  females,  now  they  were 
reported  at  $45  and  $27,  respectively;  and  while  for  1854  the 
school  fund  (interest)  distributed  was  only  $37,155,  for  1855  it 
was  $665,025— $606.809  being  the  yield  of  the  2  mill  tax.  The 
cause  of  education  thus  at  once  received  an  impetus  which  has 
since  not  only  been  well  maintained  but  gained  velocity,  until 
to-day  the  free  school  system  of  Illinois,  among  the  very  best  in 
the  Union,  is  one  of  the  proudest  and  noblest  monuments  which 
she  has  erected  along  the  highway  of  her  career  toward  great 
ness,  and  who  will  dare  to  raise  his  ruthless  hand  to  tear  it  down  •? 

But  now  a  new  feature  of  opposition  to  the  new  school  system 
was  suddenly  deA'eloped,  which  clouded  the  vision  of  some  of  its 
staunchest  friends,  and  threatened  its  destruction.  This  grew 
out  of  the  collection  and  distribution  of  the  2  mill  tax,  which  acted 
very  unequally  in  the  different  counties.  Thus,  from  Cook  was 
collected  $30,000  more  than  she  received  back  as  her  distributive 
share;  Sangainon  paid  into  the  State  treasury  $23,132,  and 
received  back  $11,027 ;  and  from  all  the  wealthier  and  more  popu 
lous  counties,  with  varying  amounts,  the  same  results  obtained; 
while  others — for  instance  White — contributed  $2,579  as  her  share 
of  the  2  mill  tax,  and  received  back  a  distributive  share  of 
$5,409,  a  gain  of  over  100  per  cent.;  Pope  paid  in  $1,055,  and 
received  $4,239,  and  Hardin  paid  $894,  and  received  back  $2,417, 
being  more  than  4  times  the  sums  raised.  While  the  people  had 
been  gradually  brought  to  view  as  but  right  that  one  man's  pro 
perty  might  be  taxed  to  defray  the  expense  of  teaching  another's 
child,  the  idea  that  one  county  should  similarly  contribute  to 
another,  perhaps  hundreds  of  miles  distant,  was  regarded  as  the 
essence  of  injustice.  In  many  parts  of  the  State  their  complaints 
were  loud  and  deep,  and  meetings  were  held  in  1856  severely  de 
nouncing  the  law,  and  requiring  of  candidates  for  the  legislature 
pledges  to  favor  its  modification  or  repeal.  It  was  manifest  that 


MATTESON'S  ADMINISTRATION.  617 

a  flagrant  wrong-  existed  somewhere,  and  it  rested,  doubtless,  in 
great  part  with  the  unequal  valuations  of  real  and  personal 
property  in  the  different  counties,  as  in  Sangamon  lands  were 
valued  at  $12.54;  in  Christian,  $3.06;  in  White,  $2.52,  &c.;  but 
equalization  of  assessments  could  not  wholly  remedy  it — the 
spirit  and  cardinal  principles  of  the  free  school  system  were  that 
the  property  and  wealth  of  the  State  should  bear  the  burden  of 
educating  its  youth,  no  matter  in  whose  hands  it  was,  or  where 
situate.  The  framers  of  the  law  had  builded  better  than  they 
knew,  and  with  this  broad  idea,  comprehended  in  its  fullest  sense, 
the  efforts  at  amendment  by  the  legislature  in  1857  proved  abor 
tive.  It  is  the  vital  principle  of  the  law  to-day. 

There  being  still  a  great  dearth  in  teachers,  and  with  the  view 
also  to  attain  uniformity  in  the  modes  of  teaching  and  conducting 
schools,  at  the  session  of  1857  the  State  Normal  University  was 
established  at  Blooming  ton. 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 

DUELS  IN  ILLINOIS,  AND  ATTEMPTS  AT  DUELS. 
Affairs  of  Honor  and  Personal  Difficulties. 


The  soil  of  Illinois  lias  been  blood-stained  but  comparatively  a 
few  times  by  the  barbarous  code  duello.  Those  fierce  and  implaca 
ble  passions  which  in  controversy  know  no  final  argument  but  mor 
tal  combat  have  not  found  congenial  culture  on  the  level  plains  of 
the  Prairie  State,  The  records  and  details  of  the  actual  duels  fought 
are  particularly  meagre,  obscure  and  unsatisfactory.  But  we  are 
tempted  to  give  what  there  are.  Of  the  first  duel  fought  within 
the  present  limits  of  this  State  by  residents,  the  names  of  the  prin 
cipals  even  are  not  transmitted.  All  that  we  have  been  able  to 
find  recorded  regarding  it  may  be  found  in  Reynold's  Pioneer  His 
tory,  in  the  words  following: 

"At  the  time  the  English  troops  came  to  take  possession  of 
Fort  Chart-res,  [1765],  two  young  officers,  one  French  and  the 
other  English,  had  a  misunderstanding  at  the  Fort.  This  quar 
rel  arose  as  did  the  war  of  the  Greeks  against  the  Trojans,  on 
account  of  a  lady.  These  officers  fought  with  small  swords  early 
on  a  Sunday  morning,  near  the  fort,  and  in  the  combat  one  was 
killed.  The  other  left  the  fort  and  descended  the  river.  I  was 
informed  of  the  above  duel  nearly  50  years  ago,  by  a  very  aged 
Frenchman.  He  informed  me  of  the  details,  and  said  he  was  pres 
ent  and  saw  the  combat."  Eeynolds  wrote  this  about  1850,  and 
he  must  have  received  the  information  when  he  was  barely  12 
years  old. 

The  next  duel  of  which  wre  have  any  record,  occurred  in  1809, 
and  may  be  found  in  the  same  book.  It  proved  a  bloodless  affair 
at  the  time,  but  an  angry  quarrel  grew  out  of  it,  resulting  after 
wards  in  the  dastardly  assassination  of  one  of  the  principals. 
The  duel  was  arranged  between  Eice  Jones,  son  of  John  Eice 
Jones,  a  Welchman,  the  first  and  also  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers 
Illinois  has  ever  known,  and  Shadrach  Bond,  afterwards  the  first 
governor  of  the  State.  Jones,  the  elder,  settled  at  Kaskaskia  in 
1790,  but  upon  the  formation  of  the  Indiana  territory,  which  in 
cluded  Illinois,  removed  to  the  capital,  Yincennes,  where  he  at 
tained  prominence.  The  son  possessed  a  high  order  of  intellect, 
was  well  educated,  and  located  at  Kaskaskia  in  1806  to  practice 
the  profession  of  the  law.  He  drifted  into  politics,  and  by  his 
rare  ability  speedily  attained  to  the  leadership  of  his  party.  He 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  territorial  legislature,  which  met  at 
Vincennes.  His  talents,  prominence  and  influence  was  distasteful 
to  the  opposite  party,  if  it  did  not  arouse  jealousy  in  his  own. 

618 


DUELING.  619 


The  question  of  public  interest,  and  no  little  virulent  excitement 
at  the  time,  was  the  division  of  the  territory  by  the  detachment  of 
Illinois.  Young  Jones  and  Bond  became  involved  in  a  personal 
controversy;  a  challenge  and  acceptance  followed,  and  the  par 
ties  met  for  mortal  combat  on  an  island  in  the  Mississippi,  between 
St.  Genevieve  and  Kaskaskia.  The  weapons  were  hair  trigger 
pistols.  After  taking  their  positions  Jones'  weapon  was  prema 
turely  discharged.  Bond's  second,  named  Dunlap,  was  disinclined 
to  allow  it  as  an  inadvertence,  claiming  that  according  to  the 
code  it  was  Bond's  fire  next;  but  the  latter,  unwilling  to  take  so 
murderous  an  advantage  ot'his  adversary,  exclaimed  that  u  it  was 
an  accident,"  and  refused  to  lire.  To  conduct  so  noble  the  nature 
of  Jones  at  once  responded  in  an  amicable  spirit.  The  two  prin 
cipals  reconciled  their  difficulty  and  quitted  the  field  without  fur 
ther  conflict.  But  the  ignoble  conduct  of  Dunlap  rankled  and  led 
to  a  relentless  quarrel  between  him  and  Jones.  Hatred  grew 
apace  until  finally  the  malignant  heart  of  Dunlap  prompted  him 
to  assassinate  Jones  in  the  public  streets  of  Kaskaskia.  The  lat 
ter  was  standing  on  the  sidewalk  at  the  time,  conversing  with  a 
lady,  his  arms  resting  on  the  railing  of  a  gallery,  when  Dunlap 
crept  up  behind,  unobserved,  and  with  a  pistol  shot  Jones  dead  in 
his  tracks.  Thus  fell  by  the  hand  of  a  cowardly  assassin,  through 
a  feud  engendered  by  the  most  foolish  miscalled  code  of  honor,  in 
the  28th  year  of  his  age,  perhaps  the  most  promising  young  man 
of  the  period.  His  untimely  death,  coupled  with  the  manner  of 
it,  shocked  the  whole  community,  which  sincerely  mourned  his 
loss.  His  murderer  escaped  to  Texas  and  successfully  evaded  the 
just  punishment  due  him  from  an  earthly  tribunal.  In  1810  a  law 
was  adopted  by  the  governor  and  judges,  to  suppress  the  prac 
tice  of  dueling,  which  constituted  a  fatal  result  in  dueling  mur 
der,  making  the  aiders,  abettors  or  counselors  principals  in  the 
crime. 

Still  later,  in  the  same  work,  giving  a  sketch  of  the  well  known 
and  dauntless  pioneer  Rector  family,  consisting  of  9  sons  and  4 
daughters,  and  recounting  the  deeds  of  valor  performed  by  some 
of  them  in  the  west  during  the  war  of  1812,  the  author  records 
that  ''Thomas  Rector,  one  of  the  younger  brothers,  had  a  duel 
with  Joshua  Barton,  on  Bloody  Island,  opposite  St.  Louis,  and 
was  as  cool  in  that  combat,  as  if  he  were  shooting  at  a  deer  on 
the  prairie.  These  young  men  espoused  the  quarrel  of  theirelder 
brothers,  and  Barton  fell  in  the  conflict."  Ko  date  or  other  par 
ticulars  further  than  above  quoted,  are  appended,  but  it  occurred 
probably  sometime  during  the  war  of  1812.  Bloody  Island,  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  Illinois,  was  more  frequently  the  convenient 
and  safe  battle  ground  resorted  to  by  St.  Louis  or  Missouri  bel 
ligerents  for  the  settlement  of  their  personal  difficulties  by  the 
barbarous  rules  of  the  bloody  code,  than  Illinoisans,  a«d  this  is 
said  to  have  given  origin  to  the  horrid  name  by  which  the  island 
was  known. 

The  next  and  last  duel  which  resulted  fatally  between  Illinois 
citizens  and  upon  its  soil,  was  fought  within  the  limits  of  Belle 
ville,  in  February,  1819,  between  Alonzo  C.  Stuart  and  William 
Bennett.  It  grew  out  of  a  drunken,  carousal  in  which  besides  the 
combatants,  many  citizens  of  St.  Clair  county  participated. 
Stuart  and  Bennett  fell  out,  and  with  the  view  to  having  some 


620  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

rare  sport  and  making  a  butt  of  Bennett,  it  was  proposed  among 
the  outsiders  that  these  two,  to  settle  their  quarrel,  should  fight 
a  sham  duel.  Stuart  was  let  into  the  secret  but  Bennett  was  kept 
in  the  dark.  Both  parties  readily  agreed  to  the  duel.  Nathan 
Fike  and  Jacob  Short  acted  as  seconds.  The  weapons  selected 
were  rifles,  which  were  loaded  with  powder  only.  The  combat 
ants  fearlessly  took  their  position  on  the  field  at  40  paces,  and  at 
the  proper  signal,  Bennett  fired  with  good  aim,  and  to  the  horror 
of  every  one  present,  Stuart  fell  mortally  wounded  in  the  breast 
and  expired  almost  instantly.  Stuart,  to  high  ten  the  merriment 
against  his  antagonist,  had  not  fired  his  weapon  at  all,  but  Ben 
nett,  probably  suspecting  a  cheat  or  trick,  and  animated  by  malice 
was  proven  011  the  trial  to  have  secretly  slipped  a  ball  into  his 
rifle.  Stuart  was  a  most  estimable  citizen  and  his  untimely  death 
was  deeply  and  generally  regretted. 

Bennett  and  the  two  seconds,  Fike  and  Short,  were  arrested  and 
imprisoned.  In  the  spring  they  were  indicted  for  murder.  Daniel 
P.  Cook  was  prosecuting  attorney,  and  Thomas  H.  Benton,  of  St. 
Louis,  appeared  lor  the  defendants.  A  separate  trial  was  granted 
and  the  two  seconds  were  acquitted.  The  transaction  was  con 
demned,  yet  as  it  clearly  appeared  that  the  seconds  intended  no 
harm,  the  verdict  was  generally  approved.*  Next  Bennett  was  to 
be  tried,  but  having  learned  that  the  testimony  elicited  in  the  other 
cases  was  damaging  to  him,  he  broke  jail  and  made  his  escape 
into  Arkansas.  His  whereabouts  was  some  two  years  later  dis 
covered,  and  by  means  of  artifice,  ("which  was  not  approved," 
says  Reynolds,  the  judge,  who  sat  in  his  trial),  he  was  taken  back 
to  Belleville,  tried  in  1821,  at  a  special  term  of  the  court,  con 
victed  of  murder,  sentenced  and  executed. 

Gov.  Bond  was  strenuously  and  clamorously  besieged  for  a 
considerable  time  with  petitions  praying  a  pardon  for  the  doomed 
man,  but  without  avail.  He,  who  on  the  field,  as  we  have  seen, 
was  unwilling  to  take  an  advantage  of  his  deadly  foe,  would  not 
yield  to  entreaty  in  this  case,  and  William  Bennett  dangled  at 
the  rope's  end  till  he  was  dead,  in  presence  of  a  great  multitude 
of  spectators,  who  doubtless  took  in  a  great  moral  lesson.  To 
the  advocates  of  the  code,  his  fate  must  have  appeared  peculiarly 
hard.  They  may  have  well  conceived  that  Bennett,  in  ignorance 
of  the  sham  intended,  by  putting  a  ball  into  his  rifle  was  but 
doubly  assuring  his  defense  against  an  adversary  who  was  enti 
tled  to  an  equal  chance  with  him.  But  fatal  dueling  was  murder 
in  the  eye  of  the  law,  as  it  ever  should  be. 

Stone  Duel. — Among  the  motly  and  heterogenions  collection  of 
men  at  the  Galena  lead  mines  in  1829,  representing  almost  every 
nationality  of  the  civilized  world,  together  with  a  sprinkling  of 
Indians,  on  the  holy  Sabbath  might  be  witnessed,  within  the  limi 
ted  area  of  the  town,  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  dancing,  all 
manner  of  gambling  and  horse-racing  under  the  hill — it  was,  per 
haps,  not  astonishing  to  them  that  a  duel,  exceptionable  .and 
outlandish  in  form,  should  there  also  be  fought.  This  was  nothing 
less  than  a  deadly  set-to  by  the  throwing  of  stones.  The  chas 
tisement  inflicted  by  such  a  combat  is  something  tearful  to  con- 

*  Reynolds'  Life  and  Times. 


DUELING.  G21 


template — better  be  shot  into  fragments  than  bruised  and  mangled 
to  death  with  stones.  The  name  of  but  one  of  the  principals  in 
this  tight  is  recorded — the  same  Thomas  Higgins  of  whom  we 
have  already  related  a  marvelous  Indian  rencontre  during  the 
war  of  1812.  A  quarrel  between  him  and  another  was  arranged 
to  be  settled  by  this  cruel  w^ager  of  battle.  A  pile  of  stones  care* 
fully  assorted,'  both  as  to  number  and  size,  was  placed  within 
easy  reach  of  the  stand  or  post  of  the  respective  combatants, 
who  took  their  positions  ten  paces  apart.  The  dreadful  contiict 
was  to  open  by  the  hurling  of  these  stones  at  each  other  on  a 
given  signal  from  the  seconds.  The  stones  flew  fast  and  thick 
for  a  moment,  but  the  battle  was  of  short  duration,  Higgius  pro 
ving  too  brave,  dexterous  and  powerful  for  his  adversary,  who 
fled  in  great  precipitation  to  save  his  life.* 

We  now  approach  a  period  of  something  less  than  two  years  in 
the  annals  of  of  Illinois,  exceedingly  rife  with  belligerent  bluster. 
The  legislative  session  of  1840-1,  attended  by  much  political  strife 
and  vengeful  partisan  legislation,  was  also  fruitful  of  threatened 
combats  and  "affairs  of  honor"  between  members  and  other  offi 
cial  dignitaries.  Indeed,  one  honorable  senator,  Mr.  Hacker,  fond 
of  making  a  good  point,  improved  the  occasion  to  move  the  sus 
pension  of  the  dueling  law  for  two  weeks,  to  accommodate  all  the 
doughty  and  chivalrous  gentlemen  with  full  opportunity  to  settle 
their  personal  difficulties.  The  occasion  of  this  was  a  personal 
question  between  two  senators,  Messrs.  E.  D.  Baker  and  Judge 
Pearson.  The  former,  smarting  under  the  epithet  of  "falsehood," 
threatened  chastisement  to  the  latter  by  a  "fist-fight"  in  the  public 
street.  Pearson  declined  making  a  "blackguard"  of  himself,  but 
intimated  a  readiness  to  fight  as  gentlemen,  according  to  the  code 
of  honor.f 

The  exciting  presidential  contest  of  1840  resulted  in  the  defeat 
of  the  democracy.  The  chagrin  of  the  dominant  party  in  Illinois, 
which  had  gone  democratic,  seems  to  have  impelled  them  to  pro 
ceed  to  any  length  to  secure  absolute  control  of  every  department 
of  government  in  the  State.  The  two  questions  before  the  legisla 
ture  in  1840-1  to  secure  these  revengeful  partisan  ends,  were  are- 
peal  of  the  State  bank  charters,  and  the  reorganization  of  the  ju 
diciary.  It  had  been  assumed  by  the  democrats  that  the  supreme 
court,  which  was  composed  of  3  whigs  and  1  democrat,  would 
decide  the  Galena  alien  case,  pending  for  some  time,  against 
the  aliens,  and  against  the  wishes  and  interests  of  that  party.  To 
prevent  this,  or  to  overrule  a  decision  fraught  with  such  dire  re 
sults  to  that  party,  5  democratic  judges  were  added  to  the  court. 
The  measure,  looked  upon  as  a  revolutionary  one,  was  resisted 
step  by  step  by  the  whigs ;  the  debates  incident  to  it  took  a  wide 
range,  were  often  bitter  in  personal  invective  and  defiant  contra 
dictions,  and  threats  of  combats  and  affairs  of  honor  were  not  un- 
frequeut.  Among  others  in  these  debates,  the  Hon.  J.  J.  Hardiu 
shone  with  unwonted  power  and  brilliancy.  In  one  of  his  speeches 
the  Hon.  A.  E.  Dodge,  of  Peoria,  discovering,  as  he  thought,  an 
indignity  personal  to  himself,  took  exception,  and  an  "affair" 
seemed  imminent.  The  controversy  was  referred  to  "  friends,"  the 

'Reynolds'  Life  and  Times. 

tSee  111.  State  Register,  Feb.  12,  1841 


622  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

speaker  Hon.  W.  D.  Lee  Ewing,  and  Win.  A.  Richardson  acting 
for  Dodge,  and  J.  J.  Brown  and  E.  B.  Webb  for  Hardin.  These 
respective,  and  we  will  add,  sensible  and  judicious  u  friends,"  re 
ported  as  follows : 

"In  the  matter  of  controversy  and  misunderstandingexisting  between 
the  Hon.  J.  J.  Hardin  and  the  Hon.  A  R.  Dodge,  the  undersigned  (the 
respective  friends  of  the  parties,)  believe  that  no  cause  of  quarrel  now 
exists  ;  the  Hon.  J.  J.  Hardin  disavows  the  imputation  of  falsehood  as 
applied  to  the  Hon.  A.  R.  Dodge  personally — but  was  and  should  be  un 
derstood  as  denying  the  charge  that  the  whig  party  was  opposed  to  ex 
tending  the  right  of  suffrage  to  unnatural  izeu  foreigners;  and  to  the 
charge  in  general  terms  he  applied  the  epithets  "falsehood  and  calumny," 
and  not  to  Mr.  Dodge;  the  undersigned,  on  this  statement  of  the  case 
and  the  facts,  pronounce  the  difficulty  honorably  and  amicably  arranged 
and  settled,  and  should  be  so  received  by  those  gentlemen. 

Hereunto  we  set  our  hands.'' 

Another  "  affair"  growing  out  of  the  same  partisan  measure, 
which  gained  considerable  notoriety  at  the  time,  and  which  went 
a  step  farther,  was  that  of  the  Hon.  Theophilus  W.  Smith,  one  of 
the  supreme  judges,  and  the  Hon.  John  A.  McClernand,  then  a 
young  member  of  the  house.  McClernand,  as  we  have  seen,  hud 
some  two  years  prior  received  the  appointment  of  secretary  of 
State  from  Gov.  Carlin,  but  the  old  incumbent,  A.  P.  Field,  a  whig, 
refused  to  yield  up  the  office  to  him,  in  which  the  supreme  court 
had  sustained  him.  Much  partisan  feeling  had  been  stirred  up 
against  the  court  in  connection  with  this  case.  McClernand  now 
took  a  leading  and  very  active  part  in  the  passage  of  the  act 
which  returned  the  old  supreme  judges  to  the  drudgery  of  circuit 
duty.  He  made  an  acrimonious  speech  against  the  whig  members 
of  the  court,  charging  that  a  majority  of  that  tribunal  had  opinions 
prepared  at  one  time  to  decide  1  lie  alien  case  adversely  to  that 
class,  and  that  but  recently  the  whig  judges,  with  the  view  to  in 
fluence  legislation  upon  the  judiciary  bill,  had  evaded  the  consti 
tutional  question  in  the  case,  and  decided  it  upon  an  unimportant 
point.  He  had  this  information,  it  seems,  from  S.  A.  Douglas, 
but  held  himself  personally  responsible  also  for  the  assertion. 
Judge  Smith  (democrat,)  had  given  currency  to  these  reports 
against  his  associates,  but  now,  at  the  request  of  J.  J.  Hardin,  he 
joined  them  in  a  published  card  denying  that  such  ever  was  the 
fact.  A  number  of  gentlemen  in  their  cards  sustained  McClernand 
that  Smith  had  given  out  such  reports.  The  issue  of  fact  being 
thus  narrowed  down  against  this  functionary  of  the  supreme 
bench,  and  placed  thus  in  no  very  enviable  position  before  the 
public  and  his  associates,  he  was  stnng  to  the  sending  of  a  note  to 
McClernand  *by  the  hands  of  his  "friend,"  Dr.  Merriman  (said  to 
have  been  an  old  rover  of  the  high  seas,  and  who,  wTe  shall  see, 
was  mixed  up  in  nearly  all  the  "affairs"  of  that  period,)  penned 
in  such  discreet  language  that  it  might  be  construed  into  a  chal 
lenge  or  not;  but  the  impetuous  McClernand  promptly  accepted  it 
as  a  challenge,  holding  his  second  responsible  if  his  principal  should 
attempt  a  different  interpretation,  and,  without  further  parley,  as 
the  challenged  part}',  named  the  place  of  meeting,  which  was  to  be 
in  Missouri  ;  the  time,  early  ;  the  weapons,  rifles  ;  and  distance,  40 
paces.*  This  meant  business,  as  the  phrase  now  goes.  We  have 

*  The  Til.  State  Journal  of  Friday,  March  5th,  1851,  in  evident  allusion  to  this  case, 
gives  the  distance  at  60  yards 


DUELING.  623 


been  unable  to  obtain  a  view  of  the  correspondence  between  the 
belligerents,  which  was  not  published,  but  learn  from  reliable  au 
thority,  that  with  this  serious  aspect  of  the  case,  Josiah  Lainboru, 
the  attorney  general  of  the  State,  lodged  a  complaint  before  a  jus 
tice  of  the  peace  at  Springfield,  whereupon  a  warrant  issued  and 
the  pugnacious  gentleman  of  the  judicial  ermine  was  arrested  and 
placed  under  bonds  to  keep  the  peace.  The  "  affair"  being  thus 
interrupted,  Judge  Smith  took  his  departure  for  Chicago  to  enter 
upon  the  duties  of  his  circuit.  This  unexpected  termination  of  the 
"affair"  afforded  no  little  merriment  to  the  old-time  wags  and 
jokers  about  the  capital. 

Shields  and  Lincoln. — In  the  summer  of  1842,  at  the  worst  pe 
riod  of  the  hard  times,  when  both  the  State  bank  with  its  branches 
and  the  Shawneetown  bank  had  finally  collapsed  with  a  circula 
tion  of  $4,500,000,  about  the  only  circulating  medium  the  people 
had ;  the  notes  hardly  worth  50  cents  on  the  dollar,  gold  and  sil 
ver  very  scarce,  business  prostrated  and  the  people  dejected, 
Governor  Carlin,  Auditor  Shields  and  Treasurer  Carpenter,  as 
"officers  of  State,'7  issued  their  proclamation,  notifying  the  va 
rious  tax  collectors  that  the  revenue  would  have  to  be  paid  into 
the  treasury  in  specie  or  at  specie  rates,  that  the  State  bank 
notes  would  not  be  taken  at  their  face  value,  and  that  they  would 
be  held  responsible  for  any  deficit  between  their  current  value 
and  specie.  Whereupon  the  collectors  demanded  gold  and  silver 
or  its  equivalent  from  the  people  in  payment  of  their  taxes.  This 
•\vas  a  great  hardship  at  the  time.  An  act  of  1836  had  authorized 
the  collection  of  taxes  in  State  bank  paper,  giving  discretion, 
however,  to  the  governor,  auditor  and  treasurer,  to  suspend  this 
provision  of  the  law  and  demand  payment  in  specie.  The  notes 
of  the  Shawneetown  bank  were  not  covered  by  the  law.  But 
by  another  act  of  1839,  it  was  declared  generally  and  without  re 
servation,  that  the  paper  of  both  the  State  banks  and  Shawnee 
town  bank  should  be  received  in  payment  of  taxes — the  act  of 
1836  not  being  in  terms  repealed.  These  State  officers,  however, 
took  the  view  that  the  law  of  1836  was  still  in  force,  and  they 
deemed  it  their  duty  to  protect  the  interests  of  the  State  by  de 
manding  the  revenue  in  specie  or  its  equivalent.  They  held  that 
the  law  of  1839,  allowing  payment  of  taxes  in  bank  paper  meant 
and  intended  that  that  paper  should  be  received  only  at  its  actual 
value  on  a  specie  standard.  This  action  of  the  State  officials  pro 
voked  much  feeling  and  opposition  throughout  the  State.  Indig 
nation  meetings  were  held  by  the  people,  irrespective  of  party, 
for  it  concerned  all  alike,  the  action  denounced  and  resistance  j;o 
its  enforcement  threatened.  It  was  charged  that  these  officials 
aimed  only  at  securing  their  fees  and  salaries  in  specie  from  a  dis 
tressed  people.  The  democratic  press,  to  a  certain  extent,  like 
the  whig,  characterized  it  as  an  unwarrantable  assumption  of 
authority.  The  pressure  became  so  great  that  in  a  short  time  a 
supplemental  proclamation  was  issued  suspending  the  collection 
of  the  taxes  of  1842  until  the  meeting  of  the  legislature.  What 
ever  may  have  been  their  power  to  enforce  the  collection  of  taxes 
in  specie,  the  suspending  of  the  collection  altogether  was  certainly 
beyond  their  province. 


624  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  in  an  article  published  in  the  Sangamo  Journal, 
of  September  2d,  1842,  dated  "Lost  Township,  Aug.  27,"  and 
signed  "Rebecca,"  attacked  this  action  of  the  "  officers  of  State" 
pretty  roughly,  though  done  in  a  jesting  style.  The  form  of  a 
dialogue  is  adopted,  representing  a  democratic  neighbor  of  "Aunt 
Beeca's,"  who  has  "tugged"  hard  getting  out  his  wheat  to  raise 
bank  paper  enough  to  pay  his  taxes  and  a  small  school  debt 
which  he  owes,  and  just  after  he  gets  his  money,  in  looking  over 
the  State  Register,  he  is  confronted  with  the  proclamation  forbid 
ding  tax  collectors  and  school  commissioners  to  receive  bank  pa 
per,  whereupon  he  indulges  in  some  intemperate  language  against 
these  officials  in  general,  denouncing  them  as  a  hypocritical  set 
who  disgrace  their  places,  which  ought  to  be  filled  with  men  who 
will  do  more  work  for  less  pay  and  take  fewer  airs  while  doing  it. 
Auditor  Shields  is  especially  assailed.  He  alone  had  signed  the 
supplemental  proclamation  suspending  the  collection  of  the  rev 
enue  for  the  current  year.  He  is  called  a  liar  and  a  fool — dull  as 
a  "  cake  of  tallow" — for  presuming  to  make  an  order  so  illegal. 
But  that  was  not  all.  Shields  was  a  bachelor,  and  his  appear 
ance  at  a  fair  in  the  city  is  caricatured,  his  demeanor  criticised, 
and  he  is  named  a  "  conceited  dunce."  The  article  is  somewhat 
long,  cutting  and  humorous,  but  abounds  in  such  indelicate  allu 
sions  generally  as  to  render  it  unfit  for  insertion  in  this  work.  The 
fanciful  idea,  as  represented  by  some  of  the  since  great  man's 
biographers,  that  it  was  a  poetical  effusion  of  a  lady,  and  that 
when  the  author  was  demanded  Mr.  Lincoln  in  a  spirit  of  gallan 
try  gave  his  name,  may  be  dismissed  as  a  delusion. 

The  mercurial  blood  of  the  Milesian  gentleman  thus  assailed, 
was  sent  to  the  top  of  the  tube.  He  demanded  of  the  editor, 
Simeon  Francis,  the  name  of  the  author,  and  that  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
wras  given  to  him.  Having  a  pre-arranged  trip  to  make  to  Quin- 
cy  on  public  business,  on  his  return,  in  company  with  Gen.  White- 
side  as  his  "friend,"  he  pursued  Mr.  Lincoln  to  Tremont  in  Taze- 
well  county,  where  the  latter  was  attending  court,  and  imme 
diately  sent  him  a  note,  stating  that  his  name  had  been  given  him 
by  the  editor  as  the  author  of  the  Rebecca  paper  "  and  requiring 
a  full,  positive,  and  absolute  retraction  of  all  offensive  allusions" 
made  to  him  in  relation  to  his  "private  character  and  standing  as 
a  man,  or  an  apology  for  the  insults  conveyed."  In  the  meantime 
Dr.  Merriman  and  William  Butler  of  Springfield,  having  learned 
the  errand  of  Shields  to  Fremont,  had  started  a  few  hours  later, 
and  by  riding  all  night  had  preceded  Shields  and  Whiteside  in 
their  arrival  there.  They  informed  Mr.  Lincoln  what  he  might 
expect.  In  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  September  17,  Mr.  Lin 
coln  answered  Shield's  note,  refusing  to  offer  any  explanation  011 
the  grounds  that  Shields'  note  assumed  the  fact  of  his  (Lincoln's) 
authorship  of  the  article  in  the  Journal,  not  pointing  out  what 
the  offensive  part  was,  and  accompanying  the  same  with  menaces 
as  to  consequences.  Mr.  Shields  on  the  same  day,  addressed  him 
another  note,  disavowing  all  intention  to  menace  $  inquired  if  he 
was  the  author  of  the  article  in  question  and  if  so,  asked  a  re 
traction  of  the  offensive  matter  relating  to  his  private  character. 
Still  technical,  Mr.  Lincoln  returned  this  note  with  the  verbal 
statement  "that  there  could  be  no  further  negotiation  until  the 
first  note  was  withdrawn."  Mr.  Shields  now  sent  a  note  designa- 


DUELING.  625 

ting  Gen.  Whitside  as  his  friend,  to  which  Mr.  Lincoln  instantly 
replied  by  naming1  Dr.  Merriman  as  his  friend.  This  was  on  Mon 
day  morning  the  19th  of  September. 

These  two  "friends"  now  secretly  pledged  their  honor  to  each 
other  to  agree  upon  some  amicable  terms  and  compel  their  prin 
cipals  to  accept  them  ;  and  to  procrastinate  the  matter  adjourned 
further  proceedings  to  Springfield,  whither  all  parties  repaired  ex 
cept  Shields,  whose  horse  was  lame — the  two  seconds,  Whiteside 
and  Merriam,  riding  in  the  same  buggy,  though  part  of  the  time 
Whiteside  rode  with  Lincoln.  Merriman  says  that  the  "  valorous 
general"  beguiled  the  tedium  of  the  journey  by  recounting  his  ex 
ploits  in  many  a  well  fought  battle,  dangers  by  flood  and  field, 
doubtless  with  a  view  to  produce  a  stilutory  effect  on  his  nerves 
and  impress  him  with  a  proper  notion  of  his  fire-eating  propensi 
ties.  They  arrived  at  Springfield  late  Monday  night,  and  Mr.  Lin 
coln  to  prevent  arrest,  left  early  on  Tuesday  morning  for  Jackson 
ville,  in  company  with  Mr.  Butler,  leaving  the  following  instruc 
tions  as  a  guide  to  Dr.  Merriman : 

''  In  case  Whitesides  shall  signify  a  wish  to  adjust  this  affair  without 
further  difficulty,  let  him  know  that  if  the  present  papers  be  withdrawn 
and  a  note  from  Mr.  Shields,  asking  to  know  if  I  am  the  author  of  the 
articles  of  which  he  complains,  and  asking  that  I  shall  make  him  gen 
tlemanly  satisfaction,  if  I  am  the  author,  and  this  without  menace  or 
dictation  as  to  what  that  satisfaction  shall  be,  a  pledge  is  made  that  the 
following  answer  shall  be  given  : 

"  I  did  write  the  "  Lost  Township"  letter  which  appeared  in  the/ow- 
nnl  of  the  2d  inst,  but  had  no  participation,  in  any  form,  in  any  other 
article  alluding  to  you.  I  wrote  that  wholly  for  political  effect.  I  had 
no  indention  of  injuring  your  personal  or  private  character  or  standing 
as  a  man  or  gentleman  ;  and  I  did  not  then  think,  and  do  not  now  think, 
that  that  article  could  produce  or  has  produced  that  effect  against  you  ; 
and  had  I  anticipated  such  an  effect  would  have  forborne  to  write  it. 
And  I  will  add  that  your  conduct  towards  me,  so  far  as  I  know,  had 
always  been  gentlemanly ;  and  that  I  had  no  personal  pique  against 
you,  and  no  cause  for  any." 

44  If  this  should  be  done,  I  leave  it  with  you  to  manage  what  shall  and 
what  shall  not  be  published.  If  jiothing  like  this  is  done,  the  prelimi 
naries  of  the  fight  are  to  be  : 

1st.  Weapon*— Cavalry  broad  swords  of  the  largest  size,  precisely 
equal  in  all  respects  and  such  as  are  now  used  by  the  cavalry  company 
at  Jacksonville. 

2d.  Position — A  plank  ten  feet  long,  and  from  9  to  12  inches  broad, 
to  be  firmly  fixed  on  edge,  on  the  ground,  as  the  line  between  us  which 
neither  is  to  pass  his  foot  over  on  forfeit  of  his  life.  Next  a  line  drawn 
on  the  ground  on  either  side  of  said  plank,  and  parallel  with  it,  each  at 
the  distance  of  the  whole  length  of  the  sword  and  3  feet  additional  from 
the  plank  ;  and  the  passing  of  his  own  such  line  by  either  party  during 
the  fight,  shall  be  deemed  a  surrender  of  the  contest. 

3d.  Time — On  Thursday  evening  at  5  o'clock,  if  you  can  get  it  so ;  but 
in  no  case  to  be  at  a  greater  distance  of  time  than  Friday  evening  at  5 
o'clock. 

4th.  Place— Within  3  miles  of  Alton,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river, 
the  particular  spot  to  be  agreed  on  by  you. 

"  Any  preliminary  details  coming  within  the  above  rules,  you  are  at 
liberty  to  make  at  your  discretion,  but  you  are  in  no  case  to  swerve  from 
these  rules  or  pass  beyond  their  limits." 

The  position  secondly  prescribed  for  the  combatants  on  the  field 
looks  a  good  deal  like  the  cropping  out  of  one  of  Lincoln's  irre 
pressible  jokes  j     as  if  both  were  placed  out  of  harm's  way,  and 
that  they  might  beat  the  air  with  their  trenchant  blades  forever 
40 


626  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

and  not  come  within  damaging  reach  of  each  other.  But  it  must 
be  remembered  that  Shields'  adversary  was  wonderfully  provided 
with  reaching  powers. 

These  instructions  to  Dr.  Merriman,  together  with  the  terms  of 
the  hostile  meeting,  were  read  by  him  to  Gen.  Whiteside,  who,  in 
the  absence  of  his  principal,  declined  agreeing  upon  terms  of  set 
tlement  until  they  should  meet  in  Missouri.  Besides,  Shields  and 
Whiteside  both  held  State  offices,  the  latter  being  fund  commis 
sioner,  and  to  have  accepted  the  challenge  would  have  interfered 
with  their  oaths  of  office  and  the  laws  of  the  State.  All  parties 
now  left  for  the  field  of  combat,  Mr.  Lincoln  (who  had  gone  be 
fore,)  and  his  party  via  Jacksonville,  where  they  were  joined 
by  Doctor  Bledsoe,  and  where  they  procured  the  weapons; 
and  Shields,  Avhom  Whiteside  went  to  meet,  via  llillsboro,  where 
they  were  joined  by  Gen.  Ewing,  and  at  Alton,  which  they  reached 
in  advance  of  the  other  party,  they  Avere  further  joined  by  Dr. 
Hope. 

Both  parties  shortly  after,  being  Thursday,  crossed  the  river  to 
Missouri.  In  the  meantime  Gen.  liardin  and  Dr.  English  had  also 
arrived,  who  now,  as  the  mutual  friends  of  both  parties,  presented 
the  following  proposition: 

"ALTON,  SEPT.  22, 1842. 

"Messrs.  Whiteside  and  Merriman:  As  the  mutual  personal  friends  of  Messrs. Shields 
and  Lincoln,  but  without  authority  from  either,  we  earnestly  desire  a  reconciliation 
of  the  misunderstanding1  which  exists  between  them.  Such  difficulties  should  always 
be  arranged  amicably,  if  it  is  possible  to  do  so,  with  honor  to  both  parties.  Believing- 
ourselves  that  such  arrangement  can  possibly  be  effected,  we  respectfully  but  earn 
estly  submit  the  following  proposition  for  your  consideration:  Let  the  whole  difficulty 
be  submitted  to  four  or  more  gentlemen,  to  be  selected  by  yourselves,  who  shall^on- 
sider  the  affair,  and  report  thereupon  for  your  consideration. 

JOHN  J.  HARDING 
K.  W.  ENGLISH." 

This  proposition  was  submitted  to  the  respective  principals, 
who  both  signified  a  disposition  to  accommodate  the  affair,  and  it 
was  accepted  with  slight  modification — Mr.  Shields  declining  to 
settle  the  matter  through  any  other  than  the  friends  he  had 
already  selected.  The  following  correspondence  then  took  place, 
which  ended  this  most  ridiculous  controversy : 

"MISSOURI,  SEPT.  22,  1842. 

"  Gentlemen :— All  papers  in  relation  to  the  matter  in  controversy  between  Mr.  Shields 
and  Mr.  Lincoln,  having  been  withdrawn  by  the  friends  of  the  parties  concerned,  the 
friends  of  Mr;  Shields  ask  the  friends  of  Mr  Lincoln  to  explain  all  offensive  matter  in 
the  articles  which  appeared  in  the  Sangamo  Journal  of  the  2d,  9th  and  16th  of  Septem 
ber,  over  the  signature  of  Kebecca,  and  headed  "Lost  Township  ' 

It  is  due  to  Gen.  Hardin  and  Mr.  English  to  state  that  their  interference  was  of  the 
most  courteous  and  gentlemanly  character. 

JOHN  D.  WHITESIDE, 
WM.  LEE  I).  EWING, 
T.  M.  HOPE." 


1  MISSOURI,  SEPT.  22, 1842 

"Gentlemen:  All  papers  in  relation  to  the  matter  in  controversy  between  Mr.  Lincoln 
and  Mr.  Shields  having  been  withdrawn  bjT  the  friends  of  the  parties  concerned,  we, 
the  undersigned,  friends  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  accordance  with  your  request,  that  an  ex 
planation  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  publication  in  relation  to  Mr.  Shields  in  meSangamo  Jour 
nal  of  the  2d,  9th  and  16th  of  September,  be  made,  take  pleasure  in  saying  that 
although  Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  writer  of  the  article  signed  Kebecca  in  the  Journal  of  the 
2d,  and  thatonlv,  yet  he  had  no  intention  of  injuring  the  personal  or  private  character 
or  standing  of  Mr.  Shields  as  a  gentleman  or  a  man,  and  that  Mr.  Lincolndid  not  think, 
nor  does  he  now  think,  that  said  article  could  produce  such  an  effect,  and  had  Mr. 
Lincoln  anticipated  such  an  effect  he  would  have  forborne  to  write  it;  we  will  further 
state  that  said  article  was  written  solely  for  political  effect,  and  not  to  gratify  any 
personal  pique  against  Mr.  Shields,  lor  he  nad  none,  and  knew  of  no  cause  for  auy. 


DUELING.  627 


It  is  due  to  Gen.  Hardin  and  Mr.  English  to  say  that  their   interference  was  of  the 
most  courteous  and  gentlemanly  character. 

E.  H.  MERRIMAN, 
A.  T.  BLEDSOE, 
WM.  BUTLER.* 


Shields  and  Rutler. — Out  of  the  Shields  and  ihrtlcr  fiasco  grew 
directly  another  affair  of  honor,  this  time  between  Gen.  Shields 
and  Mr.  Win.  Butler.  The  latter  gentleman  had  been  one  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  seconds,  and  says  that  he  was  for  the  fray.  Disappointed 
in  this,  immediately  after  the  bloodless  termination  of  that  affair, 
he  wrote  a  not  very  complimentary  account  of  the  conduct  of  the 
belligerents,  from  Alton,  to  the  Sangamo  Journal  (which  the  writer 
lias  been  unable  to  find  after  careful  search,)  in  which  he  thinks 
he  bore  full}'  as  severely  upon  his  principal  as  his  adversary. 
The  latter,  however,  who  again  evinced  that  the  blood  of  Donny- 
brook  coursed  in  his  veins,  on  Butler's  arrival  home  from  St.  Louis 
at  once  addressed  him  a  curt,  menacing  note,  by  the  hands  of  his 
former  friend,  Gen.  Whiteside,  which  was  promptly  accepted  as  a 
challenge,  and  the  inevitable  Dr.  Merriman  designated  as  his 
friend,  through  whom  the  preliminaries  were,  without  further  cir 
cumlocution,  submitted  to  Gen.  Whiteside  about  9  p.  in.  on  the 
same  day,  October  3d,  1842.  These  were  : 

Time — Sunrise  on  the  following  morning. 

Place — Col.  Robert  Allen's  farm — (about  1  mile  north  of  the 
State  House). 

Weapons — Rifles. 

Distance — 100  yards. 

The  parties  to  stand  with  their  right  sides  toward  each  other — 
the  rifles  to  be  held  in  both  hands  horizontally  and  cocked,  arms 
extended  downwards.  Neither  party  to  move  his  person  or  his 
rifle,  after  being  placed,  before  the  word  fire.  The  signal  to  be : 
"Are  you  ready  f— fire! — one — two — three!"  about  a  second  of 
time  intervening  between  each  word:  Neither  party  to  fire  before 
the  word  fire,  nor  after  the  word  three.  The  word  to  be  given  by 
the  friend  of  the  challenged  party.  The  principals  to  be  attended 
by  one  friend  each,  who  were  to  be  placed  midway  between  the 
principals,  30  yards  back  from  a  straight  line  between  them,  to 
the  rear  of  each.t 

These  terms  were  indignantly  refused  by  Mr.  Shields'  friend, 
claiming  that  he  had  waited  all  day  for  the  answer  which  now 
came  at  9  p.  in.  while  his  principal  was  attending  a  social  party. 
He,  as  a  State  officer,  had  also  uniformly  refused  to  violate  the 
laws  of  the  State  by  dueling  within  its  limits  to  which  he  would 
not  subject  his  principal,  also  a  State  officer.  The  terms  were  sat 
isfactory  with  the  exception  of  the  place,  which  he  further  claimed 
the  challenged  party  had  no  exclusive  right  to  dictate,  and  that 
the  time  should  be  a  matter  of  agreement.  The  language  used 
was  curt  and  abrupt.  It  seems  that  the  terms  were  further  unfair 
in  the  position  assigned  to  the  combatants  on  the  field,  with  their 
right  sides  towards  each  other,  in  that  it  would  give  Mr.  Butler 
the  advantage,  he  being  left-handed,  as  was  alleged.  Gen.  White- 
side,  late  on  the  night  of  the  3d  sought  Dr.  Merriman  at  his  lodg- 

*  Both  Gen.  Whiteside  and  Dr.  Merriman  published  card?  in  the  Sanuamo. Journal, 
the  former  in  that  of  (Jet.  7,  1842,  and  the  latter  on  the  14th  of  the  same  month,  detail- 
in?,  with  some  variance,  all  the  circumstances  of  this  affair,  from  both  of  which  we 
have  gathered  this  account. 

t  See  Sangamo  Journal,  Oct.  7, 1842. 


628  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


ings,  to  hand  in  his  objection,  but  did  not  find  him.  No  meeting 
took  place  on  the  morning  of  the  4th.  During  the  day,  however, 
owing  to  a  rupture  between  the  seconds,  Mr.  Shields  addressed 
another  note  to  Mr.  Butler,  explaining  the  status  of  his  second, 
cheerfully  accepting  the  preliminaries  himself,  and  offering  to  go 
out  to  a  lonely  place  on  the  prairie  to  fight  where  there  would  be  no 
danger  of  interruption;  or,  if  that  did  not  suit,  he  would  meet  him 
on  his  own  conditions  when  and  where  he  pleased.  This  note  was 
declined  by  Mr.  Butler,  claiming  that  the  affair  was  closed,  and 
this  was  the  end  of  it. 

Whiteside  and  Merriman — And  now  the  doughty  seconds 
wound  up  this  series  of  affairs  by  one  of  their  own  ;  which  grew 
out  of  the  next  preceding  one.  We  have  already  said  that  White- 
side's  refusal  of  Butler's  terms  was  couched  in  curt  and  abrupt 
language,  and  that  the  place  of  combat  could  not  be  dictated  to 
him,  for  it  was  as  much  his  right  as  Merriman's,  who,  if  he  was  a 
gentleman  would  recognize  and  concede  it.  To  this  the  latter  re- 
replied,  October  4,8  a.  m  :  u  That  the  arrogant,  dictatorial,  rude, 
and  ungentle-manly  character"  of  this  note  precluded  the  possi 
bility  of  his  communicating  farther  on  the  subject  to  which  it 
alluded,  which  was  sent  by  the  hands  of  Capt.  Lincoln,  who  now 
served  his  former  second  in  the  same  capacity  of  "friend." 
Whiteside  then  wrote  to  Merriman:  "I  have  to  request  that  you 
will  meet  me  at  the  Planters'  House,  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  on 
next  Friday,  where  you  will  hear  from  me  further."  Merrimau 
now  wrote  :  "  I  wish  to  know  if  you  intend  that  note  as  a  chal 
lenge;  if  so,  iny  FRIEND  will  wait  upon  you  with  the  conditions 
of  our  meeting."  At  4  p.  m.  Whiteside  replied :  "You  shall  have 
a  note  of  the  character  you  allude  to  when  we  meet  at  the  Plant 
ers'  House,  on  Friday  next,  at  St.  Louis."  Merriman  rejoined,  de 
nying  Whiteside's  right  to  name  the  time  and  place  for  the 
adjustment  of  their  difficulty,  but  proffered  to  meet  him  on  that 
day  at  Louisiana,  Mo.  When  this  last  note  was  presented  to  Gen. 
Whiteside,  he  replied  verbally:  "Lincoln,  I  cannot  accept  any 
thing  from  him  now.  I  have  business  at  St.  Louis,  and  it  is  as 
near  as  Louisiana."  *On  the  5th  of  October,  Gen.  Whiteside  ad 
dressed  another  note  to  Dr.  Merriman,  which  was  delivered  by 
Gen.  Shields,  offering  to  accept  the  proposition  to  meet  at  Louisi 
ana,  Mo.,  but  the  doctor,  deeming  the  affair  closed,  now  declined 
to  re-open  it,  and  the  matter  was  dropped. t 

It  seems  that  out  of  all  these  bellicose  manifestations  one  en 
gagement  or  one  hostile  pass  at  least  might  have  been  had.  But 
it  was  better  that  they  all  terminated  pacifically,  as  they  did. 

J)rs.  Hope  and  Price  had  a  duel  in  Texas  during  the  Mexican 
wrar.  Dr.  Hope  was  a  well  known  gentleman  from  Alton.  We 
have  seen  his  name  connected  with  the  Shields-Lincoln  affair  as 
one  of  the  seconds.  The  1st  and  2d  Illinois  volunteers,  Colonels 
Hardin  and  Bissell,  were  encamped  at  Sari  Antonio,  two  miles 
from  the  Alamo.  Dr.  Hope  was  surgeon  to  the  1st  regiment.  The 
difficulty  grew  out  of  Dr.  Price's  repeating  a  conversation  having 

*Sangramon  Jour.  Oct.  7. 1842. 
till.  State  Reg.  Oct.  14,  1843. 


DUELING.  629 


occurred  ill  Dr.  Hope's  tent.  The  latter,  feeling  himself  ag 
grieved,  flogged  the  former  in  the  streets  of  Sail  Antonio,  where 
upon  Price  sent  him  a  challenge.  Major  Cross,  of  the  United 
States  army,  acted  as  the  second  of  Dr.  Price,  and  Capt.  Williams, 
of  the  Kentucky  Life  Guards,  acted  for  Dr.  Hope.  The  engage 
ment  was  fought  September  14,  1846,  and  Price  was  badly 
wounded  in  the  abdomen.* 

Pratt  and  Campbell. — The  next  affair  of  this  sort  was  the  occa 
sion  of  fixing  in  the  constitution  of  1848  the  stringent  clause  re 
lating  to  dueling.  During  the  sitting  of  the  convention,  in  1847, 
which  framed  that  instrument,  when  the  question  of  alien  suf 
frage  was  under  consideration,  Mr.  O.  C.  Pratt,  from  JoDaviess, 
a  democrat,  opposed  foreigners  enjoying  the  elective  franchise 
until  they  were  naturalized.  His  colleague,  Thompson  Campbell, 
also  a  democrat,  who  favored  great  leniency  in  this  respect  to 
aliens,  attacked  and  taunted  him  with  having  obtained  the  votes 
of  foreigners  for  his  position  (to  which  he  was  elected  by  only  9 
majority)  on  pledges  to  them  that  he  would  require  no  more  than 
a  year's  residence  and  a  declaration  of  intention,  citing  an  occa 
sion  where  some  60  or  70  foreigners  were  at  work  on  some  public 
works.  Pratt  denied  this,  attributing  his  colleague's  mistake  to 
the  presence  there  of  a  barrel  of  beer  and  a  keg  of  whisky.  Camp 
bell  denounced  the  insinuation  as  unqualifiedly  false,  and  that  if 
he  (Pratt)  was  a  man  he  would  notice  it,  and  settle  it  personally. 
On  the  same  day,  Wednesday,  Pratt  sent  him  a  note  requesting 
his  presence  at  the  Planters'  House,  St.  Louis.  Campbell  ans 
wered  that  he  would  be  there  on  Monday  following,  but  repaired 
thither  immediately,  putting  up  at  the  Planters'  Hotel.  His 
"friend"  in  St.  Lous  was  Col.  Ferd.  Kennett.  Late  on  Saturday 
night  Pratt  also  arrived,  with  his  "friend,"  taking  lodgings  at  the 
Monroe  House.  But  the  business  of  the  belligerents,  "on  bloody 
deeds  intent,"  who  thus  sought  a  foreign  jurisdiction  to  arrange 
their  preliminaries  and  settle  their  dfficulty  by  the  duello,  had 
leaked  out;  indeed  it  was  well  known,  and  one  Bleunerhassett, 
an  alderman,  made  affidavit  to  the  fact,  and  late  on  Saturday 
night  both  parties  were  arrested  and  placed  under  heavy  bonds  to 
keep  the  peace.  This  plan  of  giving  an  "affair"  notoriety  ought 
to  be  effective  in  these  days  of  telegraph  and  newspaper  enterprise 
to  gain  a  name  for  bravery,  and  at  the  same  time  by  judicious 
arrests  run  no  danger  of  sustaining  personal  injury.  It  is  a  won 
der  that  it  is  not  more  improved.  These  gentlemen  new  returned 
and  resumed  their  seats  in  the  convention. 

By  the  old  law  of  this  State  the  penalty  for  dueling,  when  the 
issue  was  fatal,  was  death,  the  same  as  in  case  of  murder,  but  for 
these  "affairs"  it  was  disability  from  holding  office  of  honor,  trust 
or  emolument,  and  small  fines  after  conviction.  The  law  was 
without  restraint;  there  never  had  been  a  conviction  for  this  lesser 
often sef  because  parties  always  evaded  the  law  by  going  beyond 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  State  to  carry  out  their  purposes.  The 
facts  and  circumstances  of  the  Pratt-Campbell  affair,  as  well  as 
the  repeated  evasions  of  the  law,  well  known  to  the  members  of 
the  convention,  stimulated  them  now  to  effectually  circumvent  and 

""•See  Iirstatelleg7Oct7l6, 1846. 


630  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

break  up  the  practice,  more  common  among  officials  and  political 
aspirants,  as  will  have  been  noticed,  than  others.  Hence  they 
devised  and  framed  an  oath  of  office,  and  incorporated  it  in  the 
constitution,  so  broad  in  its  terms  of  disfranchiseinent  and  the 
structure  of  its  language  as  to  cover  not  only  Illinois,  but  all  the 
world  besides.  Not  perhaps  that  Illinois  could  punish  the  per 
jurer,  who,  having  committed  an  offense  of  the  kind  outside  its 
jurisdiction,  should  he  take  this  oath  of  office,  but  rather  to  np- 
pall  the  conscience  of  those  public  men  who  would  be  most  likely 
to  yield  to  such  murderous  practices.  The  mischief  aimed  at  was 
the  suppression  of  the  outrageous  practice  of  dueling,  without 
respect  to  place,  circumstance  or  time,  save  only  that  the  offense 
should  date  since  the  adoption  of  the  constitution. 

The  oath  may  be  found  in  the  constitution  of  1848,  article  13, 
section  26.  Mr.  K.  B.  Servant,  of  Randolph,  introduced  and 
moved  its  adoption.  It  passed  the  convention  by  74  yeas  to  44 
nays — neither  of  the  above  combatants  voting.  Among  the  nays 
appears  the  name  of  Gen.  Whiteside,  who,  it  might  thence  be  in 
ferred,  notwithstanding  the  fiasco  with  which  we  have  seen  his 
name  connected,  still  believed  in  the  code  of  honor. 

Harris  and  Henry. — The  Mexican  war,  which  proved  such  a  God 
send  to  democratic  politicians  that  a  noted  and  witty  whig,  whose 
party  was  out  in  the  cold,  shortly  after  its  close  announced  him 
self  in  favor  of  the  next  war,  was  also  fruitful  of  personal  difficul 
ties.  During  the  election  campaign  of  1848,  Dr.  A.  G.  Henry,  in 
a  speech  at  Beardstowu,  charged  Major  Thomas  L.  Harris,  one  of 
the  truest  and  noblest  men  of  Illinois,  then  running  for  congress, 
with  "skulking  at  the  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo;  that  he  could  prove 
this,  and  would  repeat  it  to  his  face  the  following  week."  Here 
.was  a  good  opportunity  for  an  "'affair.77  When  Harris  arrived  at 
Springfield  he  asked  an  interview  with  the  doctor.  But  that  gen 
tleman  answered :  "I  have  no  business  with  Major  Harris,  and 
do  not  desire  a  personal  interview.'7  Harris  then  demanded  that 
he  make  good  his  Beardstown  statement.  The  doctor  now  denied 
having  uttered  exactly  this  language  ;  disclaimed  wanting  to  do 
Harris  knowingly  an  injustice,  but  that  he  could  not  be  deterred 
from  saying  what  he  believed  to  be  true ;  offered  to  refer  the  mat 
ter  to  John  Calhoun  and  James  Barrett,  of  Harris7  party,  and  at 
their  instance  would  make  a  public  apology,  adding  that  he  would 
leave  town  the  following  morning  to  meet  his  speaking  appoint 
ments.  Major  Harris  then  proved  by  four  good  citizens,  who  pub 
lished  their  card,  that  the  doctor  had  made  the  statements  refer 
red  to  at  Beardstown,  and  in  the  words  given,  whereupon  he  de 
nounced  him  to  the  world  as  a  liar,  a  scoundrel  and  a  coward — 
and  that  was  the  last  of  this  affair.* 

Davis  and  Bissell. — After  the  constitution  went  into  operation, 
no  other  duels  or  attempts  at  duels  have  been  engaged  in  or  had 
an  origin  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Illinois,  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  writer;!  and  there  were  only  three  outside  of  its  limits  to 

*See  111.  State  Reg-.    Oct.  6,1848- 

tOf  course  this  does  not  mean  to  include  the  duels  of  parties  outside  the  State,  who 
found  in  Illinois  a  safe  and  convenient  rendezvous  for  the  settlement  of  their  per 
sonal  difficulties.  Various  islands  in  the  Upper  Mississippi  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
Illinois — notable,  Bloody  Island — have  been  the  scenes  of  these  barbarous  frays  be 
tween  citizens  or  residents  from  neighboring- territories  and  States,  the  latest  being 
between  B.  Gratz  Brown  and  Gov.  Reynolds, of  Missouri. 


DUELING.  631 


wliich  our  citizens  were  parties.  Two  of  these  resulted  fatally,* 
and  the  other  attained  national  celebrity  and  was  no  little  source 
of  pride  to  Illinoisans  at  the  time ;  and  as  it  was  subsequently 
the  occasion  of  much  political  and  personal  censure  and  abuse,  in 
connection  with  the  constitutional  oath  of  office,  we  here  insert  it. 

During  the  long  and  angry  contest  in  congress  over  the  adjust 
ment  of  1850,  southern  members,  more  than  ever,  indulged  their 
gasconade  in  vaunting  southern  chivalry,  defending  slavery  and 
portraying  the  beauties  and  advantages  of  disunion.  To  dispar 
age  northern  courage  and  exaggerate  southern  valor,  the  then 
late  Mexican  war  was  dragged  in  as  proof  and  illustration.  Mr. 
Seddon,  of  Virginia,  encouraged  by  other  southern  gentlemen, 
went  further  and  attempted,  in  commenting  on  the  battle  of  Buena 
Vista,  to  award  the  entire  credit  of  saving  the  fortune  of  the  day 
at  a  very  critical  period  of  that  battle  to  a  Mississippi  regiment, 
of  which  Jefterson  Davis  had  been  the  Colonel,  for  the  purpose 
of  maintaining  the  southern  boast  that  there  was  more  personal 
bravery  and  prowess  in  that  section  than  in  the  north. 

Mr.  Bissell  was  a  new  member,  with  a  good  record  in  that  war 
as  the  colonel  of  the  2d  regiment  of  Illinois  volunteers.  Shocked 
at  these  utterances,  and  tired  with  the  disgrace  attempted  to  be 
cast  upon  his  section,  he  on  the  31st  of  February,  1850,  essayed  a 
reply  to  these  ceaseless  tirades  of  braggadocio,  which  proved  to 
be  one  of  the  keenest,  most  incisive  and  brilliant  speeches  ever 
spoken  in  the  halls  of  congress,  not  only  in  vindication  of  his  own 
section,  but  in  pricking  the  vain  assumption  of  the  other.  This 
speech  stamped  Bissell  at  once  with  national  distinction  and  fame. 
The  chivalry  were  touched  to  the  quick  5  aud  failing  to  answer 
him  in  debate,  it  was  sought  to  crush  him  in  another  way.  The 
following  passage  was  ostensibly  claimed  to  be  the  offensive  por 
tion,  and  the  since  well-known  chief  of  the  southern  confederacy 
was  put  forward  to  test  Bissell's  mettle: 

"This  proueness,  however,  [to  underrate  the  bravery  of  others  and 
vaunt  their  own,]  is  not  always  harmless,"  exclaimed  Bissell,  "and  I 
must  now  refer  to  a  subject  which  I  would  have  gladly  avoided  I  al 
lude  to  the  claim  put  forth  for  a  southern  regiment  by  the  gentleman 
from  Virginia,  [Mr.  Seddon,]  of  having  met  and  repulsed  the  enemy  on 
the  field  of  Buena  Vista,  at  the  critical  moment  when  the  Indiana 
regiment,  through  an  unfortunate  order  of  their  colonel,  gave  way. 
Justice  to  those  living,  as  well  as  those  who  fell  on  that  occasion,  de 
mands  of  me  a  prompt  correction  of  this  most  erroneous  statement.  And 
I  affirm  distinctly,  sir,  and  such  is  the  fact,  that  at  the  time  the  2d  In 
diana  regiment  gave  way  the  Mississippi  regiment,  for  whom  the  claim 
is  gratuitously  set  up,  was  not  within  a  mile  and  a  half  of  the  scene  of 
action,  nor  yet  had  it  fired  a  gun  or  pulled  a  trigger.  I  affirm  further, 
sir,  that  the  troops  which  at  that  time  met  aud  resisted  the  enemy,  and 
thus,  to  use  the  gentleman's  own  language,  'snatched  victory  from  the 
jaws  of  defeat/  were  the  2d  Kentucky,  the  2d  Illinois  and  a  portion  of 
the  1st  Illinois  regiments.  It  gives  me  no  pleasure,  sir,  to  be  compelled 
to  allude  to  this  subject,  nor  can  I  seethe  necessity  or  propriety  of  its  in 
troduction  into  /this  debate.  It  having  been  introduced,  however,  I 
could  not  sit  in  silence  and  witness  the  infliction  of  such  cruel  injustice 
upon  men,  living  and  dead,  whose  well-earned  fame  I  were  a  monster 
not  to  protect.  The  true  and  brave  hearts  of  too  many  of  them,  alas, 
have  already  mingled  with  the  soil  of  a  foreign  country;  but  their 
claims  upon  "the  justiceof  their  countrymen  can  never  cease,  nor  can  my 
obligations  to  them  be  ever  forgotten  or  disregarded.  No,  sir,  the  voice 

*Both  in  California—  Ferguson  and  Lippincott  being  the  Illinoisans — the  former  was 
killed  and  the  latter  now  holds  office  here. 


632  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

of  Hardin,  that  voice  which  has  so  often  been  heard  in  this  hall,  as 
mine  now  is,  though  far  more  eloquently,  the  voice  of  Hardin  !  aye,  and 
of  McKee  and  the  accomplished  Clay — each  wrapped  in  his  bloody 
shroud — their  voices  would  reproach  me  from  the  grave  had  I  failed  in 
this  act  of  justice  to  them,  and  the  others  who  fought  and  fell  by  my 
side. 

"You  will  suspect  me,  Mr.  Chairman,  of  having  warm  feelings  on  this 
subject.  Sir,  I  have;  and  have  given  them  utterance  as  a  matter  of 
duty.  In  all  this,  however,  I  by  no  means  detract  from  the  gallant 
conduct  of  the  Mississippi  regiment.  At  other  times  and  places  on  that 
bloody  field  they  did  all  that  their  warmest  admirers  could  desire.  But, 
let  me  ask  again,  why  was  this  subject  introduced  into  this  debate? 
Why  does  the  gentleman  say  'troops  of  the  north'  gave  way,  when  he 
means  only  a  single  regiment?*  Why  is  all  this  but  for  the  purpose  of 
disparaging  the  north  for  the  benefit  of  the  south?  Why,  but  for  the 
purpose  of  furnishing  material  for  that  ceaseless,  never-ending  theme 
of  'southern  chivalry  ?'  " 

As  soon  as  it  transpired  that  Davis,  upon  this  slender  pretext, 
and  as  if  he  could  vary  a  historical  fact  by  a  duel,  had  challenged 
Bissell,  all  Washington  was  on  the  qm  Tire.  The  query  ran  from 
mouth  to  mouth,  "will  he  accept — will  he  stand  fire  F  Those  who 
knew  the  man  were  emphatic  in  their  answers  that  he  would.  It  is 
said  that  Daniel  Webster  came  over  to  the  hall  of  the  house  for 
an  introduction  to  this  northern  man  who  proposed  to  meet  the 
southron  in  his  favorite  method  of  settling  a  dispute,  saying,  "I 
wish  to  look  him  in  the  eve."  Bissell  was  called  and  the  two 
grasped  hands  heartily.  As  Webster  withdrew  with  an  elastic 
step  and  a  kindling  eye,  he  observed  to  a  high  digmtarry  of  the 
government  who  understood  the  object  of  his  visit,  "He  will  do, 
the  south  has  mistaken  its  man,77  which  was  the  fact.  Bissell 
promptly  accepted  the  challenge.  He  left  the  preliminaries  to  his 
friends,  except  weapons  and  distance,  these  he  determined  upon 
himself,  selecting  the  common  army  musket,  to  be  loaded  with  a 
ball  and  three  buck-shot ;  the  combatants  to  be  stationed  at  40 
paces,  with  liberty  to  advance  to  10.  This  evinced  a  cool  and  de 
termined  purpose  to  fight  to  the  death,  and  the  fire-eaters  stood 
amazed.  Davis  had  designated  S.  W.  Inge  as  his  friend,  and  Bis 
sell  named  Major  Cross,  of  the  U.  S.  army.  The  meeting'  was  to 
take  place  on  the  following  day,  Feb.  28th,  the  rendezvous  being 
understood. 

But  at  a  late  hour  in  the  evening1  another  effort  at  reconciliation 
was  made  by  the  mutual  friends  who  had  been  of  counsel  in  the 
affair,  Judge  Dawson,  of  Georgia,  and  Col.  W.  A.  Richardson,  of 
Illinois.  After  further  conference  it  was  agreed  that  the  challenge, 
and  all  correspondence  therewith  connected,  should  be  treated  as 
withdrawn,  and  that  Col.  Bissell  add  to  his  first  letter,  to  be  in 
serted  after  the  word  regiment  in  the  last  paragraph,  "but  I  am  will 
ing  to  award  to  them  the  credit  due  to  their  gallant  and  distin 
guished  services  in  that  battle.77  The  reconciliation  thus  effected 
was  satisfactory  to  the  parties  immediately  concerned,  and  a  source 
of  gratification  to  their  friends. 

In  the  meantime  it  was  said  that  President  Taylor,  the  father-in- 
law  of  Col.  Davis,  having  been  apprised  of  the  arrangements  for 
the  hostile  meeting,  accompanied  by  Col.  Bliss,  his  private  secre 
tary,  had  instituted  legal  proceeding  to  check  the  intended  hostile 

*The  3d  Indiana.  Col.  Bowles. 


DUELING.  633 


event,  but  prior  to  this  interference,  which  was  after  midnight,  the 
foregoing  amicable  understanding  had  already  been  arrived  at. 
We  subjoin  the  memorandum  and  correspondence : 

"[MEMORANDA  No.  3.] 

"Met  Gen.  Shields  and  Major  Cross  at  8  o'clock  p.  m.,  to  arrange  terms 
of  combat.  Before  entering  upon  business  Judge  Da wson,  of  Georgia, 
and  Major  Richardson,  of  Illinois,  entered,  and  proposed  submitting  to 
us  a  proposition  which  they  hoped  would  obviate  a  meeting.  We  con 
sented  on  both  sides  to  hear  it,  and  the  following  proposition  was  then, 
submitted  :  That  all  correspondence  be  withdrawn  subsequent  to  Col. 
Davis'  first  letter,  and  that  Col.  Bissell  add  to  his-  first  letter  a  statement 
(to  come  in  after  the  word  regiment,  at  the  foot  of  the  first  page,)  as  fol 
lows,  to-wit :  '  But  I  am  willing  to  award  them  the  credit  due  to  their 
gallant  and  distinguished  services  in  that  battle.'  This  being  in  sub 
stance  the  same  proposition  offered  by  me  (embraced  in  memorandum 
No.  1),  of  course  I  expressed  my  willingness  to  accept  it.  After  consult 
ing,  Gen.  Shields  and  Major  Cross  expressed  their  willingness  to  make 
the  addendum,  which  was  accordingly  done.  By  mutual  consuet, 
all  correspondence  subsequent  to  Col.  Bissell's  amended  letter  was  with 
drawn,  and  thus  the  difficulty  was  adjusted. 

S.  W.  INGE." 
"Washington,  D.  C.,  Feb.  27, 1850." 

The  matter  being  adjusted  on  this  basis,  the  following  appeared 
in  the  Union,  of  Feb.  28,  1850  : 

"WASHINGTON,  Feb.  24, 1850. 

"Gentlemen.:  In  order  to  remove  any  erroneous  impression  which  may  have  been 
made  o  the  public  mind,  by  the  surmises  of  letter  writers,  in  relation  to  a  correspon 
dence  which  has  passed  between  Col.  Davis  and  Col.  Bissell,  we  take  the  liberty  of  re 
questing  you  to  publish  the  following-  correspondence,  which  will  show  that  the  mat 
ter  has  been  most  honorably  adjusted  to  the  gratification  and  entire  satisfaction  of 
the  mutual  friends. 

JAMES  SHIELDS, 
S.  W.  INGE.'' 

After  which  follow  the  first  two  letters  subjoined,  Bissell's  be 
ing  amended  by  the  words  inclosed  in  brackets  in  the  2d  para 
graph  : 

"WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Feb.  22. 

"SiR  :  I  am  informed  that  in  j-esterday's  debate  you  asserted  that  at  the  time  it  was 
claimed  for  the  Mississippi  regiment,  on  the  field  of  Buena  Vista,  to  have  passed 
through  the  scattered  files  of  the  2d  Indiana  regiment,  and  to  have  met  the  Mexican 
forces,  who  had  routed  and  were  pursuing  that  regiment,  the  Mississippi  regiment 
was  not  within  one  mile  and  a  half  of  that  particular  spot.  Not  having  been  able  to 
find  a  "report"  of  your  remarks,  and  being  the  proper  person  to  answer  any  charge 
which  a  responsible  man  may  make  against  the  Mississippi  regiment  referred  to,  I 
take  this  mode  of  asking  whether  the  information  1  have  received  is  correct. 

41  Yours  respectfully,  JEFF.  DAVIS." 

"HON.  Mr.  BISSELL." 


"WASHINGTON,  Feb.  22. 

"SiR:  In  your  note  of  this  date,  you  inquire  whether  I  asserted  in  yesterday's  de 
bate  that  'at  the  time  it  was  claimed  for  the  Mississippi  regiment,  on  the  field  of 
Buena  Vista,  to  have  passed  through  the  scattered  files  of  the  2d  Indiana  regiment, 
and  to  have  met  the  Mexican  forces,  who  had  routed  and  were  pursuing  that  regiment, 
the  Mississippi  regiment  was  not  within  one  mile  and  a  half  of  the  spot." 

"The  bt-st  answer  I  can  give  to  your  inquiry  is  to  state  what  1  did  say,  which  was  this, 
that  "at  the  time  the  2d  Indiana  regiment  gave  way,  the  Mississippi  regiment  was  not 
within  a  mile  and  a  half  of  the  scene  of  action.'  This  substantially,  was  all  I  said  in 
reference  to  the  Mississippi  regiment.  I  also  said  that  the  2d  Kentucky  regiment,  the 
2cl  Illinois  and  a  portion  of  the  1st  Illinois  regiments,  were  the  troops  that  at  that 
time,  met  and  repulsed  the  advancing  column  of  the  enemy.  In  my  remarks,  I  re 
ferred  to  what  occurred  'at  that  particular  spot'  at  that  particular  time. 

Having  answered  your  inquiry,  I  deem  it  due  in  justice  alike  to  myself  and  the 
Mississippi  regiment  to  say  that  I  made  no  charge  against  that  regiment,  [but  I  am 
willing  to  award  them  the  credit  due  their  gallant  and  distinguished  services  in  that 
battle].  My  only  object  was  to  do  justice  to  the  character  of  others,  living  and 
dead,  whose  conduct  fell  under  my  own  observation  on  that  occasion— a  duty  im 
posed  upon  me,  by  remarks  previously  made  in  the  course  of  the  same  debate. 

Very  respectfully,  yours,  &c.,  W.  H.  BISSELL." 

"Hox.  JEFF  DAVIS.'" 

*  Illinois  State  Journal,- March  2, 1850. 


634  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

Lane  and  Douglas. — In  the  spring  of  1S56,  shortly  before  the 
National  Democratic  convention,  there  was  an  evident  attempt 
made  to  chafe  and  provoke  Mr.  Douglas  into  an  affair  of  honor. 
There  were  doubtless  many  anxious  to  thus  embroil  Illinois'  great 
senator  at  that  particular  juncture  of  his  public  career.  The 
occasion  of  this  was  the  presentation  to  congress  of  the  Topeka 
constitution,  accompanied  by  a  forged  memorial,  praying  admis 
sion  into  the  Union.  The  genuine  memorial  took  the  high,  not 
to  say  revolutionary,  ground,  that  congress  had  no  power  to  es 
tablish  governments  for  the  territories,  and  that  the  Kansas  Ne 
braska  act  was  unconstitutional  and  void;  that  the  people  owed 
no  allegiance  to  them,  aud  that  they  asserted  their  inherent  right 
to  overthrow  the  territorial  government  without  the  consent  and 
in  defiance  of  the  authority  of  congress.  Gen.  J.  H.  Lane  had 
been  chosen  one  of  the  senators,  and  naturally  desiring  to  take  his 
seat  as  such,  perceived  that  this  document  would  probably  not 
tend  to  further  his  chances  to  that  end.  A  forged  copy,  couched 
in  more  obedient  phraseology,  was  therefore  presented  to  congress. 
The  trick  \vas  disclosed,  however,  and  Mr.  Douglas,  as  chairman 
of  the  committee  on  territories,  denounced  it  in  unmeasured  terms, 
as  was  his  right  and  duty,  as  a  fraud  and  forgery,  and  it  was  re 
jected.  The  quidnuncs  and  Washington  letter  writers  hostile  to 
Mr.  Douglas,  immediately  snuffed  a  battle  from  afar.  Humors  be 
came  rife  of  an  expected  hostile  meeting  according  to  the  code  of 
honor,  between  the  tierce  border  general  and  the  great  champion 
of  popular  sovereignty.  A  determination  seemed  to  be  evinced 
to  intensify  the  affair  in  every  way  possible.  The  time  and  min 
utest  details  of  the  expected  hostile  event  were  carefully  an 
nounced.  Mr.  Douglas,  however,  wras  not  deceived.  He  divined 
the  purpose  to  be  to  give  the  matter  notoriety,  provoke  the  send 
ing  of  a  hostile  message,  get  arrested,  and  come  out  of  the  affair 
with  a  name  for  bravery.  When  the  message  of  Gen.  Lane,  there 
fore,  under  date  of  April,  1850,  finally  came,  asking  ufor  such 
an  explanation  of  your  language  as  will  remove  all  imputation 
upon  the  integrity  of  my  action  or  motives  in  connection  with 
that  memorial,"  Douglas  answered,  reiterating  in  scathing 
phrase,  all  the  facts  of  the  case  and  concluded — "  My  reply  is 
that  there  are  no  facts  within  my  knowledge  which  can  remove 
all  imputation  upon  the  integrity  of  your  action  or  motives  in 
connection  with  that  memorial."*  After  that  there  were  no  fur 
ther  rumors  of  a  duel,  but  Gen.  Lane,  sixty  days  later,  published 
an  abusive  card  in  the  Washington  papers,  which  injured  the 
author  more  than  Senator  Douglas. 

*  See  111,  State  Register,  May  8, 1856. 


CHAPTER  L. 
1852-1856— OEGAXIZATION  OF  THE  EEPUBLIC AN  PAETY 

The  Illinois  Wilmot  Proviso— Dissolution  of  the  Whig  Party— Re- 
peed  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  —  Intense  Political  Feeling — 
Douglas  denied  Free  Speech  in  Chicago— Knoiv  Nothing  ism — Dem 
ocratic  and  Republican  Conventions  0/1856 — Result  of  the  Cam 
paign — Lincoln's  Plea  for  Harmony  at  the  Chicago  Banquet. 


After  the  Missouri  compromise  of  1820,  the  question  of  slavery, 
ever  an  angry  one,  did  not  again  attain  national  prominence  for 
something  like  30  years.  The  cause  of  its  revival  grew  out  of  the 
annexation  of  Texas  and  the  acquisition  of  territory  from  Mexico. 
The  object  for  which  the  former  was  sought  and  secured — involv 
ing  a  war  with  Mexico;  the  avowed  purpose  of  the  most  active 
friends  of  the  movement,  the  annexation  of  Texas  being  a  para 
mount  issue  of  the  national  campaign  of  1844 ;  the  influences 
which  prevailed  in  securing  the  administration  to  the  south  ;  and 
the  overt  aim  and  official  declarations  of  its  supporters,  although 
foreign  to  the  purpose  of  this  work  to  either  trace  or  analyze,  all 
point  to  the  extension  of  slavery. 

Slavery  was  distasteful  generally  to  the  north,  but  particularly 
so  to  a  large  portion  of  the  whig  party  at  this  time.  It  was  more 
generally  obnoxious  in  an  early  day  of  the  government  than  at  a 
later  period,  but  it  did  not  become  a  question  of  party  fealty  until 
efforts  were  made  to  extend  its  area ;  and  had  slavery  not  become 
aggressive  for  territorial  expansion,  it  would  have  taken  a  long 
time  probably  for  the  anti-slavery  party  to  have  risen  above  the 
contempt  with  which  it  was  generally  regarded  in  its  early  days. 

In  August,  184G,  pending  the  deliberations  of  congress  to  ap 
propriate  $2,000,000  for  the  executive  to  prosecute  negotiations 
with  Mexico,  looking  to  the  acquisition  of  territory,  Mr.  Wilmot, 
of  Penn.,  moved  the  celebrated  proviso  (almost  in  the  words  of 
the  6th  article  of  the  ordinance  of  1787) :  'Slavery,  or  involuntary 
servitude,  except  as  a  punishment  for  crime,  shall  be  forever  pro 
hibited  in  any  territory  which  may  be  acquired  from  Mexico." 
When  this  amendment  came  up  for  action  in  the  house  it  pre 
vailed  by  a  majority  of  0,  the  only  names  from  non-slave-holding 
States  recorded  against  it  being  from  Illinois,  viz  :  Messrs.  Doug 
las,  Ficklin,  Hoge  and  McClernand — a  fair  counterpart  to  the 
action  of  the  Illinois  senators  on  the  admission  of  Missouri  a 
quarter  of  a  century  before.  Mr.  Douglas,  subsequently,  in  the 
senate,  moved  a  substitute  for  the  "proviso/7  prohibiting  slavery 
in  the  acquired  territory  north  of  36d.  30m.,  which  was  lost. 

635 


636  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

To  show  that  the  sentiment  of  the  north  was  averse  to  the  ex 
tension  of  slavery,  and  that  the  northern  democracy  was  not  yet 
wholly  in  the  grasp  of  the  slave  propagandists,  the  legislature 
(largely  democratic),  at  its  regular  winter  session  of  1849,  passed 
joint  resolutions  instructing  our  senators  and  representatives  in 
congress  to  use  all  honorable  means  in  their  power  to  procure  the 
enactment  of  such  laws  for  the  government  of  the  territories  of  the 
U.  S.,  acquired  by  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Mexico  as  should  con 
tain  the  express  declaration  that  "there  shall  be  neither  slavery 
nor  involuntary  servitude  in  said  territories  otherwise  than  in 
punishment  for  crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  con 
victed."  The  "Wilmot  proviso"  had  had  much  odium  cast  upon  it 
by  this  time,  and  this  modification  of  it  by  omitting  the  word  "for 
ever"  would  apply  to  territorial  conditions  only,  leaving  States  to 
be  formed  out  of  it  free  to  establish  or  exclude  slavery — a  vastly 
different  thing !  The  discovery  of  this  nice  distinction,  practically 
without  a  difference,  it  was  thought  by  no  means  recognized  the 
odious  "  proviso,"  fast  becoming  a,  party  test.  A  portion  of  the 
Illinois  democracy  at  the  time  held  that  congress  had  no  constitu 
tional  right  to  either  establish,  prohibit,  or  in  anywise  interfere 
with  slavery  in  the  territories. 

The  proceedings  in  both  houses  incident  to  the  passage  of  these 
resolutions  of  instruction  were  exciting  and  protracted,  and  the 
debates,  in  which  all  the  leading  members  shared,  exceedingly 
able  and  not  without  acrimony.  They  were  adopted  in  the  house 
by  38  to  34,  all  the  whigs  (24)  and  14  democrats  voting  for  them, 
while  the  34  noes  were  all  democrats  ;  in  the  senate  the  vote  stood 
14  to  11,  all  the  whigs  (7)  and  7  democrats  voting  aye,  the  11  noes 
being  all  democrats. 

Thei^e  was  some  question  at  the  time  as  to  whether  our  delegates 
in  congress  would  obey  these  instructions.  Pending  the  compro 
mise  measures  of  1850,  a  mass  meeting  in  Chicago  called  upon 
Senator  Douglas  to  obey  the  resolutions  in  their  spirit  as  well  as 
tech  ideal  letter,  or  resign.  Douglas  had  ever  opposed  the  Wil- 
mor  proviso.  Now,  having  written  the  compromise  bills  and  re 
ported  them  from  the  committee  on  territories  without  the  pro 
viso,  an  amendment  was  offered  in  the  precise  language  of  the 
Illinois  instructions.  He  believed  in  the  right  of  instruction,  but 
rather  than  resign  his  seat  and  knowing  that  it  would  not  prevail 
even  with  the  vote  of  Illinois,  he  denounced  it  in  severe  terms, 
and  then  in  obedience  to  instructions,  voted  for  it. 

At  the  session  of  the  legislature  in  1851,  the  so-called  Illinois 
Wilmot  proviso  resolutions  were  rescinded.  It  was  further  re 
solved  to  sustain  the  executive  of  the  U.  S.  in  his  determination 
to  enforce  the  fugitive  slave  law;  and  as  the  adjustment  measures 
passed  by  congress,  comprising  the  admission  of  California,  the 
establishment  of  territorial  governments  for  Utah  and  New  Mex 
ico  upon  the  principle  of  non-intervention,  the  settlement  of  the 
Texan  boundary,  amendment  of  the  fugitive  slave  law  of  1793, 
and  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  were 
eminently  calculated  to  remove  all  controversy  and  restore  peace, 
quietude  and  confidence  between  the  two  sections  of  the  country, 
they  met  their  hearty  concurrence.  Our  delegation  in  congress 
was  further  instructed  to  resist  all  attempts  to  disturb  or  unsettle 
them.  The  resolutions  were  adopted  in  the  house  by  a  vote  of 


THE   REPUBLICAN   PARTY.  G37 

49  to  11,  and  in  the  senate  by  22  to  2.  The  democratic  press  con 
gratulated  the  people  upon  the  removal  of  this  stigma  from  the 
State,  which  indicates  the  advance  the  question  of  slavery  was 
making  as  a  party  issue.  In  rescinding  the  resolutions,  both  dem 
ocrats  and  whigs  largely  participated,  while  but  two  years  prior 
every  whig  in  both  houses  had  voted  to  adopt  them.  In  the  mean 
time  the  agitations  incident  to  the  great  adjustment  measures  of 
1850,  which  shook  the  Union  to  its  centre,  had  taken  place  and 
been  fraternally  settled,  and  this  action  of  the  legislature  was 
an  earnest  of  its  acceptance  in  good  faith,  and  a  hearty  acquies- 
ence  in  the  national  compromise  of  that  period  by  both  whigsand 
democrats. 

Under  this  fraternal  feeling  the  national  election  of  1852  re 
sulted  in  favor  of  the  democratic  party  by  an  overwhelming  ma 
jority.  This  was  hardly  expected.  They  had  cast  their  represen 
tative  men  overboard  and  selected  Mr.  Pierce,  at  the  instance  of 
the  South  (Virginia  bringing  him  forward  in  convention)  on  ac 
count  of  availability,  while  the  whigs  had  for  their  candidate  a 
soldier  chieftain  of 'renown,  who  had  carried  our  nag  to  victory 
from  Canada  to  the  City  of  Mexico,  in  the  person  of  Gen.  Scott. 
While  many  whigs  had  labored  with  patriotic  zeal  in  the  adoption 
of  the  adjustment  measures  of  1850,  there  was  still  a  very  large 
anti-slavery  element  in  that  party  throughout  the  North,  Avhich 
gave  but  a  sullen  acquiescence  to  the  compromise ;  many  of  the 
leaders  spit  upon  the  Baltimore  platform.  Besides,  in  the  election 
of  Taylor  in  1848,  the  whigs  had  swerved  from  principle  for  per 
sonal  considerations,  and  while  crowned  with  success,  forfeited 
the  confidence  of  the  country.  With  the  overwhelming  defeat  iu 
1852,  and  the  northern  disaffection  in  its  ranks,  symptoms  of  dis 
solution  in  that  grand  old  party  were  now  everywhere  manifest. 
It  was  pronounced  in  artieulo  mortis  by  its  leaders,  and  its  aban 
donment  daily  advocated. 

In  Illinois  the  democracy  were  in  such  ascendency  in  1852  that 
when  the  whig  State  convention  assembled  to  put  forth  a  ticket, 
it  was  candidly  stated  by  the  chairman  in  his  opening  speech,  that 
they  had  no  hope  of  success,  but  it  was  highly  important  to  make 
a  decent  show,  and  thus  encourage  and  uphold  their  friends 
abroad. 

After  the  accession  of  President  Pierce  democracy  was  not 
without  its  nmtterings  of  discontent.  In  the  election  the  Van 
Buren  breach  of  1848  was  bridged  over,  it  seems  largely  by  the 
u  cohesive  power  of  public  pi  under"  in  prospect,  but  disappointment 
in  the  division  of  the  loaves  and  fishes  now  caused  a  wide  and 
deeper  hostility  than  ever,  in  many  portions  of  the  country.  The 
troubles  of  a  country  emanate  from  uneasy  and  ambitious  politi 
cians,  its  safety  reposes  in  the  tranquil  masses.* 

During  a  period  of  dead  calm  in  general  i>olitics,  the  opposition 
for  the  October  contest  in  Ohio  in  1853,  sought  to  fuse  all  the  va 
rious  party  factions  and  unite  them  against  the  party  in  power, 
and  the  Republican  party  was  in  a  manner  forshadowed  by  their 
platform  of  principles:  opposition  to  the  fugitive  slave  law  and 
the  further  extension  of  slavery ;  freedom  of  the  public  lands ; 
equal  taxation  and  the  suppression  of  intemperance.  This  was 
known  as  the  Giddings  ukase.  The  movement  met  with  defeat. 

•  Benton. 


638  HISTORY  OF   ILLINOIS. 

The  various  party  elements  released  by  the  dissolution  of  the 
whig  party,  together  with  other  disaffected  elements,  were  at  this 
period  drifting  hither  and  thither,  ready  and  eager  to  catch  or 
cling  to  this  rock  or  that  vine,  to  crystalize  about  any  strong  ob 
ject  which  offered  them  a  hopeful  opposition  to  the  party  in  power; 
but  they  were  as  yet  unwilling  to  embrace  unadulterated  aboli 
tionism.  A  large  portion  of  the  whigs  were  still  conservative  and 
disinclined  to  give  in  their  adhesion,  to  a  new  party.  Blind  to  the 
plain  purposes  of  the  South,  they  reasoned  justly  that  to  base  a 
party  on  geographical  boundaries  in  one  section  of  the  country, 
rather  than  upon  the  broad  constitution  for  the  whole,  was  to  jus 
tify  the  same  in  the  opposite  section,  in  utter  disregard  not  only 
of  the  solemn  injunction  of  Washington's  farewell  address,  but 
revolutionary  in  spirit  and  result,  if  not  intent,  and  utterly  sub 
versive  of  all  fraternity  of  action  in  the  nation  at  large.  .Repos 
ing  confidence  in  a  continuance  of  the  tranquility  afforded  by  the 
compromise  of  1850>  they  saw  no  exigency  which  justified  the 
sacrifice  of  the  peace  and  harmony  25,000,000  of  people  for  the 
imaginary  benefits  to  result  to  3,500,000  Africans  in  our  coun 
try.* 

Some  great  question  to  convulse  the  tranquility  of  the  country 
and  awaken  the  slumbering  sentiments  of  the  masses  to  a  new 
conflict  of  political  opinion  was  therefore  required  ;  and  to  crys 
talize  their  first  horror  and  astonishment  into  a  new  party  was 
the  duty  of  the  hour.  Expectants  did  not  have  to  wait  long.  At 
the  session  of  congress  of  1853-4,  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Com 
promise,  by  the  organization  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska  into  terri 
torial  governments,  presented  an  ample  field  for  the  arts  and  skill 
of  party  disciplinarians,  and  the  opportunity  was  well  improved. 
The  Missouri  compromise,  since  1820,  had  inhibited  slavery  from 
that  vast  and  temperate  region  which  faced  the  turbulent  river 
of  that  name  for  500  miles  on  the  west,  and  extending  south 
ward  to  the  line  of  30  d.  30  m.  All  this  extensive  and  supposed 
fertile  territory  was  thus  opened  to  the  introduction  of  the  blight 
and  curse  of  slavery,  otherwise  so  well  adapted  for  millions  of 
free  and  happy  homes.  The  fact  was  regarded  as  an  unparalleled 
outrage,  and  the  excitement  throughout  the  north  was  extraordi 
nary  ;  nor  was  the  public  mind  at  all.  appeased  by  the  fact  that  it 
was  tendered  the  south  by  northern  men. 

Mr.  Douglas,  as  chairman  of  the  committee  on  territories,  was 
the  author  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  yet  the  superogatory 
amendment  (according  to  his  view),  which,  in  express  terms,  re 
pealed  the  restriction  as  to  slavery,  was  offered  by  Mr.  Dixon,  of 
Kentucky,  a  whig.  Mr.  Douglas  promptly  accepted  it,  feeling 
that  he  could  not  consistently  do  otherwise,  for  his  original  bill, 
drawn  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  non-intervention,  re 
cognized  in  the  compromise  measures  of  1850,  of  which  he  was 
the  real  author,  rendered  the  inhibition  in  effect  nugatory.  While 
such  was  the  case  with  regard  to  the  organization  of  Utah  and 
New  Mexico,  it  is  also  true  that  the  Missouri  restriction  was  not 
expressly  repealed ;  nor  was  it  ever  intimated  during  the  pro 
tracted  discussions  in  congress,  in  1850,  that  such  would  be  the 
effect. 

*  Resolutions  of  Whig  Convention. 


THE   REPUBLICAN   PARTY.  639 

The  measure  was  of  such  absorbing  interest  that  long  before  it 
became  a  law  the  people  in  public  meetings  gave  expression  to 
their  indignation  in  many  parts  of  the  country.  Early  in  Febru 
ary.  1854,  when  it  was  apparent  that  the  bill  would  become  a  law, 
a  large  meeting  was  held  in  Chicago,  to  place  the  ban,  as  was  said, 
upon  the  movements  of  Senator  Douglas.  It  was  comprised  of 
citizens  of  all  parties,  but  more  largely  participated  in  by  former 
prominent  supporters  of  the  senator  than  others.  Speeches  com 
mendatory  of  his  course  were  made  by  R.  S.  Blackwell,  S.  S.  Hays, 
E.  C.  Larned,  T.  L.  Dickey,  Mr.  Mannierre,  Mark  Skinner,  and 
others.  Of  the  resolutions  adopted  we  subjoin  the  following: 
"That  the  passage  of  the  [Nebraska]  bill  for  the  repeal  or  moles 
tation  of  the  Missouri  compromise,  will  destroy  the  harmony  which 
now  exists  between  the  north  and  the  south,  create  sectional  dis 
turbances  and  perpetual  agitation  of  questions  which  have  hereto 
fore  been  regarded  as  settled  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  the 
nation."  The  immediate  action  of  the  legislature,  then  in  extra 
ordinary  session,  was  invited  to  the  subject,  and  instructions  de 
manded  for  our  congressional  delegation  to  vote  against  the  bill.* 

The  question  speedily  got  into  the  legislature,  which  was  largely 
democratic,  and  hardly  required  the  Chicago  invitation.  Two  sets 
of  resolutions  were  introduced,  one  known  as  the  Gillespie, 
strongly  condemning  the  purposed  action  of  congress,  and  the 
other  by  Mr.  Omelveny,  approving  the  Nebraska  bill  as  but  an 
other  application  of  the  principles  of  adjustment  of  1850.  After 
a  protracted  debate,  in  which  Messrs.  Logan,  Snyder  and  Sin 
gleton  (whig)  took  a  leading  part. in  advocacy,  the  Omelveny  res 
olution  passed  in  the  House  by  30  to  22 — 3  whigs  and  27  demo 
crats  for,  and  11  democrats  and  11  whigs  voting  against. 

Mr.  Douglas  was  the  champion  of  the  measure  in  congress. 
This  drew  upon  him  much  of  the  public  resentment.  The  excite 
ment  invaded  the  portals  of  the  church.  Twenty-six  ministers 
of  the  gospel  at  Chicago  addressed  him  a  letter  on  the  iniquity  of 
repealing  the  Missouri  compromise,  to  which  he  replied  in  admi 
rable  temper,  objecting  to  the  use  of  the  Sabbath  as  a  day  for  elec 
tioneering,  or  converting  the  pulpit  into  a  place  for  stump  speeches ; 
"the  purity  of  the  Christian  church  and  our  holy  religion,  and  the 
preservation  of  our  free  institutions  require  that  church  and  state 
be  separate,  that  the  preacher  on  the  Sabbath  day  shall  find  his 
text  in  the  Bible;  shall  preach  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified; 
shall  preach  from  the  holy  scriptures,  and  not  attempt  to  control 
the  political  organizations  and  political  parties  of  the  day." 

After  the  passage  of  the  measure,  the  indignation  vented  by  an 
enraged  people  did  not  abate,  and  the  brunt  of  it  continued  to 
fall  upon  its  gifted  champion.  Illinois'  great  senator  was  de 
nounced  as  a  traitor  to  his  section  and  the  cause  of  human  lib 
erty,  from  Xew  England  to  California;  the  press  of  the  north 
teemed  with  abuse  and  censure;  he  was  burnt  in  effigy  along  his 
route  home,  and  in  the  chief  city  of  his  own  State  denied  the 
right  of  free  speech  in  vindication  of  himself  by  a  tumultuous 
mob. 

T>ou(flas  Denied  Free  Speech  in  Chicago. — Four  years  before, 
when  the  city  council  passed  resolutions  denouncing  "the  compro- 

*See  House  Jour.  Feb.  22,  1854. 


640  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

mise  measures  as  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  God  and  the  con 
stitution,  enjoining  the  city  police  to  disregard  the  fugitive  slave 
law,  and  all  good  citizens  to  disobey  it,  Mr.  Douglas,  in  a  speech 
of  great  force  and  convincing  eloquence,  attacked  this  action  with 
such  effect  as  to  revolutionize  the  sentiment  of  the  people,  and 
the  next  day  the  council  reconsidered  the  resolutions  by  1U  to  1. 
His  power  in  vindication  of  himself  was  now  justly  dreaded.  It 
was  sought  to  squelch  him.  Before  his  arrival  the  opposition  press 
cried  out:  "We  have  pretty  good  reason  for  believing  that  Sena 
tor  Douglas  will  arrive  in  the  city  to-day  or  to-morrow.  If  so, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  renegade  is  endeavoring  to  sneak  home 
quietly,  and  avoid  the  odious  public  demonstration  which,  he  must 
know,  awaits  him.  The  people  are  ready  for  him."*  And  after 
his  arrival  we  find  the  following  language  : 

"Had  Douglas  dared  to  come  to  Chicago  soon  after  the  passage  of  the 
Nebraska  infamy,  when  the  sting  of  the  wound  was  yet  rankling  fresh 
in  the  hearts  of  his  insulted  constituency,  and  when  their  blood  was  yet 
boiling  at  the  treachery  of  their  servant,  to  whom  they  had  entrusted  so 
much,  he  would  have  been  met  with  a  storm  of  indignation,  and  scorn, 
and  retribution,  which  might  have  swept  him  from  the  earth,  and  re 
lieved  the  world  of  the  disgrace  and  suffering  which  he  may  yet  entail 
upon  it.  *  *  Stephen  A.  Douglas  has  no  claims  upon  the  cour 
tesy  or  kindness  of  the  people  of  Chicago,  but  he  has  the  deepest  reasons 
to  fear  their  detestation,  their  abhorence,  their  rebukes,  and  their  ven 
geance.  He  has  betrayed  us  ;  he  has  disregraded  us ;  he  has  insulted 
us  ;  he  has  disgraced  us  ;  he  has  injured  us-  in  our  reputation,  our  fair 
fame,  our  honor,  and  our  pecuniary  interest.  *  He  is  now  in  our 
midst.  If  he  is  content  to  remain  in  the  obscurity  into  which  he  has 
sunk,  we  shall  not  pull  him  forth.  *  *  But  if,  in  his  madness 
and  his  folly,  he  attempts  to  get  up  what  he  calls  a  'vindication'  of  his 
crimes  *  it  will  not  be  our  fault  if  lie  arouses  a  lion  which  he  can 
not  tame.  Let  him  add  no  more  insults  to  those  which  he  has  already 
heapedjipon  us.  There  is  a  point  beyond  which  the  people  will  not  en 
dure." 

We  give  these  extracts  to  show  the  hight  to  which  political  feel 
ing  was  aroused. 

Douglas,  however,  nothing  daunted,  caused  an  announcement 
to  be  made  that  he  would  address  the  people  in  vindication  of  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill  on  Saturday  evening,  September  the  1st.  In 
the  meantime  rumors  were  rife  on  the  streets  regarding  the  efforts 
making  to  prevent'  his  speaking,  and  others,  that  he  should  have  a 
hearing  at  any  cost ;  that  thousands  of  0-shooters  woidd  be  on  the 
ground  to  enforce  the  freedom  of  speech.  His  friends  openly  in 
dulged  in  the  taunting  remarks  that  his  opponents  would  be  si 
lenced  and  "made  to  crouch  at  his  feet  like  whipped  curs,'7  and  the 
like.  On  the  afternoon  preceding  the  speaking,  one  of  the  oppo 
sition  newspapers  issued  an  inflammatory  hand-hill,  asserting  that 
an  "Irish  body  guard"  had  been  organized  to  prevent  Americans 
participating  in  the  meeting.  Knownothingism  was  beginning  to 
make  a  show  in  the  land.  A  threatening  letter  was  sent  to  Doug 
las  from  the  secretary  of  an  organization  formed  since  his  arrival, 
which  required  him  to  leave  the  city  or  remain  silent;  "if  he  dis 
regarded  the  notice  the  organization  was  pledged,  at  the  sacrifice 
of  life,  to  prevent  his  being  heard."  Shortly  after  noon  the  flags 
of  all  the  shipping  were  displayed  at  half-mast ;  and  at  a  quarter 
past  6  p.  m.  the  city  bells  began  to  toll,  and  continued  to  fill  the 

•Tribune,  Aug.  1854. 


THE   REPUBLICAN  PARTY.  G41 

air  with  their  mournful  tones  for  over  an  hour.  The  subject  was 
sought  to  be  impressed  with  an  air  of  mourning. 

At  the  appointed  hour  of  meeting  in  the  evening  the  vast  space 
in  front  of  the  [North  Market  Hall  was  thronged  with  men.  Crowds 
of  visitors  from  a  distance,  some  as  far  as  Detroit  and  St.  Louis, 
had  arrived  by  every  train,  desirous  to  hear  him. 

On  the  appearance  of  the  senator  on  the  open  balcony,  when, 
after  a  suitable  allusion  to  the  excitement  of  the  occasion,  he  at 
tempted  to  launch  out  into  the  subject  of  his  address,  he  was  at 
once  greeted  with  hisses  and  groans  followed  by  a  wild  tumult  of 
shouting  and  outrageous  noise.  He  folded  his  arms  across  his 
breast,  and  with  a  silent  determination  calmly  surveyed  the  angry, 
seething  multitude  around  and  beneath  him.  Anon,  upon  the 
cessation  of  the  din,  he  stretched  forth  his  'hand  to  resume  his 
speech,  only  to  have  his  voice  drowned  by  a  redoubled  uproar, 
and  there,  fearlessly  above  that  surging  and  maddened  mass  of 
men,  stood  the  " Little  Giant"  for  four  hours,  essaying  time  and 
again  to  speak  only  to  be  overpowered  by  the  hooting  and  demo 
niac  yells  of  the  infuriate  multitude  of  ten  thousand.  The  most 
opprobrious  epithets  were  hurled  at  him,  and  the  most  insulting 
words  were  shouted  and  bandied  back  and  forth  by  the  crowd.  IP 
vain  did  well  known  gentlemen  circulate  among  the  throng  and 
counsel  order — but  .there  was  no  order.  It  was  an  intolerable  out 
rage  offered  to  a  distinguished  citizen  and  a  man  of  towering  in 
tellect.  [No  violence  or  collision  occurred,  however,  as  had  been 
feared.  It  was  said  that  Douglas'  manner  tended  to  add  to  the 
tiame  of  passion  already  high.  Inspired  by  a  conscious  feeling  of 
excelling  power,  he  appeared  rather  as  a  master  than  a  servant 
of  the  people.  This  peculiarity  has  frequently  been  observed  of 
him— doubtless  it  was  hightened  at  this  time.  An  opposition  pa 
per,  describing  the  scene,  says  of  him  :  "Dictator  Hashed  from  out 
his  eye,  curled  upon  his  lip,  and  mingled  its  cold  irony  in  every 
tone  of  his  voice  and  every  gesture  of  his  body.  At  this,  as  in 
water  face  answereth  to  face,  so  the  heart  of  man  to  man."  Many 
of  the  opposition  felt  deeply  mortified  that  Mr.  Douglas  had  not 
been  permitted  to  speak. 

Prominent  among  the  early  mass  meetings  in  Illinois,  irrespec 
tive  of  party,  but  in  which  leading  democrats  acted  a  controlling 
part  for  the  purpose  of  sinking  all  previous  party  predelictions, 
and  pledging  themselves  to  unite  in  the  organization  of  a  new- 
party  to  make  common  cause  against  the  extension  of  slavery, 
either  by  the  abrogation  of  the  Missouri  compromise  or  the  annex 
ation  of  more  territory  for  the  use  of  slavery  (the  acquisition  of 
Cuba  then  being  in  the  public  eye),  was  held  at  Freeport  in  the 
spring  of  1854.  Many  other  meetings  of  a  similar  character,  all 
showing  how  earnestly  the  people  took  this  matter  to  heart,  were 
held  during  the  summer  of  1854,  mostly  in  the  northern  portion 
of  the  State.  We  subjoin  a  summary  of  one  held  in  Kane  county 
August  19, 1854 : 

"We,  the  people  of  Kane  county,  in  mass  convention  assembled,  irre 
spective  of  party,  in  view  of  the  long-continued  encroachments  of  the 
slave  power,  culminating  at  last  in  the  repeal  of  the  law  of  freedom  in  all 
the  hithertounorganized  territories  of  the  Union,  will  co-operate  with  the 
friends  of  freedom  throughout  the  State  in  an  effort  to  bring  the  govern 
ment  back  to  just  principles  ;  to  restore  Kansas  and  Nebraska  to  the  po- 
41 


642  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

sition  of  free  territories  ;  to  repeal  the  fugitive  slave  law ;  to  restrict  slav 
ery  to  the  States  in  which  it  exists;  to  prohibit  the  admission  of  any 
more  slave  States  into  the  Union  ;  to  exclude  slavery  from  all  the  terri 
tories  over  which  the  general  government  has  exclusive  jurisdiction  ;  re 
sist  the  acquirement  of  any  new  slave  territory,  and"  the  repeal  of  the  in 
human  and  barbarous  black  laws  of  this  State." 

These  were  the  sentiments  of  the  people  to  a  large  extent. 

The  Tazewell  Mirror  (whig)  proposed  a  "State  convention  of 
all  parties  and  divisions  of  parties  opposed  to  the  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  compromise,  to  be  held  at  some  convenient  place  in  the 
State  early  enough  in  point  of  time  to  make  arrangements  for  the 
fall  elections  of  1854."  But  this  proposition  did  not  meet  with 
general  favor.  While  the  old  wings  in  Illinois  stood  almost  as  a 
unit  in  opposition  to  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise,  they 
were  yet  unwilling  at  that  time  to  lose  their  identity  to  accomplish 
one  single  object  which  it  was  supposed  would  prove  transitory, 
and  it  was  apprehended  that  when  the  Nebraska  matter  was  dis 
posed  of  the  disaffected  democrats  would  do  as  they  had  done  in 
the  election  of  Pierce  in  1852,  after  supporting  Van  Bnren  in  1848. 
The  whigs  argued  that  as  their  antagonism  to  the  Nebraska  swin 
dle  was  well  known,  all  that  the  disaffected  democrats  and  free- 
sbilers  had  to  do  was  to  join  them,  and  unitedly  place  the  seal  of 
condemnation  upon  it. 

In  the  north  part  of  the  State,  however,  in  every  congressional 
district,  and  also  that  of  Madison  in  the  south,  anti-Nebraska  or 
fusion  candidates  were  brought  out,  anti-Nebraska  platforms 
adopted  (a  notable  one  at  Bloomington),  and  the  whigs  may  be 
said  to  have  been  fully  merged  with  all  the  opposition  elements. 
But  in  the  central  or  capital  district  it  was  otherwise ;  there,  while 
the  wjrigs  had  a  large  majority,  and  Mr.  Yates,  their  idol,  had 
taken  extreme  ground  upon  the  question  in  congress,  they  yet 
dared  not  adopt  an  anti-Nebraska  platform  for  fear  an  abolition 
plank  would  drive  off  tne  national  whigs ;.  and  if  the  whigs  should 
adopt  a  national  platform  the  free-soilers  and  abolitionists  would 
be  driven  off'.  The  whigs  there  inclined  more  to  know-nothingism. 

On  Tuesday,  October  3d,  1854,  however,  a  small  anti-Ne 
braska  or  fusion  State  convention,  which  assumed  the  name  of 
Eepublican,  met  at  Springfield.  It  was  attended  by  some  26  dele 
gates,  and  chiefly  managed  by  leading  and  ever  ardent  abolition 
ists — Mr.  Lovejoy,  of  Bureau,  Ichabod  Codding  (the  Tom  Corwin 
of  Illinois),  of  Cook,  Erastus  Wright,  of  Sangamon,&c.  The  con 
vention  was  held  at  arms  length  by  the  great  body  of  anti-Ne 
braska  democrats  and  whigs,  both  on  account  of  insignificance  in 
point  of  numbers  and  the  political  status  of  its  fuglemen.  It 
has  never  been  generally  acknowled  as  the  first  State  republican 
convention.  There  was,  besides,  but  one  State  officer  to  elect,  the 
treasurer.  It  concluded  its  labors  on  the  5th  by  nominating  J. 
E.  M'Clun  of  M'Lean,  for  that  office.  The  Hon.  John  Moore,  the 
old  incumbent,  was  the  democratic  candidate.  McGinn's  name 
was  in  a  few  days  after  withdrawn,  and  that  of  James  Miller,  a 
Avhig  of  the  same  county,  substituted.  A  platform  of  principles 
was  adopted,  as  follows : 

Whereas,  The  present  congress  by  a  majority  of  the  members  elected  to  the  house, 
has  deliberately  and  wantonly  re-opened  the  controversy  respecting  the  extension  of 
slavery  under  our  national  jurisdiction,  which  a  majority  of  the  people  had  under 
stood  to  be  closed  forever  by  the  successive  compromises  of  1830  and  1850 ;  and 


THE  REPUBLICAN   PARTY.  643 

Whereas,  This  congress,  aided  and  impelled  by  the  federal  executive,  has  by  the  act 
currently  known  us  the  iNebraska  bill,  designedly  subverted  so  much  of  the  compact 
commonly  termed  ttie  Missouri  Compromise,  as  excluded  slaverv  froin  tjhut  vast  re 
gion  of  our  continent  stretching  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and 
from  the  parallel  of  36  d.  30  m.  to  the  northern  boundary  of  our  Union,  the  State  of 
Missouri  alone  excepted;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  State  of  Illinois  affirms  and  maintains  the  right  and  the  duty  of 
the  general  government  to  prottibit  and  preclude  the  extension,  establishment  or  per 
petuation  of  human  slavery  in  any  and  every  territory  of  the  U.  S.  and  in  any  terri 
tory,  possession  and  country  over  which  this  country  now  has  or  may  hereafter  acquire 
exclusive  jurisdiction. 

Resolved,  That  the  doctrine  affirmed  by  the  Nebraska  bill,  and  gilded  over  by  its  ad 
vocates  with  the  specious  phrases  of  non-intervention  and  popular  sovereignty,  is 
really  and  clearly  a  complete  surrender  of  all  the  ground  hitherto  asserted  and  main 
tained  by  the  federal  government,  with  respect  to  the  limitation  of  slavery,  is  a  plain 
confession  of  the  right  of  the  slave-holder  to  transfer  his  human  chattels  to  any  part 
of  the  public  domain,  and  there  hold  them  as  slaves  as  Jong  as  inclination  or  interest 
may  dictate  ;  that  this  is  an  attempt  totally  to  rev  rse  the  doctrine  hitherto  uniformly 
held  by  statesmen  and  jurist^,  that  slavery  is  the  creature  of  local  and  State  law,  and 
to  make  it  a  national  institution. 

Rfsoh-cd,  That  as  freedom  is  national  and  slavery  sectional  and  local,  the  absence  of 
all  law  upon  the  subject  of  slavery  presumes  the  existence  of  a  state  of  freedom  alone, 
while  slavery  existed  only  by  virtue  of  positive  law. 

R<  solved,  That  slavery  can  exist  in  a  territory  only  by  usurpation  and  in  violation  of 
law,  and  we  believe  that  congress  has  the  right  and  should  prohibit  its  extension  into 
such  territory,  so  long  as  it  remains  under  the  guardianship  of  the  general  govern 
ment. 

Resolved,  That  we  willingly  concede  to  neighboring  States  all  the  legal  rights  on  our 
soil  included  in  the  sacred  compact  of  the  constitution,  but  we  regard  the  trial  by  jury 
and  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  as  safeguards  of  personal  liberty  so  necessary  that  no 
interests  of  any  citizen  of  our  own  State  ever  are  or  can  be  permitted  to  suspend  them; 
and  therefore  no  citizen  of  other  States  can  fairly  ask  us  to  consent  to  their  abroga 
tion. 

Resolved,  That  we  recognize  no  antagonism  of  national  interests  bet  ween  us  and  the 
citizens  of  southern  States,  nor  do  we  entertain  any  feelings  of  hostility  toward  them, 
but  we  recognize  them  as  kindred  and  brethren  of  the  same  national  family,  having  a 
common  origin,  and  we  hope  a  common  and  glorious  destiny. 

Resolved.,  That  in  that  fraternal  spirit  we  call  upon  them  to  aid 'us  in  restoring  the 
action  of  government  to  its  primitive  usage,  under  which  we  have  so  long  enjoyed 
prosperity  and  peace,  as  the  only  guarantee  of  future  harmony,  and  a  certain,  if  not 
the  only,  means  of  perpetuation  of  the  Union. 

Revolved.  That  the  river  and  harbor  improvements,  when  necessary  to  the  safety  and 
convenience  of  commerce  with  foreign  nations,  or  among  the  several  States,  are  ob 
jects  of  national  concern,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  congress,  in  the  exercise  of  its  constitu 
tional  power;  to  provide  for  the  same. 

Resolved,  That  we  heartily  approve  the  course  of  the  freemen  of  Connecticut.  Ver 
mont,  Iowa,  Ohio,  Indiana,  New  York,  Wisconsin,  Michigan  and  Maine,  postponing  or 
disregarding  their  minor  differences  of  opinion  or  preferences,  and  acting  together 
cordially  and  trustingly  in  the  same  cause  of  freedom,  of  free  labor  and  free  soil,  and 
we  commend  their  spirit  to  the  freemen  of  this  and  other  States,  exhorting  each  to  re 
nounce  his  party  whenever  and  wherever  that  party  proves  unfaithful  to  human  free 
dom 

The  following  State  central  committee  was  designated  :  Judge 
David  J.  Baker  of  Madison,  Maj.  U.  D.  Coy  of  Knox,  K  0. 
Gtier  of  Lake,  A.  G.  Throop,  of  Cook,  Edwin  S.  Lelaud  of  La- 
Salle,  M.  L.  Dunlap  of  Cook,  Hon.  A.  Lincoln  of  Sangamon, 
II.  M.  Sheets  of  Stevenson,  Z.  Eastman,  of  Cook,  J.  F.  Farns- 
worth  of  Cook,  J.  B.  Fairbanks  of  Morgan,  Ichabod  Codding  of 
Chicago.* 

We  cannot  forbear  to  relate  an  episode  which  occurred  during 
the  sitting  of  the  convention,  which,  by  its  brilliancy,  doubtless 
aided  to  cast  that  body  in  the  shade.  On  the  4th  day  of  Octo 
ber  a  mass  meeting,  by  previous  appointment,  was  held  at  Spring 
field,  at  which  Mr.  Douglas,  Gen.  Singleton  and  Major  Harris 
(running  for  congress  against  Yates.)  were  to  speak.  A  large  as 
semblage  of  people  had  gathered  from  far  and  near,  in  conse 
quence.  It  was  also  the  occasion  of  the  first  State  fair  at  Spring 
field,  which  had  drawn  a  large  attendance  from  all  over  the  State, 
and  was  a  great  success.  It  had  been  rumored  that  Judges  Breese 
and  Trimibull,  anti-Nebraska  democrats,  both  looking  to  Shields' 
place  in  the  United  States  senate,  would  be  present  to  answer 
Douglas.  Mr.  Lincoln,  too,  looking  forward  to  that  exalted  posi 
tion,  had  carefully  prepared  for  the  occasion,  and  the  two  former 

*  See  Chicago  Tribune,  Oct.  7, 1854. 


644  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

failing  to  appear  at  the  appointed  time,  lie  divided  the  time  and 
discussed  the  all-absorbing  question  of  the  day  with  Mr.  Douglas. 
This  was  the  first  occasion  that  these  great  rival  champions,  who 
have  occupied  so  large  a  share  of  public  attention,  and  whose 
just  fame  lias  sunk  deep  into  the  patriotic  heart  of  the  nation, 
measured  their  strength  in  debate  5  and  the  intellectual  efforts  of 
both,  carrying  the  assembled  multitude  alternately  by  storm,  are 
spoken  of  in  the  highest  of  terms  by  their  respective  friends. 
The  meeting,  on  account  of  the  weather  was  held  in  the  hall  of 
representatives. 

Mr.  Lincoln  spoke  first,  occupying  two  hours.  He  (whig) 
claimed  to  be  national  in  his  views;  was  opposed  to  disturbing 
slavery  where  it  existed  in  the  States;  would  sustain  an  efficient 
slave  law,  because  of  the  clear  grant  of  power  in  the  constitution 
for  the  recovery  of  fugitives  from  labor ;  believed  that  congress 
had  the  power,  and  should  exercise  it,  to  prohibit  slavery  in  the 
territories,  citing  the  ordinance  of  1787.  He  also  took  the  broad 
ground  derived  from  the  declaration  of  independence,  that  the 
white  man  had  no  right  to  impose  laws  upon  the  blacks  for  their 
government  without  their  consent ;  and  concluded  Avith  a  vigorous 
attack  upon  Douglas  personally,  taking  as  his  text  the  celebrated 
apostrophe  of  that  gentleman  in  1849,  that  the  Missouri  compro 
mise  was  canonized  in  the  hearts  of  the  American  people,  which 
no  ruthless  hand  would  dare  to  be  reckless  enough  to  disturb.  He 
spoke  with  singular  power,  and  being  deeply  moved  himself,  car 
ried  his  audience  with  him  step  by  step  in  wrapt  attention  to  his 
eloquence,  until  his  argument  broke  like  a  sun  over  their  under 
standing.  *Mr.  Lincoln's  speech  was  heartily  endorsed  by  the 
convention. 

Mr.  Douglas,  in  answer,  showed  that  the  principle  of  legislation 
in  the  adjustment  measures  of  1850,  supported  by  patriot  whigs 
and  democrats  alike  as  a  finality,  was  precisely  the  same  as  that 
embodied  in  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  and  that  the  insertion  of 
the  words  declaring  the  Missouri  line  inoperative  and  void  by  a 
southern  whig,  was  mere  surplussage,  and  did  not  change  the 
legal  effect  at  all;  that  a  side  from  those  words  the  act  was  the 
same  in  its  grant  of  legislative  powers  as  that  of  Utah  and  New 
Mexico,  which  had  met  the  approbation  of  all  parties  except  ultra 
abolitionists.  The  argument  of  his  adversary,  his  friends  claimed, 
was  met,  point  by  point,  repelling  his  assaults  and  exposing  his 
sophistry  in  a  scathing  and  triumphant  manner,  as  only  the  Little 
Giant,  with  his  ready  powers  of  debate,  of  all  men  in  America 
could  have  done,  carrying  conviction  home  to  the  minds  of  his 
hearers  until  their  pent  up  enthusiasm,  knowing  no  bounds,  burst 
forth  in  ringing  applause  from  a  thousand  throats. 

The  closing  hours  of  the  convention  were  also  graced  by  the 
presence  of  Messrs.  Breese  and  Trumbull,  who  had  been  heralded 
to  answer  Douglas,  but  failed  to  arrive  until  the  day  after  the 
great  debate.  The  hour  of  their  speaking  was  deferred  till  4  p. 
m.  for  the  convention  to  close  its  labor,  when  Mr.  Breese  made 
the  opening  speech  of  about  an  hour's  duration,  in  which  he  de 
nounced  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise,  declaring  he 
would  have  suffered  his  right  arm  to  be  cut  off  rather  than  have 

*SeeIll.  Jour.  Oct.  1   1854. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY.  645 

voted  for  that  measure,  had  he  been  in  the  senate.*  In  the  absence 
of  Douglas,  John  Calhoun  (of  subsequent  Lecompton  constitu 
tion  notoriety,)  took  the  privilege  to  reply,  saying  that  with  re 
gard  to  the  personal  dislike  to  Mr.  Douglas  which  appeared  to 
animate  Judge  Breese,  he  had  nothing  to  do;  and  then  proceeded 
to  show  that  the  compromise  of  1850  superseded  the  Missouri  com 
promise,  by  establishing  the  principle  of  non-intervention,  to 
which  both  national  whigs  and  democrats  were  committed ;  he 
taunted  the  speakers  with  not  meeting  Douglas  at  his  apointment, 
but  waiting  until  the  enemy  had  departed,  and  then,  Parthian-like, 
discharging  their  poisoned  arrows  after  him.  Calhoun  had  few 
equals  in  point  of  ability,  but  he  lacked  energy  and  was  the  slave 
of  the  cup.  In  the  evening  a  very  large  audience  assembled  in 
respresentatives'  hall  to  hear  the  very  able  argument  of  Judge 
Trumbull,  and  doubtless  also  to  hear  the  self-appointed  and  inim 
itable  Calhoun  in  reply.  Trumbull  made  the  "  one  question  of 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise  the  text,"  scouting  the  idea 
that  he  was  ever  either  a  whig  or  abolitionist."!  McClernand's 
position  was  the  same.  Indeed,  those  who  had  affiliated  with  the 
democratic  party  rebelled  ostensibly  only  against  Nebraskaism 
being  made  a  party  test  or  tenet,  because  it  revived  slavery  agita 
tion  ;  and  they  studiously  masked  all  appearances  of,  and  dis 
claimed  all  sympathy  with,  anti-slavery  sentiments  in  the  sense 
of  abolitionism. 

The  weeks'  discussion  at  Springfield,  as  it  was  called,  did  not 
result  in  establishing  a  unity  of  position,  or  cause  a  full  espousal 
of  a  new  party  organization  by  all  the  opposition ;  the  convention 
was  not  openly  subscribed  to,  and  the  whig  press  feared  to  ap 
prove  or  notice  it ;  but  in  all  the  trimming  of  the  period  there 
was  entire  unanimity  in  thorough  opposition  to  the  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  compromise. 

The  incipient  republican  party  of  Illinois  made  a  vigorous  and 
spirited  campaign.  Messrs.  Chase  and  Giddings,  of  Ohio,  lent  it 
their  aid,  and  spoke  words  of  cheer  and  encouragement  to  the 
new  and  untried  party  in  many  counties  of  our  State ;  the  result 
was  the  development  of  a  strength  in  the  election  astounding  to 
the  democracy,  gratifying  to  themselves,  and  unexpected  to  all. 
They  emerged  from  their  first  political  conflict,  in  1854,  in  a  man 
ner  triumphant.  The  only  State  officer  to  elect  was  the  treasurer, 
and  the  tried  and  incorruptible  veteran  incumbent,  honest  John 
Moore,  it  is  true,  was  re-elected,  but  what  was  far  more  important 
in  a  political  point  of  view,  five  out  of  the  nine  congressmen  were 
republican,  viz :  Washburne,  Woodward,  Knox,  Norton  and 
Trumbull.  Yates,  personally  popular,  but  forsaken  by  the  pro- 
slavery  whigs,  was  lost.  The  straight  Nebraska  democracy  were 
in  a  minority  in  the  general  assembly,  lost  the  organization  of 
both  houses  and  the  election  of  a  United  States  senator.  Thus 
closed  the  first  contest  in  Illinois  between  the  incipient  party  of 
freedom,  though  sectional,  and  the  old  democratic  party,  which, 
to  hold  in  its  grasp  a  united  south,  was  leaning  too  much  to 
slavery.  In  Illinois  the  scepter  of  power  had  departed  from  the 
hands  of  the  democracy. 

*See  111.  Reg.  Oct.  12,  1854. 

fSee  his  Letter  Oct.  14,  1854,  in  111.  Register. 


646  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


THE   KNOW-NOTHING,   OR  AMERICAN,   PARTY. 

The  curious  student  who  will  take  the  trouble,  may  easily  trace 
something  of  a  connection  from  the  old  federal  party  down  to  the 
know-nothiugism  of  half  a  century  later.  The  former  culminated  un 
der  the  elder  Adams  in  disaster  and  disgrace,  by  the  enactment  of 
the  alien  and  sedition  laws  and  its  final  overthrow  in  the  election  of 
Mr.  Jefferson.  From  that  time,  however,  nativist  organizations 
existed  more  or  less  in  the  larger  cities  of  the  Union,  where  their 
contests  were  mostly  personal  and  local,  meeting  with  varying 
success  and  failure.  Later,  in  State  and  national  elections  they 
mostly  co-operated  with  the  whig  party,  and  occasionally  sought 
to  commit  it  to  their  narrow  doctrines.  TJpon  the  dissolution  of  the 
whig  party  this  element  devised  a  neAv  secret  organization  more 
subtle  in  its  operations,  and  by  its  mysterious  ways  enticing  the 
young  and  unwary  (for  the  human  mind  loves  a  mystery)  witli 
principles  prescriptive  of  foreigners  and  intolerant  of  catholics. 

The  dark  ceremonies  of  the  order,  conducted  with  mysterious 
secresy,  were  peculiarly  impressive.  In  admissions  to  member 
ship  much  solemn  parade  was  made,  sacred  oaths  administered, 
and  horrid  penalties  required  to  be  underwritten  by  candidates 
for  violating  any  behest  of  the  order;  and  to  all  inquiry  the  mem 
ber  was  to  "know  nothing."  They  were  bound  by  their  oaths  to 
deny  that  they  belonged  to  the  order.  In  this  feature  of  the  in 
stitution  is  found  the  meaning  of  the  name  "Know-nothing/'  It 
was  significant  of  their  obligations.  The  local  organizations  were 
denominated  lodges,  the  meetings  of  which  were  usually  held  un 
der  cover  of  night,  as  if  their  deeds  were  evil,  by  aid  of  dark 
lanterns,  in  lonely  and  unfrequented  juices,  in  the  recesses  of 
forests,*prairie  hollows,  deserted  or  untenanted  buildings,  unfin 
ished  attics,  &c.,  repairing  thither  stealthily,  though  none  pur 
sued — conduct  most  unbecoming  patriotic  citizens  of  a  free  coun 
try.  Lodges  sent  delegates  to  the  council  which  nominated  can 
didates,  designated  other  delegates  to  other  councils  or  conven 
tions,  issued  orders,  &c.,  all  of  which  the  members  had  solemnly 
sworn  to  implicitly  support  and  obey,  under  penalty  of  expulsion, 
proscription,  personal  indignity  if  not  outrage. 

At  first  their  nominations  were  made  from  the  other  political 
parties,  and  by  their  secret  and  united  weight  they  would  gener 
ally  turn  the  scale  as  to  them  seemed  meet.  Thus  emboldened, 
the  operations  of  the  order  were  extended  and  finally  its  own  dis 
tinctive  nominations  openly  announced  for  either  local  or  other 
offices.  Advancing  with  clandestine  and  rapid  strides,  it  attained 
political  supremacy  in  several  States,  and  cast  a  large  vote  in 
many  others.  Still  aspiring,  in  1856,  a  presidential  ticket  was  put 
forth.  But  it  may  be  said  that  the  Know-nothing  order  lost 
power  so  soon  as  it  openly  made  separate  and  distinct  nomina 
tions  from  its  own  party  and  quit  secretly  espousing  the  nomina 
tions  of  other  parties.  While  many  of  the  pretensions  of  all 
parties  are  hollow — advanced  to  make  political  capital  among  the 
masses — the  cry  of  "Americans  to  rule  America"  by  the  ostracism 
of  foreign-born  citizens  and  proscription  in  religion,  the  two  cardi 
nal  tenets  of  the  party,  was  both  unrepublican  and  unconstitutional 
— unrepublicau,  because  in  conflict  with  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 


THE   REPUBLICAN  PARTY.  647 

pemlence,  which  charges  the  King  of  England  with  "endeavoring 
to  prevent  the  population  of  these  States ;  for  that  purpose  ob 
structing  the  laws  for  the  naturalization  of  foreigners,  refusing  to 
pass  others  encouraging  their  emigration  hither;"  unconstitu 
tional,  because  that  instrument  says :  "  No  religious  test  shall 
ever  be  required  as  a  qualification  to  any  office  of  public  trust  un 
der  the  United  States."  Further,  the  constitution  not  only  per 
mits  but  fosters  the  freest  discussion.  With  frequent  appeals  to 
the  people,  a  tribunal  than  which  none  is  higher,  with  the  duty  of 
the  citizen  to  arraign  and  investigate  the  conduct  of  government, 
and  scrutinize  the  operation  of  the  laws,  what  can  justify  politi 
cal  organizations  which  avoid  the  open  day  meet  in  darkness  and 
seclusion,  which  otter  no  ground  to  open  combat,  whose  princi 
ples  are  a  sealed  book,  and  whose  adherents,  under  sworn 
obligations,  "  know  nothing  P  It  tended  to  segregate  foreign- 
born  and  Catholic  residents  into  communities  distinct  in  feeling 
and  in  political  and  religious  interests,  and  to  excite  in  their  breasts 
the  animosities  and  hatreds  of  race  by  fastening  upon  them  po 
litically  the  brand  of  Helots.  Every  consideration  of  expediency 
no  less  than  justice  demand  that  this  large  and  valuable  element 
be  in  every  way  encouraged  to  amalgamate  freely  with  the  masses 
iii  order  that  its  character  and  impulses  may  be  rendered  homo 
geneous  with  the  vast  aggregate  of  American  society. 

At  first  the  order  had  no  clearly  denned  position  upon  the 
slavery  question.  It  sought  to  ignore  it  for  a  time ;  but  that 
all-absorbing  subject  which  enlisted  both  the  sympathy  and  cu 
pidity  of  men,  and  excited  them  as  no  other  public  question  has 
ever  done,  would  not  down  at  the  bidding  of  the  secret  cabal.  It 
had  to  be  met  and  it  ultimately  proved  its  ruin. 

In  Illinois  the  order  was  not  early  developed,  neither  did  it  take 
deep  root.  In  combination  with  the  wings  of  central  and  south 
ern,  and  the  free  soilers  of  northern,  Illinois,  it  fused  and  entered 
with  its  strength  into  the  contest  of  1854.  Perhaps  its  most  deter 
mined  eft'ort  was  then  made  on  W.  B.  Archer  for  congress  in  the 
7th  district,  which,  singularly,  resulted  in  a  tie  vote,  though  Allen 
was  said  to  have  had  one  majority.  In  1855  it  presented  the  most 
disjointed  issue,  and  made  the  largest  eft'ort  ever  essayed  by  it  in 
Illinois.  In  the  spring  of  that  year  .the  State  council,  which  met 
in  Chicago,  endorsed  for  supreme  judge  of  the  central  division  the 
Hon.  Stephen  T.  Logan,  and  for  clerk  S.  A.  Corueau,  both  of  San- 
gamon  ;  and  the  conclave  issued  its  secret  edict  to  the  members  of 
the  lodges  requiring  obedience  to  its  behests.  In  the  council,  it  is 
said,  the  contest  for  the  control  of  its  organization  was  warmly 
waged  between  the  open  anti-slavery  members  and  those  who 
sought  to  dodge  that  obtrusive  issue. 

Judge  Logan  (probably  not  personally  identified  with  the  order, 
it  being  its  practice  to  support  candidates  irrespective  of  their 
personal  connection  with  them,)  was  known  far  and  wide  as  a  deep 
read  lawyer  and  able  jurist,  and  had  been  a  whig  leader  for  a  long 
time.*  The  democratic  ticket  for  the  same  offices  was  composed 
of  O.  C.  Skinner,  of  Adams,  for  judge,  and  W.  A.  Turney,  of  Mor 
gan,  for  clerk.  Mr.  Skinner  was  comparatively  a  young  man  for 

*  In  the  constitutional  convention  of  1847  Judge  Logan  had  advocated  a  proposition 
requiring  15  years  citizenship  (20  years  residence,)  from  a  foreigner  as  a  qualification 
for  the  office  of  governor. 


648  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

a  place  ou  the  supreme  bench  ;  not  generally  known,  but  of  good 
ability.  Under  the  circiim stances  Logan's  election  was  confidently 
expected  $  but  lie  met  with  overwhelming  defeat,  being  beaten  some 
10,000  votes.  In  November  before  Saugainon  had  sent  him  to  the 
legislature  by  800  majority ;  now  he  was  repudiated  in  his  own 
county  by  1,100  majority.  This  was  but  further  proof  that  the 
embittered  slavery  question  dominated  every  other  political  tie, 
however  oath-bound.  It  wyas  a  manifestation  of  the  old  whig  pro- 
slavery  sentiment  which  felt  that  Logan  had  been  too  closely 
allied  in  the  legislature  the  winter  before  with  the  anti-slavery  fu 
sion  which  elected  Mr.  Trumbull  to  the  U.  S.  senate,  and  which 
now  broke  its  old  adhesions  and  w^ent  en  masse  to  the  democracy, 
where  it  may  be  found  to-day  in  central  Illinois. 

The  national  K.  N.  council,  after  a  protracted  and  stormy  ses 
sion  at  Philadelphia,  February,  1856, nominated  Filmore  and  Don 
aldson  and  adopted  a  platform  recognizing  the  principles  of  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  act,  whereupon  the  northern  members  bolted 
the  convention  and  repudiated  the  platform.  Thus  the  overshad 
owing  question  of  slavery  ruptured  and  overthrew  know-nothing- 
ism,  though  the  organization  was  kept  up,  both  State  and  national, 
for  some  time  after. 

On  the  6th  of  May,  1856,  the  know-nothing  State  council  of  Illi 
nois  convened  at  Springfield.  The  attendance  exhibited  aporteu- 
tious  falling  oft'  in  numbers.  The  deliberations  were  conducted 
with  closed  doors.  On  the  part  of  many  of  the  managers  who 
played  with  the  order  only  for  republican  purposes,  a  strong  effort 
was  made  to  defer  proceedings  until  after  the  meeting  of  the  State 
republican  convention  011  the  29th  inst.  But  this  scheme  was  de 
feated,  and  the  following  ticket  was  brought  out:  For  governor, 
W.  B.  ^Archer,  of  Clark;  for  lieutenant-governor,  M.  L.  Dunlap, 
of  Cook ;  for  secretary  of  State,  A.  Thornton,  of  Shelby  ;  for  treas 
urer,  James  Miller,  of  McLean  ;  for  auditor,  Dr.  Barber,  of  Wash 
ington  ;  and  for  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  E.  Jenkins, 
of  Fayette.  Mr.  Danenhower,  of  Cook,  and  Joseph  Gillespie,  of 
Madison,  were  appointed  senatorial  electors.  The  Philadelphia 
K.  N.  platform,  totally  at  variance  with  republicanism,  was 
adopted,  and  the  nomination  of  Filmore  and  Donaldson  ratified. 

Mr.  Archer,  who  was  at  Washington  contesting  the  seat  of  J. 
C.  Allen  in  congress,  refused  to  accept,  and  subsequently  partici 
pated  in  the  national  republican  convention  which  nominated 
Fremont.  Buckner  S.  Morris,  of  Cook,  wras  substituted.  Others 
refused  to  accept,  and  T.  B.  Hickman,  of  Fayette,  was  substituted 
for  Mr.  Dunlap;  W.  II.  Young,  of  Logan,  for  Mr.  Thornton.  James 
Miller,  of  McLean,  without  accepting  his  nomination,  received  the 
same  place  on  the  ticket  of  the  Bloomington  convention  a  few 
days  later.  Indeed,  it  is  said  that  many  members  of  the  council 
went  direct  to  Bloomington,  and  that  some  received  places  on  the 
republican  ticket.  At  the  November  election  of  1856  the  K.  N. 
ticket  polled  about  20,000  votes,  and  this  was  about  the  last  effort 
of  the  order  in  Illinois. 

Besides  know-nothing,  the  American  party  was  also  designated 
"  Sam,"  from  "Uncle  Sam  "  or  U.  S.,  the  initials  of  United  States. 
The  personally  figurative  representative  of  slavery  was  often 
spoken  of  as  u  Sambo,"  denoting,  in  concrete,  the  anti-slavery 
party.  Hence  the  slavery  question  in  the  K.  N.  council  was  spoken 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY.  649 

of  as  a  set-to  between  "  Sam  "  and  "  Sambo."  At  Philadelphia 
"  Sam  "  carried  the  day,  but  the  victory  was  dear  as  defeat.  The 
terms  of  reproach  applied  to  the  party  Avere  Hindoos  or  Thugs,  the 
latter  an  association  of  robbers  and  murderers  of  India.  This, 
from  the  fact  that  its  course  was  marked  by  riots  and  the  destruc 
tion  of  life  and  property.  These,  it  will  be  remembered,  were 
fearful  in  the  years  1854-5  in  many  of  our  large  cities — Baltimore, 
Louisville,  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati  and  other  places. 

It  is  well  that  such  organizations,  from  the  condition  of  enlight 
ened  society,  must  ever  prove  short-lived,  as  did  this.  Their  ten 
dency  is  to"  diffuse  distrust,  suspicion,  hatred,  insincerity;  they 
disturb  the  order  and  quiet  of  society,  poison  confidence,  and 
eventuate  in  mobs  and  crimes.  This  order  taught  men  to  think 
lightly  of  the  principles  of  liberty  as  set  forth  in  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  and  of  treason  by  administering  oaths  in  viola 
tion  of  the  constitution ;  it  profaned  religion  by  appeals  to  the 
weak  prejudices  of  bigotry  and  fanaticism  ;  and  planted  the  seeds 
of  riot,  arson  and  blood-shed,  by  arraying  the  people  of  one  race 
or  nationality  in  deadly  hostility  against  the  other.  Its  name 
should  be  anathema. 

During  the  year  1855  the  republican  organization  gave  renewed 
evidences  of  vitality  and  increasing  strength.  In  Ohio,  Mr.  Chase 
was  elected  by  a  large  majority.  The  democracy  of  Illinois  felt 
impelled  to  look  to  their  position,  and  immediately  after  began  to 
prepare  for  the  great  contest,  nearly  a  year  ahead.  A  stirring 
address,  dated  December  1,  1855,  was  issued  by  the  State  gene 
ral  committee,  of  which  the  Hon.  J.  A.  McClernand  was  chair 
man,  directing  the  appointment  of  delegates  to  the  State  demo 
cratic  convention,  to  be  held  at  Springfield,  May  1st,  1856.  A 
l>ortion  of  the  address,  which,  by  its  terse,  argumentative  diction, 
reveals  the  author  in  the  chairman  of  the  committee,  is  here  quo 
ted,  as  portraying  in  a  manner  the  intense  and  acrimonious  party 
feeling  of  that  day  : 

"The  malcontents,  the  intolerants,  and  the  religious  bigots  of  the 
country,  have  determined  upon  making  a  desperate  effort  to  seize  the 
reins  of  government.  Their  only  wish  and  hope  is  to  excite  popular 
passion  and  upon  it  ride  into  office  and  power.  They  have  raised  their 
black  flag,  with  "Abolition"  upon  the  one  side,  and  "Disunion"  upon 
the  other,  surmounted  with  the  know  nothing  death's  head  and  cross 
bones,  and  with  hideous  outcries  are  rallying  their  motley  forces  for  the 
coming  struggle  They  pretend  to  be  the  peculiar  friend  of  the  negro, 
while  they  would  make  slaves  of  white  men ;  they  pretend  to  be  the 
friends  of  freedom,  yet  murder  men  for  exercising  a  plain  constitutional 
right ;  they  pretend  to  love  liberty,  while  they  denounce  the  constitu 
tion  as  a  '  league  with  hell  ;'  they  make  loud  professions  of  policy  while 
they  persecute  others  for  difference  of  religious  opinions,  and  slander' 
and  belie  all  who  entertain  sentiments  differint  from  their  own.  One 
day  they  profess  to  be  charmed  by  '  that  rich  Irish  brogue  and  that 
sweet  German  accent,'*  and  the  next  they  shoot  down,  burn  and  mur 
der  men,  women  and  children  for  not  being  born  in  the  same  country 
as  themselves;  they  illustrate  their  principle  of  'Americans  ruling 
America'  by  mobbing  the  elections,  breaking  up  the  ballot  boxes,  and 
destroying  the  votes  ;  they  urge  their  own  will  as  higher  than  the  con 
stitution,  while  they  deny  to  the  people  of  the  territories  the  right  to 
have  any  will  at  all ;  they  seek  to  revolutionize  government  by  violence 
when  its  acts  conflict  with  their  own  ;  they  resist  the  constitutional  acts 
of  congress  by  armed  mobs,  which  is  treason  by  the  law.  Devoid  of  po- 

*Gen.  tjcott'b  speech  while  a  candidate  for  president. 


650  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

litical  principle  themselves,  they  are  for  fusion  with  men  of  every  shade 
of  political  principle,  and  men  of  no  political  principle,  so  they  can 
'vote  a  vote,' and  add  strength  to  their  political  organization.  In  bold 
contrast  and  aloof  from  all  this  confusion  stands  the  democratic  party.'7* 

The  convention  met  accordiDg  to  the  time  and  place  designated, 
and  nominated  the  Hon.  W.  A.  Kichardson,  of  Adams,  as  their 
candidate  for  governor,  on  the  3d  ballot ;  the  old  treasurer,  John 
Moore,  being  his  strongest  opponent,  and  leading  him  on  the  first 
ballot  23  votes.  The  nomination  of  Richardson  was  not  unex 
pected.  It  was  foreshadowed  by  a  little  circumstance  that  took 
place  the  preceding  summer.  A  company  of  Chicago  militia 
made  Senator  Douglas  a  complimentary  visit  at  his  residence  on 
the  lake  shore,  below  the  city,  and  during  the  afternoon's,  enter 
tainment,  in  their  hilarity,  nominated  Col.  Richardson  for  gover 
nor.  He,  more  than  perhaps  any  other  member  from  the  free 
States  had  proven  himself  the  firm  and  reliable  friend  and  sup 
porter  of  the  senator  in  the  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraaka  bill 
through  the  lower  house  of  congress.  The  fusion  press,  which 
constantly  taunted  the  democracy  with  the  dictatorship  of  Doug 
las,  took  this  circumstance  of  a  social  occasion  and  settled  upon 
Richardson  as  the  candidate  with  whom  the  State  convention  had 
nothing  else  to  do  but  to  confirm  ;  in  which  they  proved  to  be 
correct.  Col.  R.  J.  Hamilton,  of  Cook,  was  nominated  for  lieuten 
ant  governor ;  W.  H.  Suyder,  of  St.  Glair,- for  secretary  of  state  ; 
honest  John  Moore,  of  McLean,  the  old  incumbent,  again  for 
treasurer;  Samuel  K.  Casey,  of  Jefferson,  for  auditor,  and  J.  H. 
St.  Matthew,  of  Tazewell,  for  superintendent  of  public  schools. 

In  the  platform  the  convention  affirmed  that  congress  had  no 
rightful  authority  to  establish,  abolish  or  prohibit  slavery  in  the 
States  or  territories;  approved  non-intervention  and  popular  sov 
ereignty,  the  compromise  of  1850,  and  declared  that  the  restora 
tion  of  the  Missouri  restriction  would  be  a  flagrant  violation  of 
the  constitution  and  the  principles  of  self-government;  asserted 
the  national  right  of  all  men  to  religious  freedom,  declaring  their 
opposition  to  proscription  of  foreign  born  citizens;  and  instruc 
ted  the  delegates  to  the  Cincinnati  national  deniocraticconventiou 
to  vote  for  Stephen  A.  Douglas  for  president. 

During  all  this  time,  it  may  well  be  imagined,  the  leaders  of 
the  new  party,  which  had  met  with  unexpected  success  in  1854-5, 
were  not  idle.  While  they  were  sanguine,  they  were  also  cautious 
in  taking  extreme  or  advanced  anti-slavery  ground.  They  sought 
to  form  a  coalition  of  all  the  various  factions,  odds  and  ends 
outside  of  the  democratic  party  opposed  to  the  Nebraska  meas 
ure,  with  a  view  rather  rather  to  success  than  the  espousal  of  rad 
ical  principles.  The  democracy  characterized  this  coalition  as  the 
"speckled  progeny  of  many  conjunctions."  But  success,  it  was 
well  reasoned,  would  do  more  to  confirm  lukewarm  friends  than 
unanswerable  arguments.  In  this  connection  we  quote  the  apt 
language  of  the  Chicago  Tribune  at  the  time  : 

"THE  BLOOMINGTON  CONVENTION. — Only  two  weeks  will  intervene  be 
tween  the  present  time  andtheday  fixed  for  holding  the  anti-Nebraska 
State  convention  at  Bloomington.  But,  though  the  time  is  short,  we 
wish  to  correct  one  misapprehension  that  has  gone  abroad  in  relation  to 
the  proposed  gathering.  It  is  this:  that  the  convention  is  to  be  exclusive- 

•See  111.  Reg.,  Dec.  4, 1855. 


THE    REPUBLICAN  PARTY.  651 

ly  republican.  Such  is  not  the  case.  The  republicans,  so  far  as  we  are  in 
formed,  consent  to  be  represented  there  purely  as  anti-Nebraska  men, 
and  if  there  is  anything  in  their  political  creed,  which  points  to  more 
radical  measures  than  old  line  whigs  and  anti-Nebraska  democrats  can 
consent  to,  they  have  expressed  their  willingness,  without  dissent,  to 
put  such  things  in  abeyance,  and  unite  upon  the  platform  upon  which 
all  northern  men,  who  are  not  avowedly  pro-slavery,  ought  to  stand.  As 
one  of  the  organs  of  republican  opinion,  we  have  no  hesitation  in  say 
ing  that  we  advise  our  friends  throughout  the  State  to  such  a  course  of 
action.  We  say  further,  that  we  know  of  no  man  whois  identified  with 
the  republican  party  who  desires  or  would  accept  a  nomination  from  the 
convention,  for  any  place  whatever.  The  republicans  of  the  north  wish 
to  testify  their  sincerity  by  taking  the  places  of  privates  in  the  ranks, 
reserving  the  right  to  do  battle  wherever  the  fight  is  fiercest.  They  ex 
pect  that  the  nominee  for  governor  will  possibly  be  a  man  who  differs 
with  them  upon  some  matters  connected  with  national  politics,  but  they 
do  not  demand  uniformity  of  belief — do  not  expect  it.  We  know  not 
who  may  be  on  the  ticket  with  Col.  Bissell,  and  we  do  not  care  what 
they  are  called,  or  what  may  be  their  political  antecedents,  so  that  they 
are  men  of  personal  and  political  integrity,  who  may  be  depended  upon 
to  carry  out  the  views  that  they  will  announce.  The  republicans  ask 
nothing." 

On  the  22d  of  February,  1856,  an  anti-Nebraska  editorial  con 
vention  had  met  at  Decatur,  with  Paul  Selby  as  chairman,  and 
W.  J.  Usrey  as  secretary,  which  gave  a  free  airing'  to  its  political 
views,  both  State  and  national,  as  editors  are  wont  to  do.  They 
demanded,  in  a  set  of  resolutions,  the  restoration  of  the  Missouri 
compromise;  opposed  the  demands  of  slavery  for  territorial  ex 
pansion  as  inconsistent  with  freedom;  declared  there  was  an  ur 
gent  demand  for  reform  in  the  State  administration;  stood  to  the 
free  school  system;  and  asked  all  who  concurred  in  their  views  of 
national  questions  to  drop  all  party  differences  upon  other  issues 
and  unite  in  a  common  effort  to  give  these  practical  effect.  For 
this  purpose  they  recommended  a  delegate  State  convention  to  be 
held  Thursday,  May  29,  at.  Bloomington.  They  designated  a 
State  central  committee,  one  from  each  congressional  district,  to 
make  the  call,  fix  the  ratio  of  representation,  and  take  such  other 
steps  as  would  secure  a  full  representation  from  all  parts  of  the 
State.  We  name  the  committee  in  the  order  of  the  number  of 
their  respective  districts:  W.  B.  Ogdeu,  Chicago;  S.  M.  Church, 
Eockfort ;  G.  A.  D.  Parks,  Joliet ;  T.  J.  Prickett,  Peoria ;  E.  A. 
Dudley,  Quincy;  Win.  H.  Herndon,  Springfield;  E.  J.  Oglesby, 
Decatur;  Joseph  Gillespie,  Edwardsville ;  D.  L.  Phillips,  Jones- 
boro.  Gov.  Koerner  and  Ira  O.  Wilkinson  were  designated  for 
the  State  at  large.  .. 

Accordingly  the  republican  State  convention  of  1856,  met  at 
Bloomington,  in  Major's  Hall,  May  29th.  Out  of  the  101  counties 
nearly  one-third  were  unrepresented,  namely :  Alexander,  Pulaski, 
Massac,  Johnson,  Pope,  Hardin,  Saline,  Gallatin,  Hamilton, 
White,  Wayne,  Wabash,  ClajT,  Crawford,  Jasper,  Effingham,  Cum 
berland,  Clark,  Douglas,  Fayette,  Shelby,  Brown,  Jeffersou,  Frank 
lin,  Williamson,  Jackson,  Perry  and  Monroe,  nearly  all  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  State.  The  Hon.  John  M.  Palmer  of  Macou- 
pin,  was  chosen  permanent  chairman.  The  following  were  chosen 
as  vice  presidents :  J.  A.  Davis  of  Stephenson,  Win.  Eoss  of  Pike, 
James  McKee  of  Cook,  J.  H.  Bryant  of  Bureau.  A.  C.  Harding  of 
Warren,  Richard  Yates  of  Morgan,  H.  O.  Jones  of  Piatt,  D.  L. 
Phillips  of  Union,  Geo.  Smith  of  Madison,  J.  H.  Marshall  of  Coles, 


652  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

J.  M.  Kuggles  of  Mason,  G.  A.  D.  Parks  of  Will,  John  Clark  of 
Schiller.  Secretaries:  H.  S.  Baker  of  Madison,  C.  L.Wilson  of 
Cook,  John  Tilson  of  Adams,  W.  Buslinell  of  LaSalle,  B.  J.  F. 
Han  n  a  of  Randolph. 

The  proceedings  of  the  convention  were  harmonious.  The  nom 
ination  of  the  Hon.  W.  H.  Bissell  of  St.  Clair,  who  was  simply  an 
anti-Nebraska  democrat,  had  been  generally  agreed  upon  before 
the  convention  met,  by  the  press  and  people.  The  Belleville  Ad 
vocate  had  first  brought  forward  his  name  in  connection  with  this 
office,  in  March  preceding,  which  was  shortly  seconded  by  the 
opposition  press  generally  and  in  meetings  of  the  people.  He  was 
very  popular,  but  his  health  had  been  impaired  by  paralysis  of 
his  lower  extremities  and  there  was  apprehension  as  to  his  ability 
to  make  a  vigorous  canvass.  But  in  a  letter  to  Geo.  T.  Brown  of 
Alton,  dated  May  24,  he  wrote  that  he  was  recovering  from  his 
infirmity,  and  hoped  for  entire  restoration  ;  that  his  general  health 
and  capacity  for  business  were  as  good  as  ever  ;  and  while  he 
might  not  be  able  to  engage  in  an  active  canvass  he  would  not 
decline  the  nomination  if  tendered  him.  After  the  reading  of  this 
letter  to  the  convention,  public  expectation  was  confirmed  by  his 
unanimous  nomination.  Francis  Hoffman  of  DuPage,  a  German, 
was  also  unanimously  nominated  for  lieutenant  governor.* 
O.  M.  Hatch  of  Pike,  was  nominated  for  secretary  of  State,  the 
Hon.  Jesse  K.  Dubois  of  Lawrence,  for  auditor,  and  James  Mil 
ler  of  McLean,  for  treasurer.  These  last  named  gentlemen  were 
charged  with  being  members  of  the  know-nothing  order,  which 
was  doubtless  the  fact;  that  the  two  former  had  attended  every 
State  council  of  that  order  since  its  organization,  and  been  dele 
gates  and  prominent  leaders  in  its  late  State  convention  held  at 
Springfield  on  the  6th  inst.t  At  the  same  know-nothing 
convention,  we  have  seen  that  Mr.  Miller  had  been  hon 
ored  with  the  nomination  for  the  same  place  on  the  ticket 
at  Blooniiugton.  But  to  the  nominating  committee  at  the 
latter  place  he  stated  that  he  had  not  nor  did  not  intend  to 
accept  the  place  on  the  know-nothing  ticket.  W.  H.  Powell  of 
Peoria,  was  nominated  for  superintendent  of  public  instruction. 
These  latter  names  were  selected  by  a  committee  of  9,  one  from 
each  congressional  district,  appointed  by  the  chair.  They  were: 
S.  W.  Lawrence,  Cyrus  Alden,  W.  W.  Orme,  J.  D.  Arnold,  A. 
Williams,  A.  Lincoln,  T.  A.  Marshall,  Thos.  McCluken  and  Ben. 
T.  Wiley,  named  in  the  order  of  their  respective  districts.  The 
candidates  selected  by  them  were  confirmed  by  the  convention. 

The  following  is  the  platform  adopted: 


That  foregoing  all  former  differences  of  opinion  upon  other  questions, 
we  pledge  ourselves  to  unite  in  opposition  to  the  present  administration  and  to  the 
party  which  upholds  and  supports  it,  and  to  iise  all  honorable  and  constitutional 
means  to  wrest  the  government  from  the  unworthy  hands  which  now  control  it  and 
to  bring  it  back  in  its  administration  to  the  principles  and  practices  of  Washington, 
Jefferson,  and  their  great  and  good  compatriots  of  the  revolution 

Resolved,  That  we  hold,  in  accordance  with  the  opinions  and  practices  of  all  the  trreat 
statesmen  of  all  parties,  for  the  first  60  years  of  the  administration  of  the  government, 


*  This  gentleman  found  during  the  canvass  that  he  was  ineligible  for  that  office— not 
having  been  naturalized  14  years,  a  qualification  prescribed  by  the  constitution,  and 
he  resigned  his  place  on  the  ticket.  The  convention  subsequent  I y  met  again  and 
substituted  the  name  of  John  Wood  of  Adams,  an  old  whig.  R  S.  Edwards,  at  ihe 
same  time,  received  20  votes,  Dr.  Egan  17,  J.M.  Ruggles  10,  Joseph  Seiffiger  8,  S.  M. 
Church  11,  and  Leonard  Swett,  8. 

t  We  have  it  from  undoubted  authority  that  the  candidate  for  auditor  not  only  re 
fused  to  come  into  the  convention  but  cursed  it  for  its  abolitionism  while  he  accepted 
the  place  upon  its  ticket. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY.  G53 

that"  under  the  constitution  congress  possesses  the  power  to  prohibit  slavery  in  the 
territories  ;  and  that  whilst  we  will  maintain  all  constitutional  rights  of  the  south,  we 
also  hold  that  justice,  humanity,  the  principles  of  freedom  as  expressed  in  our  declar 
ation  of  independence,  and  our  national  constitution  and  the  purity  and  perpetuity 
of  our  government  require  that  that  power  should  be  exerted  to  prevent  the  exten 
sion  of  slavery  into  territories  heretofore  free. 

Resolred,  That  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise  was  unwise,  unjust,  and  inju 
rious;  an  open  and  aggravated  violation  of  the  plighted  faith  of  the  States,  and  that 
the  attempt  of  the  present  administration  to  force  slavery  into  Kansas  agaiust  the 
known  wishes  of  the  legal  voters  of  that  territory,  is  an  arbitrary  and  tyrannous  vio 
lation  of  the  rights  of  the  people  to  govern  themselves,  and  that  we  will  strive  by  all 
constitutional  means  to  secure  to  Kansas  and  Nebraska  the  legal  guaranty  against 
slavery  of  which  they  were  deprived  at  the  cost  of  the  violation  of  the  plighted  faith 
of  the  nation. 

Rexoh'cd,  That  we  are  devoted  to  the  union  and  will,  to  the  last  extremity,  defend  it 
against  the  efforts  now  being  made  by  the  disunionists  of  this  administration  to  com 
pass  its  dissolution,  and  that  we  will  support  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  in 
all  its  provisions,  regarding  it  as  the  sacred  bond  of  our  union,  and  the  only  sateguard 
for  the  preservation  of  the'rights  of  ourselves  and  our  posterity. 

Resolved,  That  we  are  in  favor  of  the  immediate  admission  of  Kansas  as  a  member 
of  this  confederacy,  under  the  constitution  adopted  by  the  people  of  said  territory. 

Resitlred,  That  the  spirit  of  our  institutions  as  well  as  the  constitution  of  our  coun 
try,  guaranties  the  liberty  of  conscience  as  well  as  political  freedom,  and  that  we  will 
proscribe  no  one,  by  legislation  or  otherwise,  on  account  of  religious  opinions,  or  in 
consequence  of  place  of  birth." 

Resolutions  approving  of  the  course  of  Senator  Trumbull,  and 
condemning  that  of  Senator  Douglas  were  also  adopted;  one  by 
Mr.  \Ventwork,  iu  favor  of  an  economical  administration  of  the 
affairs  of  the  State;  and  one  by  O.  H.  Browning,  that  the  pro 
ceedings  of  the  convention  be  signed  by  all  the  officers,  and 
published.  The  State  central  committee  appointed  consisted  of 
J.  C.  Conkling  of  Sangamon,  Asabel  Gridley  of  McLean,  B.  C. 
Cook  of  LaSalle,  and  C.  H.  Kay  and  N.  B.  Judd  of  Cook. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  platform  omits  to  demand  the  repeal 
of  the  fugitive  slave  law,  omits  to  assert  the  right  of  trial  by  jury 
for  the  captured  slave,  and  omits  to  claim  the  writ  of  habeas  cor 
pus  in  his  behalf;  nor  is  the  institution  of  slavery  denounced  as 
the  sum  of  all  villainies.  The  Hon.  Owen  Lovejoy,  an  original  ab 
olitionist,  who  had  vainly  endeavored  in  the  legislature,  in  1855, 
to  commit  the  new  party  to  a  declaration  against  the  admission 
of  more  slave  States  into  the  Union  and  in  favor  of  the  repeal  of 
the  fugitive  slave  law,  which,  by  the  way,  received  a  large  vote  in 
that  body  at  the  time,  now  in  the  convention  strove  to  have  a 
plank  inserted  in  the  platform  which  would  reflect  a  more  ad 
vanced  position  for  the  party,  but  was  defeated.  But  with  a  keen 
insight  into  the  future,  he  observed  that  while  he  would  like  to 
have  inoculated  them  with  the  virus  more  thoroughly  at  the  time, 
he  didn't  care  much  ;  for  having  been  exposed  to  the  infection 
they  would  all  take  the  disease  in  the  natural  way,  and  break  out 
all  over  with  it  before  the  campaign  was  ended  anyhow- — which 
was  the  case. 

The  personnel  of  the  republican  ticket  thus  made  showed  that 
the  Chicago  Tribune,  bespeaking  for  advanced  republicanism  a 
subordinate  part — the  post  of  honor  as  privates  in  the  battle — 
was  taken  at  its  words,  for  not  a  pure  and  simple  republican  re 
ceived  a  place  on  the  ticket.  It  was  a  coalition  which  the  repub 
licans  were  content  to  support  with  the  hope  of  future  reward. 
They  did  not  reckon  without  their  host.  Success,  the  touchstone 
of  all  human  undertakings, attended  them,  and  cemented  all  these 
various  elements  into  one  great  and  homogeneous  party,  leading 
to- the  most  radical  results.  With  success,  all  the  halting,  the  timid 
and  the  doubting  ones,  now  perhaps  beholding  the  reward  of  office 
in  the  future,  became  immediately  the  most  pronounced  and  un 
yielding,  if  not  radical,  partisans. 


654  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  the  whig  and  know-nothing1  parties 
were  wholly  absorbed  by  the  republican  party.  Such  is  only  partly 
true.  It  is  true  in  the  northern  part  of  the  Stare,  perhaps,  but  not 
in  the  central  and  southern  parts.  In  the  latter,  while  the  demo 
cratic  party  contributed  largely  toward  its  ranks,  it  received  back 
a  greater  number  of  whigs.  The  Germans,  wholly  democratic  in 
Madison  and  St.  Clair  counties,  went  over  almost  in  a  body,  but  the 
whigs  of  Saugamon,  Tazewell,  Morgan  and  Adams  largely  joined 
the  democracy,  where  they  are  to  this  day. 

The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise  was  both  a  party  blunder 
and  mistaken  statesmanship.  The  south,  with  a  sectional  institu 
tion  in  its  midst,  ought  to  have  broadly  appreciated  the  great  north 
with  its  giant  steps  toward  empire,  its  teeming  millions,  its  innu 
merable  work-shops,  skilled  laborers  and  vast  industries.  In  the 
faceof  this,  while  it  had  practical  control  of  the  government,  its  pol 
icy  was  to  excite  into  being  the  party  whose  principles,  however 
they  maybe  said  in  the  abstract  to  have  been  national  by  approxi 
mating  to  the  landmarks  of  the  fathers,  were  sectional,  because  it 
opposed  the  spread  of  an  institution  which  was  itself  sectional  ;  and 
it  became  national  only  through  the  operation  of  a  war  madly  pre 
cipitated  by  the  south.  The  party  which  ostensibly  sought  only  to 
restrain  the  sectionalism  of  the  south,  has  accomplished  greater 
and  mightier  deeds  than  the  most  ardent  abolitionist  of  25  years 
ago  could  have  dreamed.  And  what  it  has  done  it  has  done  so 
thoroughly  that  it  can  never  beundone.  It  has  abolished  slavery ; 
raised  more  than  5,000,000  of  negroes  to  citizenship,  and  enfran 
chised  them — all  this  by  constitutional  provisions. 

W.  H.  Bissell  was  elected  governor  by  a  plurality  of  4,729  votes 
over  Col.  Eichardson  5  Morris,  K.  N.,  receiving  19,241  votes  for  the 
sarne^office,  while  Buchanan's  plurality  over  Fremont  was  9,164j 
Filmore,  K.  N.,  receiving  37,451.  The  legislature  was  democratic. 
The  democracy  had  thrown  no  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  opposi 
tion  dividing  upon  Filinore,  but  rather  encouraged  it;  but  the 
main  reason  why  Buchanan  carried  the  State  and  Eichardson  failed 
was  owing  to  the  former's  want  of  identification  with  the  repeal  of 
the.  Missouri  compromise,  though  he  had  accepted  the  Cincinnati 
platform  and  dilated  upon  the  beauties  of  popular  sovereignty.  It 
was,  in  spite  of  this,  believed  that  in  his  convictions  and  policy  he 
would  be  apart  from  its  principles,  and  break  faith  with  its  devoted 
friends — an  opinion  which  proved  prophetic  within  the  year  of  his 
installation.  The  Missouri  Democrat,  while  it  espoused  republi 
canism  and  supported  Bissell,  by  a  strange  inconsistency,  labored 
even  with  republicans  to  separate  Buchanan  in  the  public  mind 
from  the  outrage  of  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise. 

We  close  this  chapter  by  the  concluding  portion  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
speech  made  after  the  election  at  the  republican  banquet  in  Chi 
cago,  Dec.  17, 1856 : 

"All  of  us  who  did  not  vote  for  Mr.  Buchanan,  taken  together,  are  a 
majority  of  400,000.  But  in  the  late  contest  we  were  divided  between  Fre 
mont  and  Filmore.  Can  we  not  come  together  for  the  future  ?  Let  every 
one  who  really  believes,  and  is  resolved,  that  free  society  is  not,  and  shall 
not  be,  a  failure,  and  who  can  conscientiously  declare  that  in  the  past 
contest  he  has  done  only  what  he  thought  best — let  every  such  an  one 
have  charity  to  believe  that  every  other  one  can  say  as  much.  Thus  let 
by-gones  be  by-gones.  Let  past  differences  as  nothing  be,  and  ^  ith  steady 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY.  655 

eye  011  the  real  issue,  let  us  re  inaugurate  the  good  old  'central  ideas'  of 
the  republic.  We  can  do  it.  The  human  heart  is  with  us — God  is  with  us. 
We  shall  again  be  able  not  to  declare  that  'all  States,  as  States,  are  equal,' 
nor  yet  that  'all  citizens,  as  citizens,  are  equal,'  but  to  renew  the  broad 
er,  better  declaration,  including  both  these  and  much  more,  that  'all  men 
are  created  equal.' " 


CHAPTER  L. 
1857-1861— ADMINISTRATION    OF    GOVERNOR   BISSELL. 

Life  and  Character  of  the  Governor — Gross  Attach  upon  him  in 
the  Legislature  on  Account  of  his  Dueling  Affair — Turbulence 
of  Party  Strife  and  want  of  Official  Courtesy — Disfraceful 
Action  in  Organizing  the  House — Apportionment  Bills  of  1857-9 
— The  Canal  Scrip  Fraud — The  McAllister  and  StebMns  Bonds* 


Aside  from  the  general  excitement  incident  to  onr  quadrennial 
political  campaigns,  that  of  1856,  owing  to  its  sectional  character, 
was  more  than  ordinarily  bitter.  The  contest  for  State  and  local 
offices  in  Illinois,  where  tbe  new  republican  party  had  developed 
unexpected  strength  two  years  before,  was  unusually  acrimoni 
ous  and  personal.  Of  the  candidates  for  governor,  Richardson 
canvassed  the  State  thoroughly,  but  Biosell,  owing  to  his  physical 
ailment,  was  unable  to  do  so,  and  made  but  one  speech,  which 
was  to  his  old  neighbors  at  Belleville.  But  his  character  through 
out  the  campaign  was  the  target  of  vindictive  assaults,  some  of 
which  he  felt  himself  impelled  to  deny  as  utterly  untrue.  In  let 
ters  addressed  to  theQuincy  Herald  and  Springfield  .Sister  he  took 
occasion  to  repel  the  charges  that  in  1851,  as  the  paid  attorney  for 
the  capitalists  who  sought  the  incorporation  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Bail  road,  he  had  been  authorized  to  offer  10  per  cent,  of  the 
gross  earnings  of  the  road  for  the  charter,  or  that  he  had  from 
his  knowledge  of  public  men  in  the  legislature,  labored  as  a  lob 
byist  with  Mr.  Rautoul  to  obtain  the  reduction  to  7  per  cent,  to 
the  lasting  detriment  of  the  treasury  of  the  State. 

Upon  Richardson  was  concentrated  and  poured  out  all  the  pent 
up  rage  of  the  opposition.  He,  it  was  urged,  as  a  northern  man, 
next  to  Douglas,  had  advocated  in  congress  with  determined 
zeal,  persistence  and  effectiveness  the  disturbance  of  the  Missouri 
compromise,  and  was  joint  author  in  opening  the  Pandora's  box 
to  precipitate  the  evils  of  slavery  agitation  upon  the  entire  coun 
try,  and  a  border  war  upon  the  ill-fated  territory  of  Kansas,  to 
crush  out  her  freedom  for  the  purpose  of  enlarging  the  area  of 
human  bondage.  These  impassioned  appeals  told  with  effect 
upon  the  people — Bissell  was  elected  by  a  plurality  of  4,729  votes 
over  Richardson.  The  legislature,  nearly  balanced,  was  politi 
cally  opposed  to  the  governor  elect.  The  senate  stood,  13  demo 
crats,  11  republicans  and  1  American  (K.  N.);  house,  37  demo 
crats,  31  republicans  and  6  Americans,  besides  a  contested  election 
case  from  Peoria,  which  was  the  occasion  of  a  fierce  partisan 
struggle,  as  we  shall  see. 

656 


BISSELL'S  ADMINISTRATION.  657 

William  H.  Bissell  was  born  April  25,  1811,  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  near  Painted  Post,  Yates  county.  His  parents  were 
obscure,  honest,  God-fearing  people,  who  reared  their  children  un 
der  the  daily  example  of  industry  and  frugality,  as  is  the  wont  of 
that  class  of  eastern  society.  Young  Bissell  received  a  respecta 
ble  but  not  thorough  academical  education.  By  application  he 
acquired  a  knowledge  of  medicine,  and  in  his  early  manhood  came 
west  and  located  in  Monroe  county,  Illinois,  where  he  engaged  in 
the  practice  of  that  profession.  But  he  was  not  enamored  of  his 
calling;  he  was  swayed  by  a  broader  ambition,  and  the  mysteries 
of  the  healing  art  and  its  arduous  duties  possessed  no  charms  for 
him.  In  a  few  years  he  discovered  his  choice  of  a  profession  to 
be  a  mistake;  and  when  he  approached  the  age  of  30  sought  to 
begin  anew.  Dr.  Bissell,  no  doubt  unexpectedly  to  himself,  dis 
covered  a  singular  facility  and  charm  of  speech,  the  exercise  of 
which  acquired  him  ready  local  notoriety.  It  soon  came  to  be  un 
derstood  that  he  desired  to  abandon  his  profession  and  take  up 
that  of  the  law.  During  terms  of  court  he  would  spend  his  time 
at  the  county  seat  among  the  members  of  the  bar,  who  extended 
to  him  a  ready  welcome. 

It  was  not  strange  that  he  should  drift  into  public  life.  In  1840 
he  was  elected  as  a  democrat  to  the  legislature  from  Monroe 
county  and  made  an  efficient  member.  On  his  return  home  he 
qualified  himself  for  admission  to  the  bar  and  speedily  rose  to 
trout  rank  as  an  advocate.  His  powers  of  oratory  were  captivat 
ing:  with  a  pure  diction,  charming  and  inimitable  gestures, 
clearness  of  statement,  and  a  remarkable  vein  of  sly  humor,  his 
efforts  before  a  jury  told  with  almost  irresistible  effect.  He  was 
chosen  by  the  legislature  prosecuting  attorney  for  the  circuit  in 
which  he  lived,  in  which  position  he  fully  discharged  his  duty  to 
the  State,  gained  the  esteem  of  the  bar,  and  seldom  failed  to  con 
vict  the  offender  of  law.  In  stature  he  was  somewhat  tall  and 
slender,  and  with  a  straight,  military  bearing  presented  a  distin 
guished  appearance.  His  complexion  was  dark,  his  head  well 
poised,  though  not  large,  his  address  pleasant  and  manner  win 
ning.  He  was  exemplary  in  habits,  a  devoted  husband,  and  kind 
and  indulgent  parent.  He  was  twice  married,  the  first  time  to 
Miss  James,  of  Monroe  county,  by  whom  he  had  2  children,  both 
daughters,  now  living  in  Belleville.  She  died  soon  after  1840. 
His  second  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Elias  K.  Kane,  formerly 
United  States  senator  from  this  State.  She  survived  him  but  a 
short  time,  and  died  without  issue.* 

When  war  was  declared  with  Mexico,  in  1846,  he  enlisted  and 
was  elected  colonel  of  his  regiment,  over  Hon.  Don.  Morrison,  by 
an  almost  unanimous  vote — 807  to  6.  For  his  opportunities  he 
evinced  a  high  order  of  military  talent.  On  the  bloody  field  of 
Btiena  Vista  he  acquitted  himself  with  intrepid  and  distinguished 
ability,  contributing  with  his  regiment,  the  2d  Illinois,  in  no  small 
degree  toward  saving  the  wavering  fortunes  of  our  arms  during 
that  long  and  fiercely  contested  battle. 

After  his  return  home,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  he  was  elected 
to  congress,  his  opponents  being  the  Hons.  P.B.  Foukeand  Joseph 
Gillespie.  He  served  two  terms  in  congress.  He  was  an  ardent 
politician.  During  the  great  contest  of  1850  he  voted  in  favor  of 

'Letter  from  the  Hon.  Joseph  Gillespie . 


658  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

the  adjustment  measures,  holding  the  following  language  on  the 
doctrine  of  non-intervention  :  ult  is  a  principle,  sir,  upon  which  I 
have  always  stood,  and  from  which  I  have  no  idea  of  departing, 
a  principle  maintained  and  cherished  by  my  constituents,  and  one 
which  they  will  be  slow  to  surrender."  But  in  1854,  when  the 
same  principle  was  sought  to  be  applied  to  the  organization  of 
the  territories  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  involving  a  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  compromise,  he  opposed  that  unnecessary  assault  upon 
the  domain  which  for  30  years  had  been  consecrated  to  freedom, 
and  upon  its  consummation  became  identified  with  the  organiza 
tion  of  the  republican  party. 

On  account  of  exposure  in  the  army,  the  remote  cause  of  a  ner- 
uous  form  of  disease  gained  entrance  to  Iris  system,  and  event- 
vally  developed  paraph legi a,  affecting  his  lower  extremities,  which, 
while  it  left  his  body  in  comparative  health,  deprived  him  of  loco 
motion,  other  than  by  the  aid  of  crutches.  While  he  was  generally 
hopeful  of  ultimate  recovery,  this  mysterious  disease  pursued  him 
without  once  relaxing  its  stealthy  hold  to  the  close  of  his  life,  on 
the  18th  of  March,  1860,  over  9  months  before  the  expiration  of 
his  gubernatorial  term,  at  the  early  age  of  48  years.  lie  died  in 
the  faith  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  of  which  he  had  been 
a  member  since  1854.  When  it  is  remembered  that  William  H. 
Bissell,  in  the  short  period  of  16  years,  without  early  educational 
advantages,  abandoned  at  the  mature  age  of  30  years  one  profes 
sion  by  casting  aside  his  pharmacopia,  his  vade  mecum  and  arma- 
merituin  chirngicum — quitting  the  dull  and  laborious  routine  of  a 
country  doctor,  and  resolutely  turning  his  attention  to  the  profes 
sion  of  the  law,  as  affording  him'  a  wider  field  for  his  active  im 
agination  and  aspiring  ambition  ;  attained  speedily  at  the  latter 
eminence  as  an  irresistible  advocate  ;  distinguished  himself  as  a 
soldier  ;  as  an  accomplished  orator  took  front  rank  in  the  halls  of 
the  national  legislature;  and  as  the  standard  bearer  of  a  new 
party  marching  toward  national  freedom,  was  elevated  to  the  first 
position  of  his  State  by  the  partiality  of  a  grateful  and  confiding 
people,  his  life  may  be  considered  a  brilliant  success.*  Yet,  in 
the  annals  of  this  State,  as  will  be  seen,  no  public  man  was  ever 
subjected  to  contumely  so  gross,  abuse  more  harrowing,  or  pur 
sued  with  malice  more  vindictive  j  and  that  these  cruelties  caused 
him  many  a  heart-pang,  casting  a  shadow  over  his  exalted  posi 
tion,  or  embittered  his  closing  days,  is  not  a  foreign  inference. 

It  was  during  his  first  congressional  term,  before  he  was  stricken 
with  paralysis,  that  his  high  sense  of  gallantry  was  deeply  wounded 
by  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the  southern  chivalry,  through  Mr.  Sed- 
don,  of  Virginia,  to  depreciate  the  valor  of  northern  troops  at  Bu- 
ena  Vista,  while  the  victory  upon  that  field — "snatched  from  the 
jaws  of  defeat" — was  attributed  solely  to  southern  troops,jaud  par 
ticularly  claimed  for  the  Mississippi  rifles,  a  regiment  commanded 
by  Jefferson  Davis,  the  late  rebel  chief.  The  discussions  in  con 
gress,  growing  out  of  the  acquisition  of  territory,  of  a  character  to 
bode  dissolution  to  the  Union  for  a  time,  were  attended  by  unu 
sual  explosions  of  turbulent  passions.  Personal  insults  and  mena 
ces  to  northern  members,  with  a  view  to  their  intimidation,  were 
frequent.  These  insults  and  the  braggadocio  of  swaggering  dis- 
unionists  to  overawe  the  north,  which  were  submitted  to  in  many 

"Gov.  PaJmer's funeral  oration,  May,  1861. 


BISSELL'S  ADMINISTRATION.  659 

instances  with  a  meekness  to  cause  one  even  now  to  blush  with  in 
dignation,  Bissell's  ardent  nature  could  not  brook,  and  the  vile 
slander  of  Seddon  was  repelled  in  a  speech  replete  with  facts, 
sting-ing  rebuke  and  moving  eloquence,  which  acquired  for  him 
national  fame,  and  was  a  source  of  pride  to  his  section  and  State. 
Such  bold  utterances  in  such  accomplished  oratory  was  more  than 
the  vaunting  chivalry  could  bear.  He  was  challenged  by  Jefferson 
Davis  to  mortal  combat.  Bissell  had  indulged  in  honorable  de 
bate,  warm,  it  is  true,  but  in  terms  decorous  withal,  and  in  man 
ner  courteous,  yet  his  life  was  sought.  It  was  explicable  onl.y  on 
the  ground  that  the  challenge  was  addressed  to  the  entire  north. 
It  could  not  change  or  vary  the  fact  of  history  connected  with  the 
battle  of  Buena  Vista.  But  when  Bissell  coolly  accepted  the  chal 
lenge,  without  unseemly  parade,  evincing  not  only  his  individual 
intrepidity  but  an  earnest  of  a  deliberate  intention  to  tight,  which 
won  him  "the  admiration  and  gratitude  of  the  country,  the  matter 
was  accommodated. 

But  the  constitution  of  Illinois,  besides  the  regular  oath  of  office 
prescribed  the  following  in  addition  : 

"I  do  solemnly  swear  that  I  have  not  fought  a  duel,  nor  sent  or  accepted 
a  challenge  to  fight  a  duel,  the  probable  issue  of  which  might  have  been 
the  death  of  either  party,  nor  been  a  second  to  either  party,  nor  in  any 
manner  aided  or  assisted  in  such  duel,  nor  been  knowingly  the  bearer  of 
such  challenge  or  aceptance,  since  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  ;  and 
that  I  will  not  be  so  engaged  or  concerned,  directly  or  indirectly,  in  or 
aboutsuch  duel  during  my  continuance  in  office  :  so  help  me  God." 

The  democracy,  which  had  indulged  confident  expectations  of 
success  in  the  election  of  1850  to  the  very  last,  when  they  found 
the  scepter  of  power,  so  long  Avielded  by  them  in  Illinois,  pass 
from  their  grasp,  their  chagrin  and  mortification  knew  no  bounds. 
During  the  canvass  their  press  and  stump  orators  had  not  been 
.silent  on  Bissell's  disability  on  account  of  this  affair  with  Jeff. 
Davis,  and  after  the  election,  the  pressure  and  onslaught  in  this 
direction  was  furious  and  unintermittent.  The  disease-smitten 
man  was  pursued  with  a  bitterness  and  ghoul-like  spirit  painful  to 
read,  using  the  circumstance  of  accepting  the  challenge,  erst  a 
•source  of  such  pride  to  every  citizen,  as  a  means  now  to  prostrate 
him.  Their  press  teemed  with  comments  upon  the  deliberate  in 
tention  of  so  distinguished,  exalted  and  honorable  a  personage  as 
the  governor  of-  this  great  State  committing  the  dark  and  fearful 
crime  of  perjury. 

But  these  assaults,  that  they  should  have  no  deterring  effect 
upon  their  object,  were  met  by  the  republican  press,  politicians 
and  orators,  at  meetings  and  banquets  celebrating  the  great  vic 
tory,  in  various  parts  of  the  State,  by  every  known  art  of  encour 
agement,  legal  sophistry,  and  assurances  that  the  governor  elect 
could  and  would  without  hesitation,  take  the  oath  of  office  pre 
scribed  by  the  constitution.  It  would  not  do  to  lose  the  fruits  of 
a  great  victory  on  account  of  a  paltry  oath  of  office.  The  consti 
tution,  it  was  exclaimed,  by  the  simplest  rules  of  law  could  not 
and  did  not  have  any  extra-territorial  jurisdiction,  wherefore  he 
could  not  perpetrate  an  infraction  of  it  where  it  did  not  extend — 
he  was  a  rectus  in  curia  \\\  this  respect.  Bissell  himself  published 
a  letter  in  the  Alton  Courier,  in  which  he  went  over  the  whole  legal 
grounds  applicable  to  the  question,  resting  upon  the  fact  that  he 


660  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

was  beyond  the  legal  jurisdiction  of  the  constitution  of  Illinois. 
He  further  in  ore  regarded  the  objections  so  vehemently  urged  as  a 
political  persecution  of  himself,  the  result  of  mortification  conse 
quent  upon  democratic  defeat,  and  announced  his  determination 
to  take  the  required  oath.  In  this  he  was  applauded  by  his  party, 
declaring. that  he  was  right,  that  the  people  looked  to  and  relied 
upon  him,  that  his  incorruptible  integrity  was  above  reproach, 
and  that  he  would  take  no  step  or  do  aught  which  his  conscience 
could  not  fully  justify. 

He  further,  it  seems,  took  counsel  from  and  fortified  himself 
with  the  opinions  of  the  best  legal  talent  of  the  State  among  his 
political  friends.  At  the  time  of  BisselPs  election  as  governor  lie 
had  been  an  invalid  exceeding  three  years, his  paralysis  rendering 
him  for  much  of  the  time  physically  helpless,  and  it  is  not  in  ac 
cordance  with  physiological  law  that  the  mind  connected  with 
such  a  body  should  maintain  its  wonted  vigor,  strengh  of  purpose 
or  independence  of  will  the  same  as  if  the  system  was  unimpaired  ; 
and  though  he  himself  wrote  at  the  time  of  the  meeting  of  the 
Bloom  in  gton  convention  that  his  intellect  knew  no  abatement  of 
its  vigor  and  strength,  u  it  was  manifest  to  his  friends  that  his  ac 
tive  career  was  ended."*  A  man  smitten  with  incurable  disease 
leans  upon  the  support  of  his  friends,  and  is  then  more  than  ordi 
narily  influenced  by  them.  Did  they  not,  therefore,  assume  a 
culpable  responsibility  in  putting  him  forward  for  this  place,  and 
after  election  further  impel  a  step  which  exposed  him  to  the  en 
venomed  shafts  of  an  implacable,  political  enemy,  if  not  fraught 
with  serious  consequences  to  the  peace  of  his  conscience-!  Demo 
crats  derisively  avowed  that  his  moral  constitution  was  not  spared 
by  the  blow  which  prostrated  his  nervous  system. 

In-January,  1857,  Governor-elect  Bissell  and  family  arrived  by 
the  Chicago  and  Alton  railroad  at  the  seat  of  government.  Gov 
ernor  Matteson  met  them  with  his  carriage  at  the  depot,  and  con 
ducted  them  to  the  elegant  mansion  to  which  they  had  been  in 
vited  by  the  flattering  partiality  of  the  people  of  this  great  State. 
On  the  13th  inst.,  at  2  p.  in.,  the  two  houses  of  the  general  assem 
bly,  which  had  been  in  session  since  the  5th  inst.,  preceded  by 
their  respective  officers  and  escorted  by  Capt.  Hopkins'  artillery 
and  a  large  concourse  of  citizens,  proceeded  to  the  executive  man 
sion  in  pursuance  of  a  joint  resolution  to  witness  the  installation 
of  the  governor-elect.  The  oath  of  office  having  been  taken,  and 
the  ceremonies  and  congratulations  over,  the  two  houses  returned 
to  the  hall  of  the  house  of  representatives,  the  lobby  and  gallery 
of  which  were  crowded.  Lieutenant-Governor-elect  Wood  was 
then  sworn  in  by  Chief  Justice  Scates,  and  the  inaugural  message 
of  Governor  Bissell  received  and  read  to  the  two  houses,  after 
which  the  senate  retired  to  their  chamber,  where  Lieutenant-Gov 
ern  or  Wood  delivered  a  neat  and  appropriate  address. 

Governor  BisselPs  inaugural  message  was  short  and  a  very  or 
dinary  document,  noticeable  only  in  that  it  stepped  out  of  the 
usual  course  in  "distinguishing"  the  incorporators  of  the  Illinois 
Central  railroad  company,  "  that  our  people  in  future  may  never 
forget  to  whom  they  are  mostly  indebted  for  the  great  work  of 
til  at  road."  For  the  handsome  grant  of  land  that  those  gentle 
men  got  from  the  State,  more  than  enough  to  build  and  fully 

*  Palmer's  funeral  oration, May,  1871. 


BISSELL'S  ADMINISTRATION.  6G1 

equip  that  road,  one  would  suppose  that  the  people  did  not  owe 
them  much  either  in  debt  or  gratitude.  But  the  portion  of  this 
message  particularly  offending  to  the  democratic  majority  was  a 
cursory  view  and  discussion  of  the  all  absorbing  slavery  question 
as  connected  with  Kansas.  Now  in  this  there  was  perhaps  noth 
ing  unusual,  but  the  out-going  governor,  Matteson,  in  his  com 
plete  and  admirable  valedictory  message,  then  a  week  old,  had 
studiously  avoided  the  subject  of  politics  in  any  phase  whatever, 
and  had  invoked  harmony  in  council  with  his  distinguished  suc 
cessor.  This,  then,  was  the  fire-brand  for  an  explosion,  doubtless 
but  too  gladly  received,  and  a  most  extraordinary  debate,  both 
as  to  character  and  duration,  sprung  up. 

In  the  house,  Mr.  I.  N.  Arnold,  upon  the  conclusion  of  the 
reading  of  the  message,  made  a  motion  to  have  the  usual  number 
of  20,000  copies  printed.  This  was  the  signal  for  attack.  Mr. 
Logan  (now  senator  in  congress),  moved  to  amend  l}y  inserting 
10,000,  and  followed  up  his  motion  by  a  speech  of  two  days  dura 
tion,  which  in  severity  of  language  excels  perhaps  anything  that 
that  gentleman  has  ever  uttered.  It  shocked  the  better  sense  of 
all  considerate  men  not  wholly  devoured  by  partisan  malignity, 
and  must  have  deeply  wounded  the  sensitive  feelings  of  Bissell's 
liigh  strung  nature  rendered  more  acute  by  a  long  entailed,  en 
feebling  nervous  disorder.  To  many  democrats  the  speech  was  no 
suprise.  Due  preparation,  participated  in  by  some  of  the  party 
leaders,  had  early  been  made.  Material  for  evidence  to  cover  the 
entire  ground  had  been  carefully  collected,  and  nn  orator  to  exe 
cute  the  unfeeling  task  selected  with  skillful  penetration.  In 
August  preceding,  Col.  Richardson  had  written  to  Jefferson  Davig 
fora  copy  of  the  correspondence  between  the  latter  and  Col.  Bis- 
sel,  connected  with  their  dueling  affair.  In  the  published  corres 
pondence  the  challenge  and  its  acceptance,  or  the  memorandum 
of  final  settlement  had  never  appeared.  Davis  had  to  write  to 
California  to  Mr.  Inge  for  it,  and  it  had  now  arrived  to  be  used  to 
convict  Bissei  of  perjury.  Major  Harris  had  written  from  Wash 
ington,  stating  he  knew  Bissell  had  accepted  a  challenge  from 
Davis,  for  he  had  copied  it.  The  Hon  P.  B.  Fouke,  who  was 
present  in  Springfield,  furnished  a  written  statement  that  Bissell 
in  the  canvass  against  him  1852,  for  congress,  had  urged  his  ac 
ceptance  of  this  challenge  in  his  own  favor,  because  he  was  ineli 
gible  to  any  State  office  on  account  of  the  constitutional  oath  of 
office.  Col.  John  Cram  said  he  had  heard  Bissell  state  the  same 
in  a  speech  at  Nashville  in  1851.  The  Hon.  W.  E.  Morrison  wrote 
that  Bissell  during  the  late  canvass  for  governor,  had  said  in  his 
hearing,  that  he  did  accept  the  challenge  from  Jeff  Davis,  &c.;ali 
these  letters  are  paraded  in  the  speech  of  Logan,  Jan.  13-14, 1857. 

Thus  fortified,  Logan  exclaimed:  "  If  corruption  enters  into 
liigh  places,  it  is  my  duty  as  a  faithful  public  servant,  to  drag  it 
from  its  jx>lluted  den  and  expose  its  hideous  deformity  to  public 
criticism  and  contempt."  He  would  "  demonstrate  to  the  world 
a  degree  of  moral  turpitude  without  parallel  in  the  history  of  the 
State.  .No  governor  of  Illinois  has  ever  sought  retirement  to 
take  the  oath  of  office" — the  oath  was  taken  at  the  executive  man 
sion,  as  we  have  seen.  "  We  might  infer  from  this,  that  a  guilty 
and  bleeding  conscience  had  sought  seclusion  rather  than  stand 
erect  upon  this  floor  and  pass  the  fiery  ordeal.  The  secluded 


662  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

and  unusal  place  at  which  it  was  taken  may  afford  grounds  for  an 
inference  as  to  the  working  of  a  mind  goaded  to  desperation  by 
a  weighty  conviction  of  moral  turpitude."  That  the  executive 
had  said  "he  must  commit  perjury  to  hold  the  office  of  governor; 
and  then  hear  of  his  taking  the  very  oath  which  he  said  would 
amount  to  perjury ;  I  am  lost  in  amazement — standing  before 
the  people  with  falsehood  upon  his  lips,  and  averring  his  own 
guilt  of  a  reckless  disregard  of  all  that  can  inspire  confidence  in 
man  ;  *  the  moral  sense  of  a  million  and  a  half  of  the 

people  has  been  shocked  by  that  fearful  oath.  Truth,  sir,  has 
been  crushed  to  earth.  The  high  standard  of  moral  rectitude  has 
been  broken.  The  votaries  of  virtue  and  honesty  have  been  van 
quished,  and  one  universal  wail,  from  Chicago  to  Cairo,  has  been 
heard  in  consequence  of  the  prostration  of  the  executive  chair  by 
the  hands  of  a  man  whose  lips  are  quivering  with  falsehood.  * 
The  constitution  of  my  beloved  State  lies  prostrate  in  the  dust — 
bleeding  and  mangled.  *  I  warn  young  men  and  old 

against  the  example  set.  'I  pray  God  that  we  may  never  again 
witness  such  an  occasion ;  Virtue  and  Truth  bereft  of  all  their 
charms,  while  the  hideous  and  hateful  gods  of  vice  hold  dominion 
over  the  people."  Such  are  only  a  few  salient  extracts  from  this 
long  speech.! 

The  array  of  able  names,  both  democrat  and  republican,  as 
members  of  the  house  at  this  session,  is  excellent.  Much  party 
feeling  had  been  already  elicited,  as  we  shall  see,  in  the  first  efforts 
to  organize  the  house,  and  the  debates  incident  to  this  question  ? 
nominally  upon  the  printing  of  the  governor's  message,  were  not 
only  generally  participated  in  but  were  protracted,  exciting  and 
exceedingly  acrimonious.  We  cannot  do  more  than  to  state  that 
the  position  of  the  friends  of  the  governor,  in  defense  of  him,  was 
generally  the  same  as  has  already  been  indicated — that  the  locus 
delicti  was  the  District  of  Columbia;  that  he  had  offended  no  law 
of  Illinois,  either  statutory  or  organic,  for  neither  could  have  legal 
jurisdiction  beyond  the  State;  wherefore  his  excellency  might 
safely  and  truly  swear  that  he  had  not  accepted  a  challenge  to 
fight  a  duel  since  the  adoption  of  the  constitution.  And  Mr.  De- 
iiio,  in  the  debate,  asserted  that  Davis  u  to  this  day  declares  to 
Gov  Bissell,  through  Senator  Trumbull,  that  he  did  not  consider 
the  notes  exchanged  between  them  equivalent  to  a  challenge." 
But  the  documentary  evidence  shows  this  to  be  untenable. 

The  locus  delicti,  which  the  governor  and  his  friends  set  up  and 
used  as  a  defense,  was  not  in  question.  That  the  offense  commit 
ted  in  the  District  of  Columbia  was  defined  as  an  offense  by  our 
statutes  is  true,  but  that  it  was  not  punishable  here  is  equally 
true.  It  was  circumstances  and  evasions  of  that  character,  how 
ever,  that  the  constitutional  oath  sought  to  compass  and  prevent. 
The  intent  of  the  law  may  be  gathered  from  the  circumstances  of 
its  passage.  To  mark  the  popular  abhorence  of  the  duello,  and  to 
impose  upon  its  votaries  the  disability  of  holding  office  in  spite  of 
their  constant  evasions  of  its  punishments  by  going  beyond  the 
confines  of  the  State,  was  the  aim  of  its  framers,  and  it  has  failed 
of  efficacy  in  only  two  instances.  The  offense  now  and  here  was 
not  in  accepting  a  challenge  in  Washington,  but  in  swearing  at 
this  time,  in  Illinois,  that  he  had  not.  The  reasoning  in  the  one 

*  See  111,  State  Register,  Feb.  1857. 


BISSELL'S  ADMINISTRATION.  6G3 

case  does  not  appear  to  fit  the  other.    Was  Bissell  then  only  a  de- 
facto  governor  ? 

The  courtesy  of  printing  the  usual  number  of  copies  of  the 
message  was  denied.  Attacks  on  the  private  character  of  his  ex 
cellency  continued  throughout  the  session.  JSTo  annoyance  or  em 
barrassment  that  could  be  inflicted  was  spared  him.  In  the  pas 
sage  of  the  bill  establishing  the  northern  or  Joliet  penitentiary, 
recommended  in  his  message,  his  customary  privileges  as  a  co-or 
dinate  branch  of  the  law-making  power  were  encroached  upon, 
and  the  appointment  of  the  commissioners  taken  from  him.  The 
dignity  of  official  position,  and  the  courtesies  and  amenities  inci 
dent  thereto,  were,  to  a  great  extent,  sunk  out  of  view. 

In  the  senate,  which  contained  a  democratic  majority  of  one,  no 
discourtesy  was  shown  to  the  governor  by  a  refusal  to  order  the 
printing  of  the  usual  number  of  copies  of  his  message.  In  that 
chamber,  besides,  general  harmony  and  good  feeling  prevailed 
throughout  the  session,  and  business  moved  along  with  acceptable 
dispatch.  Lieuten ant-Governor  Wood,  a  gentleman  of  fine,  com 
manding  personal  appearance,  presided  in  an  impartial  manner, 
and  his  conciliatory  deportment,  meeting  out  to  all  the  senators 
the  same  courtesy,  was  received  and  met  in  return  by  a  like  mark 
of  respect  and  cordiality. 

The  house,  notwithstanding  its  many  able  and  talented  members, 
was  the  theatre  of  much  turbulence  and  partisan  strife  through 
out  the  session.  It  was  said  to  have  opened  as  a  mob  and  closed 
in  a  rout  lu  political  complexion  it  stood,  democrats  38,republi- 
cans31,  and  Americans  6.  There  were,  however,  two  contestants 
to  this  democratic  majority,  and  in  the  Peoria  case  of  Eastman, 
republican,  against  Shellabarger,  democrat,  it  would  seem  that 
Eastman  was  justly  entitled  to  the  seat.  A  few  votes  cast  for  O. 
L.  instead  of  C.  M.  Eastman  had  been  thrown  out,  and  the  certifi 
cate  awarded  to  Shellabarger,  whereas  had  they  been  counted  the 
former  would  have  had  the  majority. 

In  the  first  effort  to  effect  a  temporary  organization  of  the  house 
was  enacted  one  of  those  unseemly  squabbles,  which,  while  they 
are  not  im  frequent  in  this  free  country,  are  nevertheless  a  dis 
grace,  to  any  deliberative  body.  The  republicans  were  primarily 
in  fault.  By  uniting  the  6  Americans  with  their  31  members  they 
had  planned  to  secure  the  organization  of  the  house  in  accordance 
with  the  usages  of  the  lower  house  of  congress  and  the  British  par 
liament.  For  this  purpose  Mr.  Bridges,  clerk  of  the  house  for  the 
preceding  general  assembly,  a  republican,  was  on  hand  to  call  the 
house  to  order  and  temporarily  organize  it ;  to  act  as  temporary 
speaker,  and  in  that  capacity  exclude  all  contestants  from  voting, 
which  would  leave  the  republicans  in  a  majority,  and  throw  its 
permanent  organization  into  their  hands.  But  the  democrats  were 
on  the  alert,  and  the  trick  was  suspected.  The  moment  the  old 
clerk  essayed  to  call  the  house  to  order,  F.  D.  Preston  nominated 
John  Dougherty  for  speaker  pro  tern.  A  scene  of  unparalleled 
confusion  and  uproar,  mixed  with-  personal  menace,  now  ensued, 
Preston,  in  stentorian  tones  and  with  much  firmness,  putting 
Dougherty's  nomination  to  vote  and  declaring  it  carried,  and 
Bridges,  persistent  in  his  right  to  organize  the  house,  calling  the 
roll  for  this  purpose,  and  many  members  answering  in  recognition 
of  his  right.  Mr.  Latshaw  was  declared  secretary  pro  tern,  in  the 


664  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

same  manner  that  Dougherty  had  been  chosen  speaker,  and  he 
also  was  calling  the  roll  of  members.  Above  the  din  a  motion  was 
now  made  for  the  sergeant-at-arms  to  eject  the  old  clerk,  Bridges. 
Amid  the  great  uproar  it  was  declared  carried,  and  at  once  exe 
cuted  with  a  rush,  by  his  forcible  removal,  iu  which  quite  a  num 
ber  of  the  honorable  gentlemen  volunteered  their  assistance.  The 
greatest  confusion  prevailed,  muscle  was  triumphant  and  order 
was  restored.  The  victory  was  with  the  democrats  ;  Shell  abarger, 
one  of  the  Peoria  contestants,  was  retained.iu  his  seat,  which  gave 
them  a  clear  working  majority  and  the  organization  of  the  house. 
As  there  were  many  able  members  in  the  house,  this  Peoria  con 
tested  election  case,  asw^ell  as  the  question  of  printing  the  gover 
nor's  message,  elicited  their  full  power  of  debate,  and  many  fine 
and  eloquent  speeches  from  both  sides  were  made  during  the  ses 
sion. 

Early  in  the  session  an  apportionment  bill,  based  upon  the 
State  census  of  1855,  was  introduced  into  the  house  by  the  repub 
licans.  The  population  of  Illinois,  in  1850,  was  851,470,  and  in 
1855,  1,300,251 — an  increase  of  447,781 — about  50  per  cent.,  or 
one-third  her  entire  population  in  5  years.  This  gain  was  two- 
thirds  in  the  northern  parts  of  the  State,  the  main  republican 
strongholds.  The  bill  was  therefore  at  once  spurned  by  the  dem 
ocrats,  who  offered  a  substitute  which  was  provocative  of  the 
most  stubborn  parliamentary  resistance  at  every  step  by  the  re 
publicans.  Such  measures  are  nearly  always  passed  in  the  interests 
of  the  dominant  party.  Both  bills  sought  to  secure  ascendency 
in  the  next  legislature,  when  a  United  States  senator  was  to  be 
elected  to  Douglas'  place. 

The  constitution  required  districts  to  be  composed  of  contigu 
ous  territory,  bounded  by  county  lines.  Tlie  substitue  was 
claimed  to  be  unconstitutional,  in  fact  a  perfect  libel  on  the  theory 
of  equal  representation,  in  that  it  "gerrymandered"  the  State  into 
all  sorts  of  deformity,  the  mere  cornering  of  counties  in  many  in 
stances  being  deemed  a  sufficient  contiguity  of  territory  for' the 
formation  of  districts  ;  in  one  district  3  votes  were  made  equal  to 
4  in  another;  in  another  5  were  made  to  equal  more  than  9  in  still 
another;  and  that  in  a  certain  contingency  one  county  would 
be  without  representation  at  all.  With  much  show"  of  rea 
son,  doubtless,  the  opposition  regarded  the  substitute  as  a  most 
villainous  piece  of  party  legislation,  and  they  exhausted  every 
parliamentary  effort  and  device  to  defeat  it,  but  failed.  The  bill 
was  passed  toward  the  heel  of  the  session.  It  HOAV  went  to  the 
governor  for  his  signature.  That  functionary,  it  was  confidently 
expected,  would  veto  it ;  the  surprise,  therefore,  was  simply  as 
tounding  when  his  secretary,  on  the  last  day  of  the  session,  with 
other  bills  reported  his  approval  of  it  to  the  house. 

And  now  everything  Avas  bustle,  there  was  hurrying  to  and  fro. 
His  excellency  was  confronted  by  disappointed  but  determined 
political  friends,  and  within  an  hour  he  sought  to  recall  his  mes 
sage  of  approval,  alleging  it  to  have  been  made  by  mistake.  Some 
republicans  openly  boasted  that  they  had  compelled  therecall  and 
the  veto.  An  informal  note  explanatory  of  the  circumstances 
was  sent  to  the  house,  followed  afterwards  by  his  veto  and  return 
of  the  bill.  The  chagrin  and  mortification  was  now  changed  from 
the  republican  to  the  democratic  side.  The  house,  where  it  origi- 


BISSELL'S  ADMINISTRATION.  665 


nated,  refused  to  receive  back  the  bill,  or  allow  the  veto  message 
to  be  read  or  entered  upon  the  journal,  as  the  constitution  re 
quired,  and  both  were  taken  to  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State, 
and  there  filed.  It  was  held  that  after  the  governor  had  an 
nounced  his  approval  of  the  bill  it  became  a  law,  and  passed  for 
ever  beyond  his  control,  and  the  only  way  to  reach  it  would  be 
by  repeal. 

The  republican  members  signed  a  protest,  which  was  spread 
upon  the  minutes,  as  was  the  undoubted  right  of  any  two  or 
more.  But  now  that  party  feeling  was  thoroughly  aroused,  the 
protest  was  not  allowed  to  stand.  On  motion,  it  was  expunged 
from  the  journal.  This  conduct,  both  with  reference  to  the  rejec 
tion  of  the  veto  message  and  the  expunging  of  the  protest,  was 
contrary  to  the  constitution,  revolutionary  and  most  reprehensi 
ble.  With  these  partisan  acts,  and  amidst  the  greatest  uproar, 
without  indulging  the  ordinary  courtesy  of  passing  a  resolution  of 
thanks  to  the  speaker,  the  hour  of  the  sine  die  adjournment  hav 
ing  been  postponed  by  stopping  the  clock,  this  deliberative  body 
finally,  late  in  the  night,  adjourned  in  a  rout. 

Some  democrats  having  confidence  in  the  legality  of  the  point 
upon  which  the  house  acted,  that  the  governor  could  not  recall 
his  approval,  the  act  was  by  mandamus  carried  up  to  the  su 
preme  court  to  test  its  validity.  But  the  opinion  of  that  tribunal 
was  adverse.  The  constitutionality  of  the  objectionable  provi 
sions  of  the  bill  were  not  passed  upon,  but  whether  the  forms  of 
legislation  which  it  followed  rendered  it  valid  or  not.  Judge 
Caton,  delivering  the  opinion  of  the  court,  held  that  wrhile  a 
bill  is  in  the  possession  and  control  of  the  executive,  within  the  pe 
riod  limited  by  the  constitution,  it  has  not  the  force  of  law,  and 
he  may  exercise  a  veto  power,  and  so  return  to  the  house  where  it 
originated,  with  his  name  erased,  notwithstanding  he  had  once 
announced  his  approval  of  it. 

Apportionment  Bill  of  1859. — Two  years  later,  at  the  close 
of  the  session,  another  bedlam,  more  outrageous  and  undignified 
than  the  foregoing,  was  enacted  by  the  legislature.  The  occasion 
was  again  an  apportionment  measure.  The  democracy,  through 
the  herculean  labors  of  Douglas  in  his  senatorial  canvass  against 
Mr.  Lincoln,  were  in  a  small  majority  in  both  houses,  although 
the  popular  vote  of  the  State  was  against  them.  Seeing  the 
close  of  their  rule  approaching,  probably  in  the  next  election  as 
it  proved,  they  sought  to  perpetuate  their  power,  and  possibly 
with  the  view  to  elect  a  democratic  successor  to  the  then  hated 
Trumbull  in  the  United  States  senate,  in  1861,  by  so  shaping  the 
senatorial  and  representative  districts  as  to  give  them  the  gen 
eral  assembly  and  accomplish  the  ends  in  view. 

The  bill,  it  seems,  was  indeed  a  most  unfair  gerrymander,  looking 
solely  to  partisan  ends.  Counties  separately  entitled  to  represen 
tatives  were  grouped  with  others,  and  large  districts  formed  whose 
aggregate  democratic  vote  would  overbalance  their  small  republi 
can  majorities,  and  thus  force  upon  them  representatives  they  did 
not  want.  Instead  of  forming  districts  out  of  contiguous  and 
compact  territory,  they  were  stretched  over  two  degrees  of  lati 
tude.  To  the  republican  counties  of  the  State,  whose  population 
was  stated  at  646,748,  were  accorded  33  representatives,  while  to 


666  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

the  democratic  counties,  with  a  population  of  477,678,  were  given 
41  representatives. 

The  bill  was  introduced  the  third  week  of  the  session  and  the 
democratic  majority  forced  it  along  in  its  order.  The  republicans 
wrho  were  ably  represented,  particularly  in  the  house,  fought  it  at 
every  step.  Thus  all  the  legislation  behind  this  bill  was  held  in 
abeyance  on  its  account.  The  42  days  contemplated  by  the  con 
stitution  as  the  limit  of  the  session,  were  frittered  away  in  reso 
lutions,  parliamentary  contention,  and  buncomb  speeches.  When 
it  finally  passed,  first  the  lieutenant-governor,  whose  signature 
wras  required  to  it,  was  said  to  be  absent  during  the. 
night  session,  and  refused  to  sign  it  except  at  the  capital. 
Next  Gov.  Bissell  retained  it  a  week  before  he  sent  in  his 
veto.  In  the  meantime  everything  of  importance  was  delayed. 
The  enrolling  clerks,  in  obedience  to  orders  it  was  said,  retarded 
their  labors.  Chairmen  of  the  engrossing  committees  had  their 
pockets  crammed  with  bills,  which  they  would  neither  report .them 
selves  nor  disgorge  for  others  to  do  it.  Private  bills  of  friend 
and  foe  were  kept  back,  so  great  was  the  feeling  of  determination. 
Confident  of  veto,  it  was  determined  to  repass  the  bill  over  it  be 
fore  any  other  business  should  be  transacted.  It  was  the  main 
appropriation  bill,  through  non-action  upon  which  the  ends  of  the 
majority  were  sought  to  be  accomplished  by  failing  to  provide  the 
means  for  carrying  on  the  government  and  administering  the  laws 
during  the  coming  two  years'  interregnum.  The  republicans  sought 
to  pass  it  out  of  the  regular  order  but  failed.  It  was  A\  ell  un 
derstood  that  with  the  passage  of  this  bill  they  would  leave  all  else 
in  the  lurch,  stampede,  and  break  a  quorum  to  defeat  the  hated 
apportionment. 

Finally  the  governor  sent  in  his  veto.  The  house  had  met  at 
9  A.  M.  Immediately  after  prayer,  the  Hon.  L.  S.  Church  an 
nounced  the  governor's  private  secretary,  and  as  he  commenced  to 
read  a  violent  tumult  ensued.  The  democrats  almost  in  a  body 
sprang  to  their  feet,  vociferating  fiercely,  while  above  the  din 
rapped  the  speaker  with  his  gavel,  crying  "silence — order — there 
is  no  quorum  present.  No  communication  can  be  made  to  the 
house  in  the  absence  of  a  quorum!  Doorkeeper  put  that  man 
out" — meaning  the  secretary.  Others  shouted  u Knock  him 
down,"  "  Kick  him  out,"  &c.,  with  other  threats  and  imprecations. 
The  door-keeper  started  to  execute  the  speaker's  order,  but  by 
this  time  the  secretary  had  read  the  veto  message,  and  delivering 
it  and  the  bill  to  a  page,  turned  to  depart.  As  the  page  started 
to  the  clerk's  desk,  the  speaker  ordered  the  papers  to  be  returned 
to  the  secretary,  and  Mr.  Green  of  Massac  volunteered  to  execute 
the  order.  He  snatched  them  from  the  boy's  hand,  pursued  the 
secretary  into  the  lobby  and  thrust  them  at  him.  Upon  refusal 
they  were  violently  cast  on  the  floor.  Mr.  Church  gathered  them 
up,  folded  them  together,  walked  leisurely  up  the  aisle  and  laid 
them  carefully  on  the  speaker's  desk.  That  gentleman,  with  a 
con temptuous expression,  brushed  them  off.  They  were  examined 
by  several  members  and  thrown  back,  when  Mr.  Green  picked 
them  off  the  floor  and  thrust  them  in  his  pocket,  with  the  remark 
that  he  had  as  much  right  to  them  as  anybody  and  he  would  as 
sume  the  responsibility  5  meanwhile  the  wildest  disorder  prevailed. 


BISSELL'S  ADMINISTRATION.  667 

When  quietude  was  restored,  a  call  of  the  house  showed  only  42 
members  present,  less  than  a  quorum,  and  the  house  adjourned. 

The  objections  of  the  governor  to  the  apportioment  bill  were 
that  its  effect  would  be  to  continue  the  control  of  the  general  as 
sembly  in  the  hands  of  a  minority  of  the  people ;  that  the  new 
county  of  Ford  wras  placed  wholly  within  both  the  9th  and  18th 
senatorial  districts ;  that  in  the  matter  of  giving  excess  the 
10th  section  of  the  the  10th  article  of  the  constitution  was 
disregarded;  that  there  was  an  unnecessary  departure  from  sin 
gle  districts — a  glaring  instance  being  the  32d,  composed  of  the 
counties  of  Champaign,  Piatt,  DeWitt,  Macon,  Moultrie,  Shelby 
and  Eftingham,  to  which  3  representatives  were  given,  when  the 
census  showed  that  the  7  counties  would  divide  neatly  into  3  sep 
arate  districts,  &c. 

Messrs.  S.  A.  Hurlbut,  A.  W.  Mack,  L.  S.  Church,  Leonard 
S\vett  and  J.  A.  Davis,  republicans,  offered  a  protest  against  the 
action  of  the  house  in  its  rejection  of  the  veto  message,  setting 
forth  in  scathing  language  the  conduct  of  the  house  and  the 
speaker,  as  detailed;  quoting  also  the  governor's  message  to  make 
it  appear  of  record.  The  speaker,  Hon.  W.  B.  Morrison,  doubt 
ing  the  the  necessity  of  receiving  the  protest  without  the  house 
first  passing  upon  the  propriety  of  its  language,  held  it  for  ad 
visement,  but.  subsequently,  with  the  modification  of  some  of  its 
allusions  to  individual  members,  not  himself,  he  admitted  it,  and 
it  was  spread  upon  the  journal.  The  democrats  spread  a  counter 
protest  against  receiving  the  first  protest  upon  the  journal. 

In  the  meantime  the  not  unexpected  republican  hegira  took 
phuH — a  few  being  left  behind  to  attend  to  the  protest  and  look 
after  things  generally.  The  quorum  was  broken,  the  re-passage 
of  the  apportionment  bill  over  the  governor's  veto  prevented,  and 
all  the  unfinished  business  brought  to  a  dead-lock;  involving  hun 
dreds  of  bills,  both  public  and  private,  including  the  general  ap 
propriation  bill  necessary  to  keep  the  wheels  of  government  ill 
motion.  The  result  was  not  so  bad,  however,  as  was  at  first 
anticipated.  The  appropriations  for  the  northern  penitentiary 
and  the  asylums  at  Jacksonville  had  been  gotten  through  early  in 
the  session,  as  also  for  the  payment  of  the  semi-annual  interest 
on  the  State  debt;  and  the  judges,  by  a  law  of  1849,  could  draw 
their  salaries  on  vouchers  certified  from  the  governor  to  the 
auditor.  The  conduct  of  the  republicans  in  leaving  was  revolu 
tionary,  and  the  whole  proceedings  not  only  undignified  but  dis 
creditable  to  the  State.  If  the  minority,  not  appreciating;  that  in 
their  capacity  as  legislators  they  acted  for  the  whole  State  and  the 
entire  people,  sought  only  to  discharge  partisan  duty  to  their  con 
stituents,  then  they  should  have  defeated  the  re-election  of  Doug 
las,  and,  indeed,  they  might  in  the  same  way  have  altogether  pre 
vented  legislation.  After  waiting  two  days  for  the  return  of  the 
delinquents,  the  democrats  adjourned  the  general  assembly  sine 
die. 

Upon  the  death  of  Gov.  Bissell,  March  18, 1860,  the  Lieut.  Gov., 
John  Wood,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  became  governor  for  the  un ex 
pired  term  of  near  10  months  time  Bissell  was  the  only  execu 
tive  of  the  State  who  died  in  that  office. 


668  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


THE   CANAL  SCRIP  FRAUD. 

Iii  the  winter  of  1859  was  brought  to  light  the  most  stupendous 
individual  fraud  ever  perpetrated. upon  the  State  of  Illinois.  It 
was  greatly  intensified  in  that  all  the  attendant  circumstances 
pointed  to  a  gentleman  as  the  perpetrator,  who  but  a  short  time 
before  had  beeii  honored  with  the  most  exalted  station  in  the  gift 
of  the  people  of  the  State,  and  who  carried  into  his  retirement 
their  confidence  and  esteem.  The  fraud  consisted  in  the  re-issue 
of  $224,182  66  of  90  days  redeemed  canal  scrip,  dating  back  some 
30  years.  Owing  to  the  pecuniary  necessities  of  that  period,  the 
canal  trustees  bad  issued  $265,237  ninety-day  checks,  dated  May  1st, 
and  $123,317,  dated  August  1st,  1839.  Much  looseness  had  been 
observed  in  the  original  issue  of  these  checks  as  well  as  in  their 
redemption,  thejT  having  been  put  aside  without  being  cancelled. 
A  superabundance  of  them  had  been  prepared  (not  knowing  how 
many  might  be  needed)  all  signed  and  executed  except  filling  in 
the  name  of  the  treasurer.  They  remained  unregistered  and  un- 
trimmed  until  detached  and  signed,  when  the  amount  of  the  dif 
ferent  denominations  were  entered  in  a  book,  which  served  as  a 
memorandum  of  the  actual  amount  in  circulation.  These  checks 
had  been  put  in  circulation  in  1839  for  a  temporary  purpose  from 
the  canal  office  at  Lockport,  and  were  redeemed  partly  by  the 
State  bank  branch  at  Chicago,  in  payment  for  dues  to  the  canal, 
and  otherwise.  It  appears  from  the  reports  of  the  canal  officers 
to  the  legislature,  in  1840,  that  all  of  both  these  May  and  August 
issues  had  been  redeemed,  except  $822,  and  in  1842-3  only  $323 
remained  outstanding. 

Duriixg  the  session  of  the  legislature,  in  1859,  Gen.  Jacob  Fry,  for 
many  years  canal  trustee,  called  at  the  auditor's  office  and  showed 
Mr.  Dubois,  auditor,  one  of  these  old  canal  checks,  which  had  been 
offered  for  sale  in  Springfield,  and  cautioned  the  State  officers 
against  receiving  such  scrip,  explaining  how  it  was  long  since  re 
deemed,  and  that  what  was  then  in  circulation  must  be  fraudu 
lent.  He  was  referred  to  the  fund  commissioner's  office — the  gov 
ernor  having  been  ex-officio  fund  commissioner  since  1843— where 
he  learned  to  his  amazement  that  scrip  of  that  description  to  a 
very  large  sum  had  been  funded,  and  that  new  bonds  of  the  State 
under  the  funding  acts  had  been  issued  therefor.  The  checks 
were  duly  signed  W.  F.  Thornton,  president,  and  countersigned 
by  Jacob  Fry,  commissioner,  and  by  those  gentlemen,  and  also 
Mr.  Joel  Manning,  recognized  as  the  same  $50  and  $100  checks 
issued  by  them  in  1839,  and  redeemed  and  carefully  packed  away 
in  a  box,  but  now  doing  service  again,  after  exchange  as  free- 
bank  deposits.  With  this  revelation  consternation  became  rife  in 
every  State  department,  in  which  the  legislature  participated, 
the  people  generally  shared,  and  the  newspaper  press  fairly 
reveled.  Nor  was  this  lessened  when  it  also  transpired  that  the 
whole  of  this  scrip  thus  fraudulently  converted  was  presented  by 
no  less  a  personage  than  ex-Gov.  Matteson. 

In  the  State  senate,  Mr.  Marshall  of  Coles,  introduced  a  resolu 
tion,  which  was  adopted,  instructing  the  finance  committee  to 
inquire  into  certain  State  stocks  said  to  be  issued  and  based  on 
counterfeit  or  spurious  scrip,  empowering  them  to  send  for  per- 


BISSELL'S  ADMINISTRATION.  669 

sons  and  papers,  and  to  report  to  the  senate  the  result  of  their 
investigation.  This  committee  consisted  of  S.  W.  Fuller,  chair 
man.  B.  C.  Cook,  A.  J.  Kuykendall,  Z.  Applington,  S.  A.  Buck- 
master  and  Silas  L.  Bryan.  They  report: 

"It  appears  that  in  December, '1856,  just  before  the  close  of  his  term 
of  office,  about  $13,000,  in  amount,  of  the  checks  above  described,  were, 
by  Gov.  Matteson,  presented  to  Enoch  Moore,  secretary  of  the  fund 
commissioner,  and  new  State  bonds  issued  therefor.  That  during  the 
year  1857,  about  §93, 500  additional  of  the  same  checks  were,  by  Gover 
nor  Matteson,  presented  to  the  same  officer,  who  issued  new  bouds  for 
that  amount — and  that  at  divers  times  there  has  been  paid  to  Governor 
Matteson,  from  the  State  treasury,  an  amount  of  money,  for  principal 
and  interest,  to  make,  with  the  bonds  so  issued  to  him,  the  sum  of  $223,- 
182  66,  on  account  of  the  canal  checks  so  presented  by  him.  The  greater 
part  of  the  checks  are  recognized  by  Gen.  Thornton,  Gen.  Fry  and 
Mr.  Manning  as  the  genuine  $50 and  $100  checks  of  May  1st  and  Au 
gust  1st,  1839,  by  them  issued  and  redeemed,  and  as  part  of  the 
redeemed  checks  packed  by  Mr.  Manning  and  Gen.  Fry  in  the  box  de 
posited  in  the  bank  at  Chicago,  in  the  year  1840.  There  are  also  found 
among  the  checks  funded  by  Gov.  Matteson,  two  packages  of  the  checks, 
dated  August  1st,  1839,  amounting  to  $10,500,  which  are  fresh  in  appear 
ance,  have  the  edges  untrimmed,  but  fully  signed  by  the  commissioner 
and  secretary  of  the  canal  commissioners,  and  used 'by  the  treasurer  of 
the  board,  but  wanting  the  name  of  the  treasurer  filled  in  upon  their 
face,  and  lying  upon  each  other  in  consecutive  numbers." 

It  appeared  also  in  testimony  before  the  committee  that  Gen. 
Fry,  treasurer  of  the  canal  board,  and  Joel  Manning,  secretary, 
in  the  fall  of  1840,  counted  and  packed  in  a  large  sealed  box  the 
checks  redeemed  and  other  evidences  of  canal  indebtedness,  and 
they  believe  some  of  the  partially  executed  checks  ;  that  Mr.  Man 
ning  took  the  box  to  Chicago  and  deposited  it  in  the  Branch  State 
Bank,  where  it  remained  undisturbed  until  1848,  when  it,  with 
other  boxes  and  packages  left  there  by  the  canal  officers,  was  re 
moved  to  the  canal  office  in  Chicago.  This  box  and  other  divers 
packages  of  redeemed  canal  indebtedness,  were  receipted  for  by 
successors  to  predecessors  from  time  to  time  as  changes  in  that 
office  occurred.  And  none  of  these  90  day  checks  were  seen  in  cir 
culation  from  1840-1  down  to  1859.  Gen.  Hart  L.  Stuart  testified 
that  for  years  after  1847  he  bought  altogether  near  half  a  million 
dollars  worth  of  all  kinds  of  Illinois  canal  indebtedness,  adverti 
sing  therefor  in  Chicago  and  [New  York,  but  among  all  his  pur 
chases  he  saw  only  about  $100  of  the  1839  canal  checks. 

In  1853  Gov.  Matteson  appointed  Josiah  MeEoberts  State  canal 
trustee,  who  went  to  Chicago  to  receive  from  ex-Lieut.-Gov.  J.  B. 
Wells  the  assets  of  the  canal  office,  among  which  was  this  sealed 
box,  corresponding  to  the  above  description.  He  received  also 
another  box  with  a  loose  lid  or  cover,  containing  broken  packages 
of  canal  indebtedness,  defaced  with  a  canceling  hammer,  but  on 
counting  the  contents  they  were  found  to  be  short  in  many  instan 
ces  of  the  amounts  noted  on  the  wrappers.  He  also  found  divers 
packages  of  canal  indebtedness  in  the  office,  partially  broken,  and 
part  of  the  contents  missing.  And  "lie  was  advised  by  Gov. 
Wells,  his  predecessor,  in  substance,  that  the  vouchers  and  affairs 
of  the  canal  office  would  not  hold  out,  or  prove  correct,  but  such  as 
were  there  then  of  the  papers,  vouchers  and  furniture  of  the  oflice, 
he  received  from  Gov.  Wells." 

McEoberts  then  advised  Gov.  Matteson  that  the  books,  vouch 
ers,  &c.,  of  the  canal  office  had  been  turned  over  to  him,  among 


670  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

which  there  was  much  useless  matter  which  should  be  disposed  of; 
and  by  the  governor's  direction  he  packed  all  the  evidences  of 
canal  or  other  indebtedness  received  from  Wells  in  a  trunk  and  a 
box  (ail  ordinary  shoe  box.)  for  transmission  to  Springfield.  In  so 
doing  he  tried  to  put  the  same  sealed  box  "into  the  trunk  and 
shoe  box,  but  it  was  too  large,  and  he  broke  it  open  and  packed 
the  contents  either  in  the  trunk  or  shoe  box,  or  a  part  in  each, 
which,  he  cannot  certainly  state.  After  packing  the  trunk  and 
shoe  box,  he  locked  and  sealed  the  trunk  and  box,"  directed 
them  to  Gov.  Joel  A.  Matteson,  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  put  them 
on  board  the  railroad  at  Chicago,  and  came  with  them  to  La- 
Salle,  with  Gov.  Matteson,  and  there  left  them  in  charge  of  Gov. 
Mattesou,  who  directed  them  to  be  sent  to  the  Central  Kail 
road  depot  at  LaSalle.  en  route  for  Springfield,  Illinois,  in  charge 
of  Gov.  Matteson,  who  was  then  going  to  Springfield. 

"There  is  no  distinct  evidence  before  the  committee  that  the  shoe 
box  has  ever  been  seen  since,  but  the  trunk  was  found  during  the 
course  of  this  investigation  in  a  basement  room  of  the  capitol  at 
Springfield.  It  was  opened  (there  were  upon  it  some  appearances 
of  having  been  sealed  twice,  as  if  opened  and  sealed  again),  and 
the  contents  found  to  consist  of  a  great  variety  of  evidences  of 
canal  indebtedness,  some  complete,  that  had  been  in  circulation 
and  redeemed  and  cancelled,  and  some  unfinished  scrip,  also  can 
celled  with  a  hammer,  the  whole  contents  counted  to  near  $2,300,- 
000,  of  all  sorts,  although  Mr.  McKoberts  stated  in  his  report  to 
Gov.  Matteson,  in  1853,  that  the  contents  of  the  trunk  and  box  de 
livered  by  him  to  Gov.  Matteson,  in  the  spring  of  that  year,  were 
only  estimated  to  amount  to  $680,000."  The  uncancelled  checks 
were  not  found  in  the  trunk,  and  no  trace  of  the  box  was  ever  dis 
covered? 

Thus  the  box  and  trunk,  which  the  evidence  and  attendant  cir 
cumstances  all  show  contained  the  redeemed  and  unused  canal 
checks  of  1839,  were  direct!}'  traced  into  the  custody  of  the  gov 
ernor  5  he  subsequently  appeared  with  the  identical  bonds  in  his 
possesion,  and  had  them  exchanged  or  funded  for  new  State  bonds 
by  the  secretary  of  the  fund  commissioner,  to  the  amount  of  $223,- 
182.60 ;  and  he  appeared  further  as  the  sole  beneficiary  of  their  pro 
ceeds.  A. prima  facie  vase  was  thus  strongly  made  out  against  the 
ex-governor,  and  the  onus  probandi  was  shifted  to  him  to  relieve 
himself  of  the  charge. 

Under  this  grave  state  of  the  case,  it  was  only  shown  in  defense 
that  the  governor,  after  his  retirement  in  the  winter  of  1857,  took 
rooms  at  the  St.  Nicholas  Hotel  in  Springfield,  where  he  bought 
largely  c  '  the  public  indebtedness  of  the  State — $380,000  of  all 
sorts,  other  than  canal  checks  of  1839.  Mr.  Niles  testified  that 
$200,000  of  this  sum  was  funded  for  and  on  account  of  Clark, 
Dodge  &  Co.  "Messrs.  E.  E.  Goodell  (a  son-in-law  of  the  govern 
or),  Wm.  Smith  and  Mr.  Nesbitt,  swore  that  Gov.  Matteson  re 
ceived  from  the  Merchants'  and  Drovers'  Bank,  at  Joliet,  from 
December  12,  185G,  to  about  the  first  of  May,  1857,  a  little  over 
$200,000,  which  Mr.  Smith  understood  was  to  be  used  in  buying 
State  or  canal  indebtedness.  Mr.  Goodell  states  he  knew  that  Gov. 
Matteson  was  about  that  time  buying  public  indebtedness;  and 
Mr.  Xesbitt,  that  he  brought  to  him  packages  of  money,  which  he 
delivered  to  him  at  his  room  in  the  St.  Nicholas  Hotel."  Gen.  I.  B. 


BISSELL'S  ADMINISTRATION.  671 


Curran  and  A.  H.  Moore  testified  "that  they,  each,  at  different 
times,  were  in  his  rooms  at  that  hotel,  and  saw  him  buying'  of  per 
sons  unknown  to  them,  and  apparently  strangers  in  the  town,  canal 
scrip  and  checks,  to  an  amount,  on  some  occasions,  of  about  $5,- 
000,  which  he  paid  for  in  cash  at  the  time,  except  in  one  or  two 
instances  he  was  noticed  to  give  a  check."  Cm-ran  thought  pur 
chases  were  made  ocasionally  at  75  cents  on  the  dollar  for  princi 
pal,  to  which  was  added  the  accrued  interest  5  and  he  also  thought 
that  he  observed  purchases  to  the  amount  of  $30,000  to  $50,000, 
and  that  some  of  these  were  90  day  checks.  Moore  swore  that  he 
thought  he  had  observed  the  governor  pay  from  $1.20  to  $1.30  for 
principal  and  interest  of  public  indebtedness  due.  A  letter  from 
Governor  Bissell  stated  that  shortly  after  his  accession  he  was 
frequently  applied  to  by  letters  and  persons  strangers  to  him, 
desiring  to  dispose  of  evidences  of  State  indebtedness,  and  he  uni 
formly  referred  them  to  Gov.  Matteson  as  dealing  in  such  evidences. 
Thus  while  the  trunk  full  of  cancelled  and  worthless  evidences 
of  State  indebtedness  was  readily  found,  no  successful  effort  ap 
pears  to  have  been  made  to  show  what  became  of  the  box  con 
taining  the  uncancelled  and  unused  canal  scrip ;  and  while  Mat 
teson  obtained  the  new  State  bonds  and  money,  he  failed  to  show 
where  he  got  the  90  day  canal  checks  exchanged  for  them, 
shown  to  have  been  in  the  lost  shoe  box. 

From  the  time  the  exchange  was  effected  in  1857,  up  to  the  time 
of  .its  detection  in  1859,  neither  Gov.  Bissell,  although  ex  ofiicio 
fund  commissioner,  nor  any  other  State  officer,  the  fund  commis 
sioner's  clerk,  Mr.  Moore,  who  had  also  been  Matteson's  clerk, 
alone  excepted,  knew  anything  of  the  transaction.  Governor 
Matteson  was  not  personally  examined  before  the  committee  of 
investigation.  Messrs.  Grimshaw,  Browning  and  Koerner  were 
present  on  behalf  of  the  State,  and  Messrs.  Stuart  and  Ed 
wards  of  Springfield,  as  counsel  for  Gov.  Mattesou.  The  exami 
nation  was  reported  in  detail,  and  may  be  found  in  full  in  the 
weekly  Illinois  State  Journal  of  April  27,  and  May  4th,  llth  and 
18th,  1859. 

The  committee  forebore  to  express  any  opinion  of  the  guilt  or 
innocence  of  any  party  concerned,  and  were  apparently  glad  that 
Gov.  Matteson  had  saved  them  "the  necessity  of  determining 
many  embarrassing  questions  arising  out  of  the  foregoing  state 
ment  of  facts,  1)3' offering  to  indemnify  the  State  against  all  loss 
or  liability  by  reason  of  moneys  paid  him,  or  bonds  issued  to  him 
on  account  of  said  canal  checks."  The  governor's  letter  to  this 
effect,  dated  Springfield,  February  9th,  1859,  appears  with  their 
report.  This  letter,  notwithstanding  its  fair  language  that  he  had 
"  unconsciously  and  innocently  been  made  the  instrument  through 
whom  a  gross  fraud  upon  the  State  has  been  attempted,"  and  his 
"  earnest  desire  for  the  preservation  of  [his]  own  reputation  pure 
and  spotless,  rendered  [him]  unwilling  to  retain  these  bonds, 
although  purchased  by  and  issued  to  [him]  bona  fide  and  for  a  val 
uable  consideration,"  was  commonly  regarded  as  a  confession  of 
the  transaction. 

These  funded  bonds  were  on  deposit  with  the  auditor  of  State 
as  security  for  the  State  bank  (so-called)  located  at  Shawnee- 
town,  a  free  or  stock  bank  owned  by  Gov.  Matteson.  To  indem- 

•See  111.  Reports  1859,  vol.  1,  644. 


672  HISTOKY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

nify  the  State  against  loss  by  these  securities  thus  fraudulently 
obtained  for  the  canal  scrip,  the  governor  and  his  wife,  under 
date  of  April  21,  1859,  mortgaged  his  Quiucy  property  to  the 
State.* 

The  committee  asked  leave  to  sit  during  vacation  for  further 
investigation,  which  was  granted,  and  in  1801  they  made  a  volumi 
nous  report,  embracing  a  general  examination  into  the  different 
classes  of  indebtedness  of  the  State.  They  found  in  the  course 
of  their  investigation  additional  frauds  upon  the  State  perpetra 
ted  during  the  period  in  question,  with  various  kinds  of  scrip, 
amounting  in  the  aggregate,  estimating  principal  and  interest  up 
to  January  1,  1861,  to  $165,346. 

To  pay  off  a  claim  of  $38,214  44  to  Mr.  Kenedy,  authorized  by 
the  legislature  in  1846-7,  Gov.  French  had  commenced  to  reserve, 
undefaced,  internal  improvement  scrip  paid  in  for  State  lands  sold, 
but  as  this  was  slow  in  coming  in,  he,  in  September,  issued  bonds 
to  Kenedy,  which  paid  him  off.  In  the  meantime  $4,501  64  of  the 
land  scrip  had  accumulated,  and  the  governor  caused  a  descrip 
tive  list  of  it  to  be  made  and  filed  away,  which  was  found  by  the 
committee;  but  the  scrip  was  fraudulently  funded  May  14,  1857, 
amounting  then,  principal  and  interest,  to  $6,656  79.  In  Decem 
ber,  1841,  Gov.  Carl  in  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  canal  commis 
sioners  298  bonds  of  $1,000  each,  195  were  paid  out,  101  returned, 
and  2,  ]S"os.  105  and  106,  reserved  in  blank  for  Messrs.  J.  G.  and 
D.  L.  Eoberts,  who  never  called  for  them,  and  they  were  never 
paid  out  to  any  one.  The  bonds  were  dated  July  1,  1841,  and 
fully  executed  except  inserting  the  name  of  the  payee.  The  com 
mittee  now  found  the  two  bonds  in  the  auditor's  office  cancelled. 
"  The  evidence  before  the  committee  tends  to  show  that  the  name 
of  J.  Qratty,  the  payee  of  bonds  Nos.  105  and  106,  aforesaid,  is 
in  the  handwriting  of  Joel  A.  Matteson ;  that  while  19  bonds, 
numbered  consecutively  from  126  to  144  inclusive,  were  paid  out 
to  Cratty  by  the  commissioners,  these  two  never  were,  but  were 
reserved  as  above  stated.  The  loss  to  the  State,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  estimated  at  $165,346,  besides  the  $223,182  66,  based 
upon  the  uncancelled  canal  checks  of  1839,  total  $368.528  66. 
The  committee  conclude:  u  Whether  this  scrip  thus  fraudulently 
taken  from  the  State  was  the  scrip  which  was  in  the  box  and 
trunk  above  mentioned  cannot  be  determined,  because  no  des 
criptive  lists  of  the  scrip  was  kept.  The  only  facts  in  evidence 
before  us  tending  to  throw  light  upon  that  subject  are  above 
stated." 

In  the  spring  of  1859  the  offense  was  brought  to  the  attention 
of  the  grand  jury  of  Sangamon  county  by  three  of  the  State 
officials,  Messrs.  Dubois,  Hatch  and  Miller,  who  by  their  letter 
of  April  27th,  furnished  that  body  a  list  of  witnesses  in  va 
rious  parts  of  the  State,  all  of  wrhom  had  been  before  the 
senate  committee.  The  witnesses  were  subpoenaed,  and  the  evi 
dence  elicited  was  such  that  the  grand  jury,  by  a  vote  of  16  to  7, 
determined  to  indict;  but  on  the  next  day  their  action  was  on 
motion  reconsidered.  The  inquiry  was  extended,  but  nothing 
new  being  elicited  they  again  determined  to  find  a  tru^  bill,  only 
to  be  again  reconsidered.  And  now  sundry  members  of  the  jury 
began  to  falter  in  their  determination,  and  when  they  again  bal- 

*  See  Book  N.  of  Mortgages,  pp.  650-22,  Adams  Co. 


BISSELL'S  ADMINISTRATION.  673 

lotted  the  bill  was  refused  by  a  vote  of  10  for  to  12 'against — 5 
having  reversed  their  opinions.  Many  rumors  and  surmises,  both 
of  a  political  and  financial  character,  gained  currency  in  connec 
tion  with  these  "backings  and  fillings"  of  that  body. 

A  grand  jury's  investigations  SLTG  ex  parte.  It  is  not  their  prov 
ince  to  inquire  into  the  defense.  The  attorneys  of  the  accused 
governor  planned  a  letter,  which  reached  the  jury  through  the 
prosecuting  attorney,  suggesting  (besides  some  witnesses  who 
had  testified  favorably  to  Mattesou  before  the  committee)  the 
names  of  Capt.  O.  H.  Pratt  of  LaSalle  and  Dr.  A.  R.  Kuapp  of 
Jerseyville,  as  parties  who  would  make  important  disclosures. 
According  to  the  rumors  of  the  period,  which  were  exceedingly 
numerous,  the  captain  and  the  doctor  mentioned  were  expected 
to  shift  the  brand  from  the  governor,  and  fix  it  upon  ex-Lieut. 
Gov.  J.  B.  Wells,  then  deceased,  who,  we  have  seen,  when  he 
yielded  up  the  canal  office  to  his  successor,  McKoberts,  had  re 
marked  "  that  the  vouchers  and  affairs  of  the  canal  office  would 
not  hold  out."  But  the  scheme  failed;  though  these  rumors 
promptly  brought  to  the  capital  of  Illinois  Judge  Wells,  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  his  brother,  who  unwilling  that  the  imputation  rest 
longer  on  idle  and  mischievous  rumors,  demanded  that  the  charge 
be  avowed  and  the  grounds  distinctly  set  out— when  they  im 
mediately  ceased.* 

The  sum  subsequently  recovered  by  the  State,  under  decree  ren 
dered  in  the  San  gam  on  circuit  court  against  Matteson,  was  $255,- 
500.  On  the  27th  of  April,  18G4,  the  master's  sale  of  the  ex-gov 
ernor's  property  took  place  at  the  door  of  the  court  house  in 
Springfield,  to  satisfy  the  decree.  The  property  sold  realized 
8238,000,  leaving  a  deficit  to  the  State  of  $27,500.  The  State 
became  the  purchaser  of  the  larger  share  of  it.  His  splendid  maii- 
vsion  and  grounds  at  Springfield,  which  cost  $93,000,  brought  only 
$40,000.  This  property  was  afterwards  redeemed  and  never 
passed  out  of  the  possession  of  the  family ;  a  son-in-law  being  the 
reputed  owner,  and  the  ex-governor  making  his  very  retired  home 
there.  Never  did  a  governor  retire  from  office  in  Illinois  with  more 
respect  by  the  people  of  both  parties ;  with  more  general  confi 
dence  in  his  integrity  or  administrative  ability ;  with  prospects 
for  future  political  preferment  of  exceeding  high  promise ;  but  the 
disclosure  of  these  frauds  upon  the  State,  prostrated  as  by  a  sin 
gle  blow  all  these  cherished  hopes,  and  to-day  there  are  doubt 
less  many  people  in  Illinois  who  even  do  not  know  that  such  a 
man  is  in  life  among  us.t 

THE   MACALISTER  AND    STEBBINS    BONDS. 

Attempted  Swindle  by  Funding  them  in  1859. — And  now  at  the 
very  hight  of  the  great  hue  and  cry  of  corruption,  theft,  robbery. 
&c.,  raised  in  connection  with  the  canal  scrip  fraud,  over  which 
the  republican  press  fairly  gloated  with  demoniac  delight,  and 
while  in  the  full  tide  of  its  onward  career,  a  shadow  was  suddenly 
thrown  across  its  track  by  a  dark  cloud  replete  with  ominous  por 
tent,  implicating  the  existing  State  government  in  an  attempted 

*  The  full  proceedings  of  the  grand  jury  are  published  in  the  weekly  111.  State  Jour 
nal  of  July  13, 1859. 
t  The  ex-governor  died  in  the  winter  of  1872-3  at  Chicago. 


674  HISTOKY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

swindle  upon  the  treasury  of  the  State,  amounting-  to  $244,268,  by 
the  refunding  of  the  Macalister  and  Stebbins  bonds,  so-called, 
which  struck  consternation  into  the  ranks  of  the  leaders.  The 
democratic  press,  wbichhad  stood  almost  dumb  under  the  revela 
tion  of  the  canal  check  fraud  and  meekly  received  the  vehement 
blows  of  its  adversary,  was  not  slow  to  avail  itself  of  the  oppor 
tunity  thus  afforded  to  off-set  the  former,  and  it  rallied  to  the  onset 
with  a  will.  While  the  two  wrongs  did  not  make  one  right,  it 
was  nevertheless  a  great  relief  (such  is  human  nature)  for  the  lat 
ter  to  iiii (I  grounds  to  charge  the  former  equally  with  culpability. 
In  1841,  June  17th,  JohnD.  Whiteslde,  fund  commissioner,  re 
ceived  an  advance  of  $201,460  from  Macalister  &  Stebbins,  bank 
ers  in  New  York,  for  a  short  period,  and  as  security, hypothecated 
with  them  804  State  bonds  of  $1,000  each,  bearing  6  per  cent,  in 
terest  from  May  1,  1841.  Eight  days  later  he  delivered  to  them 
30  $1.000  6  percent,  internal  improvement  bonds;  on  the  1st  of 
July  following  he  gave  them  an  order  on  Nevins,  Townsend  &<Jo., 
of  New  York,  for  a  further  batch  of  41  bonds  of  $1,000  each, 
which  they  received;  and  on  the  27th  of  October  following,  they 
received  from  Michael  Kenedy  $38,215  44  in  canal  scrip — the 
whole  aggregating  $912,215  44  of  Illinois  interest  bearing  indebt 
edness,  which  that  firm  received  to  secure  their  advance  of  $261,- 
460  to  the  State.  The  receipt  of  these  sums  they  acknowledged 
in  their  account  current  rendered  in  1842,  during  the  session  of 
the  general  assembly,  being  28  64-100  cents  on  the  dollar  of  secur 
ity  in  their  hands.  Upon  the  bonds  and  obligations  received  by 
them,  after  the  first  804,  they  had  agreed  to  make  further  advances 
to  pay  the  State's  July  interest  for  1841,  if  it  was  found  necessary, 
but  the  State  stopping  her  interest  payments,  the  advance  was 
never  "made;  and  under  her  then  financial  embarrassments,  the 
$261,460  advanced  was  not  repaid;  the  hypothecated  bonds,  ac 
cording  to  the  contract  with  the  fund  commissioner,  became  for 
feit,  and  Macalister  &  Stebbins  claimed  their  full  redemption  in 
money.  But  it  was  answered  that  this  contract  was  made  in  vio 
lation  of  laAv ;  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  lender  to  have  inquired 
into  the  fund  commissioner's  legal  authority  to  hypothecate  these 
obligations,  and  as  he  had  manifestly  been  overreached  by  the 
arts  and  cunning  of  money -jobbers,  the  State,  at  the  bar  of  con 
science,  would  only  repay  the  amount  actually  received  with  the 
interest  agreed  to  be  paid.  But  these  just  terms  of  settlement 
were  refused,  after  which  the  pledged  securities  were  known  as 
the  "  Macalister  &  Stebbins'  bonds." 

i. 

In  1847  (Feb.  28th,)  the  legislature  passed  "an  act  to  authorize 
the  funding  of  the  State  debt."  By  its  provisions  the  Macalister 
&  Stebbins  bonds  were  specially  excluded  from  its  operation.  The 
new  "certificates  of  indebtedness"  authorized  by  it  were  desig 
nated  "New  Internal  Improvement  Stock  of  the  State  of  Illinois," 
of  $1,000  each.  "Certificates"  for  matured  interest  of  over  6  years 
were  to  be  issued,  not  to  draw  interest  till  after  1857,  being  with 
out  coupons,  as  the  interest  was  stipulated  in  the  body  of  the  cer 
tificates.  A  "transfer  agent"  was  to  be  appointed  in  New  York  to 
attend  to  the  funding  of  the  complicated  Illinois  indebtedness. 

Three -days  after  a  supplemental  act  was  passed  to  authorize  a 
settlement  with  Macalister  &  Stebbins,  by  the  provisions  of  which 


BISSELL'S  ADMINISTRATION.  675 

30  cents  on  the  dollar  were  offered,  in  new  bonds  on  the  amount 
hypothecated;  the  bonds  to  bear  upon  their  face  the  words,  "liqui 
dation  bonds,"  which,  it  will  be  observed,  would  have  made  two 
classes  of  Illinois  funded  bonds.  By  its  terms  the  law  expired  on 
the  4th  of  July,  1847,  and  as  the  holders  of  the  bonds  refused  to 
surrender  them,  or  settle  according1  to  its  provisions,  nothing"  more 
was  done. 

Subsequently  better  counsel  prevailed,  and  at  the  session  of  the 
legislature  in  the  winter  of  1849,  Win.  H.  Bissell,  then  a  member 
of  congress  from  Illinois,  was  sent  by  Macallister  &  Stebbins  to 
Springfield  to  make  as  gooa  a  bargain  with  the  State  as  he  could 
for  the  redemption  and  settlement  of  these  securities.  "An  act" 
\vas  passed  "to  prevent  loss  to  the  State  on  the  Macalister  & 
Stebbins  bonds."  It  was  enacted  that  upon  surrender  of  the  bonds 
and  scrip  hypothecated  with  Macalister  &  Stebbins,  amounting  in 
the  aggregate  to  $913,215.44,  together  with  the  interest  coupons, 
the  governor  was  to  settle  and  pay  the  amount  of  money  originally 
advanced  with  7  per  cent,  interest  thereon  from  the  date  of  deposit 
to  the  time  of  settlement,  in  $1,000  bonds  due  after  1865,  bearing 
6  per  cent,  interest,  payable  semi-annually  in  New  York,  j?ro  rata 
out  of  the  interest  fund.  The  old  bonds  to  be  surrendered  in  such 
amounts  at  a  time  as  $20,000  of  the  new  bonds  would  settle  ;  and 
all  heretofore  surrendered  to  be  credited  in  full  at  26  cents  on  the 
dollar  of  the  804  bonds  first  hypothecated.  The  new  bonds,  like 
those  provided  for  in  the  act  of  1847,  were  to  bear  upon  their  face 
the  words  "liquidation  bonds."  Hence  no  "new  internal  improve 
ment  stock" could  legally  be  issued  for  these  bonds;  these  liquida 
tion  bonds  were  a  distinct  class.  The  greater  portion  of  the 
Macalister  &  Stebbins  bonds  were  funded  under  this  act  at  the 
rate  offered,  but  not  all — 114  having  passed  out  of  their  hands. 

During  the  session  of  the  general  assembly  in  1857,  Dr.  W.  W. 
Roman,  member  from  St.  Glair,  introduced  a  bill  which  became  a 
law,  entitled  "An  act  to  fund  the  arrears  of  interest  accrued  and 
unpaid  on  the  public  debt  of  the  State  of  Illinois."  It  authorized 
the  governor  to  take  up  all  arrears  of  interest  due  and  unpaid,  and 
to  issue  to  the  holders  thereof  bonds  of  $1,000  each,  the  same  as 
those  authorized  by  the  funding  act  of  1847;  for  old  bonds  with 
out  coupons,  interest  certificates  were  to  be  issued  to  the  holder, 
for  which  new  bonds  were  to  be  issued  upon  presentation  ;  and 
"any  holder  of  canal  or  internal  improvement  scrip  holding  less 
than  $1,000  may  present  the  same  with  interest  certificates  enough 
to  make  $1,000  or  more,  and  the  governor  shall  issue  a  bond  as  be 
fore  stated  for  such  amount." 

After  its  passage  it  was  apprehended  that  the  law  was  broad 
enough  in  its  terms  to  include  the  outstanding  Macalister  &  Steb 
bins  bonds.  To  prevent  such  a  construction,  a  joint  resolution 
was  promptly  passed  :  "That  no  bonds  or  certificates  for  arrears 
of  interest  upon  the  Macalister  &  Stebbins  bonds,  held  by  lien, 
shall  be  issued  by  the  governor  tothe  holdersof  the  aforementioned 
indebtedness,  to  their  agents,  or  to  any  person  or  persons  claiming 
under  them." 

The  outstanding  114  Macalister  &  Stebbins  bonds  of  $1,000  each 
had  passed  into  the  possession  of  other  parties  in  New  York,  who 
alleged  that  they  had  purchased  them  some  16  years  ago  at  public 
auction  without  the  knowledge  that  the  State  refused  to  pay  them 


676  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

at  par.  They  now,  under  the  law  of  185^,  made  application  to  the 
governor  to  have  them  funded  at  par,  which  was  refused.  They 
next  applied  to  the  supreme  court  for  a  mandamus  to  compel  the 
governor  to  fund  them,  but  the  writ  was  also  refused,  the  court 
holding  that  the  executive  is  a  co-ordinate  and  independent  branch 
of  the  government,  and  that  they  had  no  power  to  command  him 
to  do  an  official  act.  No  opinion  was  expressed  relative  to  the 
power  of  the  governor,  under  the  law,  to  issue  the  bonds ;  but 
Judge  Breese,  in  delivering  the  opinion  of  the  court,  added  :  "if 
the  governor  asks  our  opinion  on  the  point  of  duty,  we  will  cheer 
fully  give  it  ;  but  we  refer  him  to  the  high  tribunal  of  his  own 
conscience  and  the  public  judgment.'7 

But  notwithstanding  the  refusal  of  Gov.  Bissell  at  this  time  to 
fund  them,  and  apparently  in  the  face  of  the  joint  resolution  above 
quoted,  he  subsequently  changed  his  mind,  signed  the  requisite 
number  of  new  bonds  in  blank,  as  did  also  the  treasurer.  Miller, 
and  sent  them  on  to  New  York  to  be  filled  up,  as  was  the  repre 
hensible  custon  of  the  time.  In  1859  lie  further  ordered  the  State 
transfer  agent,  Edward  Bement,  resident  in  New  York,  to  fund 
the  old  Macalister  &  Stebbins  bonds  at  their  full  value,  principal 
and  interest,  in  the  "New  Internal  Improvement  stock"  of  1847, 
authorized  by  the  funding  act  of  that  period,  which  in  express 
terms  forbade  the  funding  of  these  bonds.  The  principal,  $114,000, 
was  accordingly  funded,  February  5th,  1859,  leaving  $78,600,  the 
arrears  of  interest,  still  unfunded.  The  bonds  were  held  at  the 
time  by  the  New  York  Bowery  Insurance  Company,  $85,000  ;  the 
Mechanics' Banking  Association,  $26,000  5  and  Morris  Ketchum, 
$3,000.  Under  the  existing  laws  of  the  State,  the  governor  had 
no  power  to  settle  with  these  parties  upon  any  other  terms  than 
those  proposed  by  the  law  of  1849,  at  28.64  cents  on  the  dolhir; 
and  the  just  liability  of  the  State  on  these  outstanding  Macalister 
&  Stebbins  bonds,  including  interest,  was  less  than  $45,000, 
whereas  by  this  action  it  would  have  been  directly  $192,683,  and 
ultimately '$244,268— a  loss  of  near  $200,000. 

The  transaction  seems  to  have  been  kept  a  profound  secret. 
But  at  this  time  the  canal  scrip  fraud  having  transpired,  a  bill 
was  introduced  into  the  legislature  abolishing  the  funding  agency 
in  New  York,  and  ordering  the  books  of  the  office,  containing  the 
evidences  of  this  transaction,  to  be  forwarded  to  Springfield — and 
now  on  "a  more  careful  examination  of  the  law  [the  governor]  be 
came  doubtful  of  his  authority  in  the  matter,  and  immediately 
telegraphed  Mr.  Bement  to  stop  funding,  which  was  done  at  once."* 
Immediately  after  this  the  governor  informed  the  auditor 
of  the  fact.  "I  was  for  blowing  it  at  once,"  said  that  function 
ary,  "but  he  [the  governor]  insisted  that  that  would  lessen  his 
chances  of  having  the  bonds  returned,  and  I  reluctantly  consented 
to  keep  still  for  a  time."t  A  correspondence  was  immediately 
opened  by  the  governor  with  Mr.  Bement  and  the  holders,  to 
negotiate  with  them  for  their  surrender,  which  did  not  at  once  suc 
ceed.  In  May  the  books  of  the  New  York  funding  agency  were 
brought  to  Springfield.  The  auditor,  professing  now  to  derive 
his  information  from  them,  broke  the  subject  to  the  treasurer, 
who  was  already  apprised  of  it.  These  gentlemen,  before  the 

•See  Dr.  Mack's  letter  to  the  Chicago  Journal,  July  12. 1859. 
tSee  Dubois1  letter,  111.  State  Jour.,  July  20,  1859. 


BISSELL'S  AD:MINISTRATION.  677 

treasurer  started  to  New  York  to  pay  the  Julyt interest  on  the 
State  bonds  generally,  agreed  and  determined  positively  between 
themselves  "that  nothing  should  ever  be  paid  upon  the  bonds  of 
either  principal  or  interest,  while  [they]  were  in  the  offices."  With 
this  resolution  on  their  part,  the  closure  of  the  transfer  office  in 
New  York,  and  the  fact  that  the  new  bonds  issued  under  the  law 
of  1849  were  inscribed  bonds — not  transferable  except  upon  the 
books — they  could  not  be  used  or  placed  upon  the  market  at  any 
price;  nothing  could  be  done  with  them,  and  as  neither  principal 
nor  interest  had  been  paid  to  any  considerable  extent,  the  State 
could  not  be,  and  was  not,  financially,  harmed.  The  scheme  was 
nipped  in  the  bud  ;  though  before  the  transfer  agency  was  closed 
in  New  York  Mr.  Ketchuin  succeeded  in  having  his  three  new  or 
funded  certificates  of  $1,000  each  transferred  on  the  books  to  a 
Mr.  Graham. 

"The  plan  embraced  the  funding  of  the  114  bonds  under  the 
general  law  of  1847,  which  expressly  prohibited  its  being  done; 
to  issue  for  them  'New  Internal  Improvement  Stock,'  to  the  credit 
of  which  new  stock  was  to  be  placed,  the  aggregate  of  pro  rata 
interest  which  the  State  had  paid  in  cash  on  its  bonds  since  1847, 
amounting  on  these  $114,000  of  'stock'  to  $37,298,  which  sum  would 
be  payable  on  the  1st  of  July,  1859,  the  first  interest  pay  day  after 
the  funding  of  the  bonds,  (the  bonds  being  funded  on  the  5th  of 
February,  1859);  in  addition  to  which  two  sums  there  was  issued 
certificates  for  interest  due  from  date  of  the  original  bonds  sur 
rendered,  up  to  the  passage  of  the  law  of  1847  under  which  they 
were  funded,  amounting  to  $41,388  83 ;  and  the  holders  were  en 
titled  to  the  further  sum  of  $41,382,  being  the  balance  of  the  12 
year's  interest  remaining  uncredited  to  the  'new  stock,'  for  which, 
under  Dr.  Roman's  law  of  1857,  they  would  be  entitled  to  certifi 
cated—making  a  total  of  $244,268  83.  or  just  about  $200,000 
more  than  the  State  justly  owed. 

During  the  summer  of  1859,  Dr.  Mack  was  sent  to  New  York  to 
negotiate  for  the  surrender  of  the  refunded  bonds.  As  the  hold 
ers  found  they  could  not  make  them  available — being  inscribed 
bonds  they  could  not  be  sold  without  transfer  on  the  books — 
the  State  department  unwilling  to  recognize  them  or  pay  interest 
on  them  either  accruing  or  in  arrear,  they  were  finally,  in  Octo 
ber,  1859,  surrendered.  The  holders  were  unwilling,  however,  to 
.settle  by  the  law  of  1849.  Six  years  later,  at  the  session  of  1865, 
the  legislature  passed  a  law  compelling  the  surrender  of  the  Mac- 
alister  and  Stebbi  us  bonds,  under  penalty  of  a  forfeiture  of  inter 
est  after  July,  and  principal  after  January  following,  1866.  The 
amount  allowed  to  be  paid  by  this  law  on  each  $1000  was  $248  13. 

The  action  of  Gov.  Bissell  in  ordering  the  funding  of  the  Mac- 
alister  and  Stebbins  bonds  is  difficult  to  explain.  He  apparently 
disregarded  the  Dr.  Roman  resolution,  misremembered  the  man- 
dciinus  proceedings  in  1857  to  compel  him  to  do  what  he  now  did, 
and  violated  the  law  of  1847,  under  which  the  funding  was  done, 
which  expressly  forbade  it ;  while  even  if  he  had  been  legally  au 
thorized  to  pay  their  full  value  of  principal  and  interest,  as  only 
about  28  cents  on  the  dollar  had  ever  been  received  for  them  by 

Letter  of  "Investigator"  to  Chicago  Times,  Aug.  1859. 


678  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

the  State,  it  was  plainly  contrary  to  the  justice  and  equity  of  the 
case,  and  popular  opiuion  would  have  sustained  him  in  a  refusal, 
for  the  protection  of  the  treasury  of  the  State.* 

NOTE— *When  the  transaction  gained  the  light,  during  the  height  of  the  canal  scrip 
fraud  investigation,  Bissell's  enemies,  stimulated  doubtless  to  additional  partisan 
feeling,  or  influenced  by  personal  animosity,  put  the  very  worst  construction  possible 
upon  it,  and  the  most  corrupt  motives  of  combining  with  New  York  sharpers  to  rob 
the  treasury  were  attributed  to  his  excellency.  A  long  letter  from  New  York  to  the 
Chicago  Times,  dated  August  20,  1859,  signed  ''Investigator,"  evinces  a  "working  up  of 
the  case'1  with  apparently  damaging  effect  to  his  excellency.  From  it,  it  seems,  that 
an  old  Hellevilleacqaintance  of  Bissell's,  through  letters  of  introduction  from  him,  in 
1858,  gained  credit  enough  in  New  York  to  buy  111  of  the  bonds,  with  their  accrued  in 
terest  of  $120,000  besides,  for  3585,000.  He  brought  an  installment  to  Illinois  to  get 
funded,  but  owing  to  a  quarrel  as  to  how  the  profits  were  to  be  divided  between  him 
and  his  confederates,  the  sale  was  rescinded,  and  after  some  threats  with  the  Jaw,  the 
bonds  were  given  back.  Next,  the  New  York  owners,  one  of  whom  was  Morris  Ketch- 
urn,  a  close  friend  of  the  governor's  and  one  of  the  original  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
incorporators,  having  also  resigned  the  State  transfer  agency,  his  partner,  Bement, 
being  appointed  in  the  place,  all  with  a  view  to  the  consummation  of  this  fraud,  it  is 
hinted,  tried  their  skill  and  ultimately  succeed,  as  we  have  seen,  in  having  the  bonds 
partially  funded;  and  with  all  these  efforts  Bissell,  who  had  the  power  to  fund  the 
bonds,  is  sought  by  letters,  conjectures  and  deductions,  to  be  connected  as  a  corrupt 
sharer  in  the  profits  of  the  transaction.  The  letter  is  the  careful,  elaborate  and  able 
argument  of  a  legal  prosecutor,  who  manifestly  has  much  personal  feeling  in  the  mat 
ter.  It  contains  a  complete  history  of  the  Macalister  and  Stebbins  bonds,  and  many 
of  the  points  against  the  governor  appear  to  be  well  sustained  by  his  own  correspond 
ence.  At  the  meeting  of  the  democratic  State  convention  at  Springfield,  in  January, 
1860,  Hon.  J.  L.  Don  Morrison  avowed  himself  its  .author,  and  in  a  speech  supple 
mented  his  charges  against  his  excellency  by  the  production  of  a  number  of  letters 
from  him  to  the  New  York  parties  and  his  Belleville  acquaintance  t 

Prior  to  Morrison's  convention  speech,  Bissell  had  been  under  many  inflictions;  but 
this  was  too  much  and  in  the  Illinois  State  Journal  of  January  11,1860,  he  published  a 
stinging  reply,  evincing  the  rekindling  of  his  old  flame  of  scathing  invective.  He 
attributes  the  causeless  attack  upon  him  to  the  envy  and  jealousy  of  his  assailant,  as 
the  key  to  all  his  malice;  they  were  neighbors,  both  living  in  Belleville — one,  obscure, 
had  been  honored  with  office  repeatedly;  the  other,  wealthy  and  conspicuous,  had  met 
witii  constant  disappointment  in  this  respect.  He  deni.  d  receiving  one  cent  during 
his  long  official  career  that  did  not  properly  and  legally  belong  to  him;  pronounced 
the  "Investigator"  letter  t-a  tissue  of  vile  assumptions,  inferences,  deductions  and 
downright  lies;"  accused  Morrison  of  dishonorably  suppressing  a  letter  of  his  to  Pen- 
seneau  [the  Belleville  friend)  rejecting  a  dishonorable  proposition  in  reference  to  the 
funding  of  the  Macalister  and  Stebbins  bonds,  which  would  have  "blown  his  pitiful 
cobwebs  sky-high, "and  by  way  of  counter  charges,  proceeds  negatively  to  intimate  his 
assailant'is  connection  with  many  dishonorable  acts,  overreaching  widows  and  orphans, 
&c.,  to  obtain  titles  to  lands,  prompting  the  Old  Ranger  to  exclaim  :  "If  that  man 
keeps  out  of  the  penitentiafy  20  years  he  will  be  the  richest  man  in  Illinois. 

tSeelll.  State  Register,  Jan.  10, 1860. 


CHAPTER  LIL 
OUR  SENATORS  IN  CONGRESS. 

Their  Lives  and    Characters — Senatorial  Contest   between  Lincoln 
and  Douglas  in  1858. 


Edicards  and  Thomas. — Upon  the  meeting  of  the  tirst  State 
legislature  in  October,  1818,  Ninian  Edwards,  who  had  been  the 
able  and  popular  territorial  governor  up  to  that  time,  and  Jesse 
B.  Thomas,  one  of  the  federal  judges  during  the  entire  separate 
territorial  existence  of  Illinois,  were  elected  as  senators  to  con 
gress  ;  the  former  on  the  first  ballot  by  a  large  majority,  32  out 
of  the  40  votes,  and  the  latter  on  the  3d  ballot  by  21  out  of  the 
40  votes  cast;  Leonard  White  receiving  18,  and  Michael  Jones  1. 

The  full  term  of  a  senator  is  6  years,  or  3  congresses.  The  con 
stitution  of  the  U.  S.  divides  the  senators  into  3  classes,  one  going- 
out  with  the  expiration  of  each  congress.  Upon  the  admission  of 
a  State  the  new  senators  draw  lots  for  classes.  Edwards  drew  the 
3d  class,  being  the  existing  loth  congress  which  expired  with  the 
3d  of  March,  1819,  and  Thomas  the  class  which  expired  with  the 
17th  congress  on  the  3d  of  March  1823.  Both  were  re-elected  for 
full  terms.  Edwards  in  1819,  till  March  4th  1825,  and  Thomas  at 
the  session  of  1822-3  till  March  4th,  1829. 

Of  Edwards  we  have  already  spoken  fully,  as  governor. 
Thomas,  as  a  federal  judge,  had  borne  himself  with  much  dignity 
upon  the  bench,  but  it  is  recorded  that  he  did  not  apply  his 
talents  to  the  mastery  of  the  law.  By  nature  he  w^as  rather  a  poli 
tician,  an  avocation  which  absorbed  his  better  abilities  through 
life.  Without  talent  as  a  speaker,  he  exhibited  shrewdness  and 
tact  in  the  management  of  men  and  questions.  We  have  already 
noted  the  manner  of  his  election  as  a  delegate  to  congress  by  the 
Indiana  territorial  legislature  in  1808,  his  pledge  being  that  he 
procure  the  separation  of  Illinois  from  Indiana,  a  valuable  public 
service  to  us,  which  he  fully  discharged.  Both  senators  actively 
supported,  in  1820,  the  admission  of  Missouri  as  a  slave  state. 
Mr.  Thomas  gained  considerable  notoriety  for  originally  suggest 
ing  the  line  of  36d.  30m.,  known  as  the  Missouri  compromise. 
With  this  proviso  the  Missouri  bill  passed  the  senate,  24  to  20 ; 
the  senators  of  all  the  slaveholding  States,  with  one  from  Indiana 
and  two  from  Illinois,  the  last  admitted  State  into  the  Union, 
voting  for  it.  Mr.  Randolph,  the  leader  of  the  ultra  southern  fac 
tion  in  the  house,  indignantly  characterized  the  compromise  as  a 
" dirty  bargain,"  and  the  northern  men  by  whose  co-opera 
tion  it  was  carried  as  u  doughfaces,"  which  was  the  origin  of  that 
appelation.  Thomas  was  the  intimate  friend  of  Mr.  'Crawford. 

679 


680  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

advocating  Ms  election  to  the  presidency  in  1824,  but  after  the  suc 
cess  of  Adarns,  came  over  to  the  support  of  his  administration. 
During  the  convention  struggle  he  advocated  the  engrafting  of 
slavery  upon  our  constitution.  After  the  expiration  of  his  last 
senatorial  term  he  removed  to  Ohio,  where  he  died  in  1853. 

John  McLean. — In  1824  Edwards  resigned  the  senatorship  to 
accept  the  mission  to  Mexico  tendered  him  by  President  Monroe. 
On  the  meeting  of  the  legislature  in  November  of  that  year,  John 
McLean  was  elected  to  fill  the  unexpired  term  of  Edwards,  the 
latter  having  thrown  up  the  Mexican  mission,  being  his  competi 
tor.  McLean  is  said  to  have  been  in  many  respects,  the  most 
gifted  man  of  his  period  in  Illinois.  He  was  born  1791,  in  North 
Carolina.  At  the  age  of  4  years  his  father's  family  removed  to 
Logan  county,  Kentucky,  where  he  received  such  limited  educa 
tion  as  the  new  country  afforded.  He  studied  law,  and  in  1815,  at 
the  age  of  23,  came  to  Illinois  and  settled  at  Shawneetown,  with 
little  means  and  less  credit,  but  endowed  with  great  natural  tal 
ents  and  swayed  by  a  lofty  ambition.  He  speedily  became  con 
spicuous  at  the  bar  and  in  political  life.  Three  years  after,  he 
became  a  candidate  for  congress,  Daniel  P.  Cook  being  his  oppo 
nent.  The  contest  was  one  of  the  most  animated  and  vigorous 
ever  made  in  the  State,  characterized  throughout  by  a  high-toned 
courtesy,  which  eminently  distinguished  both  competitors.  They 
were  young  men  of  rare  promise  and  alike  won  the  esteem  of  the 
people.  McLean  was  elected  by  a  small  majority,  but  at  the  next 
election  Cook  succeeded  over  him  and  continued  to  hold  the  place 
until  1826,  when  Duncan  beat  him.  McLean  was  frequently  a 
member  of  the  legislature  and  speaker  of  the  house. 

He  looked  the  born  orator;  with  a  large  symmetrical  figure,  fine 
light  complexion,  a  frank,  magnanimous  soul,  he  exercised  that 
magnetism  over  his  auditory  which  stamped  him  as  the  leader  of 
men.  Possessed  of  strong  common  sense,  a  lively  imagination, 
a  pleasant  humor,  ready  command  of  language,  his  oratory  flowed 
with  a  moving  torrent,  almost  irresistible  to  the  masses  of  his 
day.  With  these  native  attributes  and  a  compass  of  intellect 
exceedingly  great,  consciousness  of  power  caused  him  to  rely 
perhaps  too  much  upon  them  to  the  exclusion  of  that  discipline, 
constant  and  painstaking  study  which  make  the  profound  scholar. 
He  was  twice  elected  to  the  U.  S.  senate,  the  last  time,  December 
6th,  1828,  unanimously,  as  the  successor  of  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  for 
a  full  term;  but  he  only  served  the  first  session,  and  after  coming 
home  died  at  Shawneetown  in  1830,  in  the  very  prime  of  his  man 
hood,  at  the  age  of  39  years.  His  death  was  a  great  public  loss, 
and  the  legislature,  as  a  fitting  testimonial  to  his  memory,  named 
the  large,  fertile  and  now  populous  county  of  McLean  in  honor  of 
him. 

Elias  Kent  Kane — was  elected  a  senator  in  congress  Novem 
ber  30,  1824,  for  the  term  commencing  March  4,  1825,  and  termi 
nating  March  3, 1831— to  the  place  of  McLean.  The  latter,  at  the 
time  of  his  election,  7  days  before  for  the  3  months  unexpired  term 
of  Edwards,  was  also  a  candidate  for  the  long  term,  and,  not 
doubting  his  choice,  immediately  departed  for  Washington  ;  but 
a  new  candidate  appeared  in  the  field,  and  after  a  protracted 


SENATORS  IN   CONGRESS.  681 

struggle,  lie  failed  becoming  his  own  successor,  and  Elms  K.  Kane 
was  elected.  This  was  on  the  10th  ballot,  when  Kane  received 
28  votes,  and  Samuel  D.  Lockwood,  the  next  highest,  23.  Mr. 
Kane  was  a  native  of  New  York ;  had  received  a  thorough  educa 
tion,  being  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  studied  law,  and  in  1814, 
when  quite  young,  sought  the  south  and  west,  and  located  finally 
at  Kaskaskia.  He  was  possessed  of  a  strong,  clear  mind  ;  was  a 
.close  reasoner,  a  profound  lawyer,  an  agreeable  speaker,  a  lucid  wri 
ter  and  attained  eminence  in  his  profession  as  well  as  in  public  life. 
When  the  wheels  of  the  new  State  government  Were  put  in  mo 
tion,  in  October,  1818,  Gov.Bond  appointed  him  secretary  of  State. 
Afterwards  he  was  a  State  senator.  December  11,  1830,  he  was 
re-elected,  on  the  first  ballot,  to  the  U.  S.  senate  for  the  full  term 
from  the  4th  of  March  following,  J.  M.  Robinson,  his  principal 
opponent,  receiving  6  votes ;  but  before  the  expiration  of  his  2nd 
term,  his  health,  which  had  long  been  feeble,  gave  way,  and  he 
died  at  Washington,  December  12th,  1835.  He  was  a  man  of 
purity  of  character,  honesty  of  intention,  amiable  and  benevolent 
in  disposition,  and  very  generally  esteemed.  The  legislature 
named  the  county  of  Kane  in  honor  to  his  memory. 

Darid  Jewett  Baker — was,  November  12th,  1830,  appointed  by 
Gov.  Edwards  to  fill  the  unexpired  term  of  John  McLean,  deceased; 
but  the  legislature,  between  which  and  his  excellency  there  was 
little  accord,  meeting  shortly  afterwards,  refused  to  sanction  the 
executive  choice,  and  on  the  llth  of  December,  1830,  elected  John 
M.  Robinson  instead.  Baker  was  born  in  Connecticut,  in  1792, 
and  after  receiving  a  collegiate  education,  and  studying  law, in 
1819  with  his  young  bride  removed  to  Illinois,  and  located  at  Kas 
kaskia.  He  was  a  studious,  painstaking  lawer,  and  attained  a 
standing  with  the  ablest  of  the  Illinois  bar.  He  was  long  probate 
judge  "of  Randolph  county.  He  eschewed  polities,  except  in  1824, 
when  he  actively,  both  with  pen  and  tongue,  opposed  the  intro 
duction  of  slavery  into  Illinois.  For  his  warm  utterances,  the 
then  chief  justice  of  the  State,  Thomas  Reynolds,  afterwards  gov 
ernor  of  Missouri,  attacked  him  with  a  bludgeon  in  the  streets  of 
Kaskaskia.  During  his  short  stay  in  congress  he  originated  the 
measure  for  disposing  of  the  government  lands  in  tracts  of  40  acres, 
which  facilitated  the  settlement  of  the  State — the  law  up  to  that 
time  not  permitting  the  entry  of  less  than  ICO  acres.  In  1833  he 
was  appointed  by  Jackson  U.  S.  attorney  for  Illinois,  and  re-ap- 
ix)inted  in  1837  by  Van  Buren.  In  1840  he  united  with  the  whig 
party.  In  1848  he  was  defeated  for  supreme  judge  by  Mr.  Trum- 
bull,  in  the  3d  grand  division.  In  1854  he  helped  to  organize  the 
republican  party.  He  died  at  Alton,  August  10,  18G9.  * 

Joint  M.  Robinson — had  the  following  opponents  :  Theophilus 
W.  Smith,  Thomas  Mather,  R.  M.  Young,  J.  Kitchell  and  ex-Gov. 
Bond,  but  his  strength  increased  at  every  ballot,  and  on  the  5th 
obtained  a  majority.  Gen.  Robinson  was  a  Kentuckian  by 
birth,  with  a  liberal  education  and  a  lawyer  by  profession.  While 
still  a  young  man  he  came  to  Illinois  and  settled  at  Carmi,  where 
he  married,  and  continued  to  make  his  home;  a  member  of  his 

•See  Weekly  Illinois  State  Journal,  Aug.  11,1869. 


682  HISTOKY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

family — a  daughter,  tlieonl}^  survivor — still  resides  there.  He  was 
tall  aiid  erect  in  stature,  well  proportioned,  of  light  complexion, 
with  large  head,  pleasing  countenance  and  winning  address — a 
fine  specimen  of  manly  beauty.  A  distinguished  trait  of  his  char 
acter  was  sociability;  indeed,  his  convivial  disposition  carried  him 
into  frequent  excesses.  His  title  of  general  was  derived  from  a 
connection  with  the  militia  organization  of  the  State.  He  was  re- 
elected  to  the  U.  S.  senate  December  20th,  1834,  on  the  first  ballot 
by  a  vote  of  47  to  30 — H.  M.  Young  being  his  opponent — for  a  full 
term,  which  expired  March  3d,  1841.  In  1843  he  was  elected  one 
of  our  supreme  judges,  but  within  two  months  after,  April  27th, 
died  at  Ottawa,  away  from  home,  whither  his  remains  were  taken. 

William  Lee  D.  Eiviny — was  elected  December  29th,  1835,  to 
serve  out  the  uuexpired  term  of  Elias  K.  Kane,  deceased.  This 
election  was  a  protracted  struggle.  His  competitors  were  James 
Semple  and  E.  M.  Young,  both  of  whom  led  him  on  the  first  ballot, 
the  vote  standing,  Semple  25,  Young  19  and  Ewing  18..  On  the 
8th  ballot  Young  was  dropped,  the  9th  and  10th  stood  a  tie,  but 
on  the  12th  Ewing  received  40  to  Semple  37,  and  was  elected. 
Gen.  Ewing  was  a  gentleman  of  culture,  a  lawyer  by  profession, 
and  had  been  much  in  public  life.  He  had  been  receiver  of  the 
public  moneys  at  Yandalia  and  lost  a  $1,000  deposit  by  the  rob 
bery  of  the  State  bank  in  1823.  He  was  speaker  of  the  State 
senate  in  1834,  and  by  virtue  of  that  position  had  been  acting 
governor  for  15  days.  His  title  of  general  was  of  militia  origin, 
and  he  attained  some  distinction  in  the  Black  Hawk  war.  He  was 
a  Kentuckian.  above  medium  hight,  and  of  heavy  build,  with 
auburn  hair,  blue  eyes,  large-sized  head  and  short  face.  He  was 
genial,  "social,  friendly  and  affable,  with  fair  talent,  though  little 
originality.  Under  Gov.  Ford  he  was  elected  State  auditor. 

Richard  M.  Young — succeeded  to  the  seat  of  Gen.  Ewing,  and 
served  out  a  full  term  from  March  4,  1837,  to  March  4,  1843.  He 
was  elected  December  14,  1836,  on  the  3d  ballot,  Samuel  McBob- 
erts  being  his  principal  opponent";  Archie  "Williams  and  Gen. 
Ewiug  also  received  some  votes,  the  former  21  and  the  latter  13. 
Judge  Young  was  gifted  with  fine  colloquial  powers,  and  his  inter 
course  with  men  was  managed  with  an  urbanity,  smoothness  and 
address  well  calculated  to  impress  them  with  his  excellence  and 
worth,  in. which  lay  the  secret  of  his  success,  rather  than  force  or 
energy  of  character,  or  vigor  and  compass  of  mental  endowments. 
His  talents,  which  were  respectable  and  above  mediocrity,  derived 
additional  lustre  from  these  amiable  attributes.  He  was  a  Kentuck 
ian,  of  spare  build,  rather  tall,  educated,  and  a  lawyer  by  profes 
sion.  In  1824  he  was  elected  by  the  legislature  one  of  the  5  circuit 
judges,  and  assigned  to  the  2d  circuit.  During  his  senatorial  term 
in  1839,  he  was  appointed  by  Gov.  Carlin  one  of  the  State  agents 
in  connection  with  ex-Gov.  Eeynolds,  to  negotiate  the  $4,000,000 
canal  loan,  for  which  purpose  they  repaired  to  Europe,  and  their 
advances  of  $1,000,000  in  Illinois  bonds  to  the  house  of  Wright  & 
Co.,  of  London,  proved  a  heavy  loss  to  the  State.  Still,  under 
party  operations,  before  his  senatorial  term  expired,  he  was  made, 
February  3d,  1842,  a  supreme  judge,  a  position  which  he  held 
until  1847.  He  died  at  Washington,  in  an  insane  asylum. 


SENATORS   IN   CONGRESS.  683 

From  this  time  on  the  caucus  system  was  resorted  to  by  par- 
Lies  to  determine  their  choice  of  candidates  for  offices,  including 
that  of  United  States  senator,  and  aspirants  to  that  exalted  posi 
tion  were  no  longer  distracted  with  the  whims  of  individual  legis 
lators.  The  scheming  or  party  pipe-laying  was  now  all  with  the 
view  to  secure  the  favor  of  leaders  and  the  manipulators  of  the 
caucus.  Whom  king-caucus  designated  as  the  party  nominee  no 
one  was  to  gainsay.  The  system  was  adopted  by  the  minority  as  well 
as  the  majority  party,  but  it  is  to  be  noted  that  Illinois  never  had 
a  whig  senator  throughout  the  existence  of  that  party.  The  first 
democratic  senatorial  caucus  resulted  in  the  selection  of  per 
haps  the  most  uncompromising  party  man  in  the  State. 

Samuel  McRoberts — the  first  native  Illinoisan  ever  elevated  to 
the  high  office  of  a  United  States  senatorfrom  this  State,  was  born 
April  12,  1799,  in  what  is  now  Monroe  county,  his  father  residing 
on  a  farm.  He  received  a  good  English  education  from  a  compe 
tent  private  tutor,  Edward  Humphrey,  and  attained  also  some 
proficiency  in  latin,  but  his  naturally  strong  mind  inclined  him  to 
mathematics.  At  the  early  age  of  20  he  was  appointed  circuit 
clerk  of  Monroe  county,  a  position  which  afforded  him  opportu 
nity  to  become  familiarized  with  forms  of  law,  which  he  eagerly 
embraced,  pursuing  at  the  same  time  a  most  assiduous  course  of 
reading.  Two  years  later  he  entered  the  law  department  of  Tran 
sylvania  University  at  Lexington,  Ky.,  where,  after  3  full  courses 
of  lectures,  he  graduated  with  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  laws.  He 
commenced  the  practice  of  law  in  competition  with  such  men  as 
Kane,  Ileynolds,  Mills,  Mears,  Blackwell,Star,  Clark,  Baker,  Eddy, 
McLean.  £c.  In  1824,  at  the  age  of  25,  he  was  elected  by  the 
legislature  one  of  the  5  circuit  judges.  As  judge  he  first  publicly 
exhibited  strong  partisan  bias.  In  1824  he  had  been  a  violent 
convention  advocate,  and  now,  in  defiance  of  a  release  by  the  leg 
islature,  he  assessed  a  fine  against  Gov.  Coles  for  settling  his 
emancipated  slaves  in  Madison  county,  without  giving  bond  that 
they  should  not  become  a  public  charge ;  he  also  removed  a  circuit 
clerk  in  the  same  county,  and  appointed  another  in  his  place, 
from  partisan  motives,  which  caused  a  great  outcry  at  the  time 
and  contributed  largely  to  the  repeal  of  the  circuit  court  system 
in  1827.  In  1828  he  was  elected  a  State  senator;  in  1830  appointed 
United  States  district  attorney  for  this  State ;  in  1832  receiver  of 
the  public  moneys  at  the  Danville  land  office,  and  in  1S39  solicitor 
of  the  general  land  office  at  Washington.  When  the  State  banks 
of  1837  passed  into  whig  control  by  their  organization,  Judge 
McKoberts,  with  others,  opposed  them,  and  they  were  refused  the 
land  offfce  moneys  as  deposits,  to  aid  in  crippling  them.  On  the 
Kith  of  December,  1840,  Samuel  Mclloberts  was  elected  United 
States  senator  for  a  full  term,  commencing  March  4th,  1841.  He 
received  on  the  first  ballot  77  votes,  Cyrus  Edwards,  the  whig 
nominee,  50,  and  E.  D.  Baker,  1.  He  died  March  22,  1843.  at  Cin 
cinnati,  at  the  house  of  his  old  friend,  Judge  James  Hall,  formerly 
of  Shawneetown,  on  his  route  home  -from  Washington,  in  the 
vigor  of  intellectual  manhood,  at  the  age  of  44  years. 

•Judge  McRoberts  was  a  little  above  medium  hight,  sparely 
built,  ot"  a  nervous-bilious  temperament,  and  had  a  good  head.* 

*He  had  a  delect  in  one  eye. 


684  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

He  was  swayed  by  a  stubborn  will,  a  high  ambition,  and 
unbounded  energy.  His  mind  was  clear  strong  and  precise,  and 
he  was  a  deep  read  lawyer.  He  was  ever  a  voracious  student, 
given  to  over-exertion.  While  he  exerted  a  cogent  influence  over 
his  party,  he  was  yet  without  the  smooth  and  oily  arts  of  the 
ordinary  politician.  He  governed  by  the  power  of  will  rather 
than  address  and  blandishment. 

Sidney  Breese — succeeded  E.  M.  Young  to  the  United  States 
senate  for  a  full  term,  from  March  4, 1843.  He  was  the  democratic 
caucus  nominee  and  was  elected  December  17,  1842,  on  the  first 
ballot,  by  108  votes  to  his  opponent,  Archibald  Williams7,  49. 

He  was  born  about  the  close  of  the  last  century,  in  Oneida 
county,  N.  Y.,  received  a  collegiate  education  and  graduated  with 
distinction  from  Union  College.  He  had  been  the  school-fellow 
of  Elias  Kent  Kane,  who  was  his  senior.  After  the  latter  was 
appointed  secretary  of  State,  in  1818,  he  wrote  for  young  Breese 
to  join  him,  which  he  did  by  the  close  of  the  year,  and  read  law 
with  him.  Aside  from  the  ability  of  his  preceptor,  this  gave  him 
the  advantage  of  forming  a  wide  acquaintance  in  the  new  State. 
In  1820  he  essayed  the  practice  of  the  law  in  Jackson  county,  but 
met  with  failure  in  court  before  a  jury,  and,  overwhelmed  with 
mortification,  resolved  to  abandon  his  profession.  The  next  year 
he  became  postmaster  of  the  ancient  town  of  Kaskaskia.  In  1822 
Gov.  Bond  appointed  him  circuit  attorney,  in  which  position  Gov. 
Coles  retained  him,  but  Edwards  did  not.  In  1831  he  prepared 
and  published  "Breese's  Reports"  of  our  supreme  court  decisions, 
being  the  first  book  ever  published  in  the  State.  The  next  year 
he  took  part  in  the  Black  Hawk  war — being  a  major.  On  the 
establishment  of  the  circuit  court  system,  in  1835,  he  was  chosen 
judge,  in  which  capacity  the  McClernand-Field  case  came  before 
him — an  exciting  political  question — concerning  the  power  of 
the  governor  to  remove  the  incumbent  of  the  office  of  the  secre 
tary  of  State,  which  he  decided  with  an  elaborate  opinion  in 
favor  of  the  relator,  but  which  the  supreme  court  reversed.  Upon 
the  reorganization  of  that  court,  in  1841,  resulting  in  great  part 
from  this  question,  he  was  elected  one  of  the  five  democratic 
supreme  judges. 

As  senator,  he  occupied  the  seat  of  his  old  school-mate  and 
friend,  E.  K.  Kane.  Upon  the  expiration  of  his  term  he  was 
elected,  in  1850,  to  the  legislature,  and  was  made  speaker  of  the 
house.  In  1855  he  was  again  elected  circuit  judge,  and  two  years 
later,  on  the  resignation  of  Judge  Scates,  again  elevated  to  the 
supreme  bench,  where  he  has  held  a  position  ever  since ;  and 
here  it  is,  by  his  numerous  and  able  opinions,  that  he  has*made  a 
lasting  record  in  the  annals  of  this  State,  being  a  finished  scholar 
and  profound  jurist. 

In  congress  he  favored  the  annexation  of  Texas,  our  title  to 
Oregon  up  to  the  line  of  54d.  40m.,  and  carrying  the  war 
Avith  Mexico  into  the  heart  of  that  country.  To  his  connection 
with  the  land  grant  for  the  benefit  of  the  Illinois  Central 
railroad,  we  have  alluded — his  original  plan  being  a  pre-emption 
instead  of  a  grant.  He  procured  the  passage  of  acts  for  the  sale 
of  the  mineral  lands  at  Galena  and  other  places,  and  the  repeal 
of  the  5  years  exemption  from  taxation  of  the  public  lauds  in  this 


SENATORS  IN   CONGRESS.  685 

State,  which  were  valuable  aids  to  the  State  at  that  juncture  of 
her  financial  distress.  He  made  also  an  able  report  in  favor  of  a 
grant  of  land  to  a  railroad  from  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Pacific. 

James  Semple — was  appointed  United  States  senator  by  Gov. 
Ford,  in  1843,  as  the  successor  of  Samuel  McKoberts,  deceased, 
and  after  serving  for  one  session  as  such  appointee,  the  legisla 
ture,  December  11,  1844,  confirmed  his  appointment  by  electing 
him  for  the  uuexpired  term  of  his  predecessor,  by  a  vote  of  102 
to  John  J.  Hardin'47.  In  politics  Semple  was  a  democrat,  and 
the  caucus  nominee  of  his  party,  as  was  Hardin  of  the  whigs. 
He  had  been  much  in  public  life.  He  was  speaker  of  the  house 
in  1836-7,  when  the  State  Internal  Improvement  measure  was 
passed ;  afterward  Charge  de  Affairs  to  Xew  Grenada  and  judge 
of  the  supreme  court.  Gen.  Semple  was  a  tine  looking  man,  and 
detested  the  plots  and  intrigues  of  politicians.  Many  of  the  older 
residents  of  Alton  and  Springfield  will  remember  him  as  the  pro 
jector  of  the  "steam  wagon"  which  lay  for  years  a  wreck  on  the 
prairie  south  of  Springfield.  He  wrote  an  elaborate  history  of 
Mexico,  which  has  never  been  published. 

Stephen  Arnold  Done/las — became  the  successor  of  Scruple.  He 
received  the  Democratic  caucus  nomination  and  was  elected  De 
cember  14,  1846,  on  the  first  ballot,  by  100  votes  to  Cyrus  Ed 
wards,  the  whig  nominee,  45.  Douglas  was  not  unknown  in  the 
national  legislature,  having  already  served  parts  of  3  terms  ill 
the  lower  house.  With  the  advent  of  this  remarkable  man,  whom 
we  do  not  hesitate  to  call  great,  into  the  U.  S.  senate,  Illinois, 
took  at  once  high  rank  in  that  august  body,  redounding  not  only 
to  her  glory,  but  solid  advantage  such  as  no  State  before  nor  since 
has  received  from  the  hands  of  congress.  We  allude  to  the  pro 
curing  of  the  Illinois  Central  railroad  land  grant,  a  herculean 
task,  in  which  he  received  the  earnest  support  of  his  colleague  and 
the  entire  delegation  in  the  lower  house.  Douglas,  though  young 
in  years,  was  directly  acknowledged  the  peer  of  the  great  states 
men,  Clay,  Webster  and  Calhoun,  with  whom  he  served  his  first 
term.  Since  his  death,  Trumbull  has  maintained  a  high  position 
for  Illinois  down  to  the  present  time.  Douglas  became  his  own 
successor  in  1853,  and  again  in  1859 ;  but  we  defer  a  more  ex 
tended  sketch  of  his  life  and  character  to  an  account  of  the  cele 
brated  senatorial  contest  between  him  and  Mr.  Lincoln  in  1858, 
contained  in  this  chapter. 

James  Shields — was  chosen  to  succeed  Sidney  Breese  for  a  full 
term  from  March  4th,  1849.  He  was  the  caucus  nominee  of  the 
democracy,  largely  in  the  ascendant  in  Illinois.  The  contest — an 
exciting  one — was  over  the  caucus  nomination.  Breese  strove 
earnestly  to  become  his  own  successor,  and  John  A.  McClernand, 
ambitious  for  the  exalted  seat,  was  also  in  the  field.  Both  were 
greatly  the  superiors  of  Shields  in  ability  and  probably  in  art  and 
address,  but  the  latter  had  the  advantage  of  military  glory  be 
fore  which  mere  civil  services,  however  valuable,  have  ever  paled. 
Neither  was  he  a  novice  in  civil  official  experience.  Born  in  county 
Tyrone,  Ireland,  in  1810,  he  emigrated  to  the  U.  S.  in  1827,  and 
settled  in  in  Illinois,  3  years  later.  In.  7  years  time,  without  being 


686  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

naturalized,  he  was  sent  to  the  legislature  from  Randolph  county. 
Gov.  Carlin  appointed  him  auditor,  and  in  1843,  he  was  elected  a 
supreme  judge.  Under  President  Polk  he  was  commissioner  of 
the  general  land  office  at  Washington.  In  the  Mexican  war  he 
entered  by  favor  of  the  president  as  a  brigadier-general  and  was 
afterward  breveted  major-general  for  gallant  services.  He  was 
a  fortunate  soldier.  Borne  from  the  field  of  Cerro  Gordo  shot 
through  and  through,  and  reported  at  home  as  killed,  he  recovered 
in  time  to  take  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  triumph  of  our  arms  un 
der  Scott  in  the  valley  of  Mexico.  In  this  latter  campaign  such 
was  his  soldierly  conduct  that  the  State  of  South  Carolina  voted 
him  a  handsome  and  costly  sword,  inscribed  with  the  battles  of 
Gherrebusco  and  Chepultepec,  and  the  following  sentiment : 

UFROM  THE   STATE   OF   SOUTH    CAROLINA, 

"TO  GENERAL  SHIELDS. 

"In  testimony  of  her  admiration  of  gallantry  in  the  Mexican  war,  and 
as  a  tribute  of  gratitude  for  his  parental  attention  to  the  Palmetto 
regiment." 

From  Mexico,  after  the  fall  of  the  capital  of  that  country,  had 
first  come  the  announcement  by  letter  that  the  gallant  soldier 
would  be  a  competitor  for  senatorial  honors  before  the  ensuing 
legislature  of  1849.  On  his  way  home,  at  Washington,  a  public 
dinner  was  tendered  him  and  Gen.  Quitman,  at  which,  in  a  speech 
Shields  spoke  incautiously  in  glowing  terms  of  Gen.  Scott,  then 
under  ban  with  the  administration.  Breese  forseeing  in  this 
soldier  of  renown  a  formidable  competitor  for  his  place,  did  not 
attend  the  banquet.  Before  long  Shields  was  ordered  to  Tampieo, 
but  on 'his  route  thither,  at  New  Orleans,  a  dispatch  from  the 
War  department  ordered  him  back  to  Washington,  to  testify  in 
the  trial  of  Gen.  Pillow.  The  order  to  return  to  Tampico  was  not 
renewed,  and  Shields  came  to  Illinois  and  moved  about  among  his 
friends.  Now  he  was  appointed  governor  of  remote  Oregon,  which 
created  the  impression  upon  the  public  mind  that  the  object  of  the 
administration,  which  did  not  relish  his  fearless  praise  of  Gen. 
Scott,  was  to  banish  him  beyond  being  a  competitor  against 
Breese  for  the  senate,  but  he  did  not  accept  the  governorship  of 
that  remote  post. 

In  the  senatorial  canvass  it  was  urged  against  Breese  that  he 
differed  with  his  colleague  on  a  subject  of  vital  importance  to  the 
State,  the  procuring  of  the  Illinois  Central  railroad  grant  of  lan-d  ; 
against  McClernand  it  was  objected  that  his  principles  of  democ 
racy  were  so  thoroughly  Jacksonian  that  consistency  would  lead 
him  to  oppose  the  vital  interest  of  the  west,  the  improvement  of 
rivers  and  harbors ;  and  against  Shields,  that  he  was  ineligible, 
because,  as  a  foreigner,  he  had  not  been  naturalized  long  enough 
to  entitle  him  to  a  seat  in  the  U.  S.  Senate,  the  constitution  of 
the  U.  S.  requiring  a  citizenship  of  9  years.  Shields  having  been 
naturalized  in  October,  1840.  These  valid  objections  failed,  and 
he  was  elected. 

Shields  repaired  to  Washington  to  take  his  seat  on  the  4th  of 
March  following.  And  now  this  most  impulsive  son  of  Erin 
committed  a  most  foolish  blunder,  to  call  it  no  worse,  as  public 


SENATORS  IN   CONGRESS  687 

men  are  wont  to  do  when  they  write  letters.  To  overcome  the 
question  of  his  inedibility,  which  would  probably  be  raised 
against  his  taking  a  seat  in  the  senate,  he  addressed  Mr.  Breese 
a  letter  under  date  of  February  23, 1849,  charging-  him,  among 
other  "meannesses,"  toward  him,  with  propagating  this  in  Illinois, 
saying  :  "Had  I  been  defeated  by  you  on  that  ground,  I  had  sworn 
in  my  heart  that  you  never  should  have  profited  by  your  success; 
and  depend  upon  it,  I  would  have  kept  that  vow.  regardless  of 
consequences."  But  that  being  past,  he  demanded  of  him  then  a 
letter,  acknowledging,  in  effect,  that  in  1840,  when  he  (Shields,) 
talked  of  going  to  Canada  in  case  of  war,  that  he  (Breese)  as 
circuit  judge,  offered  to  give  him  something  in  the  shape  of  a  final 
naturalization  certificate  to  take  along — to  simply  proof  in  case  of 
difficulty  ;  adding,  '-and  refuse  this  request,  I  here  give  you  fair 
warning — let  the  consequences  fall  on  your  own  head — I  shall  hold 
myself  acquitted  both  before  God  an  man  for  the  course  I  shall 
feel  bound  to  pursue  toward  you." 

But  Breese  did  not  scare  as  well  as  it  was  evidently  hoped.  He 
refused  compliance  with  the  demand,  which  he  construed  as  a 
threat  of  assassination,  publishing  his  refusal,  together  with 
Shields'  letter,  in  the  newspapers.  Shields,  in  a  subsequent  letter, 
attempted  to  explain  this  away.  When  his  credentials  were  pre 
sented  in  the  senate  on  the  5th  of  March,  objections  to  his  eligi 
bility  were  promptly  interposed  ;  Douglas,  however,  succeeded  in 
having  him  sworn  in,  which  enabled  him  to  participate  in  the 
debate.  After  due  investigation,  a  resolution  was  reported  that 
Mr.  Shields  was  not  eligible  at  the  commencement  of  the  term  for 
which  he  was  elected,  and  that  his  election  was  void.  Before  its 
adoption  he  tendered  his  resignation,  and  thus  addressed  the 
senate  :  "To  my  own  State,  sir,  I  shall  appeal,  and  hear  what  she 
has  to  say  ;  and  if  she  deserts  me  now,  if  my  State  shall  not  an 
swer  to  the  appeal  I  am  about  to  make  to  her,  I  will  say  further 
that  it  is  my  intention  (though  I  have  endeavored  to  prove  my 
fidelity  to  my  country  by  every  act  of  my  life,)  never  to  offer 
myself  again  for  office  in  the  United  States."  As  his  resignation 
should  have  been  tendered  to  the  governor  rather  than  the  senate, 
the  resolution  was  adopted. 

The  question  at  home  now  was  as  to  the  power  of  the  governor 
to  fill  the  vacancy  thus  occasioned.  The  constitution  of  the  U.  S. 
says  if  vacancies  happen  by  resignation  or  otherwise,  daring  the 
recess  of  the  legislature  of  any  State,  the  executive  thereof  may 
make  temporary  appointments  until  the  next  meeting.  Was  this 
such  a  vacancy  as  the  constitution  contemplated  that  the  governor 
had  power  to  till  by  appointment,  and  thus  save  the  expense  Of  a 
called  session  ?  The  question  was  thoroughly  discussed  in  the 
public  press,  and  by  letters  from  public  men,  both  for  and  against. 
Mr.  Douglas,  perhaps  fearing  a  new  election  before  Mr.  Shields 
would  become  eligible,  held  that  the  governor  had  the  power  ;*  but 
that  functionary,  in  a  long  letter  published,  disclaimed  the  power,t 
and  finally,  in  September  of  that  year,  issued  his  proclamation, 
convening  the  legislature  in  extraordinary  session,  October  22, 
1840,  to  elect  a  IT.  S.  senator,  including  in  his  call  a  number  of 
other  subjects  for  legislative  action.  Under  the  decision  of  the 

•See  his  letter  in  111.  State  Register,  Aug.  30, 1849. 
t  Ibid,  June  21, 1849. 


688  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

U.  S.  senate  Gov.  French  had  it  in  his  power  to  cut  off  Shields 
from  this  position,  but  he  convened  the  legislature  for  a  time  just 
after  Shields  would  be  rendered  eligible  by  being  9  years  natural 
ized. 

After  the  call  the  canvass  waxed  exceedingly  warm.  The  whig 
press  openly  espoused  the  cause  of  Shields,  crying  out  persecution, 
and  charging  that  those  democrats  who  usually  controlled  the 
party  in  the  State  had  determined  to  sacrifice  the  gallant  soldier, 
and  that  to  attain  their  ends  wicked  means  were  being  employed. 
Breese,  McClernand  and  Shields  were  again  the  candidates,  and 
the  friends  of  the  respective  aspirants  were  exceedingly  active. 
The  contest  was  again  for  the  caucus  nomination.  The  friends  of 
McClernand,  fewest  in  number,  supposing  that  such  a  state  of 
hostility  existed  between  the  respective  adherents  of  Breese  and 
Shields,  that  neither  would  yield  in  caucus,  but  would  finally  as  a 
compromise  concentrate  upon  their  candidate,  proved  very  tena 
cious.  21  ballotings  were  had  ;  on  the  first  Shields  received  28, 
Breese  21,  and  McClernand  18;  on  the  last,  Breese  20,  McClernand 
12  and  Shields  37 — a  majority.  The  highest  for  Breese  was  on 
the  7th  ballot,  29  ;  the  highest  for  McClernand  on  the  2d,  19. 
Shields  was  again  elected  senator,  and  thus  ended  the  very  bitter 
struggle. 

Lyman  Trumbull — succeeded  to  the  seat  of  Senator  Shields  for 
a  full  term  from  the  4th  of  March,  1855  ;  and  became  his  own 
successor  in  1861.  Since  the  first  organization  of  the  democratic 
party,  and  dating  beyond  that  to  1824,  when  it  was  in  its  forma 
tive  stage,  those  who  afterwards  constituted  it  never  failed  of 
electing  men  of  their  political  views  and  principles  to  the  U.  S. 
senate  from  this  State.  Their  defeat  now  was  attended  by  a 
bitterness  and  depth  of  feeling  unprecedented.  The  occasion  we 
have  already  traced  to  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise, 
resulting,  unexpectedly  to  all  parties,  in  this  State  going  anti-Ne 
braska  at  the  election  of  November,  1854. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  legislature  the  choice  of  a  U.  S.  senator 
was  to  be  the  political  event  of  the  session.  The  exact  political 
status  of  that  body  after  the  election  was  not  at  once  fully  realized, 
and  while  the  democracy  were  apprehensive  they  yet  hoped  to 
prevail.  But  upon  its  assembling  in  January,  1855,  it  became 
speedily  apparent  that  by  a  fusion  of  all  the  anti-Nebraska  mem 
bers  the  democracy  were  in  a  minority.  The  house,  on  the  2d 
day,  was  organized  by  the  election  of  anti-Nebraska  officers :  Thos. 
J.  Turner,  of  Stephen  son,  being  chosen  speaker  by  40  votes  over 
J.  P.  Eichmoud,  of  Schuyler,  democrat,  24.  The  senate  acted 
more  tardily  on  account  of  the  conduct  of  Messrs.  Jaruigan  and 
Morton, Nebraska  democrats,  representing  anti-Nebraska  districts, 
in  absenting  themselves.  The  fusionists,  however,  prevailed,  and 
organized  both  houses. 

Alarm  now  seized  the  democracy.  Their  press  cried  out  to  the 
fold :  the  wolf  is  on  his  walk — let  the  old  party  awaken  to  the 
danger  which  threatens  it  from  the  allied  isms;  traitors  are  con 
spiring  to  stab  deep  into  its  vitals ;  nefarious  schemes  are  con 
cocted  and  combinations  of  an  unholy  ambition  formed,  moved 
unto  by  a  deep-seated  antipathy  against  the  truest  and  best  men 


SENATOES  IN   CONGRESS.  G89 

of  the  State.*  Anon  intimidation  and  cajolery  were  both  tried 
upon  the  disaffected  wanderers  from  the  democratic  fold.  They 
were  denounced  as  malcontents  who  illy  requited  the  past  favors 
bestowed  upon  them  at  the  hands  of  the  democracy  by  their  base 
attempts  to  disrupt  the  old  party — ingrates,  prompted  by  malice 
and  jealousy  to  rule  or  ruin.  They  were  apprised  that  the  people 
were  vigilant  and  would  narrowly  scrutinize  their  every  act,  arti 
fice  and  departure  from  principle,  and  would  not  fail  to  visit  signal 
retribution  upon  those  who  braved,  defied  and  trampled  upon  the 
popular  will.  The  name  of  Douglas — a  tower  of  strength,  and 
dear  to  the  democratic  heart— was  invoked  ;  it  was  necessary  that 
his  colleague  should  be  a  man  who  would  uphold  his  hands  to 
battle  for  the  success  of  those  great  principles  of  non-interven 
tion  which  were  founded  in  justice,  and  which  by  the  magic  of  his 
genius  would  eventually  triumph  and  overwhelm  all  its  opponents 
with  confusion. t 

All  this  was  preliminary  to  the  senatorial  election.  The  contest 
was  tardily  approached  and  was  not  finally  reached  until  the  8th 
of  February,  owing  partly  to  a  snow  blockade  which  kept  many 
members  from  the  capital  beyond  the  time  of  the  temporary 
adjournment.  James  Shields,  the  regular  democratic  caucus 
nominee,  was  placed  in  nomination  by  Mr.  Graham;  Abraham 
Lincoln,  the  idol  of  the  old  whigs  and  strongly  anti-Nebraska, 
by  Stephen  T.  Logan  ;  and  Lyman  Trumbull  the  nominee  of  the 
less  than  half  a  dozen  anti-Nebraska,  democrats,  by  John  M. 
Palmer.  Archibald  Williams,  W.  B.  Ogden,  Joel  A.  Matteson, 
Cyrus  Edwards  and  W.  B.  Kellogg  were  also  put  in  nomination. 
51  votes  were  necessary  to  a  choice  on  joint  ballot.  On  the  first, 
Shields  received  41,  Lincoln  44,  Trumbull  5,  and  the  others  named 
each  1.  On  the  7th  ballot  Shields  was  out  of  the  field  and  Mat 
teson  being  substituted,  received  on  the  8th  46  votes,  the  utmost 
strength  of  the  democracy.  On  the  10th  Mr.  Lincoln's  name  was 
withdrawn  and  the  whig  vote  being  concentrated  on  Mr.  Trumbull. 
lie  received  50  votes  direct,  and  before  the  result  was  announced, 
Mr.  Sullivan  changed  from  Williams  to  Trumbull,  electing  him  by 
just  the  requisite  number. 

Neither  persuasion  nor  menace  could  move  or  intimidate  the 
Trumbull  phalanx  of  five.  Mr.  Lincoln,  though  ambitious  of 
senatorial  honors,  for  he  had  been  elected  a  member  of  the  same 
legislature,  but  supposing  he  could  be  elected  senator,  had  resigned 
shortly  after;  now  when  it  became  apparent  that  he  could  not  suc 
ceed,  he  pressed  his  friends  to  support  Mr.  Trumbull,  which  was  ulti 
mately  done,  (with  tears  by  his  old  friend,  Jndge  Logan,  it  is  said), 
not  that  they  loved  him  less,  but  the  cause  of  freedom  demanded 
it.  Governor  Matteson,  though  he  Avas  not  the  caucus  choice  of 
his  party,  not  being  in  full  accord  with  Douglas  on  the  question  of 
harbor  and  river  improvements  in  the  west,  the  levy  of  tonnage 
duty  for  this  purpose,  &c.,the  democracy  boasted  (as  was  done  by 
Mr.  Moulton  upon  the  floor  of  the  house,  notwithstanding  their 
knowledge  of  an  anti-Nebraska  majority,)  that  in  the  last  resort 
enough  members,  influenced  by  a  high  regard  of  personal  consid- 

*  See  111,  State  Register,  Jan.  1855. 
t  See  the  press  of  the  period. 

44 


690  HISTORY   OF    ILLINOIS. 

eration  for  his  excellency,  would  rally  to  his  support  and  triumph 
antly  elect  him.     But  they  reckoned  without  their  host.* 

Mr.  Trumbull,  at  the  time  of  his  election  to  the  senate  of  Hie 
U.  S.,  was  about  43  years  old.  He  was  born  in  Connecticut,  where 
he  received  a  good  education.  Subsequently  he  turned  his  atten 
tion  to  the  law  and  later  settled  in  Illinois  to  practice  liis  profes 
sion,  which  he  did  with  marked  success,  speedily  attaining  dis 
tinction  as  an  able  lawyer.  In  1840  he  was  elected  to  the  legisla 
ture.  When  Douglas  was  elected  a,  supreme  judge  in  1841,  Gov. 
Carlin,  resisting  legislative  dictation,  appointed  Trumbull  to  the 
vacant  office  of  secretary  of  State,  over McOlern and,  but  lie  came 
near  being  defeated  in  the  senate  by  the  efforts  of  the  latter  and 
his  friends,  out  of  which  grew  some  ill-feeling.  At  the  opening  of 
Gov.  Ford's  administration,  he  incurred  the  displeasure  of  that  func 
tionary  by  opposing  his  policy  toward  the  State  banks,  causing  his 
dismissal  from  office.  The  same  year  and  the  following  one,  he 
sought  the  congressional  nomination  in  the  Belleville  district, 
but  failing,  upon  the  meeting  of  the  legislature  he  aspired  to 
the  senatorial  nomination  against  James  Semple,  the  governor's 
appointee,  and  failed  again.  In  1840  his  name  appears  among  the 
candidates  for  governor,  but  failed  through  the  influence  of  Gov. 
Ford,  and  on  account  of  his  opposition  to  the  canal.  He  imme 
diately  sought  and  obtained  the  candidacy  for  congress  in  the 
Belleville  district,  but  was  defeated  by  over  2,000  majority,  though 
the  district  was  largely  democratic.  As  a  politician  Trumbull 
lacked  that  hearty  and  cordial  geniality  of  manner  which  wins 
popularity  among  the  masses.  His  intercourse  with  the  people,  if 
not  formal,  left  the  impression  of  reserve,  and  his  nature  was  re- 
pellant  rather  than  magnetic.  But  no  such  disadvantage  obtained 
with  him  in  regard  to  politicians — over  such  as  might  be  reached 
by  the  force  of  intellect  he  ever  exercised  a  large  influence.  How 
ever,  after  the^e  repeated  trials  for  place,  in  1848  he  was  elected 
one  of  the  supreme  judges  under  the  new  constitution,  Avhich 
office  he  resigned  July  4,  1853,  on  account  of  insufficient  salary. 
By  nature,  study  and  habit  he  was  admirably  fitted  for  thebencii; 
with  a  mind  strong,  clear  and  penetrating,  which,  while  it  inclined 
to  detail,  never  lost  its  broad  grasp  of  principle — here  he  was 
capacitated  for  great  eminence.  He  was  an  able,  searching  and 
comprehensive  constitutional  pleader.  He  was  ever  a  strenuous 
and  ultra  democrat,  but  in  1854,  unable  to  brook  the  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  compromise,  he  opposed  his  party  upon  that  question, 
and  was  in  November  elected  to  congress  as  an  anti-Nebraska 
democrat,  which  place  he  resigned  to  accept  the  senatorship. 

His  record  in  congress,  which  is  national,  and  not  our  province 
to  give,  stands  very  high.  He  was  for  many  years  the  able  chair 
man  of  the  judiciary  committee,  and  few  congressional  acts  of 
importance  but  what  bear  the  impress  of  his  far  reaching  mind. 
As  an  orator  he  is  devoid  of  imagery  and  ornateness  of  diction, 

*  The  whigs  for  a  long:  time  felt  sore  over  the  defeat  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  forcing 
of  an  obnoxious  candidate  xipon  them  by  t  lie  arbitrary  conduct  of  only  amen.  In 
1856  the  Hon.  J.  H.  Matheny,  a  whig,  in  a  Filmore  speech  at  Petersburg,  using  most 
scathing  language  toward  Mr.  Trumbull.  boldly  charged  a  pre-arranged  bargain  be 
tween  all  the  anti-Nebraska  elements  to  the  effect  that  Trumbull  was  to  be  elected  to 
congress,  which  was  done  :  that  the  abolitionists  were  to  have  the  offices  on  the  con 
vening  of  the  legislature,  which  they  got;  and  that  the  whigs  were  to  have  the  U.  S. 
senator,  which  they  did  not  get.  The  charge  Avas  denied  at  the  time  by  a  brother-in- 
law  of  Mr.  Trumbull,  and  in  1858,  Mr.  Lincoln,  during  his  senatorial  canvass  with  Mr. 
Douglas,  in  his  speech  at  Charleston  characterized  it  as  a  "cock  and  bull  story."] 


SENATORS  IN   CONGRESS.  C91 

but  as  a  close,  clear,  compact  and  systematic  thinker,  with  an 
excellent  memory,  a  wide  acquaintance  of  public  affairs,  and  an 
extensive  knowledge  of  the  law,  he  was  the  most  formidable  de 
bater  of  the  august  senate.  As  a  practical  expounder  of  the 
principles  of  his  party,  he  eclipsed  Mr.  Seward.  He  ever  has 
been  a  hard  student,  but  notwithstanding  his  mental  labor  he 
bears  his  near  three-score  years  well  and  looks  youthful.* 


DOUGLAS  AND  LINCOLN. 

Senatorial  Campaign  of  1858. — The  contest  between  these  gen 
tlemen  for  a  seat  in  the  U.  S.  senate  is  not  only  the  most  memorable 
in  the  annals  of  Illinois,  but  involving  great  national  issues  at  the 
time,  assumed  a  scope  beyond  the  mere  personal  success  of  the 
contestants,  and  an  importance  which  arrested  public  attention 
from  all  parts  of  the  Union.  Douglas  was  the  leading  representa 
tive  man  of  the  democracy,  and  Lincoln  being  pitted  against  him, 
became  the  same  for  the  republican  party.  It  was  called  the  battle 
ot  the  giants,  and  results  grew  out  of  it,  both  as  relates  to  the  men 
concerned  and  the  principles  involved,  the  most  momentous  to  the 
nation  since  its  foundation  was  laid  in  the  blood  of  the  Revolution. 

To  appreciate  this  contest  fully  we  are  compelled  to  present  a 
short  viewr  of  the  status  of  parties  at  the  time. 

The  all-absorbing  political  question  was  that  of  slavery.  Since 
the  day  that  Whitney  invented  the  cotton-gin,  slave  labor  had 
gradually  become  so  profitable  that  the  whole  south  favored  the 
enlargement  of  its  territorial  area,  and  so  far  as  the  south,  acting 
as  a  unit,  could  control  the  democratic  party,  it  was  pro-slavery. 
To  this  was  arrayed  in  sectional  antagonism  the  new  republican 
party,  which,  while  it  professed  to  be  anti-slavery  only  so  far  as 
extending  the  territorial  area  of  slavery,  had  through  sympathy 
swept  into  its  ranks  as  co-workers  all  the  old  abolition  element  of 
the  country.  Between  these  two,  thus  presenting  a  dangerous 
sectional  issue,  it  was  attempted  to  interpose  the  broad  national 
doctrine  of  non-intervention,  or  as  it  wascalled,  popular  sovereignty, 
of  which  Mr.  Douglas  was  the  acknowledged  champion.  This  prin 
ciple,  honestly  applied  to  the  organization  of  the  territories,  and 
fairly  carried  out,  offered  the  only  peaceable  solution  for  the  fierce 
sectionalism  of  the  period.  But  this  plausible  theory  was  practically 
subjected  to  the  grossest  abuses.  Kansas  and  Nebraska  had  been 
organized  upon  it,  but  no  sooner  done  than  emigrant  aid  societies 
were  formed  throughout  the  north  sending  thither  men  armed  with 
Sharp's  rifles  to  locally  organize  the  territory  in  the  interests  of 
freedom,  while  the  slaveholders  of  the  south  with  their  emissaries 
pressed  over  the  borders  to  effect  the  first  organization  in  the  in 
terests  of  slavery.  Two  parties  with  totally  opposite  views  thus 
strove  for  supremacy  in  a  new  country  where  there  was  no  legal 
restraint  imposed  upon  them,  and  it  is  not  strange  that  collision  and 
an  actual  border  war  followed. 


[*  Gov.  Matteson  refused  Mr.  Trnmbuil  his  certilicate  of  election  as  senator  in 
18.V),  because  the  constitution  provided  that  "  the  judges  of  the  supreme  and  circuit 
courts  shall  not  be  eligible  to  any  office  or  public  trust  in  this  State  or  the  United 
States,  during  the  term  for  which  they  are  elected,  nor  for  one  year  thereafter." 
Rut  the  senate  of  the  U.  S.,  when  the  question  was  raised,  held  that  it  was  the  judge 
ot  the  qualification  of  its  members,  a  rig-lit  which  no  State  law,  either  organic  or  statu 
tory,  could  take  away  or  circumscribe.] 


692  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

While  the  south  viewed  popular  sovereignty  as  the  short  cut  to 
all  the  ends  of  abolitionism,  the  democratic  party,  of  which,  by  its 
unity  it  was  the  controlling  party  at  Cincinnati  in  national  conven 
tion  assembled,  solemnly  affirmed  it  as  its  creed.  Mr.  Buchanan, 
its  nominee,  in  his  letter  of  acceptance  said  "that  the  people  of  a 
territory,  like  those  of  a  State,  shall  decide  for  themselves  whether 
slavery  shall  or  shall  not  exist  within  their  limits."  The  nation 
gave  its  confidence  to  these  fair  promises  only  to  be  deceived. 
After  Buchanan's  accession  to  power,  with  a  cabinet  mainly  of 
southern  men  about  him,  he  threw  off  the  mask,  and  in  his  mani 
festo  to  the  New  England  memorialists,  said  :  "slavery  existed  at 
that  period — when  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  was  passed — and 
still  exists  in  Kansas  under  the  constitution  of  tlielJ.  8.  This  point 
has  at  last  been  decided  by  the  highest  tribunal  known  to  our 
laws  [alluding  to  the  Dred  Scott  decision].  How  it  could  have 
been  seriously  doubted  is  a  mystery." 

During  the  summer  of  1857  was  concocted  in  Kansas  the  infa 
mous  Lecompton  constitution.  After  the  election  of  the  pro-slavery 
delegates — the  free  State  men  not  voting — and  when  the  character 
of  their  work  was  well  anticipated,  rumors  were  current  that  th*» 
president  would  sustain  it  ;  and  after  the  adoption  of  its  pro- 
slavery  clause  by  a  largely  fraudulent  vote,  in  which  all  the  great 
historic  names  of  the  country,  from  George  Washington  down, 
were  recorded  in  its  favor — the  free  State  men  not  voting  at  all, 
because  the  constitution  proper,  which  also  recognized  slavery, 
not  being  submitted — upon  the  meeting  of  congress  he  boldly  and 
in  shameless  defiance  of  his  previous  pledges  to  the  country,  urged 
the  admission  of  Kansas  under  this  fraud.*  He  made  it  the  test 
of  party  fealty,  and  brought  to  bear  in  its  favor  the  full  power  of 
his  official  patron  age.  Douglas,  in  a  speech  at  Mirwauke,  in  18G(>? 
says  : 

"  If  you  look  into  the  Lecompton  constitution  you  will  find  that  the 
original  document  made  Kansas  a  slave  State,  and  then  the  schedule 
submitted  another  slavery  clause  to  the  people  to  vote  for  or  against  ;  if 
they  voted  for  it,  Kansas  was  a  slave  State,  and  if  they  voted  against  it 
still  it  was  a  slave  State.  When  I  reached  Washington,  three  days  before 
the  meeting  of  congress,  I  went  directly  to  the  president,  and  had  a  talk 
with  him  upon  this  subject,  in  which  I  informed  him,  as  a  friend,  not  to 
send  the  constitution  into  congress  for  acceptance  I  told  him  that  it 
was  a  violation  of  every  pledge  we  had  made  to  the  people  ;  a  violation 
of  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  democratic  party,  and  a  violation 
of  the  principles  of  all  parties  in  all  republican  governments  ;  because  it 
was  an  attempt  to  force  a  constitution  upon  an  unwilling  people.  He 
begged  me  not  to  say  anything  upon  the  subject  until  we  should  hear  the 
news  as  to  how  the  vote  stood  on  the  slavery  clause.  The  vote,  you  re 
member,  was  to  be  taken  on  the  slavery  clause  on  the  21st  of  December, 
three  or  four  weeks  subsequent  to  this  convention.  I  told  the  president 
that  if  he  would  withhold  his  recommendation  until  the  vote  was  taken 
on  that  clause  I  would  withhold  my  speech  against  the  measure.  He 
said  he  must  recommend  it  in  Ms  message,  and  I  replied  that  if  he  did, 
I  would  denounce  it  the  moment  his  message  was  read.  At  last  the 
president  became  somewhat  excited  upon  the  subject,  and  he  arose  and 
said  to  me  :  'Mr.  Douglas,  I  desire  you  to  remember  that  no  democrat 

*  "My  political  life  has  no  greater  error  to  atone  for  than  my  neglect  to  crush  this 
reptile  of  Pennsylvania  when  I  had  him  in  my  power.  He  was  the  cause  of  a  bitter 
war  between  two  men  of  this  republic  (Clay  and  Jackson,)  who  should  not  have  been  so 
estranged.  His  representations  caused  the  charge  of 'bargain  and  sale,' and  when 
brought  home  to  him  he  meanly  left  me  to  face  it.  Friends  interfered  to  save  him  from 
being- exposed,  and  I  listened  to  them.1'— Jackson's  opinion  of  Buchanan,  expressed 
to  Moses  Dawson  in  1837.  See  Washington  Republic. 


SENATORS  IN  CONGRESS.  093 

ever  yet  differed  from  an  administration  of  his  own  choice  without  being 
crushed.'  Then  he  added  :  'Beware  of  the  fate  of  Tallmadge  and  Rivers.' 
I  arose  and  said  :  'Mr.  President,  I  wish  you  to  remember  that  General 
Jackson  is  dead,  sir.'  From  that  day  to  this  he  and  I  have  been  trying 
the  question  whether  General  Jackson  is  dead.  And  one  thing  is  certain 
— the  people  of  Illinois  decided  in  1858  that  James  Buchanan  was  not 
General  Jackson." 

At  the  opening  of  congress  in  the  fall  of  1857,  the  slave  propa 
gandists,  assured  of  the  powerful  aid  of  the  executive,  proclaimed 
loudly  that  Kansas  must  be  admitted  under  the  Lecompton  con 
stitution  unconditionally,  supplemented  with  their  oft  repeated 
threats  of  disunion.  But  the  great  champion  of  popular  sover 
eignty,  unwilling  to  do  this  violence,  both  to  the  law  of  his  country 
and  the  pledges  of  his  party,  now  promptly  stepped  forward  and 
fought  the  battle  of  freedom  for  Kansas,  almost  single-handed  of 
his  party  ii»  the  senate,  but  well  seconded  in  the  house  by  the 
democrats  of  the  Illinois  delegation,  ably  led  by  the  lamented 
Thomas  L.  Harris.  In  disregard  of  old  and  dear  party  ties,  the 
popular  sovereignty  democrats  stood  side  by  side  with  the  repub 
licans  in  congress,  and  the  recreant  president  with  his  disunion 
allies  were  deieated  in  their  outrageous  scheme  to  force  slavery 
on  the  unwilling  people  of  Kansas. 

From  a  volume  entitled  "  Our  Living  Representative  Men,"  by 
John  Savage,  we  copy  a  few  graphic  sentences  describing  a  mem 
orable  scene  in  the  United  States  senate,  on  the  occasion  of  Mr. 
Douglas'  delivering  his  celebrated  anti-Lecompton  speech,  March 
22,  1858.  Besides  citizens  from  all  parts  of  the  Union  and  mem 
ber*  of  the  house,  the  dignitaries  and  representatives  of  foreign 
courts  at  Washington  were  in  atendance : 

"If  the  immense  mass  of  people  who  crowded  the  galleries,  the 
lobbies,  the  stairways  and  the  ante-rooms  of  the  senate  is  any  evidence 
of  interest  in  the  question  of  debate,  then  Kansas  is  the  most  interest 
ing  topic  of  the  day.  *  *  Senator  Douglas  entered  the  chamber  just 
after  a  fainting  lady  had  been  carried  out  of  the  gallery.  *  #  He  was 
congratulated  by  men  of  all  parties,  and  soon  was  engaged  in  an  earnest 
confab  with  Green,  upon  whose  spirits,  however,  the  Little  Giant  did 
not  seem  to  make  any  especial  ciiange.  *  *  * 

Gwin  and  Seward  rose  simultaneously  and  moved  to  admit  the  ladies 
to  the  floor  of  the  senate,  and  a  perfect  flood  of  beauty  poured  into  the 
chamber.  The  appearance  of  Senator  Douglas  was  the  token  for  around 
of  applause.  The  sight  must  have  been  as  deeply  gratifying  to  him  as 
it  was  entrancing  to  that  mother  and  daughter,  Mrs.  Douglas  and  her 
mother,  who,  from  the  reporters'  gallery,  looked  upon  the  scene  with 
that  anxious  pleasure  which  tell  the  physiognomist  that  they,  of  all 
the  gay  and  brilliant  crowd,  had  the  deepest  interest  in  it.  For  three 
hours  Senator  Douglas  spoke— he  warmed  up  by  degrees,  lifting  the 
head  and  heart  of  the  multitude  with  him,  until  one  almost  felt  as  if 
he  were  in  Europe  during  the  revolutions,  listening  to  some  powerful 
tribune  of  the  people  expounding  their  rights  and  inspiring  them  to 
such  action  as  made  America  a  republic.  He  went  through  his  public 
course.  The  period  embraced  some  of  the  most  prominent  and  vital  acts 
in  the  history  of  American  poltics.  He  showed — not  as  a  defence,  but 
in  a  proud,  manly,  and  almost  defiant  spirit — what  his  acts  had  been  ; 
lie  echoed  his  own  words  ;  he  was  proud  of  his  deeds — deeds  and  words 
which  were  recognized  portions  of  the  policy  of  the  democratic  party. 

As  he  proceeded,  with  emphatic  and  measured  dignity,  to  define  his 
position  in  the  present  crisis — what  the  duty  of  a  senator  from  a  sover 
eign  State  was,  and  the  responsibility  he  owed  to  the  people  whose  voice 
culminate  in  him — he  held  the  multitude  chained  with  that  peculiar 
eloquence  which,  based  on  common  sense  and  the  rights  of  man,  reaches 
its  destination  without  the  aid  of  winged  rhetoric.  Such  eloquence 


694  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

does  not  dazzle,  it  convinces  ,  it  does  not  stretch  the  fancy,  but  solidifies 
the  head  ;  it  does  not  hold  the  breath,  but  makes  one  breathe  freer,  for 
it  cheers  the  heart. 

The  great  burst  of  applause  which  broke  from  the  galleries  and  rolled 
over  the  chamber  was  a  nobler  testimony  to  the  principles  enunciated 
by  the  eloquent  senator  than  might  be  written.  He  was  there  the 
defender  of  the  people,  the  representative  of  the  State,  and  not  the 
vassal  of  the  executive,  nor  the  valet  of  the  administration,  to  do  its 
bidding  without  consulting  their  own  judgment  or  the  interests  of  the 
people.  He  stood  forth  as  the  champion  of  State  sovereignty."  He 
grew  in  enthusiasm  with  the  progress  of  his  subject,  and  the  effect  was 
electric. 

Thus  was  conveyed  a  lesson  which  should  have  taught  the  chief 
magistrate  of  this  nation  that  there  may  be  popular  leaders  more 
powerful  than  the  executive,  with  all  his  enormous  patronage  at 
his  back ;  but  his  perception  was  blinded  by  mortification,  and 
he  looked  only  to  revenge,  and  for  this  purpose  pursued  Douglas, 
who  looked  forward  to  a  renewed  senatorial  term  at  the  ensuing; 
session  of  the  legislature,  with  all  his  official  power  and  patronage, 
into  Illinois. 

The  adherents  of  the  president  in  this  State,  the  federal  officers 
and  appointees,  and  other  recipients  of  his  bounty  and  favors, 
joined  by  the  broken  down  politicians  and  place  hunters,  whose 
future  depended  not  upon  the  preservation  but  rather  the  de 
struction  of  the  democratic  party,  and  also  those  moved  by  envy 
or  hatred  of  the  "Little  Giant/'  were  rallied  and  thoroughly  organ 
ized.  A  few  democratic  newspapers  yielded  to  subsidy,  but  more 
were  directly  established  5  and  itinerant  orators  were  employed  to 
perambulate  the  State  through  its  length  and  breadth.  The  adher 
ents  of  the  president  were  designated  as  Danites.  A  secret 
politico-military  order  in  Kansas,  of  whose  fearful  oaths  and 
frightful  doings,  horrid  accounts  had  been  published,  was 
denounced  in  congress  by  Mr.  Douglas,  and  characterized  as  an 
imitation  of  a  cut-throat  Mormon  band,  called  Danites.  One  of 
the  reputed  leaders  of  the  Kansas  order  was  employed  in  Illinois 
as  a  general  post  office  agent,  in  which  capacity  he  traversed  the 
State  constantly,  notoriously  doing  more  to  organize  the  adminis 
tration  opositlon  against  Douglas,  by  threats  of  dismissal  or  intim 
idation,  than  ferreting  out  government  delinquencies. 

The  democracy  of  Illinois  met  in  convention  at  Springfield, 
April  21,  1858,  to  nominate  candidates  for  State  treasurer  and 
superintendent  of  public  instruction,  and  particularly  to  declare 
its  status  with  regard  to  the  great  question  of  variance  between 
the  president  and  Senator  Douglas.  In  97  of  the  101  counties 
resolutions  had  already  been  passed  by  the  democracy,  approving 
the  course  of  the  Illinois  delegation  in  congress  upon  thisLecomp- 
ton  question.  Two  conventions  met  at  the  appointed  time  and 
place,  both  claiming  to  represent  the  true  democracy  of  the  State, 
one  sustaining  popular  sovereignty  and  approving  the  course  of 
our  delegation  in  congress  during  the  Lecompton  struggle,  the 
other  endorsing  the  administration  and  repudiating  Douglas  as 
affiliating  with  republicans.  The  latter  wasbut  sparingly  attended, 
the  representation  being  from  24  counties,  and  its  proceedings 
were  somewhat  spiritless.  John  Dougherty  (since  lieutenant 
governor)  presided.  Ike  Cook,  a  Chicago  postmaster,  was  chief 
manager,  and  Dr.  Leroy,  John  L.  McConnel,  li.  B.  Carpenter  and 
B.  E.  Blackburn  were  the  speakers.  As  it  was  partly  composed 


SENATORS  IN  CONGRESS.  695 

of  seceders,  no  ticket  was  made,  and  an  adjournment  till  the  9th 
of  June  was  had,  when  it  met  again  with  a  somewhat  larger 
attendance.  John  Dougherty  was  nominated  for  treasurer,  and 
ex-Gov.  John  Iteynolds  for  State  school  superintendent,  both  by 
acclamation.  The  "nationals"  met  with  much  encouragement 
from  the  republicans,  but  now,  in  their  long  platform  of  princi 
ples,  they  paid  their  respects  to  them  as  follows :  We  deem  the 
principles  and  policy  of  the  black  republicans  as  utterly  opposed 
to  the  spirit  in  which  the  Union  was  formed,  and  the  success  of 
that  party  would  be  disastrous  to  its  prosperity — which  was  not 
so  palatable  to  the  latter.  The  president  was  very  much  dissat 
isfied  with  these  meagre  and  spiritless  affairs ;  county  meetings 
and  district  conventions  were  therefore  held,  and  administration 
legislative  tickets  were  generally  put  in  the  field  with  the  hope  of 
diverting  votes  enough  to  carry  the  State  for  the  republicans. 

The  regular  democratic  convention  was  largely  attended,  84 
counties  being  fully  represented,  embracing  more  of  the  eminent 
and  distinguished  men  of  the  State,  than  was  common  on  such 
occasions.  Ex-Lieut.  Gov.  John  Moore  presided.  The  ticket 
made  was  W.  B.  Fondey  for  treasurer,  and  ex-Gov.  French  for 
superintendent  of  public  instruction.  While  the  resolutions  of 
the  convention  were  firm  in  their  tone,  they  did  not  openly  and 
decisively  mention  Douglas  by  name  and  applaud  his  course,  nor 
did  they  condemn  the  president  in  direct  terms.  It  was  sought 
rather  to  avoid  an  open  rupture  with  the  administration.  A  reso 
lution  offered  by  Judge  Drummond,  ''That  this  convention  view 
with  regret  the  course  pursued  by  the  present  administration  in 
removing  good  men  from  office  for  the  expression  of  opinions  upon 
any  given  proposition,"  was,  upon  motion  of  Judge  O.  C.  Skinner, 
promptly  laid  on  the  table.  This  looks  like  a  piece  of  arrant 
truckling  to  an  arbitrary  and  recreant  president.  It  was  hoped 
that  the  Kansas  troubles  would  prove  evanescent  and  that  party 
unity  would  be  preserved.  The  convention  did  not  nominate  or 
recommend  Mr.  Douglas  as  the  senatorial  candidate,  as  did  the 
republicans  Mr.  Lincoln,  some  time  after.  But  his  candidacy  was 
generally  conceded.  There  were  other  aspirants  in  the  demo 
cratic  ranks,  but  when  it  was  perceived  what  herculean  blows 
vere  requisite  in  the  fight,  the  field  was  left  by  common  consent  to 
the.  Little  Giant. 

But  with  the  efforts  and  exceptions  mentioned,  the  democracy 
generally,  both  press  and  people,  sustained  Senator  Douglas. 
During  the  darkest  hour  of  the  Lecompton  struggle,  the  republi 
can  press,  laying  aside  party,  heartily  praised  the  course  of  Doug 
las  and  his  colleagues  of  the  house  for  their  noble  stand  in  vindi 
cation  of  law  and  popular  right,  against  the  slave  oligarchy,  with 
a  treacherous  president  at  its  head.  During  the  canvass  Mr. 
Greeley,  a  warm  admirer  of  the  character  of  Douglas,  howexer  he 
warred  against  his  political  principles,  held  the  folio  wing  language 
in  the  New  York  Tribune  regarding  his  or  Mr.  Lincoln's  success: 

"There  is  a  contingency  in  which  even  he  [Mr.  Lincoln]  might  be 
elected,  that  would  cause  such  election  to  be  viewed  with  regret  by 
republicans  in  other  States.  *  *  We  allude  to  secret  coalition  between 
republican  leaders  and  the  little  faction  of  postmasters,  tide-waiters  and 
federal  office  seekers,  who,  for  the  sake  of  their  dirty  pudding,  present 
and  hoped  for,  pretend  to  approve  the  Lecompton  fraud,  and  are  now 
hounding  on  the  track  of  Senator  Douglas.  Any  conspiring  or  conniv- 


096  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

ing  with  this  pack  on  the  part  of  republicans  of  Illinois,  no  matter  by 
what  name  glossed,  under  what  pretext  veiled,  would  be  regarded  by 
republicans  in  other  States  with  profound  disfavor." 

Of  Douglas,  he  held  the  following  language  : 

"They  have  seen  him  separate  himself  from  a  triumphant  and  almost 
invincible  administration,  which  had  honors  to  dispense  and  millions 
to  disburse,  braving  the  denunciations  of  party  organization  and  party 
progress,  which  have  for  20  years  borne  him  onward  from  triumph 
to  triumph,  and  from  indigence  and  obscurity  to  opulence  and  dis 
tinction — they  have  seen  him  incur  the  deadly  and  unquenchable 
hatred  of  the  slave  power,  blasting  in  a  moment  all  the  reasonable  hopes 
of  obtaining  the  presidency  through  the  machinery  and  spell  of  the 
democratic  party.  *  *  When  a  statesman  so  high  in  position,  in  power, 
in  hopes,  separates  himself  from  a  triumphant  majority  to  tight  a 
momentous  b'attle  on  the  side  of  a  minority,  to  whom  he  had  always 
stood  in  deadly  opposition,  it  is  scarcely  reasonable  to  attribute  that 
change  to  any  motive  which  does  not  honor  his  conscienciousness  and 
his  courage.  And  it  seems  to  us  particularly  ungracious  in  those  to 
whom  he  has  lent  the  weight  of  his  powerful  arm  to  unite  with  his 
and  their  implacable  enemies,  in  disparaging  his  motives,  belittleing  his 
influence,  and  paralyzing  his  exertions.  *  *  However  pointed  may  be 
our  future  differences,  we  shall  never  forget  that  in  the  Lecompton 
struggle  he  proved  faithful,  in  defiance  of  great  temptation,  not  to  our 
principles  but  to  his  own,  *  *  If  this  course  was  taken,  the  conse 
quences  braved  by  Mr.  Douglas,  solely  upon  the  strength  of  his  convic 
tions  of  right,  and  of  the  moral  weight  of  the  pledges  given  in  the 
Nebraska  bill  and  the  Cincinnati  platform,  no  public  man  in  our  day 
has  evinced  a  nobler  fidelity  and  courage  " 

But  this  out-spoken  approval  of  Douglas7  course  by  the  republi 
can  press  outside  of  the  State  was  bitterly  and  defiantly  resisted 
in  Illinois.  The  administration  organs  had  read  him  and  his  fol 
lowers  out  of  the  democratic  party,  and  the  reflection  had  been 
indulged  that  he  might  find  a  lodging  place  in  the  republican,  but 
the  press  of  the  latter  party,  knowing  well  the  man,  scouted  this 
as  an  egregious  falacy.  Their  political  hatred  of  their  old  foe  was 
revived  with  all  its  former  animosity,  and  they  proclaimed  that 
there  was  no  conflict  into  which  the  republicans  of  Illinois  entered 
so  heartily,  so  thoroughly,  so  unitedly  as  this.  They  desired  to 
be  avenged  on  him  with  an  intensity  not  to  be  appreciated-  by 
outsiders,  and  for  the  purpose  in  hand  asked  to  be  let  alone  in 
the  fight  by  the  sentimental  philosophers  and  enthusiasts  abroad.* 
The  feeblest  efforts,  sayings  and  purposes  of  the  Buchanan  men,  to 
divide  the  democracy  of  the  State,  were  greedily  taken  up,  paraded 
before  the  public  and  heralded  abroad  in  a  magnificent  form. 
The  strange  anomaly  was  exhibited  of  a  most  persistent  praise 
and  flattery  bestowed  by  the  republicans  upon  the  slave  party, 
while  those  who  had  in  congress  stood  side  by  side  with  them  in 
the  defeat  of  the  Lecompton  iniquity,  received  only  their  abuse 
and  slander.  All  this  to  promote  the  schism  in  the  democratic 
party,  and  redound  to  the  benefit  of  their  own. 

The  State  republican  convention  met  at  Springfield,  June  15, 1858 
and  was  organized  by  selecting  ex-Lieut.-Gov.  Koerner  as  president. 
It  was  largely  attended,  87  counties  being  represented,  and  much 
enthusiasm  was  exhibited.  James  Miller,  the  then  incumbent,  was 
re-nominated  for  treasurer  without  opposition.  For  the  candidacy 
of  the  office  of  superintendent  of  public  instruction  ten  names 
were  presented.  The  second  ballot  showed  the  contest  to  lie  be- 

"tee  Chicago  papers  ol  Juue,  1858. 


SENATORS  IN   CONGRESS.  697 

tween  W.  H.  Powell,  the  then   incumbent,  and  Newton  Bateinau, 
of  Morgan,  who  on  the  third  ballot  received  the  nomination. 

In  their  declaration  of  principles  they  "disclaimed  all  intention 
of  attempting,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  to  assail  or  abridge  the 
rights  of  any  of  the  members  of  the  confederacy  guarantied  by  the 
constitution,  or  in  any  manner  to  interfere  with  the  institution  of 
shivery  in  the  States  where  it  existed."  They  denounced  the  ad 
ministration  ;  differed  with  the  decision  of  the  IT.  S.  supreme  court 
in  the  Dred  Scott  case  ;  maintained  the  right  of  congress  to  pro 
hibit  slavery  in  the  territories,  and  its  duty  to  exercise  it ;  approved 
the  then  recent  decision  of  the  supreme  court  of  Illinois  declaring 
that  property  in  persons  was  repugnant  to  the  constitution,  and 
that  slavery  was  the  creature  of  local  or  municipal  law.  Charles 
L.  Wilson  offered  a  resolution,  which  was  unanimously  adopted 
amidst  shouts  of  applause  :"  That  Abraham  Lincoln  is  the  first 
and  only  choice  of  the  republicans  of  Illinois  for  the  U.  S.  senate, 
as  the  succcessor  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas." 

DOUGLAS  AND  LINCOLN. — These  two  most  eminent  and  illustri 
ous  men  of  Illinois  and  of  the  nation  deserve  at  our  hands  some 
what  more  extended  biographical  sketches  than  are  generally 
given  in  this  work,  which  we  deem  it  proper  to  make  before  pro 
ceeding  to  detail  their  great  contest  for  senatorial  honors. 

Stephen  Arnold  Douglas — was  born  April  23, 1813,  at  Brandon, 
Vermont,  "a  good  State  to  emigrate  from,"  as  he  has  said.  His 
father,  who  died  when  Stephen  was  an  infant  of  3  months,  was  a 
physician  of  considerable  eminence,  and  a  native  of  New  York. 
His  grandfather  was  a  Pennsylvania!!,  and  a  soldier  in  the  Revo 
lution,  being  with  Washington  at  Valley  Forge  and  at  Yorktown. 
His  great  grandfather  was  also  native  born,  but  the  remote  ancestry 
was  from  Scotland, and,  it  has  been  said,  traceable  to  the  blood  of 
the  Douglas.  In  youth  Stephen  received  the  ordinary  school 
education  of  his  native  State,  and  was  an  apt  and  diligent  pupil. 
At  15,  unable  to  gratify  an  ardent  desire  to  prepare  for  college, 
owing  to  his  mother's  straightened  circumstances,  he  apprenticed 
himself  to  the  cabinet  trade.  In  18  months  afterwards,  finding  it 
too  hard  for  his  constitution,  he  abandoned  it  and  entered  the 
academy  at  Brandon.  The  following  year,  his  mother  having 
married  a  Mr.  Granger,  whose  son  had  previously  married  his 
eldest  sister,  the  family  removed  to  Canadagua,  N.  Y.  Here 
Stephen  resumed  his  academical  course,  and  also  commenced  to 
read  law.  At  the  age  of  20  he  started  west  to  seek  an  eligible 
location.  At  Cleveland  he  was  long  detained  by  sickness.  Recov 
ering,  he  went  to  Cincinnati,  and  thence  by  river  to  St.  Louis, 
finding  his  way,  late  in  the  fall  of  1833,  to  the  village  of  Winches 
ter,  Scott  county,  Illinois,  whither  he  walked  from  Jacksonville, 
in  quest  of  a  school  to  teach,  his  exchequer  being  reduced  to  37J 
cents.  His  first  work  was  clerking  at  avendue,  which  yielded  him 
$(J,  but  he  obtained,  shortly  after,  a  school  of  40  pupils  at  $3  a 
quarter.  He  kept  up  his  law  studies  meanwhile,  and  the  following 
March  was  admitted  to  the  bar  by  the  supreme  court  sitting  at 
VIM  id  alia.  He  now  betook  himself  to  the  practice  of  the  law,  and 
speedily  won  distinction  in  his  profession.  Within  a  year  of  his 
admission  to  the  bar,  before  he  was  22  years  old,  he  was  chosen  by 


698  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


the  legislature  attorney  general  of  the  State.  In  1836  he  was 
elected  to  the  legislature  from  Morgan  county,  being  the  youngest 
member  in  that  body.  At  this  session  the  internal  improvement 
folly  of  the  State  was  entered  upon.  In  1837  he  was  appointed  by 
Van  Bureii  register  of  the  land  office  at  Springfield.  The  same 
year  he  was  nominated  for  congress,  and  at  the  election  of  August, 
1838,  came  within  5  votes  of  an  election  out  of  36,000  cast,  his  op 
ponent  being  the  Hon.  John  T.  Stuart,  whig.  He  now  devoted 
himself  assiduously  to  his  new  profession,  and  proved  himself  an 
able  lawyer  and  successful  advocate.  His  tact  and  skill  in  the 
examination  of  witnesses  was  unrivalled.  In  1840  he  entered  with 
great  ardor  into  the  exciting  presidential  campaign,  canvassing 
the  State  thoroughly,  by  addressing  207  meetings  in  favor  of  Van 
Buren.  Upon  the  meeting  of  the  legislature  in  December  of  that 
year,  he  was  appointed  secretary  of  State  by  Gov.  Carlin,  who  was 
unable  to  withstand  the  pressure  in  his  favor.  During  the  session, 
from  partisan  motives,  the  supreme  court  was  reorganized,  in 
which  Douglas  took  an  active  part  through  lobby  addresses,  &c., 
and  was  also  elected  to  a  seat  upon  the  bench,  rendering  the 
court  democratic.  The  supreme  judges  had  to  perform  circuit 
duty,  Douglas  being  assigned  to  the  Quincy  district. 

In  the  4th  volume  of  the  uLaw  Reporter,"  Boston,  1842,  may  be 
found  a  letter  from  a  lawyer,  who  had  emigrated  to  Illinois,  giv 
ing  the  following  description  of  him  on  the  bench  : 

"The  judge  of  our  circuit  is  S.  A.  Douglas,  a  youth  of  28,  who  was  the 
democratic  candidate  for  congress  in  1838,  in  opposition  to  [J.  T.]  Stuart, 
the  late  member.  He  is  a  Vermonter,  a  man  of  considerable  talent,  and, 
in  the  way  of  despatching  business,  is  a  perfect  'steam  engine  in  breech 
es.'  This  dispatch  is  the  only  benefit  our  circuit  will  derive  from  the 
change.'  He  is  the  most  democratic  judge  I  ever  knew.  While  a  case  is 
going  on  he  leaves  the  bench  and  goes  among  the  people,  and  among  the 
members  of  the  bar,  takes  a  cigar  aud  lias  a  social  smoke  with  them,  or 
often  sitting  in  their  laps,  being  in  person  say  five  feet  nothing,  or  there 
abouts,  arid  probably  weighing  about  100  pounds.  I  have  often  thought 
we  should  cut  a  queer  figure  if  one  of  our  Suffolk  bar  should  accidental 
ly  drop  in." 

But  Douglas'  manners  upon  the  bench  were  unexceptional.  He 
was  studious,  clear,  comprehensive  and  expeditious,  and  it  may  be 
said  that  a  more  popular  judge  never  wore  the  ermine  in  this 
State,  notwithstanding  his  youth  and  slight  figure. 

In  1843  he  was  first  elected  to  congress  by  a  majority  of  about 
400.  He  was  twice  re-elected,  his  majority  being  increased  each 
time — the  last  time  to  3,000.  In  the  lower  house  he  is  said  to 
have  been  cautious  and  sparing  of  debate,  studious  and  closely 
observant,  and  when  he  did  arise  for  a  speech  it  was  apt,  forcible, 
and  to  the  purpose.  His  early  education  was  not  so  thorough  and 
scholastic  as  it  might  have  been,  as  he  well  knew,  but  this  fact 
could  never  have  been  gathered  from  his  speeches.  Ashamed  to 
be  either  uninformed  or  misinformed,  he  was  a  studious  toiler 
throughout  his  busy  and  boisterous  political  life,  amidst  all  its 
engrossing  cares  and  unceasing  occupation,  and  a  wide  and  varied 
reader  of  history  and  its  kindred  of  politics  and  law.  Contact 
with  public  affairs  gave  scope  to  his  understanding  and  depth  to 
his  judgement,  and  his  knowledge  became  vast,  complete  and 
accurate.  One  of  his  first  masterly  efforts  in  congress  to  attract 
national  attention,  was  his  speech  on  the  bill  to  refund  to  Gen. 


SENATORS  IN  CONGRESS.  609 

Jackson  the  fine  imposed  upoii  him  for  placing  New  Orleans  under 
martial  law  at  the  time  of  the  battle  in  its  defence  on  the  8th  of 
January,  1812.  The  venerable  hero  of  that  glorious  event  subse 
quently  thanked  Douglas  for  this  able  vindication,  saying  :  I  knew 
when  I  proclaimed  and  enforced  martial  law  that  I  was  doing 
right;  but  never,  until  I  read  your  speech,  could  I  express  the 
reasons  which  actuated  my  conduct. 

In  1847  Douglas  entered  the  senate,  which  was  the  arena  of  his 
herculean  labors.  His  name,  young  as  he  was,  became  speedily 
associated  with  the  great  national  issues  which  affected  the  des 
tiny  of  this  people.  He  moulded  and  gave  them  direction  in  pub 
lic  affairs.  Between  the  aggressions  of  the  south  and  the  resist 
ance  of  the  north  over  the  angry  subject  of  slavery  in  our  terri 
tories.,  it  has  been  said  that  there  is  no  escape  from  the  conclusion 
that  the  genius  of  Douglas  offered  the  only  peaceable  solution  of 
a  common  national  ground  upon  which  all  could  meet  in  the  theory 
of  territorial  sovereignty.  To  it,  through  his  labors,  the  demo 
cratic  party  was  committed  in  1850,  gained  a  triumph  at  the  poll  a 
and  then  was  basely  betrayed  l)y  Buchanan  and  the  south.  But 
Douglas  was  true  and  faithful  to  it  to  the  last  and  defended  it 
whenever  and  wherever  assailed.  And  while  he  was  personally 
pursued  by  bitter,  implacable,  open  political  opponents,  his  dar 
ling  idea,  which  was  empire  or  ruin  with  him,  was  more  grossly 
betrayed  by  perfidious  friends  who  rode  into  power  upon  it. 

The  most  striking  peculiarity  in  the  physique  of  Mr.  Douglas 
was  his  stature  which  was  greatly  below  the  medium  hight — not 
above  5  feet.  His  trunk  was  ample,  compact  and  erect,  with  full 
chest  and  square,  well  defined,  though  not  broad  shoulders ;  but 
his  extremities  were  disproportionately  short.  In  the  latter  years 
of  his  life  he  grew  stout,  though  not  obese.  His  figure  would  have 
been  fatal  to  the  divinity  of  the  Appollo  Belvedere.  While  his 
diminutive  stature  would  arrest  attention,  his  facile  and  natural 
dignity  of  manner,  not  to  say  grace,  with  an  air,  as  if  born  to 
command,  would  cause  idle  curiosity  in  the  contemplation  of  his 
person  to  pass  into  speedy  forget  fulness  by  the  respect  and 
attention  which  he  inspired.  His  splendid  head,  covered  with  a 
heavy  suit  of  dark  hair,  nicely  poised  upon  his  shoulders  and 
connected  by  a  short  neck, was  massive  in  its  brain  developement, 
conveying,  under  animation,  the  impression  of  almost  infinite 
power.  The  ample  forehead  was  squarely  built  up  over  the  wide 
arches  of  his  heavy  brows,  under  which  rolled  a  pair  of  large, 
restless,  deep-set,  dark  blue  eyes,  capable  of  shooting  out  glances 
of  electric  fire,  when  under  the  impulse  of  the  powerful  brain 
battery  back  of  them.  His  nose  was  broad  and  short,  with  flaring 
nostrils,  denoting  coolness  and  courage.  At  its  junction  with  the 
projecting  forehead  it  left  a  peculiar  transverse  crease.  His  mouth 
was  ample,  cleanly  cut,  with  lips  finely  arched,  the  whole  evincing 
decision, and  by  the  depression  at  the  angles,  conveying  a  mingled 
idea  of  sadness  and  disdain.  His  chin,  backed  by  a  firm  jaw, 
squared  well  to  the  general  outline  of  his  face,  indicating  ardor, 
strength  and  vigor.  He  wore  no  beard,  but  presented  smoothly 
shaven  cheeks  and  handsome  throat  with  slight  double-chin.  The 
general  contour  of  his  face  was  regular,  and  its  muscles  wonder 
fully  mobile,  giving  a  pleasing  and  winning  countenance;  his 
complexion,  though  somewhat  dark,  with  his  usually  good  health, 


700  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

A\as  clear ;  the  exuberance  of  his  animal  spirits  was  extraordinary. 
He  was  of  the  vital  temperament.  Such  is  a  brief  physical 
description  of  the  "Little  Giant."* 

As  an  orator  Douglas  possessed  the  peculiar  magnetism  of 
imparting  to  his  auditory  the  hue  of  his  sentiments  and  views — 
swaying  their  will  or  directing  their  sensibility  at  pleasure.  He 
affected  no  senatorial  airs,  betrayed  no  aristocratic  spirit,  but 
naturally  and  easily  identified  himself  with  the  democracy.  He 
had  been  the  genial  companion  of  many  an  early  pioneer,  and  his 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  people  and  sympathy  with  them, 
enabled  him  on  the  stump  to  convey  to  their  common  understand 
ing,  in  their  own  accustomed  vehicles  of  thought,  his  reasoning 
upon  the  political  questions  of  the  day,  often  enforcing  and  clinch 
ing  an  argument  to  those  who  remembered  the  frontier  times  by  a 
peculiar  border  figure,  carrying  conviction  to  their  minds  as 
evinced  by  a  spontaneous  outburst  of  applause  at  frequent  inter 
vals.  But  his  most  inseparable  attributes  were  rapidity  and  bold 
ness  of  thought,  and  his  dexterity  in  debate — of  which  he  became 
a  consummate  master — cropped  out  in  early  life,  giving  promise 
of  uuequaled  power  in  his  first  efforts  on  the  stum}).  He  had  the 
faculty  of  summoning  all  his  mental  resources  with  a  promptitude 
whicli  served  admirably  the  occasion,  even  if  required  instantly 
in  reply  to  a  powerful  antagonist  in  the  senate.  Therefore,  while 
his  forte  lay  to  a  certain  extent  in  his  matchless  power  upon  the 
hustings,  he  swayed  a  no  less  power  in  the  caucus  or  the  august 
senate.  His  manner  of  treating  a  subject  was  bold  and  inde- 
dependent,  always  striking  the  hard  and  strong  points.  To  halt 
ing  friends  he  appeared  at  times  to  be  overbearing ;  and  there 
was  a  vein  of  cold  irony  in  his  nature  which,  with  a  defiant  tone 
in  his  remarks,  a  haughty  manner  and  a  curling  of  the  lip,  sunk 
deep  iitto  the  heart  of  an  enemy.  Energy  and  activity,  courage 
and  fortitude,  were  of  the  essence  of  his  nature.  The  assaults 
that  would  excruciate  some  men  only  excited  a  smile  of  derision 
on  his  intrepid  face.  Elastic  in  both  body  and  mind,  he  was  capa 
ble  of  performing  an  incredible  amount  of  political  labor  in  the 
open  field.  Thus  with  sagacity  as  if  inspired  by  genius,  a  mind 

*  This  soubriquet  originated  very  early  in  his  public  life.  In  1833  President  Jack 
son  added  to  his  refusal  to  recharter  the  U.  S.  Bunk,  the  removal  of  the  deposits. 
Great  was  the  consternation  of  the  people,  and  a  general  panic  prevailed.  Party  feel- 
iim  ran  extremely  high,  the  president's  supporters  were  unsettled  in  their  views  and 
thousands  differed  with  him  on  these  measures  Douglas  had  just  located  at  Jackson 
ville  and  opened  a  Jaw  office  in  a  room  in  the  court-house.  The  whigs  of 'Morgan 
county,  from  their  number  a?  d  standing,  were  arrogant  and  audacious  in  their  denun 
ciation  of  the  administration.  Douglas  mingled  freely  with  the  people,  who  usually 
crowded  the  county  seat  on  Saturdays,  and  among  them,  was  outspoken  in  his  appro 
bation  of  the  acts  of  the  administration.  He  and  the  editor  of  the  democratic  paper 
at  Jacksonville,  deeming  it  advisable  to  rally  the  undecide],  effect  an  organization  of 
the  administration  party,  and  define  its  position,  in  opposition  to  the  views  of  many 
friends,  called  a  mass  meeting,  and  prepared  a  set  of  resolutions  endorsing  the  bank 
policy  of  the  administration.  On  the  day  of  the  meeting  the  court  house  was  thronged 
with  people  of  both  parties.  Douglas  being  comparatively  a  stranger,  declined  to  offer 
resolutions,  but  as  it  soon  became  apparent  unless  he  did  it  would  not  be  done,  he 
boldly  advanced  and  read  them,  following  with  a  few  brief  explanatory  remarks. 
Immediately  upon  his  conclusion,  Josiah  Larnborn.  a  whig  of  great  influence  and 
oratorical  powers,  attacked  the  resolutions  and  their  reader  in  a  severe  and  caustic 
manner.  The  blood  of  Douglas  wasup;  this  was  his  first  political  effort,  but  he  met 
hi-  antagonist  with  such  arguments,  so  vehement  and  effective,  that  the  excitement 
of  his  friends  reached  the  highest  point  of  endurance;  they  cheered,  seized,  and  bore 
him  aloft  through  the  crowd  and  around  the  public  square,  in  gratitude  and  admira 
tion,  applying  to  him  such  complimentary  titles  as  "hiuh-combed  cock,"  ''little  giant" 
&c  ,  which  last,  by  its  peculiar  appropriateness,  adhered  to  him  to  the  last.  His  effort 
that  day,  in  a  measure,  changed  the  political  destiny  of  Morgan  county.  It  was  Jong 
remembered,  and  the  old  veterans  of  Morgan  always  held  that  Douglas  never  equalled 
this  speech  of  March,  1834.— Sheahan's  Life  of  Douglas. 


SENATORS  IN   CONGRESS.  701 

matured  by  careful  study,  a  judgment  clear  and  decisive;  a  cour 
age  which  shrank  from  no  danger,  amounting  at  times  to  apparent 
audacity,  yet  always  tempered  with  discretion;  a  will  to  yield  to 
no  difficulty,  and  unappalled  by  any  obstacle;  appreciation  of  the 
people  and  the  rare  faculty  to  lead  them,  Douglas  was  a  states 
man  of  the  very  first  order.* 

Douglas'  speeches  contain  few  rhetorical  flourishes.  But  they 
are  models  of  exact  language,  orderly  and  systematic  in  thought, 
full  and  comprehensive  in  grasp  There  is  never  a  strained  effort 
at  mere  beauty  of  word  painting.  The  architecture  of  his  sen 
tences,  as  well  as  the  ideas,  are  solid,  massive  masonry,  with 
broad  foundation  laid  on  firm  rock,  and  the  details  and  working- 
plans  so  accurate  as  to  be  perfect  in  their  adaptation,  with  noth 
ing  amiss  or  foreign  and  no  surplus  or  waste  material.  So  well 
and  thoroughly  are  his  sentences  woven  together  that  it  is  diffi 
cult  to  extract  from  his  speeches  any  separate  sentence  con 
vey  ing,  text-like,  a  summary  of  the  whole.  While  they  are  complete 
they  yet  seem  parts  necessarily  connected  with  the  whole.  II is 

'Rev.  W.  H.  Milburn. 

NOTE— To  further  illustrate  Douglas1  power  among1  the  people,  we  subjoin  a  chatty 
but  graphic  sketch  by  the  editor  of  the  Newburyport  (Mass.)  Herald  (republican),  who 
was  a  tellow  passenger  in  the  cars  with  Mr.  Douglas  through  Illinois  on  occasion  of 
opening  the  Ohio  &  Mississippi  railroad,  and  afterwards: 

'That  man  with  a  big,  round  head,  a  brow  almost  as  broad  as  Webster's,  and  n  quick, 
active  eye  that  rolls  under  the  heavy  projecting  broAV,  watchingevery  other  man,  and 
not  allowing  a  motion  to  escape  him  -with  arms  too  short  for  his  body,  which  is  lull  and 
round  as  though  it  never  lacked  the  juices  that  supply  life;  and  with  small  duck  legs, 
which,  had  they  grown  as  thick  as  his  back-bone  (and  they  would,  probably,  if  Provi 
dence  had  not  foreseen  that  he  would  want  back-bone  more  than  legs  in  his  battle  of 
lite,)  would  have  made  him  of  respectable  stature,— that  little  man  is  no  less  than  the 
great  politician  of  the  west,  who  has  attracted  more  attention  in  the  last  four  years 
than  any  other  man  of  the  nation,  and  done  more  to  give  direction  to  public  affairs 
than  even  the  president,  with  a  million  and  a  half  of  voters  at  his  back,  and  the  army, 
navy  and  treasury  of  North  America  at  his  command.  It  is  the  'Little  Giant,1  Stephen 
A.  Douglas,  with  whom  we  parted  company  at  Vineennes,  and  who  has  slowly  come 
along,  feeling  the  public  pulse  to  learn  the  political  health  of  the  'Suckers'  up  to 
Springfield,  the  capital  of  the  State. 

•'The  means  of  success  in  Senator  Douglas  are  very  apparent.  First,  he  is  really  and 
intellectually  a  great  man.  Eastern  people  who  view  him  only  as  a  low  politician, 
should  disabuse  their  minds  in  relation  to  one  who  is  to  exercise  a  wide  influence  in 
the  affairs  of  the  country,  and  very  probably,  for  he  is  yet  young,  to  be  the  head  of  the 
republic.  He  is  massive  in  his  conceptions,  broad  and  comprehensive  in  his  views,  and 
in  a  good  measure  is  endowed  with  all  those  powers  of  mind  that  make  a  statesman. 

But  he  is  greater  still  in  energy  of  character.  There  are  those  that  think  that  a 
defeat,  of  him  next  year  would  be  his  death  in  politics  ;  but  the  man  who  sprung  from 
a  cabinet-maker  shop  in  Vermont,  and  without  father  or  friend  worked  his  way  to  an 
honorable  place  upon  the  bench  of  judges,  who  entered  Illinois  with  less  than  50  cents 
in  money,  and  not  one  cent  in  credit,  and  has  acquired  great  wealth,  and  the  highest 
station  and  influence,  is  not  ready  to  be  whipped  out.  But  if  he  is  great  in  mind,  and 
greater  in  energy,  he  is  greatest  in  those  winning  manners  for  which  the  world  calls 
him  a  demagogue.  Scarcely  a  man,  woman  or  child  in  the  cars  escaped  his  attention, 
or  passed  by  unspoken  to.  At  one  moment  he  talks  Avith  the  old,  stern  visaged  politi 
cian,  who  has  been  soured  by  a  thousand  defeats  and  disappointments  ;  in  the  next,  to 
that  well  formed  and  genial  Kentuckian,  who  has  just  sought  a  free  State  ;  now  he  sits 
down  with  the  little  girl  approaching  her  teens,  and  asks  of  her  school  studies  ;  and  he 
pats  the  little  boy  on  the  head,  and  in  presence  of  his  mother  and  proud  father  (what 
father  is  not  proud  to  see  his  boy  noticed  ?)  says  a  word  of  his  mild  eyes  and  glossy 
locks.  Again  the  lady  is  approached  with  a  fair  word  aud  a  bland  smile,  and  goes  home 
pleased  to  tell  her  father  how  he  looks,  and  then  half  a  dozen  are  about  him,  all  stand 
ing  together.  He  can  talk  religion  with  tue  priest  as  well  as  politics  with  the  states 
man;  he  can  congratulate  the  newly  appointed  Buchanan  office-holder,  who  has  sup- 
phmted  his  friend,  tell  the  displaced  friend  of  the  good  time  coming,  when  his  wing 
shall  be  up;  and  at  every  station,  more  regularly  than  the  conductor,  Mr.  Douglas  is 
upon  the  platform  with  a  good-bye  to  the  leaving,  and  a  welcome  to  the  departing 
traveler— a  shake  of  the  hand  with  one  man  that  stands  at  the  depot,  and  a  touch  of 
the  hat  to  another.  He  knows  everybody;  can  tell  the  question  that  affects  each 
locality  ;  call  the  name  of  every  farm  owner  on  the  way;  tell  all  travelers  something 
of  the  homes  they  left,  that  they  never  knew  themselves,  and  suggest  what  place 
they  deserve  in  heaven.  Now,  such  a  man  as  that,  in  contact  with  everybody,  know 
ing  everybody,  and  at  the  bottom  wrapped  up  with  the  one  Idea  of  preferment,  power 
and  dominion  among  men  is  not  easily  to  be  put  down;  and  his  opponents  might  as  well 
believe  at  once,  that  when  they  fight  him  they  fight  a  strong  man— a  little  giant  indeed 
He  would  be  popular  in  Boston  or  anywhere  else,  and  half  the  'three  thousand  clergy 
men'  he  denounced  would  have  their  hearts  stolen  if  he  could  speak  to  them  a  half 
hour.' 


702  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

arguments  succeed  each  other  like  the  weighty  blows  of  an  enor 
mous  trip- hammer,  shaping  the  subject  in  hand  with  irresistible 
power,  flattening  the  points  opposed  to  him,  and  possibly  the 
adversary  under  its  mighty  tilts. 

In  the  circle  of  Washington  life,  Douglas,  with  the  honors  of 
a  senator,  appeared  with  a  natural  grace  and  dignity  rarely 
excelled.  At  the  social  board  or  in  dinner  table  conversation, 
Col.  Forney  in  his  sketches  of  public  men,  says  :  "Douglas  was 
almost  unrivaled.  His  repartee  was  a  Hash,  and  his  courtesy  as 
knightly  as  if  he  had  beeen  born  in  the  best  society."* 

Abraham  Lincoln. — The  life  of  one  who  has  become  so  exalted  in 
American  history  as  Abraham  Lincoln,  must  ever  possess  a  charm 
to  the  reader  in  its  minutest  detail.  But  the  great  acts  with  which 
his  name  is  associated  are  national,  and  it  is  foreign  to  the  scope 
of  this  work  to  give  more  than  a  cursory  glance  at  the  man  as  he 
appeared  in  Illinois.  We  desire  rather  to  speak  of  his  meagre 
early  life,  his  attributes  of  person,  character  and  mind — his  qual 
ities  of  head  and  heart — as  they  appeared  here,  than  the  great 
events  with  which  he  was  subsequently  connected,  however  the 
latter  may  have  flown  from  the  former.  His  broad  executive  ca 
pacity,  so  suddenly  developed  under  great  trials,  constituting  the 
snblimest  events  in  our  history;  his  fidelity  to  the  right,  aud  his 
courage  and  firmness  which  grew  out  of  that,  it  may  here  be  said, 
were  not  without  astonishment  to  those  who  knew  him  best  in 
Illinois,  and  who  imagined  that  they  comprehended  all  that  was 
to-  be  learned  of  his  character.!  Possibly  it  was  so  to  himself.  The 
great  lesson  of  man — know  thyself — is  ever  least  understood. 

The  most  striking  contrast  between  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  antag 
onist  foji'  senatorial  honors,  was  in  their  physical  appearance.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  find  two  men  with  the  requisite  capacity  for 
so  exalted  a  position,  more  opposite  in  physical  development  than 
these.  Mr.  Douglas,  as  we  have  seen,  was  low  of  stature,  scarce  5 
feet,  erect,  with  trunk  large  and  rotund,  and  extremities  unduly 
short.  Mr.  Lincoln,  on  the  other  hand,  was  tall,  exceeding  0  feet, 
spare,  angular  body,  with  a  slight  forward  inclination,  extremities 
long  and  lank,  the  upper  terminating  in  huge  hands  and  the  latter 
in  large  feet.  His  shoulders,  of  medium  breadth,  drooped  slightly 
forward,  giving  him  the  appearance  of  being  hollow-breasted.  As  it 
is  a  fact,  it  is  not  derogatory  to  say  of  him  that  his  appearance  was 
somewhat  ungainly.  He  was  of  the  nervous  bilious  temperament. 
His  head,  covered  with  thick  masses  of  dark  hair,  was  large,  with 
a  receeding  but  ample  forehead,  well  and  prominently  developed 
at  its  base,  and  under  the  arched  and  projecting  brows  rolled  his 
clear,  dark-blue  eyes  of  more  than  medium  size,  with  a  mild  and 
benignant  expression,  speaking  the  sympathetic  soul  within.  His 
nose  was  his  most  prominent  facial  organ — high,  thin,  straight, 
neither  long  nor  short,— a  fine  nose,  expressive  of  even  force  of 
character.  His  ample  mouth,  while  it  indicated  enough  of  decision 
and  strength  of  will,  was  totally  devoid  of  anything  like  disdainful 
expression.  It  would  have  been  difficult  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  capable 
as  he  was  to  express  in  his  face  inimitable  grotesqueness,  to  have 
curled  his  lip  in  contempt,  defiance  or  disdain.  His  chin,  mostly 

•Washing-ton Sunday  Chronicle,  1872. 

tSee  Gov.  Palmer's  funeral  address  at  the  reburial  of  Bissell's  remains,  May  31, 1871. 


SENATORS  IN   CONGRESS.  703 

covered  with  whiskers,  was  of  fair  prominence ;  though  it  lacked 
that  squareness  which  gives  a  full  and  agreeable  development  to 
the  lower  face,  while  at  the  same  time  it  is  indicative  of  ardency  and 
combativeness — it  was  not  the  military  chin.  His  cheeks  were  gaunt, 
and  the  general  outline  of  his  face,  as  has  been  aptly  said,  was  that 
of  craggy  grandeur.  It  wore  a  habitual  expression  of  sadness  ; 
yet  his  countenance  could  beam  with  a  kindliness  of  heart  which 
gave  license  for  the  approach  of  the  humblest,  and  revealed  a  large 
ness  of  soul  replete  with  a  charitable  and  forgiving  disposition. 
His  health,  though  never  apparently  robust,  was  uniformly  good, 
and  he  was  capable  of  great  physical  endurance. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  born  in  La  Hue  (now  Hard  in)  county 
Kentucky,  about  2  miles  south  of  the  village  of  Hoginsville,  Feb 
ruary  12th,  1809.  (He  was  thus  the  senior  of  his  competitor  by  3 
years.)  Here  his  father  had  taken  up  a  land  claim  of  300  acres, 
rough,  broken  and  poor,  containing  a  tine  spring,  known  to  this 
day  as  the  "Linkuin  Spring."  Unable  to  pay  for  the  unproductive 
land,  the  claim  was  abandoned,  and  the  family  moved  from  place 
to  place  in  the  neighborhood,  being  very  destitute.  These  removals 
occurring  Avhile  Abraham  was  scarcely  more  than  an  infant,  has 
given  rise  to  different  statements  as  to  the  exact  place  of  his  birth. 
It  is  said  that  in  that  part  of  Kentucky  four  places  now  claim  the 
honor.  In  1816  the  family  started  westward,  following  the  Ohio 
river,  and  settling  in  JSpencer  county,  Indiana.  Two  years  later 
the  mother  died,  and  also  an  only  sister;  the  thriftless  father 
married  again,  and  Abraham  worked  in  the  neighborhood  oil 
farms,  and  in  clearing  away  the  dense  forest  underwent  the  sturdy 
discipline  of  toil.  He  received  the  meagre  education  which  the 
new  country  afforded,  but  his  boyhood  had  few  advantages  of 
culture,  and  he  was  emphatically  self-made.*  al  have  not  a  fine 
education  j  I  am  not  capable  of  entering  into  a  disquisition  upon 
dialectics,  I  believe  you  call  it" — he  himself  complained  in  his 
Chicago  speech  in  answer  to  Douglas  at  the  opening  of  the  sena 
torial  canvass  in  1858.  He  was  of,  and  grew  up  among,  the  com 
mon  people,  the  hard-handed  yeomanry  of  toil.  His  warm  and 
benevolent  heart  was  thus  early  taught  to  sympathise  with  labor, 
and  later  his  brain  appreciated  the  importance  of  its  freedom. 

He  grew  to  manhood  rapidly,  and  such  were  his  qualities  of 
head  that  before  he  attained  to  majority  he  was  employed  as 
supercargo  to  take  a  flat-boat  load  of  produce  to  New  Orleans, 
which  he  did  giving  full  satisfaction.  In  1830  the  family  removed 
to  Illinois,  settling  on  the  south  side  of  the  north  fork  oi'  the  San- 
gamon  river,  10  miles  southwest  of  Decatur,  in  Macon  county. 
Here  young  Lincoln  spent  his  first  winter  in  Illinois,  during  which 
lie  aided  in  building  for  the  family  a  cabin,  stables  and  other 
buildings;  mauled  and  split  rails,  cleared  and  fenced  in  10  acres 
of  ground.  From  this  place  the  rails  which  played  so  important 
a  part  in  the  campaign  of  1860  were  procured.!  The  following 

*  It  is  asserted  that  he  learned  to  cipher  on  a  smooth  clap  board  by  the  light  of  a 
cabin  fire  alter  getting  through  with  the  day's  labor,  while  workriig  on  the  Crew  farm 
in  Indiana  When  the  board  was  written  over  with  figures,  recourse  was  had  to  a  draw 
ing  knife  to  shav;3  it  down,  and  with  the  clean  surface  thus  presented  it  was  ready 
for  further  use.  The  books  that  he  could  get  to  read  were  very  few,  but  the  Bible 
was  evidently  one  of  them. 

tOne  Charles  Hanks,  a  cousin  on  the  mother's  side,  who  had  nil  the  time  lived  within 
two  and  a  half  miles  of  this  place,  published  in  1860  a  letter  saying,  that  5  years  after 
ward  the  entire  fence  was  burned  up,  and  that  he  helped  to  build  a  new  one;  but  his 
brother  John  maintained  the  genuineness  of  the  rails.  See  Uecatur  papers  1860. 


704  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


spring,  being  now  of  age,  lie  aided  in  conducting  a  flat-boat  down 
the  Sangamon,  became  acquainted  with  the  country,  and  later 
found  employment  as  clerk  in  a  country  store,  at  a  village  on  its 
west  bank  named  New  Salem,  a  mile  from  the  present  Petersburg, 
whither  its  tenements  were  finally  removed.  Lincoln,  with  a 
partner,  succeeded  his  employer^  the  stock  of  goods  probably  not 
large  and  the  purchase  being  made  on  time.  The  merchants,  as 
merchants  are  wont  to  do,  speedily  tailed.  Lincoln  now  turned 
his  attention  to  surveying,  but  when  the  Black  Hawk  war  broke 
out,  in  1832,  he  volunteered  and  was  elected  captain  of  his  com 
pany.  He  served  three  months  but  was  in  no  engagement  with 
the  enemy.  The  same  year  he  became  a  candidate  for  the  legis 
lature  but  was  defeated.  He  was  an  Adams  man,  the  whig  party 
not  yet  having  assumed  its  name.  He  now  pursued  surveying 
and  occupied  his  spare  time  in  reading  law.  In  1834  he  again 
offered  for  the  legislature  and  was  elected  as  a  member  for  San 
gamon,  the  village  of  his  residence,  since  Menard  county,  was  then 
still  in  San  gam  on.  He  was  for  four  successive  terms  re-elected 
from  the  same  county,  but  after  his  first  session,  by  the  advice 
of  a  friend,  to  whom  he  ever  felt  grateful,  he  gave  up  the  business  of 
surveying,  settled  in  Springfield  and  thenceforward  gave  his  atten 
tion  wholly  to  the  law.  During1  his  8  years  in  the  legislature  he  was  a 
serviceable  member,  belonging  to  the  minority  party  all  the  time, 
and  attained  some  distinction.  He  was  twice  the  whig  candidate 
for  speaker,  which  was  a  compliment  but  an  empty  honor.  In 
1837  he  sustained  the  visionary  scheme  of  the  State  Internal 
Improvement .system,  which  nearly  bankrupted  the  State,  doubt 
less  like  all  others,  with  the  best,  but  mistaken  intentions.  Still 
it  is  to  be  remembered  that  as  one  of  the  ''long  nine"  from  San 
gamon,  who  acting  constantly  as  a  unit,  artfully  contrived  many 
combinations  during  that  eventful  session,  always  with  an  eye 
single  to  removing  the  capital  from  Yandalia  to  Springfield.  Out 
of  all  the  reckless  schemes  of  that  session,  the  constituents  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  in  Springfield  were  the  only  ones  who  ever  derived  any 
permanent  benefit  from  any  of  them.  He  was  a  vigorous  opponent 
of  the  partisan  reorganization  of  the  supreme  court  in  1841. 

He  now  (1842)  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  the  practice  of  his 
profession,  in  which  he  attained  a  high  standing  as  a  lawyer,  and 
particularly  as  an  advocate.  Before  a  jury  he  had  few  equals 
either  in  originality,  humor  or  pathos.  His  most  effective  oratory 
was  of  the  persuasive  order.  AVhile  he  sought  to  lead  a  jury  by 
the  force  of  logical  reasoning  and  striking  similes,  whatever  his  pos 
tulate,  he  seldom  attempted  to  drive  them  either  by  intimidation 
or  the  power  of  detailed  argumentation,  to  awaken  perhaps  their 
obstinacy  or  tire  them  into  listlessness.  He  would  contrive  to  put 
them  in  good  humor  by  apt  and  original  turns  on  his  antagonist, 
his  inimitable  manner  and  complete  acting  being  his  most  effective 
aids  for  this  purpose  ;  gain  their  favor ;  enlist  their  interest ;  then 
touch  their  sympathies  by  the  power  of  his  pathos,  and  wring  from 
them  a  verdict.  His  most  effective  weapons  with  which  to  assail 
or  demolish  the  arguments  of  opposing  counsel,  either  of  attack  or 
defense,  were  his  powers  of  ridicule,  originality  and  quaint  logical 
reasoning.  To  the  beginner  at  the  bar  he  was  kind,  indulgent 
and  ever  ready  to  render  assistance  without  ostentation.  He  was 
full  of  humor,  overflowing  with  anecdote,  and  loved  a  neat,  harm- 


SENATORS  IN  CONGRESS.  705 


less  practical  joke.  With  rare  capacity  for  treasuring  up  anecdotes, 
lie  had  a  fund  to  aptly  illustrate  almost  every  circumstance  in 
life.  Many  were  original  with  him,  as  he  had  an  eye  constantly 
on  the  look-out  for  the  humorous  or  grotesque  in  everything,  and 
a  good  point  never  escaped  his  attention,  nor  suffered  in  the  ren 
dering.'  Among  the  older  members  of  the  Illinois  bar  his  humorous 
sayings,  oddities,  and  pointed  anecdotes  are  yet  current. 

During  the  presidential  contest  of  1844,  Mr.  Lincoln  canvassed 
the  State  for  Henry  Clay,  the  beloved  chief  of  all  the  old  whigs. 
In  184(>  be  was  elected  to  congress,  taking  his  seat  in  the  lower 
house  at  the  same  time  that  Douglas  entered  the  senate.  He  was  the 
only  whig  in  the  Illinois  delegation,  and  in  common  with  his  party, 
opposed  the  Mexican  war.  He  introduced  a  set  of  resolutions  shortly 
after,  proposing  an  inquiry  as  to  the  exact  spot  upon  Texan  soil 
where  American  blood  was  first  spilled  by  the  Mexicans.  These 
resolutions  gained  some  notoriety  for  their  quisical  and  witty  char 
acter,  and  have  been  generally  known  as  his  "spot  resolutions."  He 
supported  the  "Wilmot  proviso"  attached  to  the  bill  appropriating 
$3,000,000  for  the  war — being  the  same  which  Mr.  Douglas  moved 
to  amend  by  prohibiting  slavery  from  all  acquired  territory  north  of 
of  oGd.  30m.,  but  which  was  lost.  Mr.  Lincoln  declined  the  candidacy 
for  re-election  in  1848.  In  1849  he  first  received  the  complimentary 
vote  of  his  party  for  U.  S.  senator.  He  wras  again  their  candidate 
in  1855,  but  through  the  obstinacy  of  a  handful  of  anti-Nebraska 
democrats,  Mr.  Truinbull  was  elected,  as  we  have  seen. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  truly  great  in  many  traits  of  his  character. 
Chief  among  these  may  be  mentioned  his  fidelity  to  the  right, 
firmness  to  principle,  fortitude  to  duty,  honesty  and  tenacity  of 
purpose,  and  moral  courage,  united  to  such  amiable  attributes  as 
kindness  of  heart,  forbearance  for  others,  enduring  patience,  mod 
esty  and  gentleness  of  disposition.  All  these  virtues  he  possessed 
in  an  eminent  deree.  Some  of  his  old,  intimate  and  loving  friends* 
say  that  he  was  ambitious,  but  his  ambition  was  so  tempered  with 
patience,  that  it  never  would  have,  as  it  did  not,  overleap  itself. 

His  opposition  to  slavery  was  grounded  upon  its  inherent  moral 
Avrongfulness — that  it  was  a  great  evil,  socially,  politically,  and 
materially.  His  conscience  revolted  at  its  injustice,  its  degrada 
tion  and  cruelty.  His  heart  naturally  sympathized  with  the  op 
pressed.  Douglas,  born  and  reared  in  free  States,  while  he 
doubtless  regarded  slavery  as  a  clog  and  hindrance  to  the  material 
advancement  of  a  people  or  State,  never  disclosed  by  any  expres 
sion,  either  written  or  spoken,  his  conception  of  its  moral  enor 
mity.  The  refrain  of  his  speeches  was  ever  to  let  the  people  decide 
it  in  their  own  way — "I  do  not  care  whether  slaA^ery  is  voted  up  or 
down.'7 

Mr.  Lincoln's  speeches  and  writings  bear  the  stamp  of  strong 
individuality — peculiarly  Lincolnian — which  crops  out  in  nearly 
every  paragraph.  They  abound  in  short  pithy  sentences,  separate 
and  distinct  in  themselves,  approaching  to  aphorisms.  Many  of 
them  are  stamped  with  immortality.  They  are  sublime  conceptions 
of  great  truths,  clothed  in  few  but  ample  words,  which  will  live  in 
the  remote  cycles  of  time,  when  his  more  painstaking  sentences 
and  carefully-studied  arguments  may  be  lost  under  the  niolderiug 

*  Hon.  J.  K.  Dubois. 

45 


706  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

dust  of  ages.  "Slavery  is  founded  in  the  selfishness  of  man's 
nature — opposition  to  it  in  the  love  of  justice,"  he  exclaimed  at 
Peoria  in  1854.  "Repeal  the  Missouri  compromise — repeal  all 
compromises — repeal  the  Declaration  of  Independence — repeal  all 
past  history — you  still  cannot  repeal  human  nature.  It  still  will 
be  in  the  abundance  of  man's  heart  that  slavery  extension  is  wrong, 
and,  out  of  the  abundance  of  his  heart  his  mouth  will  continue  to 
speak."  Evidently  he  was  deeply  read  in  the  book  of  books,  the 
Bible,  as  the  last  sentence  above  shows,  and  he  possessed  the 
happy  faculty  of  weaving  its  sublime  sentiments  with  his  own 
thoughts  and  expressions.  His  speeches  bore  abundant  testimony 
to  this.  Politicians  should  ever  bear  in  mind  this  broad  text  from 
him,  that  ours  is  a  "government  of  the  people,  for  the  people  and 
by  the  people."  But  time  and  circumstances  considered,  it  will 
be  difficult  to  find  sentiments  outside  of  the  inspired  book  more 
touchingly  beautiful  than  the  closing  paragraph  of  his  last  inau 
gural  address  :  "With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity  for  all, 
with  firmness  in  the- right  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us 
strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in,  to  bind  up  the  nation's  wounds, 
and  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle,  and  for  his 
widow  and  his  orphans — to  do  all  which  may  achieve  and  cherish 
a  just  and  lasting  peace  among  ourselves  and  with  all  nations." 

To  fully  appreciate  Mr.  Lincoln  as  an  orator  he  must  be  both 
heard  and  seen  — lie  conveyed  so  much  meaning  by  gesture  and 
manner.  And  even  then  many  of  his  sentiments  were  so  terse 
that  it  was  impossible  to  do  him  justice  ;  nor  can  this  be  done  by 
a  casual  reading  after  him.  He  seemed  to  be  aware  of  this  him 
self,  for  in  preparing  his  early  writings  or  speeches  for  the  press, 
understrokes  for  italics  and  capitals  were  freely  resorted  to,  to 
give  them  power  and  emphasis. 

Both  these  senatorial  candidates  used  simple,  plain  but  exact 
language,  and  eschewed  mere  word-painting.  They  sought  to 
reach  the  understanding  of  the  common  peop.le.  and  indulged  little 
in  the  sweeping  roundness  of  grand  oratory.  The  best  speeches 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  life  are  said  to  have  been  made  four  years  prior  to 
this  contest,  when  the  Missouri  compromise  was  first  repealed,  in 
answer  to  Douglas,  who  sought  to  justify  himself  before  the  peo 
ple.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  looking  forward  at  the  time  to  become  the 
successor  to  Shields  in  the  senate.  One  made  at  Peoria  October 
16,  1854,  is  recorded,  and  is  a  chaste  and  powerful  argument.  It 
received  a  wide  circulation.  The  one  made  12  days  before  at 
Springfield,  in  debate  with  Mr.  Douglas,  being  the  first  time  that 
these  champions  measured  their  strength,  is  not  recorded.  It  is 
said  to  have  greatly  exceeded  the  former  in  boldness  of  sentiment, 
force  of  argument,  beauty  and  moving  eloquence.  It  was  made 
in  the  representatives'  hall  in  presence  of  the  first  State  republi 
can  convention,  when  that  party  was  in  its  chrysalis  state,  and  a 
great  throng  of  people  from  all  parts  of  the  State  attending  the 
first  State  fair.  A  contemporary  writer  describing  it  says  :  Every 
mind  present  did  homage  to  the  man  who  took  heart  and  broke 
like  a  sun  over  the  understanding ;  he  shivered  the  Nebraska 
iniquity  as  a  tree  of  the  forest  is  torn  and  rent  asunder,  by  hot 
bolts  of  truth.* 

*  See  111.  State  Journal,  Oct.  18,  1854. 


SENATORS  IN   CONGRESS.  707 

Such  is  our  brief  summing-  up  of  the  lives  ami  character  of  these 
great  representative  men,  upon  whose  contest  in  Illinois  for  the 
senatorship  rested  the  eager  eyes  of  the  entire  nation,  so  important 
were  the  political  issues  for  which  they  contended.  The  combat 
ants  were  not  unacquainted  with  each  other's  strength,  for  as  we 
have  seen  they  had  previously  crossed  their  trenchant  blades  of 
argument,  logic  and  debate  in  the  political  arena.* 

THE  CANVASS. 

We  have  seen  that  the  State  republican  convention  in  June  de 
clared  Mr.  Lincoln  the  first  and  only  choice  of  its  party  for  the 
.senatorial  seat  of  Mr.  Douglas.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  unprepared 
for  this  action  of  the  convention.  The  choice  of  Trumbull  over 
him  in  1855  had  gained  him  the  sympathy  of  his  party,  and  he  was 
thence  tacitly  looked  forward  to  as  the  successor  of  Mr.  Dougl as 
four  years  later.  This  he  appreciated  himself.  When  Douglas, 
(\vho  well  understood  this  also,)  therefore,  in  June,  1857,  during  a 
lull  in  political  excitement,  found,  or  created,  an  occasion,  through 
the  invitation  of  the  TJ.  S.  grand  jury  sitting  at  Springfield,  to  air 
his  political  views  and  possibly  forestall  public  opinion,  Mr.  Lin 
coln  was  on  the  alert,  and  after  some  time  for  preparation,  two 
weeks  later  answered  Douglas'  speech  from  the  same  stand,  and 
had  it  also  published.  The  convention  no\v  (June  10,  1858,)  took 
a  recess  until  8  o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  addressed 
them  in  a  carefully  prepared  speech,  whose  opening  sentences — 
truly  Lincolnian — aftewards  attained  so  much  celebrity,  we  sub 
join  : 

"If  we  could  first  know  where  we  are,  and  whither  we  are  tending,  we 
could  then  better  judge  what  to  do,  and  how  to  doit. 

"We«are  now  far  into  the  fifth  year  since  a  policy  was  initiated  with 
the  aviae&I  object,  and  confident  promise,  of  putting  an  end  to  slavery 
agitation. 

"Under  the  operation  of  that  policy,  that  agitation  has  not  only  not 

ctastd,  but  has  constantly  augmented 

<;In  my  opinion  it  will  not  cease  until  a  crisis  shall  have  been  reached 
and  passed— 'A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.' 

"I  believe  this  government  cannot  endure  permanently  half  slave  and 
half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the  Union  to  be  dissolved— ~L  do  not  expect 
the  house  to  fall — but  I  do  expect  it  will  cease  to  be  divided.  It  will 
become  nil  one  thing,  or  all  the  other.  Either  the  opponents  of  slavery 
will  arrest  the  further  spread  of  it,  and  place  it  where  the  public  mind 
shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the  course  of  ultimate  extinction  ;  or, 
ite  advocates  will  put  it  forward,  till  it  shall  become  alike  lawful  in  all 
the  States,  oWas  well  as  new — north  as  well  as  soulh.  Have  we  no  tendency 
to  the  latter  condition?" 

— proceeding  to  argue  that  we  had  under  the  Nebraska  doctrine 
and  the  Dred  Scott  decision. t 

These  at  the  time  bold  and  advanced  political  sentiments  were 
uttered  4  months  prior  to  the  enunciation  of  Mr.  Se ward's  cele- 

*The  following  figure,  to  illustrate  the  relative  merits  of  the  rontestants,  current  at 
the  time,  views  this  civil  battle  from  a  military  standpoint.  We  leave  the  reader  to 
estimate  its  fairness:  Douglas  marshalled  all  his  facts  with  the  view  to  concentrate 
them  with  terrible  and  irresistible  onslaught  upon  a  given  point  of  his  adrersary's  line 
of  battle,  and  with  great  power  and  energy  attempts  to  rout  the  enemy  from  his 
strongest  position.  Lincoln  in  his  argument  breaks  out  all  along  his  entire  battle  line 
in  sudden  charges,  unsurpassed  in  brilliancy  of  execution,  affording  subjects  for  the 
poet's  pen  to  live  in  heroic  verse  for  perhaps  countless  ages 

*See  HI.  State  Journal,  June  18, 1858.  The  above  is  from  a  draft  made  by  Mr.  Lincoln 
himself,  italics  and  all. 


708  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

brated  "irrepressible  conflict"  doctrine,  which  rendered  that  states 
man  the  common  target  for  all  the  opposition  political  shafts 
throughout  the  land.  Mr.  Lincoln's  had  not  only  precedence,  but 
they  were  more  comprehensive  and  direct ;  and  is  it  any  wonder 
that  political  sentiments  so  axiomatic  dwelt  in  the  hearts  of  the 
people,  and  subsequently  turned  the  nation's  eye  upon  the  man 
whose  mind  conceived  them  ?  But  they  also  furnished  Mr.  Doug 
las  a  handle  with  which  to  ring  upon  his  opponent,  with  incessant 
repetition,  all  the  changes  of  detested  abolitionism,  disunion  and 
civil  war  with  its  horrid  concomitants,  until  they  told  with  deep 
eifect  upon  the  masses. 

The  republican  press  demanded  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  frequent 
iteration,  a .free  political  light,  which  was  no  less  freely  tendered 
by  Mr.  Douglas,  who,  before  he  left  Washington,  matured  his 
preparations  for  a  vigorous  and  thorough  stumping  canvass,  to 
embrace  the  ample  field  of  the  entire  State.  Kowithstanding  his 
open  rupture  with  the  administration,  which  was  pursuing  him 
into  Illinois,  the  grudging  support  of  the  State  democratic  con 
vention  at  its  meeting  in  April  forced  him  into  apian  of  cam 
paign  somewhat  conciliatory  toward  the  administration,  but  war 
to  the  knife  against  the  anti-slavery  heresies,  as  he  called  them, 
enunciated  in  the  platform  of  principles  adopted  by  the  State 
republican  convention,  and  particularly  against  the  advanced  anti- 
slavery  position  of  their  senatorial  nominee.  The  republicans,  to 
promote  the  chism  in  the  democratic  ranks,  encouraged  the  Buc 
hanan  followers  in  various  ways  by  favorable  notices  of  their 
meetings,  publishing  their  proceedings,  flattering  their  efforts,  &c. 

Douglas,  on  his  arrival  from  Washington,  was  received  at  Chi 
cago  by  an  immense  concourse  of  people  with  shouts  and  huzzahs? 
amidst  the  roar  of  cannon,  music  from  bands  and  the  escort  of  a, 
blaze  of  lire-works.  He  entered  directly  upon  the  campaign  by 
addressing  his  first  speech  from  the  balcony  of  theTremont  Hotel 
to  a  perfect  sea  of  human  faces  upturned  in  the  thronged  street 
below.  He  re-affirmed  his  doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty  with 
great  force,  stood  by  the  platform,  and  acquiesced  in  the  Dred 
Scott  decision  while  it  remained  the  law.  He  then  paid  his 
respects' to  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  was  present  on  the  balcony,  taking 
for  a  text  his  convention  speech,  that  a  house  divided  against 
itself  cannot  stand — that  the  government  could  not  endure  half 
slave  and  half  free,  which  he  assailed  with  a  logical  power  and 
vehemence  unsurpassed  in  his  generation,  leaving  a  deep  and 
abiding  impression  upon  his  auditory.  He  further  denounced  the 
unholy  alliance  of  the  republicans  with  the  unscrupulous  pro- 
slavery  Buchanan  office-holders  to  compass  his  defeat,  as  unnatu 
ral,  declaring  his  purpose  to  fire  his  broadsides,  as  the  Eussians 
did  at  Sebastopol,  regardless  of  which  were  hit,  Turk  or  Christian. 

At  the  conclusion  of  his  speech,  loud  calls  were  made  by  the 
crowd  for  Mr.  Lincoln.  He  declined  speaking,  but  made  an 
appointment  for  the  following  evening,  when  he  replied  to  Mr. 
Douglas  from  the  same  stand.  A  larger,  denser  and  more  enthu 
siastic  crowd,  if  that  were  possible,  greeted  the  republican  chief 
tain,  the  windows  and  balconies  of  the  houses  on  both  sides  of 
the  street  and  the  street  itself  being  literally  packed  with  men 
and  women.  Procession  after  procession  with  bands  of  music 
arrived  on  the  ground  amidst  a  brilliant  pyrotechnic  display.  Mr. 


SENATORS  IN   CONGRESS.  709 

Lincoln  on  his  appearance  was  hailed  with  a  storm  of  applause. 
He  denied  the  charge  of  an  alliance  between  the  republicans  and 
the  federal  office-holders,  but  the  former  would  certainly  do  noth 
ing  to  prevent  the  democratic  schism,  and  reminded  Douglas  that 
if  he  was  the  "rugged  Russian  bear,"  it  was  a  very  suggestive 
circumstance  that  the  ^allies"  did  take  Sebastopol — which  was 
very  happy.  He  declared  Douglas'  great  doctrine  of  squatter 
sovereignty  as  old  as  the  Declaration  of  Independence  itself;  that 
governments  derived  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the 
governed ;  but  ridiculed  the  idea  of  its  compatibility  with  the 
Dred  Scott  decision,  which  held  slavery  to  exist  in  all  the  territo 
ries  by  virtue  of  the  constitution,  with  which  neither  congress  nor 
the  territorial  legislature  could  interfere.  Hence  no  man  could 
consistently  stand  both  by  that  decision  and  the  Cincinnati  plat 
form,  which  declared  the  sovereignty  of  the  territories  absolute 
as  that  of  the  States.  He  maintained  the  power  of  congress  to 
exclude  slavery  from  the  territories,  notwithstanding  the  decision 
of  the  supreme  court. 

But  Douglas'  great  assault  upon  his  convention  speech,  that  a 
divided  house  could  not  stand,  that  the  government  could  not 
endure  half  slave  and  half  free — had  the  effect  to  throw  him  upon 
the  defensive,  from  which  he  did  not  recover  during  the  canvass. 
He  plead — "I  did  not  say  that  I  was  in  favor  of  anything  in  it. 
I  only  said  what  I  expecttd  would  take  place.  I  made  a  predic 
tion  only;  it  may  have  been  a  foolish  one  perhaps." 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  taken  bold  and  advanced  ground.  We  who 
have  lived  to  see  his  words  fulfilled  can  hardly  appreciate  their 
full  import  as  applied  to  those  times.  The  striking  deductions 
that  Douglas  made  from  them,  apparently  irresistible  in  their  con 
clusions  then,  and  which  have  become  history  since,  tended  to 
drive  their  author  into  the  then  detested  ranks  of  the  abolition- 
disunionists.,  hated  of  nearly  all  men,  and  need  we  wonder  at  Mr. 
Lincoln's  shrinking  from  the  position  thus  logically  assigned  to 
him,  or  at  the  defense  of  himself,  as  we  have  quoted  I  Douglas 
did  not  intermit  his  blows  upon  this  point  during  the  canvass,  but 
hammered  and  battered  away  at  it  continuously.  It  was  his 
stronghold,  and  under  it  he  crowded  his  antagonist  unceasingly. 
Indeed  some  republican  papers  got  to  denying  that  Lincoln  ever 
uttered  the  sentiment.  It  lost  him  the  senatorship  then,  but 
its  unceasing  iteration  placed  him  prominently  before  the  country, 
and  two  years  later  it  gained  for  him  the  presidency.  A  prophet 
is  uot  without  honor  save  in  his  own  country. 

An  t  now  blazed  forth  in  full  splendor  that  remarkable  canvass 
nil  over  the  State.  The  prairies  seeemed  animated  with  political 
fervor  and  discussions.  The  people  did  or  talked  little  else.  The 
business  of  railroads  increased  enormously.  The  trains  were  alive 
with  the  people  and  excursions  were  the  order  of  the  day.  In 
attendance  upon  the  great  leaders  were  swarms  of  politicians, 
replaced  from  time  to  time  as  rapidly  as  they  dropped  off,  besides 
journalists,  reporters  and  others  drawn  by  the  excitement  of  the 
occasion.  The  ladies  not  unfrequently  met  the  trains  containing 
the  leaders  and  attendants  and  spread  for  them  bounteous  repasts. 
Indeed  creature  comforts  were  occasionally  furnished  on  the  cars. 
Up  and  down  the  State  and  through  its  length  and  breadth,  by 
rail,  by  carriage,  raged  the  great  political  battle  of  the  giants. 


710  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

The  people  seemingly  were  aglow  with  the  fire  of  their  respective 
party  leaders.  The  contest  was  the  most  exciting  iii  our  history. 

As  an  illustration  of  what  was  kept  up  all  over  the  State,  both 
on  occasion  of  the  joint  debates  and  the  separate  discussions,  we 
will  describe  Dougias'  first  trip,  made  on  the  Chicago  &  Alton 
railroad  to  Springfield,  Mr.  Lincoln  being  also  aboard.  Douglas 
and  a  party  of  friends  left  Chicago  Friday  morning,  June  10th. 
The  train,  although  it  was  the  regular  passenger,  was  tastily  dec 
orated  with  liags  and  banners,  inscribed  with  the  name  of  the 
senator,  appropriate  mottoes,  such  as  "champion  of  the  people/' 
"popular  sovereignty,"  <&c.  At  Bridgeport  a  numerous  body  of 
laborers  quit  their  work  to  cheer  the  senator  as  the  train  swept  by. 
At  Lockport  a  moment's  halt  was  made,  and  hearty  greetings 
were  exchanged  with  the  assembled  friends,  amidst  the  handker 
chief  wavings  of  welcome  from  numerous  ladies.  At  Joliet  its  arri  val 
was  announced  by  the  booming  of  cannon,  and  upon  the  senator's 
appearance  the  thousands  assembled  rent  the  air  with  their  cheers. 
He  had  only  time  to  thank  them  for  their  cordial  welcome.  A 
numerous  party  of  friends  here  joined  tbem  for  Springfield.  A 
platform  car  was  attached  to  the  rear  of  the  train,  carrying  a  can 
non  to  herald  their  approach  at  every  station  along"  the  route. 
At  Wilmington  the  salute  of  a  G-pounder  was  answered  by  this 
piece  on  board.  A  large  concourse  of  people  had  assembled,  and 
as  the  train  drew  up  a  fine  band  played  "Hail  to  the  Chief  P  fol 
lowed,  on  the  appearance  of  the  senator,  by  air-splitting  cheers 
from  the  cnnvd,  men  swinging  their  hats,  and  ladies  waving  their 
handkerchiefs,  making  a  scene  of  indescribable  enthusiasm  and 
joy.  Tender  greetings  and  kindly  expressions  were  exchanged 
with  the  representative  of  the  great  principle  of  self- government. 
At  every  station  these  glowing  scenes  were  repeated. 

At  Bloomington,  where  it  was  appointed  for  Douglas  to  speak, 
suitable  arrangements  for  his  welcome  had  been  made.  The  day 
was  inauspicious,  but  the  people  had  gathered  in  large  numbers 
through  rain  and  mud.  The  Bloomington  Guards  in  full  uniform, 
citizens,  mounted,  on  foot  and  in  carriages,  formed  into  line  as  an 
escort  to  the  civic  hero.  A  salute  of  32  guns  was  fired  on  the  ap 
proach  of  the  train,  and  the  appearance  of  the  senator  was  followed 
by  the  usual  expressions  of  enthusiasm  greatly  augmented.  Doug 
las  entered  a  carriage  and  a  procession  was  formed  which  moved 
through  the  principal  streets,  lined  on  either  side  with  dense 
masses  of  people,  the  windows  and  balconies  of  the  houses  filled 
with  ladies  waving  their  handkerchiefs.  The  Landon  House,  the 
stopping  place,  was  appropriately  decorated  with  flags  and  mottoes 
of  welcome  for  the  occasion.  At  night  there  was  a  grand  pyrotech 
nic  display,  the  court  house  was  brilliantly  illuminated,  and 
Douglas  addressed  the  people  in  the  public  square.  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  called  out,  but  excused  himself  on  the  ground  of  its  being 
Douglas'  ovation. 

On  the  following  morning  a  special  train  took  the  part}7,  which 
was  further  joined  by  the  Bloomington  Guards  with  their  can 
non  and  a  large  number  of  citizens,  to  Springfield.  The  train 
was  appropriately  decorated  with  beautiful  flags  and  inscriptions. 

At  Atlanta  both  Douglas  and  Lincoln  were  called  out  by  a 
large  assemblage  of  people,  and  both  excused  themselves  from 
speaking.  At  Lincoln  a  halt  was  made  for  dinner.  The  town 


SENATORS  IN   CONGRESS.  711 

was  crowded  with  people,  and  the  reception  was  splendid.  The 
principal  street  was  spanned  by  a  triumphal  arch — a  graceful 
combination  of  leaves,  flowers  and  evergreens,  and  small  banners 
with  mottoes,  surmounted  by  a  large  one  inscribed  "Douglas  For 
ever."  The  Lincoln  House  was  also  beautifully  decorated,  and, 
after  partaking  of  a  sumptuous  repast,  Douglas  made  a  brief  but 
happy  address,  received  the  congratulations  of  his  friends,  when 
the  excursionists  sped  on  their  way  towards  the  capital,  the  pre 
vious  scenes  being  repeated  at  every  station.  At  William sville, 
committees  from  counties  south,  east  and  west  of  Sangamou,  met 
the  train,  and  the  party  being  greatly  increased,  two  engines  were 
brought  into  requisition;  and  thus  with  cannons  firing,  bands 
playing  martial  airs,  the  train,  amidst  the  greetings,  shoutings, 
and  joys  of  a  large  multitude,  sped  into  the  capital  city.  A  halt 
was  made  at  Edwards'  Grove,  where,  notwithstanding  the  occa 
sional  rain,  the  people  from  far  and  near  had  waited  by  thousands, 
and  were  now  addressed  by  Douglas  for  three  hours  in  one  of  his 
most  masterly  efforts.* 

At  night  Mr.  Lincoln  spoke  in  the  city.  He  had  not  heard 
Douglas.  We  subjoin  the  opening  remarks  : 

"Fellow-Citizens  :  Another  election  which  is  deemed  an  important 
one  is  approaching,  and,  as  I  suppose,  the  republican  party  will,  with 
out  much  difficulty,  elect  their  State  ticket.  But  in  regard  to  the  legis 
lature  we,  the  republicans,  labor  under  some  disadvantages."  This  lie 
attributed  to  a  want  of  change  iu  the  apportionment  of  representatives 
in  the  legislature,  still  based  upon  the  census  of  1850,  which  bore  with 
unequal  effect  upon  the  north  part  of  the  State,  the  republican  strong 
hold,  which  had  nearly  doubled  its  population  since  then,  while  in  the 
south  part  no  corresponding  increase  had  taken  place. 

He  further  alluded  to  some  disadvantages  of  a  personal  character,  in 
the  following  humorous  vein  : 

"There  is  still  another  disadvantage  under  which  we  labor,  and  to 
which  I  ask  your  attention.  It  arises  out  of  the  relative  positions  of  the 
two  persons  who  stand  before  you  as  candidates  for  the  senate.  Senator 
Douglas  is  of  world-wide  renown.  All  the  anxious  politicians  of  his 
party  have  been  looking  to  him  as  certainly,  at  no  very  distant  day  to  be 
the  president  of  the  United  States.  They  have  seen  in  his  round,  jolly 
fruitful  face  post-offices,  laud-offices,  marshalships,  and  cabinet  ap 
pointments,  chargeships  and  foreign  missions,  bursting  and  spouting 
out  in  wonderful  exuberance,  ready  to  be  laid  hold  of  by  their  greedy 
hands.  (Great  laughter.)  And  as  they  have  been  gazing  upon  this  at 
tractive  picture  so  long  they  cannot,  in  the  little  distraction  that  has 
taken  place  in  the  party,  bring  themselves  to  quite  give  up  the  charming 
hope  ;  but  with  greedier  anxiety  they  rush  about  him,  sustain  him, 
give  him  marches,  triumphal  entries,  and  receptions  beyond  what  even 
in  the  days  of  his  highest  prosperity  they  could  have  brought  about  in 
his  favor.  On  the  contrary,  nobody  has  ever  expected  me  to  be  presi 
dent.  In  my  poor,  lean,  lank  face  nobody  has  ever  seen  that  any  cabba 
ges  we  re  sprouting  out."  [See  Illinois  State  Register,  July  22,  1858.] 

How  differently  two  year's  time  showed  the  result.  But  not 
withstanding  all  these  disadvantages,  one  week  later  he  addressed 
Douglas  a  note  dated  Chicago  July  24th,  by  the  hand  of  the  Hon. 
]S\  B.  Judd,  for  an  arrangement  to  "address  the  same  audiences 
the  present  canvass."  Mr.  Douglas  answered  on  the  same  day 
that  under  the  advice  of  the  democratic  State  central  committee 
a  list  of  appointments  running  into  October  had  been  made  for 
him,  at  which  legislative  and  congressional  candidates  would  also 

•Condensed  from  111.  State  Register  of  July  19, 1858. 


712  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

be  present  occupying  the  whole  time.  His  wily  nature  led  him 
further  to  suggest  that  in  company  with  Mr.  Lincoln  would  be  a 
third  candidate  for  the  senate,  canvassing  the  State  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  dividing  the  democratic  vote,  who  would  also  claim  a 
portion  of  the  time  from  the  same  stand  ;  and  further  in  the  same 
politic  vein  expressed  his  surprise  that  Mr.  Lincoln  should  have 
waited  till  after  his  appointments  were  out  when  they  had  been 
together  a  number  of  times  before;  but  while  not  at  liberty  to 
change  his  appointments  he  took  the  responsibility  to  stipulate 
for  joint  discussions  in  7  congressional  districts,  one  in  each,  they 
having  already  both  spoken  in  the  2d  and  6th — Chicago  and  Spring 
field.  He  named  Ottawa,  Freeport.  Quincy,  Jonesboro,  Charles 
ton,  Galesburg  and  Alton,  the  speaking  to  alternate  by  opening 
for  1  hour,  answering  1J,  and  replying  J — he  taking  the  openings 
at  the  first  and  last  places.  Mr.  Lincoln  replied  protesting  against 
the  insinuations  of  unfairness,  which,  he  thought  groundless  and 
unjust;  denied  any  knowlege  of  his  plan  of  appointments; 
thought  Douglas  had  the  advantage  in  the  openings  and  closings 
of  the  speaking,  and  accepted  the  proposition.  But  their  sepa 
rate  appointments  were  such  also  that  they  usually  followed  each 
other  in  rapid  order,  in  one  place,  Sullivan,  on  the  same  day. 

The  chain  pious  first  met  for  joint  discussion  at  Ottawa.  They  were 
attended  by  short-hand  reporters,  many  leading  newspapers  abroad 
had  their  special  correspondents  on  the  ground,  and  the  speeches 
were  carefully  taken  down  and  widely  circulated.  It  is  not  our 
purpose  to  give  a  synopsis  of  the  debates,  which  have  been  fully 
published,  but  to  draw  attention  to  a  few  leading  occurrences. 

Douglas  here  propounded  7  questions  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  all  based 
upon  a  resolution  that  he  mistakenly  supposed  the  first  State 
republican  convention  had  adopted  at  Springfield,  October  4, 
1854,  and  which  had  recognized  Mr.  Lincoln  by  placing  him  on 
the  State  central  committee.  The  leading  question  was  whether 
he  favored  the  unconditional  repeal  of  the  fugitive  slave  law? 
The  resolution  proposed  "  to  repeal  and  entirely  abrogate  the  fugi 
tive  slave  law;"  but  Mr.  Lincoln  had  already  declared  his  reluct 
ant  support  of  a  just  and  equitable  fugitive  slave  law,  because  the 
constitution  was  mandatory  upon  that  point,  and  the  republican 
conventions  of  1856-8  had  omitted  to  declare  against  the  rendi 
tion  of  fugitives  from  labor.  Douglas,  to  prove  Lincoln's  posi 
tion  extreme  or  inconsistent,  as  also  the  republicans  generally, 
made  use  of  this  resolution — into  which  he  was  led  by  the  Spring 
field  Register,  which  had  published  it  with  the  proceedings  of  the 
convention.  It  was  really  a  resolution  adopted  by  a  Kane  county 
meeting;  but  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  aware  of  the  mortifying  mis 
take  Douglas  had  fallen  into.  The  republican  press,  however, 
soon  unearthed  it,  and  the  opportunity  to  assail  Douglas  thus 
afforded  was  fully  availed.  Its  columns  teemed  with  charges  of 
"bold  and  deliberate  forgery,"  "unparalleled  mendacity,"  "dast 
ardly  infamy,"  &c.* 

At  Freeport,  6  days  after,  Mr.  Lincoln  answered  Douglas's  inter 
rogatories,  this  one  in  the  negative,  and  then  propounded  4  to 

*  To  show  the  depth  of  party  and  personal  feeling1  against  Dong-las  at  the  time,  the 
Chicago  Press  <£  Tribune  spoke  of  him  at  Ottawa,  as  follows  :  "He  howled,  he  ranted, 
he  bellowed,  he  pawed  dirt,  he  shook  his  head,  he  turned  livid  in  the  face,  he  struck 
his  right  band  into  his  left,  he  foamed  at  the  mouth,  he  anathematized,  he  cursed,  he 
exulted,  he  domineered— he  played  Douulas." 


SENATORS  IN   CONGRESS.  713 

Douglas,  which  the  latter  proceeded  to  answer  immediately, 
making  them  the  subject  of  his  speech.  While  this  proved  his 
ready  and  wonderful  powers  of  debate,  it  would  have  perhaps 
been  well  to  have  deliberated  some  time  as  Mr.  Lincoln  had  done. 
The  2d  interrogatory  was  :  "Can  the  people  of  a  United  States  ter 
ritory,  in  any  lawful  way,  against  the  wishes  of  any  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  exclude  slavery  from  its  limits  prior  to  the  forma 
tion  of  a  State  constitution  f 7 

The  Dred  Scott  decision  was,  that  congress  had  no  right  to  pro 
hibit  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  from  taking  any  property  which 
he  lawfully  held  into  a  territory  of  the  United  States  ;  and  that 
if  congress  could  not  do  this,  it  could  not  authorize  a  territorial 
government,  in  the  absence  of  any  distinction  in  property,  to 
exclude  slaves,  which  were  property  under  the  constitution.  In. 
his  Chicago  speech,  Douglas  had  said  that  to  this  decision  of  the 
august  tribunal  of  the  supreme  court  he  bowed  with  deference. 
Kow  he  said  :  "I  answer  emphatically  that  in  my  opinion  the  peo 
ple  of  a  territory  can  by  lawful  means  exclude  slavery  before  it 
comes  in  as  a  State.  Mr.  Lincoln  knew  that  I  had  given  that 
answer  over  and  over  again."  But  in  the  very  next  breath  he  inti 
mated  that  this  could  only  be  done  by  the  adoption  of  unfriendly 
police  regulations,  by  the  territorial  legislature  withholding  the 
needed  local  or  municipal  laws,  without  which  slavery  could  not 
exist  a  day  anywhere. 

The  Freeport  speech  caused  Douglas  to  be  severely  denounced, 
not  onlyat  home  but  abroad,  by  republicans,  for  his  gross  inconsist 
ency  and  change  of  front,  and  throughout  the  south  as  having  at 
last  shown  his  cloven  foot;  they  could  have  no  further  confidence  in 
a  northern  man  wrho  unnecessarily  espoused  their  interests  against 
his  own  section. 

After  this  the  general  scope  of  their  discussions  was  not  mate 
rially  enlarged.  It  was  slavery  in  the  territories  and  the  rights 
of  the  people  iu  relation  thereto,  Mr.  Lincoln  insisting  that  con 
gress,  notwithstanding  the  obiter  dictum  of  the  supreme  court  iu 
the  Dred  Scott  decision,  had  the  right,  the  same  as  when  the  ordi 
nance  of  1787  was  adopted,  to  exclude  slavery,  and  ought  to  ex 
ercise  it ;  and  Mr.  Douglas  holding  that  the  vexed  question  ought 
to  be  referred  to  the  people  of  the  territory  immediately  con 
cerned,  to  settle  as  their  other  domestic  institutions  in  their  owii 
sovereign  way,  subject  only  to  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States.  Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  assume  an  attitude  of  hostility  to 
slavery  in  the  States,  other  than  that  he  desired  it  "to  be  put  in 
course  of  ultimate  extinction,"  the  language  of  his  first  conven 
tion  speech.  He  did  not  repeat  or  enlarge  upon  the  extreme 
ground  of  this  speech,  but  constantly  guarded  against  it,  though 
Douglas  throughout  the  debates  essayed  to  push  him  on  to  it. 

Whilst  there  were  but  7  joint  discussions,  the  two  champions 
had  their  separate  programmes  for  speaking  so  arranged  for  them 
that  they  addressed  very  nearly  the  same  crowds  in  many  coun 
ties  of  the  State,  some  times  on  the  same  day,  but  oftener  with  only 
a  very  short  time  intervening.  In  Sullivan,  Moultrie  county,  where 
they  spoke  on  the  same  day,  a  serious  collision  between  their 
respective  crowds  was  imminent  for  a  time.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  pur 
posed  deferring  his  speech  to  the  last,  but  as  a  separate  stand  had 
been  erected  by  the  republicans  in  the  north  part  of  the  town, 


714  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

they  formed  a  procession  of  their  forces,  and  in  marching'  thither 
attempted  to  go  right  through  the  other  crowd  in  the  street  where 
Douglas  was  speaking,  and  out  of  their  way.  This  was  not  to  be 
brooked  ;  a  parley  ensued,  during  which  the  band  wagon  was 
attempted  to  be  driven  through  the  crowd  and  a  conflict  was  the 
immedate  result.  But  through  the  commanding  voice  of  Doug 
las,  beyond  a  few  blows,  a  general  melee  was  averted. 

At  Winchester,  his  first  home,  Douglas'  enthusiastic  greeting 
was  deeply  touching.  The  old  county  of  Scott  was  never  so  aroused 
before.  His  arrival  was  announced  by  the  roar  of  cannon  and 
the  glad  shouts  of  a  large  assemblage.  Here  among  these  people 
the  now  great  senator  had  first  cast  his  lot  a  penniless  stranger. 
Here  he  had  taught  school,  and  among  his  auditory  were  gray- 
haired  sires  and  fond  old  matrons  who  had  entrusted  to  him  the 
education  of  their  children,  and  pupils  whom  he  had  taught.  All 
the  old  settlers  well  remembered  him  in  his  poverty  and  obscurity, 
and  doubtless  the  entire  community  were  now  animated  by  that 
pleasant  pride  and  affection  which  said  "we  are  the  makers  of  this 
great  man" — glorying  in  his  fame  and  prosperity — and  with  that 
feeling  welcomed  the  whilom  schoolmaster  in  his  present  character 
of  the  great  American  statesman.  Let  the  reader  trust  both  the 
heart  and  mind  of  Douglas  to  suitably  deal  with  the  occasion  of 
such  a  kindly  re-union,  and  display  to  the  utmost  those  wonderful 
powers  of  eloquence  which  were  placed  under  additional  tribute 
by  the  time,  circumstance  and  place.  He  alluded,  in  the  most 
touching  manner,  to  his  advent  and  residence  at  Winchester,  his 
early  struggles  and  honest  efforts  for  a  beginning  in  a  strange 
land  5  the  ready  imagination  of  his  hearers  readily  suggesting  the 
rest,  while  many  a  tear  of  joy  crept  down  furrowed  cheeks  as  the 
spontaneous  outburst  of  cheers  from  friend  and  political  foe  rent 
the  air,  and  attested  the  opinion  of  all  in  entire  approbation  of  his 
subsequent  career,  more  exalted,  but  among  true  Americans,  not 
more  honorable.  The  audience  and  occasion  were  suggestive  of  a 
rich  vein  of  sentimental  topics  to  the  orator,  and  none  escaped 
him  or  were  omitted.  It  is  a  source  of  regret  that  this  speech,  so 
well  calculated  to  give  us  a  fuller  insight  into  the  depth  of  Doug 
las7  better  nature,  was  not  recorded. 

The  result  of  the  election  returned  to  the  legislature,  in  the 
house,  40  democrats  and  35  republicans;  the  senate  stood  14  dem 
ocrats  and  11  republicans,  giving  the  former  8  majority  on  joint 
ballot.  The  republicans  carried  the  State  by  a  plurality,  the  vote 
standing  :  republicans,  124,098 ;  democrats,  121,190 ;  Buchanan 
democrats,  and  scattering,  4,8G3. 

And  now  the  administration  clique,  defeated  in  their  efforts  to 
beat  Douglas,  fell  out  among  themselves,  and  blamed  each  other 
for  the  result.  It  seems  that  some  of  the  Buchanan  office-holders, 
like  Ike  Cook  and  others,  favored  the  direct  support  of  the  repub 
licans  at  the  polls,  while  others,  like  II.  B.  Carpenter,!  etc.,  made 
the  fight  against  Douglas  and  the  republicans,  both,  on  principle. 
Many  charges  of  subserviency,  gross  deception  of  the  president  as 
to  their  strength,  blunders,  follies  and  villainies,  were  bandied 
back  and  forth.  Col.  John  Dougherty,  the  administration  candi- 

*See  111.  State  Register,  Sept.  25, 1858 

tSee  his  letter  to  Chicago  Democrat,  Nov.,  1858. 


SENATORS   IN   CONGRESS.  715 

date  for  treasurer,  who  bad  received  less  than  5,000  votes  out  of 
the  one-fourth  of  a  million  cast,  issued  a  manifesto  to  the  people 
of  Illinois,  through  the  Cairo  Gazette^  "reading  the  entire  demo 
cratic  party  out  of  the  party,  and  insisting  that  their  delegates 
should  not  be  admitted  to  the  Charleston  convention  [in  1800]."* 
The  Buchanan  party  now  affected  to  believe  that  Douglas  \vould 
be  defeated  before  the  legislature;  but  when  the  time  came  there 
were  no  opponents  to  him  before  the  democratic  caucus, t  though 
he  was  absent,  and  he  was  re-elected  by  54  votes  to  Mr.  Lincoln 
40.  He  telegraphed  back  from  Baltimore — "Let  the  voice  of  the 
people  rule." 

Thus  terminated  this  unprecedented  senatorial  contest,  which 
was  waged  throughout  with  a  vigor  and  spirit  which  had  no  par 
allel  in  the  history  of  parties  in  this  or  any  other  tdtate.  Both  the 
great  political  organizations  fought  with  a  fierceness  which  never 
lagged  for  a  moment,  but  increased  with  every  coming  day.  With 
Douglas,  apparently,  his  political  fortune  was  at  stake.  The  repub 
licans,  after  the  election,  complimented  Mr.  Lincoln  for  the  strong 
and  noble  fight  he  had  made,  what  no  other  man  in  the  State 
could  have  done  for  the  cause ;  and  they  consoled  him  in  the  lan 
guage  of  Pope : 

"More  true  joy  Marcellus  exiled  feels 
Thau  Csesar  with  a««nafeat  his  heek.v 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  thus  brought  con spicuouly  before  the  nation  as 
one  of  the  ablest  leaders  of  the  opposition  ;  and,  in  the  humble 
opinion  of  the  writer,  this  great  contest,  which  primarily  resulted 
simply  in  the  making  of  a  U.  S.  senator  of  one  of  the  contestants, 
directed  the  public  eye  to  the  merits  of  the  other,  and  caused  him 
to  become  the  standard  bearer,  two  years  later,  of  that  party 
whose  cardinal  principle  demanded  freedom  for  the  public  domain, 
and  which,  aided  by  the  divisions  in  the  ranks  of  the  democracy, 
carried  him  by  their  voices  triumphantly  into  the  presidential 
chair  ;  which  the  south  deemed  a  sufficient  affront  for  disunion. 

Having  consumed  so  much  space  to  complete  the  sketch  of  our 
senators  in  congress,  we  can  only  say  that  to  the  seat  of  Douglas, 
after  his  death  in  1801,  succeeded,  1st,  the  Hon.  O.  H.  Browning 
by  appointment  from  Gov.  Yates  ;  2d,  the  legislature  in  1803,  be 
ing  democratic,  and  fierce  in  partisan  spirit,  Browning  failed  of 
confirmation,  and  the  Hon.  W.  A.  Eichardson  was  elected  for  the 
remainder  of  Douglas'  unexpired  term.  In  the  three  executive 
appointments  to  senatorial  vacancies  in  the  history  of  the  State — 
Baker  in  1830,  Semple  in  1843,  and  Browning  in  1801 — only  one, 
that  of  Semple,  has  been  confirmed  by  the  legislature.  In  1805 
Itichard  Yates  was  elected  to  the  same  seat  for  a  full  term,  and  he 
in  1871  was  succeeded  by  Gen.  John  A.  Logan,  who  is  the  second 
native  Illinoisan  that  has  ever  filled  that  exalted  office  for  this 
State. 

*  "Not  having  the  fear  of  numbers  before  his  eyes,  he  boldly  ruled  the  121,000  demo 
crats  who  voted  tor  Douglas,  out,  to  graze  upon  the  common,  as  unworthy  to  associate 
with  him,  and  sat  the  autocrat  of  the  party  in  Illinois"— said  the  St.  Louis  Republican  at 
the  time. 

•f  Though  in  September  Judge  Breese  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Boyakin,  of  the  Belleville 
Democrat,  wrote  :  "I  demand  as  a  right  to  know  who  requested  you  to  say  as  you  have 
said  in  an  editorial  in  your  paper  of  the  4th.  that  "Judge  Breese  is  not,  nor  w'ill  he  be, 
a  candidate  for  the  U.  S.  senate  in  ooposition  to  Mr.  Douglas." 


CHAPTER  LIIL 
1861-1865— ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOVERNOR  YATES. 

Party  Conventions  of  1860 — The  two  Great  Labor  Systems  of  the 
Country  in  Direct  Antagonism — Life  and  Character  of  Gover 
nor  Yates — Lieutenant  Governor  Hoffman — Condition  of  the 
State  and  Comparative  Growth  since  1850. 


The  republican  State  convention  of  1860  met  at  Decatur,  May 
9th.  Every  county  except  Pulaski  was  represented.  The  Hon. 
Joseph  Giilespie,  of  Madison,  was  chosen  to  preside  over  its 
deliberations.  For  the  candidacy  of  governor  there  were  three 
aspirants:  Norman  B.  Judd,  of  Cook,  Leonard  Swett,  of  McLean, 
and  Richard  Yates,  of  Morgan.  On  the  first  ballot  Judd  received 
245  votes,  Swett  191,  Yates  183  and  James  Knox  12  ;  on  the  third 
ballot  Judd  received  his  highest  number,  263;  on  the  fourth  all 
the  Swett  men  but  36  went  to  the  support  of  Yates,  giving  him 
363  votes,  which  nominated  him.  Judd  had  incurred  the  formid 
able  opposition  of  the  Chicago  Democrat,  then  a  power  with  the 
republican  party  of  the  State.  Francis  A.  Hoffman,  of  DuPage, 
was  next  nominated  as  a  candidate  for  lieutenant  governor  by 
acclamation.  The  remainder  of  the  ticket  was:  For  auditor,  Jesse 
K.  Dtibois;  for  treasurer,  William  Butler  ;  for  secretary  of  State, 
O.  M.  Hatch,  and  for  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  New 
ton  Bateman — all  incumbents.  The  Bloomington  platform  of  4 
years  before  was  re-adopted  with  a  stronger  plank  regarding  the 
right  of  foreigners,  doubtless  to  sweeten  the  slightly  remaining 
taint  of  know  no  thin  gi  sin  that  democrats  might  scent  about  repub 
lican  garments.  They  also  declared  for  a  homestead  act  by  con 
gress,  and  the  immediate  admission  of  Kansas  as  a  free  State.  A 
resolution  was  adopted  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  the  choice  of 
the  republican  party  of  Illinois  for  president,  and  the  delegates 
from  this  State  were  instructed,  to  use  all  honorable  means  to 
secure  his  nomination  at  the  Chicago  convention,  and  to  vote  for 
him  as  a  unit.  A  motion  to  strike  out  the  last  da-use  was 
defeated. 

Mr.  Hoffman,  candidate  for  lieutenant  governor,  it  will  be 
remembered  by  the  render,  was  nominated  for  the  same  place  on 
the  republican  ticket  in  1856,  but  shortly  after  was  found  not  to 
be  eligible  to  the  office  if  elected,  he  being  a  German  and  not  a 
citizen  for  14  years  as  the  constitution  required.  He  now  refused 
to  run  for  the  position,  alleging  ill  health.  The  State  central  com 
mittee  put  the  name  of  Hon.  Vital  Jnrrot,  of  St.  Glair,  on  the 
ticket  in  his  stead.  But  the  congressional  convention  of  the  3d 
716 


YATES'  ADMINISTRATION.  717 

district  at  Bloomington  refused  to  ratify  his  nomination,  where 
upon,  he  also  declined  to  run.  The  objection  was  that  it  gave  both 
gubernatorial  candidates  to  the  southern  portion  ot"  the  State. 
The  State  convention  was  thereupon  recalled  and  met  again,  this 
time  at  Springfield,  August  8th,  on  occasion  of  the  great  republi 
can  mass  meeting  at  the  home  of  Lincoln,  one  of  the  grandest  out 
pourings  of  the  people  and  largest  civic  demonstration  with  which 
any  public  man  was  ever  honored.  In  convention,  on  motion  of 
Mr.  Jjirrot,  Mr.  Hoffman  had  leave  to  withdraw  his  letter  of 
declination,  and  his  nomination  was  again  unanimously  confirmed. 

The  State  democratic  convention  of  1860  met  at  Springfield  in 
the  hall  of  the  house  of  representatives,  June  13th.  Hon.  Win. 
McMurtry,  of  Knox,  presided.  On  the  first  ballot  to  nominate  a  can 
didate  for  governor,  J.  C.  Allen,  of  Crawford,  received  157  votes  ;  S. 
A.  Buckm  aster,  of  Madison,  81 ;  J.  L.  D.  Morrison,  of  St.  Olair,  88 ; 
Newton  Cloud,  of  Morgan,  G5 ;  W.  B.  Scates,  of  Cook,  14 ;  J.  A. 
McClernand  and  B.  S.  Edwards,  both  of  Sangamon,  2  each.  On 
the  second  ballot  it  was  soon  disclosed  that  Allen  was  the  favorite, 
and  all  the  other  competitors  being  ^withdrawn  before  the 
announcement  of  the  vote,  Allen's  nomination  was  made  unanim 
ous.  The  balance  of  the  ticket  was :  For  lieutenant  governor,  L. 
AV.Eoss,  of  Fulton  ;  secretary  of  State, G.  H.  Campbell, of  Logan ; 
auditor,  Bernard  Arntzen,  of  Adams;  treasurer,  Hugh  Maher,  of 
Cook  ;  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  Dr.  E.  B,.  Itoe,  of 
McLean.  Their  resolutions  reaffirmed  the  principles  of  the  Cin 
cinnati  platform  of  1850,  approved  the  course  of  the  delegates  to 
the  Charleston  convention,  and  expressed  their  confidence  in  Ste 
phen  A.  Douglas  for  president. 

On  July  the  llth,  the  Buchanan  or  Breckinridge  democracy  met 
in  convention  also  at  Springfield,  and  put  the  following  State 
ticket  in  the  field :  For  governor,  Dr.  Thomas  M.  Hope,  of  Madi 
son  ;  lieutenant  governor,  Thomas  Snell,  of  DeWitt;  secretary  of 
State,  B.  T.  Burke,  of  Macoupin;  auditor,  Henry  S.  Smith,  of 
Knox;  treasurer,  W.  H.  Gather,  of  Adams;  superintendent  of 
public  instruction,  J.  H.  Dennis,  of  St.  Glair;  the  electors  at  large 
being  John  Dougherty  and  Thompson  Campbell.  Eleven  coun 
ties  out  of  102  were  represented  by  53  delegates,  41  of  whom 
were  currently  reported  at  the  time  as  federal  office-holders. 

The  Bell-Everett  State  convention  inetatDecatur,  Aug.  16,  1860. 
Thirty  counties  were  re  presented  by  an  aggregate  of  92  delegates. 
They  nominated  the  following  ticket :  For  governor,  the  Hon. 
John  T.  Stuart,  of  Sangainon  ;  lieutenant  governor,  Henry  S. 
Blackburn,  of  Kock  Island ;  secretary  of  State,  James  Monroe,  of 
Coles;  auditor,  James  D.  Smith,  of  Sangamon;  treasurer,  Jona 
than  Stamper,  of  Macon ;  superintendent  of  public  instruction, 
D.  J.  Snow,  of  Sangamon ;  electors  at  large,  M.  Y.  Johnson,  of 
JoDaviess  and  D.  M.  Woodson,  of  Green. 

Thus  4  tickets  were  in  the  field.  The  political  contest  of  1860 
over  the  question  of  slavery  was  the  most  momentous  in  the  his 
tory  of  this  nation.  The  two  great  labor  systems  of  the  country, 
free  and  slave,  representing  their  respective  sections,  were  brought 
into  direct  antagonism  for  the  first  time  in  a  presidential  election. 
The  southern  wing  of  the  democratic  party,  spurning  Douglas  and 
his  theory  of  popular  sovereignty  at  Charleston,  split  from  its 
northern  associate,  and  eagerly  brought  forward  the  labor 


718  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

system  of  its  section  and  opposed  it  to  that  of  the  north.  The 
issue  thus  presented  was  so  clearly  defined  that  it  was  impossi 
ble  to  long  occupy  any  middle  ground.  The  power  of  Douglas 
alone  held  his  followers  to  one  for  a  time,  but  it  was  apparent  that 
all  between  would  soon  be  but  a  chaotic  mass,  whose  particles, 
drifting  hither  and  thither,  must  find  lodgment  on  the  side  within 
whose  sectional  or  local  focus  of  attraction  they  chanced  to  come. 
The  inexorable  logic  of  events  disclosed  the  completion  of  an 
inevitable  destiny.  The  house  was  indeed  divided  against  itself, 
and  the  irrepressible  conflict  was  at  hand.  The  canvass  proved 
both  an  exciting  and  determined  one,  and  the  fearful  consequen- 
qnences  have  passed  into  history,  abundantly  and  ably  written  up 
by  other  hands. 

The  victory  at  the  polls  for  the  republicans  of  Illinois  in  I860 
was  complete.  They  carried  the  presidential  and  State  tickets, 
and  gained  both  houses  of  the  legislature,  each  by  a  small  ma 
jority.  For  governor,  Yates  received  172,196,  Allen  159,253, 
Stuart  1,626,  Hope  2,049  and  Ghickeriiig  1.140.  The  vote  on  the 
presidential  ticket  was:  for  Lincoln,  171, 106 ;  Douglas,  158,254  ; 
Bell-Everett,  4,851 ;  and  Brecken ridge,  2,292.  With  few  excep 
tions  the  adherents  of  the  latter  two  tickets — particularly  the 
leaders  of  the  Breckinridge  faction — were  shortly  afterwards  ab 
sorbed  by  the  republican  party,  where  some  of  the  Buchanan  men 
have  since  attained  distinction,  both  for  their  radicalism  and  suc 
cess  in  obtaining  office. 

Richard  Yates  was  born  January  18,  1818,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Ohio  river,  at  Warsaw,  Gallatin  county,  Kentucky.  His  father, 
in  183L,  moved  to  Illinois,  and  settled  (after  stopping  for  a  time 
in  Springfield,)  at  Island  Grove,  Sangamon  county.  Here,  after 
attending  school,  Richard  joined  the  family.  Subsequently,  he 
entered  Illinois  College,  at  Jacksonville,  where,  in  1837,  he  grad 
uated  with  first  honors.  He  chose  for  his  profession  the  law,  the 
Hon.  J.  J.  Hardin  being  his  instructor.  After  admission  to  the 
bar  he  soon  rose  to  distinction  as  an  advocate.  Gifted  with  a 
fluent  and  ready  oratory,  he  soon  appeared  in  the  political  hust 
ings,  and  being  a  passionate  admirer  of  the  great  whig  leader  of 
the  west,  Henry  Clay,  he  joined  his  political  fortunes  to  the  party 
of  his  idol.  In  1840  he  engaged  with  great  ardor  in  the  exciting 
uhard  cider  campaign"  for  Harrison.  Two  years  later  he  was 
elected  to  the  legislature  from  Morgan  county,  a  democratic 
stronghold.  He  served  three  or  four  terms  in  the  legislature, 
and  such  was  the  fascination  of  his  oratory,  that  by  1850  his 
large  congressional  district,  extending  from  Morgan  and  Sanga 
mon  north  to  include  La  Salle,  unanimously  tendered  him  the 
whig  nomination.  His  opponent  of  the  democratic  party,  was 
Major  Thomas  L.  Harris,  a  very  popular  man,  who  had  won  dis 
tinction  at  the  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo,  in  the  late  war  with  Mexico, 
and  who,  though  the  district  was  whig,  had  beaten  for  the  same 
position,  two  years  before,  the  Hon.  Stephen  T.  Logan  by  a  large 
majority.  The  contest  between  Yates  and  Harris,  animating  and 
persevering,  resulted  in  the  election  of  the  former.  Two  years 
later,  the  democracy  ungenerously  thrust  aside  Major  Harris  and 
pitted  'John  Calhoun  against  Yates,  and,  though  Calhoun  was  a 
man  of  great  intellect,  and  when  aroused,  of  unsurpassed  ability 


YATES'  ADMINISTRATION.  719 

as  a  political  debater — whom  Mr.  Lincoln  had  said  he.  would 
dreaol  more  in  debate  than  any  man  in  Illinois — the  result  was 
as  before.  It  was  during  Yates'  second  term  that  the  great 
question  of  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise  came  before 
congress,  against  which  he  early  arrayed  himself,  and  took  de 
cided  and  advanced  anti-slavery  ground  in  a  speech  of  rare 
oratory  and  remarkable  power,  which  gained  him  natianal  rep 
utation.  But  we  have  seen  that  at  this  formative  period  of  the 
republican  party,  the  whigs  of  central  Illinois,  unwilling  to  join 
their  fortunes  with  a  sectional  party,  went  with  the  democracy, 
and  in  1854,  Major  Harris  being  again  his  opponent  for  congress, 
Yates  was  defeated  on  the  Nebraska  issue  by  only  about  200 
votes  in  the  district  which  had  given  Pierce  two  years  before 
2,000  majority  over  Scott.  Six  years  later  he  was  elected  gov 
ernor  by  the  party,  for  the  aid  in  the  formation  of  which  he  had 
suffered  this  defeat. 

Richard  Yates  occupied  the  chair  of  State  during  the  most 
critical  period  of  our  country's  history.  In  the  fate  of  the  nation 
was  involved  the  destiny  of  the  States.  The  life-struggle  of  the 
former  derived  its  sustenance  from  the  loyalty  of  the  latter.  The 
position  of  governor  of  a,  great  State  was,  therefore,  important 
and  responsible,  as  it  was  capable  of  being  exerted  for  vast 
good  or  immense  evil.  Need  it  be  said  that  in  this  trying  period 
lie  discharged  his  duty  with  patriotic  fidelity  to  the  cause  of  the 
nation?  Gov.  Yates  had  many  valuable  attributes  for  his  high 
station  in  this  ordeal  of  the  country.  His  loyalty  was  as  undoubted 
as  it  proved  itself  true.  He  was  the  close  personal  friend  of  Pres 
ident  Lincoln.  His  ardent  devotion  to  the  Union  was  founded, 
upon  a  deep  love  for  it.  While  he  had  been  early  identified  with 
the  formation  of  the  republican  party,  he  had  not  been  connected 
with  the  old  abolitionists,  among  whom  were  persons  who  pre 
ferred  the  success  of  their  hobby  to  the  safety  of  the  Union.  But 
above  all,  he  had  a  deep  hold  upon  the  affections  of  the  people, 
won  by  his  moving  eloquence  and  genial  manners.  He  inspired 
strong  attachments  among  his  partisan  friends.  Nature  had  fash 
ioned  him  to  be  admired  by  the  masses.  Handsome,  erect  and 
symmetrical  in  person,  with  a  winning  address  and  a  magnetic 
power,  few  men  posssessed  more  of  the  elements  of  popularity. 
His  oratory,  into  the  spirit  of  which  he  entered  with  apparent  for- 
getfulness  of  self,  was  scholarly  and  captivating,  the  hearer  hardly 
knowing  why  he  was  transported.  Though  less  logical  than  elo 
quent,  he  reasoned  well,  and  always  inspired  deep  and  enduring 
partisan  attachments.  He  was  social  and  convivial  to  an  eminent 
degree,  traits  of  character,  which,  however,  were  subjected  to 
little  of  puritanic  denial;  but  in  the  very  excesses  of  his  appetites 
he  has  carried  «with  him  the  sympathies  of  the  people,  almost  irre 
spective  of  party,  on  account  of  his  many  noble  attributes  of  head 
and  heart, 

The  very  creditable  military  efforts  of  this  State  during  the  war 
of  the  rebellion,  in  putting  her  quotas,  aggregating  the  enormous 
number  of  about  200,000*  soldiers  in  the  field,  were  ever  promptly 

*In  1850  Illinois  had  a  population  of  851,470,  and  according-  to  the  army  register  for 
1851,  her  militia  numbered  170,359,  4,168  of  \vhom  were  commissioned  officers:  in  18(50 
she  had  a  population  of  1,711.951,  which  would  have  given  her  at  the  breaking-  out  of 
the  rebellion,  in  1861.  a  militia  force  of  350,000,  and  out  of  this  number  nearly  200,000 
volunteers  were  furnished. 


HISTORY   OF   ILLIKOES. 


and  ably  seconded  by  his  excellency :  be  was  ambitious  to  deserve 
the  title  of  the  soldiers' friend.  His  proclamations  calling  for  vol 
unteers  are  impassion  ate  appeals,  urging  the  duties  and  require 
ments  of  patriotism  upon  tbe  people ;  and  bis  special  messages  to 
tbe  last  democratic  legislature  of  this  State,  pleading  for  material 
aid  for  tbe  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  of  Illinois  regiments,  breathe 
a,  deep  fervor  of  noble  sentiment  and  feeling  rarely  equalled  in 
beauty  or  felicity  of  expression.  Generally  his  messages  on  politi 
cal  or  civil  affairs  were  able  and  comprehensive  ;  though  on  these 
subjects,  particularly  tbe  former,  bis  style  is  perhaps  too  florid 
and  diffuse.  There  were  no  State  civil  events  of  an  engrossing 
character  during  Gov.  Yates'  administration  j  two  years  of  it, 
however,  were  replete  with  partisan  quarrels  of  great  bitterness, 
during  the  sitting  of  the  constitutional  convention  of  1862,  and 
the  sessions  of  the  last  democratic  legislature  in  1803,  which  lat 
ter  body  he  finally  squelched  by  bis  act  of  prorogation.  These 
the  reader  will  find  summed  up  further  along.  The  operations 
of  Illinois  regiments  in  the  field  are  also  elsewhere  recorded  in 
detail. 

Lieut.  Gov.  Hoffman  was  born  at  Herford,  Prussia,  1822.  He 
was  tbe  son  of  a  bookseller,  and  educated  at  the  Frederieh  Wil 
liam  Gymnasium  of  his  native  town.  At  the  a.ge  of  18  he  emi 
grated  to  America,  landing  penniless  in  Kew  York.  Borrowing 
$8  he  started  west,  and  after  a  toilsome  journey  reached  Chi 
cago  in  1840.  Moneyless  and  unable  to  speak  the  English  lan 
guage,  he  taught  a  small  German  school  at  Dunkley's  Grove, 
DuPage  county,  at  $50  a  year,  with  the  privilege  of  "boarding 
around"  among  its  patrons.  Next,  having  studied  theology,  he 
was  ordained  a  minister  of  the  Lutheran  church.  In  1852  he 
removed  to  Chicago,  studied  law,  was  successful  in  the  real  estate 
business,  became  a  free-banker  in  1854,  and  as  such,  with  the 
secession  of  1861  and  the  downfall  of  our  "stumptaiP  currency, 
failed.  He  had  annually  published,  in  German,  a  review  of  the 
commerce  and  finances  of  Chicago,  and  scattering  thousands  of 
copies  in  his  native  land,  materially  benefited  her  growth ;  and  as 
commissioner  of  the  foreign  land  department  of  the  Central  Rail 
road  Company,  he  was  instrumental  in  inducing  many  thousands 
of  German  families  to  purchase  lands  and  settle  in  Illinois. 

He  early  took  an  active  interest  in  public  affairs.  In  1847  he 
was  a  member  of  the  famous  JRlver  and  Harbor  convention  at 
Chicago.  In  1853  he  was  elected  alderman  for  the  8th  ward  of  that 
city.  He  was  among  the  first  of  the  prominent  Germans  of  the 
northwest  to  advocate  the  anti-slavery  cause  by  writing  for  the  first 
German  newspaper  of  Chicago,  and  translating  from  the  German 
for  the  Democrat.  In  1848  he  supported  Van  Buren  for  the  presi 
dency  ;  with  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise  he  aided  in 
the  organization  of  the  republican  party,  and  in  1856  canvassed 
tbe  State  for  Fremont.  Well  educated,  a  clear  mind,  decision  and 
energy,  be  acquitted  himself  with  dignity  and  impartiality  as  the 
presiding  officer  of  the  Senate  during  a  period  replete  with  parti 
san  strife,  and  the  most  perilous  in  our  history. f 


Comparative  Growth  of  the  State  since  1850. — The  national  cen 
sus  of  1860  revealed  for  Illinois  a  population  of  1,711,951,  against 

tSee  "Biographical  Sketches  of  leading-  men  of  Chicago,"  by  A.  Shuman. 


YATES'  ADMINISTRATION.  721 

851.470  in  1850 — ail  increase  of  over  100  per  cent,  in  the  preced 
ing  decade.  This  ranked  her  as  the  fourth  State  in  the  Union  in 
point  of  population,  and  entitled  her  to  14  members  in  the  lower 
house  of  congress. 

The  following  table  from  the  census  reports  show  her  increase 
in  wealth  during  this  period: 

Classes  of  Properly.  1850.  1860 

Real  and   personal 5156.000,000  $871.000.000 

Value  of  farms 96,000,000  432.000,00 

Value  of  fanning- implements 6,000,000  18,000,000 

Value  of  orchard  products 446,049  1,145,1)36 

Value  of  livestock 24,000,000  73.4:54,0(0 

Value  of  animals  slaughtered 4,972,000  15,0^0,000 

Wheat  raised.  No.  bushels 9,414,000  24,159.003 

Corn  raised,  No.  bushels 57,546.600  115,2(ii>.iM'0 

Barley,  No.  bushels 110,000  1,175,000 

Buckwheat,  No.  bushels 184,000  345000 

Potatoes,  No.  bushels 2,514,000  5,799,<>G4 

Hay,tons 601,952  l,Ktt,265 

Butter,  Jbs 1.200,000  28,337,000 

Tobacco.   Ibs 841,394  7,014,234 

Total  No  of  acres  improved 500,000  13,251, (XX) 

This  shows  the  aggregate  wealth  of  1850  to  have  multiplied  five 
times  in  one  decade  ;  the  value  of 'farms  4£  times.  But  while  the 
census  of  1860  gave  us  a  total  property  value  of  $871,000,000  the 
assessed  value  for  the  same  year  was  not  quite  $390,000,000.  Illi 
nois  was  the  first  corn  and  wheat  producing  State  in  the  Union  ; 
in  value  of  her  live  stock  she  was  second;  in  cattle,  Texas  and 
Ohio  were  ahead;  in  the  number  of  horses,  Ohio  was  also  ahead, 
having  622,829  to  Illinois  575,161;  in  the  number  of  improved 
acres,  ^"ew  York  alone  led  her  by  about  1,000,000  acres. 

The  permanent  debt  of  the  State  in  1860  was  $10,277.161. 


4G 


CHAPTER  LTV. 
ILLINOIS  IN  THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION. 

Slavery — Sectional  Antagonism — Secession — Inauguration  of  Lincoln 
— Call  for  Volunteers — Proclamation  of  Oov.  Yates — Uprising  of 
the  People. 


In  1861  the  Great  Rebellion  assumed  a  definite  shape,  and  a  civil 
war  of  the  most  astounding  magnitude  followed.  The  primary 
cause  of  the  antagonism  which  existed  between  the  Northern  and 
Southern  sections  of  the  Union  was  the  institution  of  slavery. 
Other  agencies  doubtless  served  proximately  to  intensify  the  hos 
tility  unfortunately  engendered,  but  in  every  instance,  if  not 
directly  connected  with  this  great  national  evil,  their  remote  origin 
could  be  traced  to  it. 

The  federal  constitution  recognized  slavery,  but  its  f ram ers  sup 
posed  that  in  the  different  States  where  it  existed  the  benign  in 
fluences  of  free  institutions  and  the  palpable  advantages  of  free 
laborx would  extirpate  it  without  the  intervention  of  the  general 
government.  These  happy  anticipations  at  first  seemed  likely  to 
be  realized.  Commencing  with  the  more  northern  of  the  slave 
States  the  work  of  emancipation  gradually  extended  southward 
till  it  reached  Virginia,  Maryland  and  Kentucky,  where  its  further 
progress  was  stayed.  The  growth  of  cotton  in  the  Gulf  States 
had  in  the  meantime  become  a  source  of  vast  wealth,  and  the  be 
lief  that  slavery  was  essential  to  its  cultivation  greatly  modified 
the  repugnance  with  which  it  had  hitherto  been  regarded.  The 
remaining  slave  States,  now  actuated  by  pecuniary  considera 
tions,  abandoned  the  idea  of  emancipation  and  accepted  slavery 
as  a  permanent  institution.  The  invention  of  the  cotton-gin  and 
other  machinery  gave  a  new  impetus  to  the  cultivation  of  cotton, 
and  the  fabrics  manufactured  from  it,  and  those  engaged  in  this 
great  branch  of  industry  soon  resolved  not  only  to  protect  slavery 
where  it  existed,  but  demanded  new  territory  for  its  future  expan 
sion.  In  carving  new  States  out  of  the  vast  unoccupied  portion 
of  the  national  domain,  a  bitter  sectional  contest  arose  as  to 
whether  the  new  members  of  the  confederacy  should  belong  to  the 
empire  of  freedom  or  slavery.  The  opponents  of  slavery  were  de 
sirous  of  restricting  it  to  its  original  limits,  but  the  cotton  States 
threatened  to  withdraw  from  the  Union  if  their  demands  were  not 
granted,  thus  causing  grave  apprehensions  for  the  safety  of  the 
republic  unless  the  question  could  be  amicably  adjusted.  Pend 
ing  the  admission  of  Missouri  into  the  Union  a  compromise  war,  at 
length  effected,  making  the  southern  boundary  of  that  State  the 


THE   WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  723 

line  of  demarkation  between  free  ami  slave  territory.  This  was 
supposed  at  the  time  to  be  a  final  settlement  of  the  dangerous 
question,  for  no  one  proposed  to  interfere  with  slavery  within  its 
original  limits. 

The  recognition  and  protection  thus  offered  inspired  new  confi 
dence  in  the  advocates  of  slavery,  and  so  enhanced  the  value  of 
its  capital  that  they  ultimately  became  the  principal  elements  of 
southern  wealth.  With  her  capital  thus  invested  the  south  nec 
essarily  became  agricultural,  and  hence  the  agitation  that  arose 
in  regard  to  the  tariff,  culminating  in  the  attempt  of  South  Caro 
lina  to  nullify  the  laws  of  the  U.  S.  for  collecting  duties.  Notwith 
standing  repeated  threats  on  the  part  of  this  refractory  member 
of  the  Union  to  withdraw,  the  sturdy  determination  of  Jackson 
secured  the  enforcement  of  law,  but  the  cause  which  had  pro 
duced  the  disturbance  still  existed,  and  soon  disclosed  itself  in 
another  form.  By  the  treaty  with  Mexico  vast  accessions  of 
territory  wwre  made  to  the  national  domain,  and  southern  politi 
cians  insisted  on  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise,  declaring 
they  had  a  right  under  the  constitution  to  take  their  chattels  to 
any  part  of  the  western  territory  and  compete  with  the  north  in 
the  formation  of  new  States.  The  question  was  brought  before 
the  national  legislature,  and  this  compact,  originally  established 
for  the  benefit  of  slavery,  for  the  same  purpose  was  now  annulled, 
thereby  renewing  sectional  agitation  and  animosity.  The  fertile 
plains  of  Kansas,  situated  within  the  region  which  had  been  con 
secrated  to  freedom,  were  rapidly  attracting  population,  and  a 
fierce  struggle  immediately  arose  to  decide  whether  the  territory 
should  be  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  free  or  slave  State.  As 
its  character  in  this  respect  must  now  be  determined  by  the  vote 
of  actual  residents,  emigrants  in  great  numbers  were  hurried  into 
it  from  the  rival  sections.  After  a  protracted  contest  the  cham 
pions  of  slavery,  finding  themselves  in  the  minority,  and  knowing 
the  result  of  the  ballot  nrould  be  against  them,  endeavored  to  gain 
ascendency  by  intrigue  and  violence. 

The  startling  fact  now  became  apparent,  even  to  the  southern 
mind,  that  while  slavery  enabled  the  few  who  owned  and  con 
trolled  it  to  amass  princely  fortunes,  and  live  idle  and  proflgate 
lives,  it  correspondingly  impoverished  the  States  in  which  it  ex 
isted.  At  the  adoption  of  the  federal  constitution  both  sections 
started  with  perhaps  equal  natural  advantages,  but  one  having 
free  and  the  other  compulsory  labor,  an  immense  disparity  now 
existed  between  them  in  all  the  elements  of  power  and  civilization. 
The  North,  with  its  vastly  preponderating  population,  could  now 
people  and  control  the  greater  part  of  the  unoccupied  territory, 
and  with  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise  the  South  had 
given  the  legal  right  to  it. 

During  the  years  of  increasing  excitement  the  general  govern 
ment  remained  uncommitted  to  either  section,  but  the  States  in 
which  the  contest  originally  commenced  daily  became  more  hos 
tile,  and  in  some  instances  laws  were  enacted  calculated  to  further 
inflame  the  public  mind.  A  remarkable  fact,  however  anomalous 
ir  may  appear,  was  that  the  extreme  northern  and  southern  States, 
the  most  remote  from  the  evils  complained  of  and  the  least  likely 
to  be  affected  by  the  issue  which  entered  into  the  controversy, 
manifested  the  greatest  hostility.  In  many  northern  localities  the 


724  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

impression  prevailed  that  tbe  rendition  of  'slaves  to  their  masters 
was  wrong,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  fugitive  slave  law  met 
with  strong  opposition,  while  in  the  South  those  who  expressed 
themselves  condemnatory  of  slavery  were  subjected  to  indignities 
which  even  barbarism  would  hesitate  to  impose.  Truth  ever 
demands  investigation,  and  error  ever  shuns  it,  consequently 
those  who  in  the  interest  of  slavery  imposed  restraint  upon  free 
speech  virtually  acknowledged  they  were  endeavoring  to  uphold 
an  institution  intrinsically  wrong.  This  moral  despotism  set  up 
in  the  midst  of  the  republic  further  exasperated  the  northern  mind, 
the  indignation  becoming  so  unmanageable  in  some  instances  as 
to  transcend  the  requirements  of  law  and  order. 

As  a  result  of  the  sectional  feeling,  conventions  assembled  in 
the  different  parts  of  the  South  ostensibly  for  commercial  pur 
poses,  but  in  reality  to  plot  treason  against  the  general  govern 
ment.  The  church,  for  a  long  time  involved  in  the  controversy, in 
some  of  its  branches,  endeavored  to  maintain  conservative  ground, 
while  others  were  torn  asunder  b}T  the  violence  and  antagonism 
of  the  contest.  Southern  clergymen,  while  preaching  redemption 
from  spiritual  bondage,  strangely  insisted  that  the  political  bond 
age  of  the  African,  which  imbruited  both  the  soul  and  body  of 
its  rictims,  was  a  divine  institution.  Southern  disunionists  also 
endeavored  to  poison  the  public  mind  with  the  impression  that 
the  future  triumph  of  the  republican  party  would  be  a  justifiable 
pretext  for  dissolving  the  Union.  Said  Jefferson  Davis  in  a  speech 
at  Jackson,  Miss. :  ulf  an  abolitionist  be  chosen  president  of  the 
United  States  you  will  have  presented  to  you  the  question 
whether  you  will  permit  the  government  to  pass  into  the  hands  of 
your  avowed  and  implacable  enemies.  Without  pausing  for  an 
answec,  I  will  state  my  own  position  to  be  that  such  a  result  would 
be  a  species  of  revolution  by  which  the  purposes  of  the  govern 
ment  would  be  destroyed,  and  the  observances  of  its  mere  forms 
entitled  to  no  respect.  In  that  event,  in  such  manner  as  should  be 
most  expedient,  I  should  deem  it  your  duty  to  provide  for  your 
safety  outside  of  the  Union."  Said  the  unscrupulous  politician, 
W.  L.  Yancy :  "The  remedy  of  the  south  is  in  a  diligent  organi 
zation  of  her  true  men  for  prompt  resistance  to  the  next  aggres 
sion.  It  must  come  in  the  nature  of  things.  No  additional  party 
can  save  us  j  no  sectional  party  can  ever  do  it.  But  if  we  could  do 
as  our  fathers  did,  organize  committees  of  safety  all  over  the  cotton 
States,  and  it  is  only  by  these  that  we  can  hope  for  any  effective 
movement.  We  shall  fire  the  southern  heart,  instruct  the  south 
ern  mind,  give  courage  to  each  and  at  the  proper  moment,  by  one 
organized  concerted  action,  we  can  precipitate  the  cotton  States 
into  a  revolution." 

While  the  political  horizon  was  assuming  this  alarming  aspect 
the  presidential  contest  of  1860  gave  additional  intensity  to  sec 
tional  excitement.  The  supporters  of  Mr.  Breckenridge  evinced 
the  greatest  hostility  toward  the  republicans,  and  openly  declared 
their  determination  never  to  submit  to  the  government  if  it  should 
pass  into  their  hands.  Formerly. similar  denunciations  and  threats 
caused  the  most  serious  alarm,  but  now  they  had  become  so  com 
mon  that  in  the  fierce  storms  of  political  excitement  that  swept 
OA'er  the  country  they  were  little  regarded.  The  protracted  con 
test  at  length  terminated  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  It  was 


THE   WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  72o 

evident  to  all  who  were  conversant  with  the  progress  of  events 
that  the  supremacy  which  the  south  had  so  long-  maintained  in 
the  government  was  at  an  end.  The  southern  malcontents  must 
now  either  submit  to  republican  rule  or  put  in  practice  their  oft- 
repeated  threat  to  dissolve  the  Union.  The  latter  alternative  was 
chosen. 

As  the  result  of  this  election  was  flashed  over  the  telegraph 
wires,  it  was  hailed  as  a  pretext  for  secession.  The  cities  of  the 
Gulf  States  were  nightly  illuminated,  and  preparations  were 
immediately  commenced  for  the  coming  conflict.  Ignoring  the 
moral  sense  of  mankind,  which  had  long  since  condemned  slavery, 
they  proposed  to  found  a  nation  recognizing  the  absolute  suprem 
acy  of  the  white  man  and  the  perpetual  bondage  of  the  negro. 
Long  accustomed  to  the  exercise  of  arbitrary  power  over  the  body 
aud  soul  of  the  bondman,  they  had  lost  all  sympathy  for  free 
institutions,  and  while  ostensibly  proposing  to  establish  a  repub 
lic,  their  ultimate  object  was  doubtless  the  upbuilding  of  a  mon 
archy.  States  aud  nations  when  subjected  to  great  evils  which 
the  governing  power  refuses  to  rectify  have  the  right  of  revolu 
tion,  but  the  abettors  of  the  present  movement  had  no  such  justi- 
tification.  The  dominant  party  had  come  into  power  strictly 
within  the  pale  of  the  constitution  and  law,  and  with  a  platform 
fully  recognizing  the  right  of  each  State  to  manage  its  domestic 
institutions  in  its  own  way.  It  is  true  the  incoming  president  had 
given  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  government  could  not  remain  per 
manently  half  slave  and  half  free,  but  this  was  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  natural  law  rendered  the  two  conditions  wholly  incompati 
ble,  and  not  because  he  wished  to  make  the  civil  law  a  disturbing 
element.  On  the  contrary,  he  had  said  in  a  speech  at  Cincinnati 
the  previous  year,  "I  now  assure  you  that  I  neither  had  nor  no\r 
have  any  purpose  in  any  way  of  interfering  with  the  institution 
of  slavery  where  it  exists.  I  believe  we  have  no  power  under  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States,  or  rather  under  the  form  of 
government  under  which  we  live,  to  interfere  with  the  institution 
of  slavery  or  any  other  institution  of  our  sister  States." 

But  independent  of  grievances,  the  south  maintained  that  the 
several  States  on  entering  the  Union,  reserved  to  themselves  the 
right  to  secede  from  it  whenever  they  deemed  their  interest  ren 
dered  it  expedient  In  the  north  it  was  contended  that  the  power,  if 
not  expressed,  is  implied  in  the  fundamental  law  of  all  governments 
to  protect  and  indefinitely  prolong  their  existence  that  the  framers 
of  our  constitution  never  intended  to  incorporate  in  it  any  pro 
vision  for  its  destruction ;  that  its  checks  and  balances  for  pre 
serving  harmony  in  the  different  departments  of  government  were 
designed  to  make  it  a  mighty  fabric  capable  of  resisting  the  most 
adverse  vicissitudes  of  coming  time;  that  the  doctrine  of  volun 
tary  secession  if  admitted  would  disintegrate  all  existing  govern 
ments,  and  reduce  society  to  a  chaos,  that  mankind,  whether  in 
an  individual  or  corporate  capacity,  must  therefore  submit  to 
just  restraint  in  order  to  secure  the  beneficent  ends  contemplated 
by  good  government.  It  was  contended  moreover  the  States  of 
Louisiana,  Flo  rid  a  and  Texascost  the  general  govern  men  t  between 
$200,000,000  and  $300,000,000,  and  it  was  unreasonable  to  suppose 
that  they  could  withdraw  at  pleasure  after  the  obligation  incur 
red  by  the  expenditures  of  this  vast  sum  of  money,  that  a  pri- 


726  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

mary  object  of  tlieir  acquisition  was  to  obtain  control  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  and  the  people  of  the  northwest  could  never  consent  that 
it  should  flow  hundreds  of  miles  through  foreign  jurisdiction  mid 
thus  be  compelled  to  submit  to  the  arbitrary  imposition  of  duties 
upon  their  commerce. 

When,  however,  the  hour  finally  came  for  committing  the  overt 
act  which  should  dismember  the  great  republic,  even  the  reckless 
conspirators,  who  had  for  years  derided  the  warnings  of  states 
men,  and  stigmatized  them  as  Union-savers,  trembled  in  view  of 
the  consequences  which  must  follow.  The  people  especially, 
among  whom  there  were  many  loyalists,  hesitated  to  enter  the 
yawning  abyss,  whose  dark  and  angry  depths  the  ken  of  human 
wisdom  was  unable  to  fathom.  Some  of  their  wisest  and  most  pa 
triotic  leaders,  till  borne  down  by  the  tide  of  revolution,  continu 
ally  endeavored  to  avert  the  impending  calamity. 

Said  A.  H.  Stephens  in  the  Georgia  convention  pending  tt;e 
discussion  of  secession  :  "This  step  once  taken  can  never  be  re 
called,  and  all  the  baleful  and  withering  consequences  that  will 
follow  must  rest  on  this  convention  for  all  coming  time.  When 
we  and  our  posterity  shall  see  our  lovely  land  desolated  by  the 
demon  of  war  which  this  act  of  yours  will  inevitably  invite  and  »%ilS 
forth  ;  when  our  green  fields  and  waving  harvests  shall  be  trodden 
down  by  a  murderous  soldiery,  and  the  fiery  car  of  war  sweeping 
over  our  land,  our  temples  of  justice  laid  in  ashes,  all  the  horrors 
and  desolations  of  war  upon  us — who  but  this  convention  will  bit- 
held  responsible  for  it?  and  who  but  him  who  shall  have  given 
his  vote  for  this  unwise  and  ill-timed  measure  shall  be  held  i»>  u 
strict  account  by  this  suicidal  act  by  the  present  generation,  and 
probably  cursed  and  execrated  by  posterity  for  all  time,  for  Hie 
wide  and  desolating  ruin  that  will  inevitably  follow  this  act  you 
now  propose  to  perpetrate  F 

At  this  critical  period, pregnant  with  the  unnumbered  woes  that 
aftewards  befell  the  country,  the  representatives  of  Illinois  in 
congress  all  united  in  condemning  secession,  and  maintain^  the 
right  of  coercion.  Douglas,  in  his  last  speech  before  the  distin 
guished  body  of  which  he  was  a  member,  remarked  :  uSirr  the 
word  government  means  coercion.  There  can  be  no  government 
without  coercion.  Coercion  is  the  vital  principle  upon  which  all 
governments  rest.  Withdraw  the  right  of  coercion  and  you  dis 
solve  your  government.  If  every  man  would  do  his  duty  and 
respect  the  rights  of  his  neighbor  there  would  be  no  necessity  for 
government.  The  necessity  of  government  is  found  to  consist  in 
the  fact  that  some  men  will  not  do  right  unless  forced.  The  object 
of  all  government  is  to  coerce  and  compel  every  man  to  do  his 
duty  who  would  not  otherwise  perform  it,  and  hence  I  do  not  sub 
scribe  to  this  doctrine  that  coercion  is  not  to  be  used  in  a  free 
government.  It  must  be  used  in  all  governments,  no  matter  what 
their  form  or  what  their  principles."  Mr.  Trumbull,  his  colleague, 
in  speaking  of  compromise  said,  if  they  wanted  anything,  let  them 
go  back  to  the  Missouri  compromise  and  stand  by  it.  All  agreed 
that  congress  had  no  right  to  interfere  with  slavery  in  the  States  5 
but  he  would  never,  by  his  vote,  make  one  slave,  and  the  people 
of  the  great  Northwest  would  never  con  sent  by  their  act  to  estab 
lish  slavery  anywhere.  He  did  not  believe  the  constitution  needed 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  727 

amending,  but  was  willing  to  vote  a  recommending  to  the  States 
to  make  a  proposal  to  call  a  convention  to  consider  amendments. 

During  the  interval  of  time  from  the  election  to  the  inauguration 
of  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  conspirators  hurried  forward  their  unhallowed 
scheme.  The  seven  extreme  Southern  States  adopted  ordinances  of 
secession,  each  declaring  it  had  again  resumed  its  place  among 
the  independent  nations  of  the  world,  with  full  powers  to  declare 
war,  establish  commerce,  contract  alliances,  and  perform  all  other 
acts  pertaining  to  independent  States.  In  order  to  meet  the  fearful 
responsibilities  thus  incurred,  they  immediately  seized  a  large 
number  of  the  forts  and  arsenals  within  their  limits,  and  invested 
the  others  with  troops  to  enforce  their  submission.  In  many  in 
stances  those  in  command  basely  betrayed  the  government  that 
had  educated  and  given  them  positions.  Delegates  from  the 
several  rebellious  states  assembled  at  Montgomery,  Alabama, 
and  organized  a  provisional  government,  adopting  the  constitu 
tion  of  the  U.  S.,  modified  so  as  to  suit  treason  and  slavery, 
and  electing  Jefferson  Davis  president,  and  Alexander  H.  Steph 
ens  vice-president.  Bnmors  in  the  meantime  prevailed  that  armed 
rebels  were  about  to  march  against  the  national  capital,  and  Gen. 
Scott  organized  the  militia  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  placed 
regulars  in  the  navy  yard,  and  adopted  other  precautionary  meas 
ures  to  prevent  an  attack.  Yet  the  president,  while  admitting 
that  secession  was  treason  and  revolution,  said  that  the  federal 
government  had  no  power  to  coerce  into  submission  rebellious 
States,  Even  when  the  nation  was  crumbling  into  fragments, 
and  an  energetic  effort  might,  to  a  great  extent,  have  prevented 
the  terrible  ordeal  of  blood  through  which  it  subsequently  passed, 
he  pleaded  for  further  concessions  to  its  implacable  enemies.  Pa 
triots  all  over  the  land  had  keenly  felt  the  indignities  and  insults 
so  defiantly  perpetrated  by  rebels,  whose  arrogance,  instead  of 
being  severely  punished,  only  met  with  encouragement  under  the 
imbecile  rule  of  Buchanan.  It  was,  therefore,  with  no  little  anxi 
ety  and  impatience  that  all  looked  forward  to  the  incoming  ad 
ministration,  hoping  that  those  about  to  assume  the  reins  of 
government  would  have  the  wisdom  to  comprehend  the  situation 
of  the  country,  and  the  courage  to  punish  the  traitors  who  were 
endeavoring  to  ruin  it.  On  the  llth  of  February,  1861,  the  presi 
dent-elect  left  his  home  in  Springfield  preparatory  to  assume  the 
grave  responsibility  which  devolved  on  him  as  chief  magistrate 
of  the  nation  now  rent  with  civil  feuds  and  upon  the  eve  of  a 
bloody  war.  A  large  number  of  his  old  friends  assembled  at  the 
depot  to  bid  him  farewell,  and  express  their  sympathy  in  view  of 
the  perilous  and  momentous  duties  that  awaited  him.  Said  he : 

"My  friends,  no  one,  not  in  my  position,  can  appreciate  the  sadness  I 
feel  at  this  parting.  To  this  people  I  owe  all  that  am.  Here  I  have  lived 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  here  my  children  were  bom,  and  here 
one  of  them  lies  buried.  I  know  not  how  soon  I  will  see  you  again.  A 
duty  devolves  upon  me  which  is  perhaps  greater  than  that  which  has 
rested  upon  any  other  man  since  the  day  of  Washington.  He  would 
never  have  succeeded  except  for  the  aid  of  Divine  Providence,  on  which 
he  at  all  times  relied.  I  feel  that  I  cannot  succeed  without  the  same 
divine  aid  which  sustained  him.  On  the  same  Almighty  Being  T  place 
my  reliance  for  support,  and  I  hope  you,  my  friends,  will  pray  that  I  may 
receive  that  divine  assistance,  without  which  I  can  not  succeed,  but  with 
which  success  is  certain.  Again  I  bid  you  all  an  affectionate  farewell." 


728  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

Hitherto  lie  Lad  maintained  a  quiet  reserve  respecting  tLe 
momentous  crisis  in  national  affairs,  but  now  as  lie  journeyed 
toward  tLe  capital  of  tLe  republic  lie  found  it  impossible  to  longer 
remain  silent.  In  all  the  principal  cities  through  which  he  passed 
vast  crowds  assembled  to  greet  him  and  listen  to  the  brief  speeches 
made  in  connection  with  tLe  interchange  of  civilities.  In  these 
guarded  utterances  he  did  not  commit  himself  to  any  definite  line 
of  policy  save  to  express  his  intention  to  leave  unmolested  the 
institutions  of  the  disaffected  states,  his  devotion  to  the  Union 
and  his  desire  to  maintain  it  without  a  resort  to  arms.  The  vast 
extent  of  the  conspiracy  was  not  yet  fully  understood,  and  he  in 
common  with  a  great  many  others  still  hoped  for  a  peaceful  solu 
tion  of  the  difficulties.  At  Cincinnati  he  said 

•'  Mr.  Mayor  and  Fellow-citizens:  J  have  spoken  but  once  before  this  in 
Cincinnati.  That  was  a  year  previous  to  the  late  presidential  election. 
On  thatoccasion,  in  a  playful  manner  but  with  sincere  words,  I  addressed 
much  of  what  I  said  to  the  Kentuckians.  I  gave  my  opinion  that  we 
as  republicans  would  ultimately  beat  them,  as  democrats,  but  that  they 
could  postpone  the  result  longer  by  nominating  Senator  Douglas  for  the 
presidency  than  in  any  other  way.  They  did  not  in  any  true  sense  nom 
inate  Mr.  Douglas,  and  the  result  has  come  certainly  as  soon  as  ever  I 
expected.  I  told  them  how  I  expeeted  they  would  be  treated  after  they 
should  be  beaten,  and  I  now  M'ish  to  call  their  attention  to  what  I  then 
said.  When  beaten  you  perhaps  will  want  to  know  what  we  will  do 
with  you.  I  will  tell  you  so  far  as  I  am  authorized  to  speak  for  the  opposi 
tion.  We  mean  to  treat  you  as  near  as  we  possibly  can  as  Washing  top, 
Jefferson  and  Madison  treated  you.  We  mean  to  leave  you  alone  and  in 
no  way  interfere  with  your  institutions.  We  mean  to  recognize  and 
bear  in  mind  that  you  have  as  good  hearts  in  your  bosoms  as  other  peo 
ple,  or  as  we  claim  to  have,  and  treat  you  accordingly.  Fellow-citizens 
of  Kentucky,  brethren  may  I  call  you,  in  my  new  position  I  see  noocca- 
sioii  and  feel  110  inclination  to  retract  a  word  from  this.  If  it  shall 
not  be  made  good  be  assured  the  fault  shall  not  be  mine." 

Arriving  in  New  York  he  said  : 

"In  my  devotion  to  the  Union  I  am  behind  no  man  in  the  nation,  but 
I  fear  too  great  confidence  may  have  been  placed  in  my  wisdom  to  pre 
serve  it.  I  am  sure  I  bring  a  heart  devoted  to  the  work,  and  there  is 
nothing  that  could  ever  induce  me  to  consent  willingly  to  the  destruction 
of  this  Union,  in  which  not  only  the  great  city  of  New  York,  but  the 
whole  country  has  acquired  its  greatness,  unless  it  should  be  the  object 
for  which  the  Union  itself  was  made.  I  understand  that  the  ship  was 
made  for  the  carrying  and  preservation  of  the  cargo,  and  so  long  as  the 
ship  is  safe  with  the  cargo  it  shall  not  be  abandoned." 

While  thus  speaking  to  large  assemblies  in  different  cities, 
rumors  reached  him  that  an  attempt  would  be  made  to  assassin 
ate  him  on  the  way  to  the  capital,  or  if  he  reached  it  an  armed 
mob  would  assemble  and  prevent  his  inauguration.  These  reports 
were  at  first  regarded  with  incredulity  but  when  he  reached 
Philadelphia  he  was  warned  by  Gen.  Scott  that  if  he  attempted 
to  pass  through  Baltimore  in  the  day  time  his  life  would  be  exposed 
to  imminent  danger.  Acting  on  the  advice  of  those  who  knew 
the  extent  of  the  danger  and  the  vast  importance  of  his  reaching 
the  seat  of  government  in  safety,  he  left  his  family  at  Harrisburg 
and  proceeded  in  disguise  on  the  nighttrain  to  Washington.  Had 
it  been  known  that  such  malignity  existed  that  such  a  crime  was 
meditated  against  the  life  of  him  whose  only  cause  of  offense  con 
sisted  in  assuming  the  important  responsibilities  to  which  he  had 
been  constitutionally  called  by  a  majority  of  his  countrymen, 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  729 


a  half  a  million  of  men  would  liave  volunteered  to  escort  him 
through  the  rebellions  city.  Unexpected  by  the  conspirators  who 
had  marked  him  for  their  prey,  and  his  friends  who  were  making 
preparations  for  his  reception,  he  arrived  in  Washington  on  the 
morning  of  the  23d  of  February.  On  the  4th  of  March  he  was 
inaugurated  president  of  the  United  States  in  the  presence  of  a 
vast  multitude  who  had  assembled  to  witness  the  imposing  spec 
tacle.  His  inaugural  address  is  a  state  paper  of  more  than  ordi 
nary  ability,  and  whatever  may  have  been  the  suspcions  previ 
ously  entertained  in  the  South  in  regard  to  his  policy  after  this 
expression  of  his  views,  the  rebellion  was  wholly  without  a  justifi 
able  pretext.  While  the  most  ample  assurances  are  given  of  pro 
tection  in  the  Union,  he  also  refers  to  his  obligations  to  maintain 
it,  and  his  determination  to  do  it.  Its  great  length  renders  it 
impracticable  to  repeat  it  in  full,  but  the  following  passages  are 
characteristic  of  its  spirit : 

"Apprehensions  seem  to  exist  among  the  people  of  the  Southern 
States  that  by  the  accession  of  a  republican  administration,  that  their 
property  and  their  peace  and  personal  security  are  to  be  endangered. 
There  has  never  been  any  reasonable  cause  for  such  apprehension. 
Indeed,  the  most  ample  evidence  to  the  contrary  has  all  the  while  ex 
isted  and  been  open  to  their  inspection.  It  is  found  in  nearly  all  the 
public  speeches  of  him  who  now  addresses  you.  I  consider  that  in  view 
of  the  constitution  and  laws  the  Union  is  unbroken,  and  to  the  extent 
of  my  ability  I  will  take  care  as  the  constitution  expressly  enjoins  upon 
me  that  the  laws  of  the  Union  be  faithfully  executed  in  all  the  States. 
Doing  this  I  deem  it  only  a  simple  duty  on  my  part,  and  I  shall  perform 
it  so  far  as  practicable  unless  my  rightful  masters,  the  American  people, 
shall  withhold  the  requisite  means,  or  shall  in  some  other  authoritative 
manner  direct  the  contrary.  Physically  speaking,  we  cannot  separate. 
We  cannot  move  the  respective  sections  from  each  other,  nor  build  an. 
impassable  wall  between  them.  A  husband  and  wife  may  be  divorced 
and  go  out  of  the  presence  and  beyond  the  reach  of  each  other,  but  the 
different  parts  of  our  country  cannot  do  this.  They  cannot  but  remain 
face  to  face,  and  intercourse  either  amicable  or  hostile  must  contiue 
between  them.  Is  it  possible  then  to  make  that  intercourse  more  advan 
tageous  or  more  satisfactory  after  separation  than  before  ?  Can  aliens 
make  treatise  more  easily  than  friends  can  make  laws  among  friends  ? 
Suppose  you  go  to  war,  you  cannot  fight  always,  and  when  after  much 
loss  on  both  sides,  and  no  gain  011  either,  you  cease  fighting  the  identical 
old  questions  are  upon  you.  In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow  coun 
trymen,  and  not  in  mine,  is  the  momentous  issue  of  civil  war.  The  gov 
ernment  wrill  not  assail  you.  You  can  have  110  conflict  without  being 
yourselves  the  aggressors.  You  have  no  solemn  oath  registered  in  heaven 
to  destroy  the  government,  while  I  shall  have  the  most  solemn  one  to 
preserve,  protect  and  defend  it.  I  am  loth  to  close.  We  are  not  enemies, 
but  friends.  We  must  not  be  enemies.  Though  passion  may  have 
strained  it  must  not  break  our  bonds  of  affection.  The  mystic  chords 
of  memory  stretching  from  every  battle  field  and  patriot's  grave  to 
every  living  heart  and  hearth-stone  all  over  this  broad  land  will  yet 
swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union,  when  again  touched,  as  surely  they  will 
be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our  nature." 

At  the  time  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  accession  to  power  several  mem 
bers  of  the  Union  claimed  that  they  had  withdrawn  from  it,  and 
styling  themselves  the  "Confederate  States  of  America,"  had 
organ ize<l  a  separate  government.  The  remaining  slave  States 
were  convulsed  with  excitement,  and  traitors  taking  advantage 
of  the  magnanimity  which  the  new  administration  would  faiu 
have  exercised,  with  fiendish  eagerness  were  endeavoring  to  pre 
cipitate  them  also  into  revolution.  The  confederate  authorities, 


730  HISTORY    <£F   ILLINOIS. 

emboldened  by  this  forbearance,  and  acting  on  the  assumption  of 
their  independence,  sent  commissioners  to  Washington  to  amicably 
arrange  all  differences  growing  out  of  their  separation  from  the 
United  States.  They,  however,  failed  to  receive  any  recognition, 
an:t  were  informed  by  Mr.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State,  that  the 
action  of  their  States  was  an  unjustifiable  and  unconstitutional 
aggression  upon  the  authority  of  the  federal  government.  The 
convention  of  Virginia  being  in  session  at  the  time,  also  sent  com 
missioners  to  ascertain  from  Mr.  Lincoln  the  policy  he  intended 
to  pursue  in  regard  to  the  Confederate  States.  In  reply,  the  pres 
ident  reaffirmed  the  opinion  previously  expressed  in  his  inaugu 
ral  that  he  would  repossess  the  property  and  places  belonging  to 
the  United  States,  and  collect  the  duties  on  imports.  He  like 
wise  informed  them  that  he  would  not  needlessly  invade  any 
State,  yet  when  such  conduct  as  the  firing  upon  Fort  Sumter  ren 
dered  it  necessary  he  would  repel  force  by  force. 

This  celebrated  fortress  was  situated  in  Charleston  harbor,  and 
just  prior  to  the  assault  had  been  occupied  by  Major  Anderson  as 
a  place  of  greater  strength  and  security  than  Fort  Moultrie,  from 
which  he  removed.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  South  Caro 
lina  was  in  open  revolt,  Mr.  Buchanan  had  allowed  the  most  for 
midable  works  to  be  erected  around  the  fort.  Had  permission 
been  granted  to  Major  Anderson  with  his  heavy  artillery  he  could 
have  swept  the  adjacent  shores  and  thus  have  prevented  the 
preparations  which  he  daily  witnessed  for  his  overthrow.  As  the 
batteries  commanded  the  entrance  to  the  harbor  cut  off  supplies 
from  the  sea,  and  the  hostile  shore  refused  to  furnish  provisions,  an 
attack  for  the  reduction  of  the  fort  was  wholly  unnecessary.  When, 
however,  the  preparations  were  completed,  Beauregard,  who  bad 
deserted  the  flag  of  his  country,  hurriedly  opened  tire  upon  it, 
as  if  fearful  that  starvation  might,  by  giving  him  peaceable  pos 
session,  frustrate  his  desire  for  an  opportunity  to  inaugurate  civil 
war  by  a  bloody  assault.  After  a  furious  cannonade  of  34  hours 
the  fort  was  wrapped  in  flames,  and  Major  Anderson  and  his 
small  band  of  heroes  were  forced  to  capitulate. 

Thus  had  been  struck  the  first  blow  of  the  conflict  which  sum 
moned  vast  armies  into  the  field,  brought  State  into  collision  with 
State,  and  drenched  the  land  in  fraternal  blood.  When  the  news 
of  the  bombardment  and  surrender  reached  the  North,  the  whole 
country  rocked  with  excitement.  Longer  forbearance  was  now 
impossible,  and  President  Lincoln  immediately  issued  a  procla 
mation  calling  for  75,000  ATolunteers.  The  proclamation  stated 
that  combinations  existed  in  several  of  the  States  too  powerful  to 
be  suppressed  by  ordinary  judicial  j)roceedings,  and  that  the 
force  to  be  raised  would  be  employed  to  repossess  the  property  of 
the  United  States  in  the  hands  of  the  insurgents  and  enforce  the 
observance  of  law.  It  also  summoned  congress  to  meet  on  the 
4th  of  July  to  institute  in  view  of  the  extraordinary  condition  of 
public  affairs  such  measures  as  the  safety  of  the  nation  might 
demand. 

The  details  connected  with  raising  the  troops  having  been 
arranged  by  the  war  department,  Gov.  Yates  was  informed  that 
the  quota  of  Illinois  was  six  regiments.  On  the  15th  of  April,  the 
day  on  which  the  intelligence  was  communicated  by  Mr.  Cameron, 


THE   WAR  OF   THE  REBELLION.  731 

the  secretary  of  war,  the  governor  issued  the  following  proclama 
tion  : 

"I,  Richard  Yates,  governor  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  by  virtue  of  the 
authority  vested  in  me  by  the  constitution,  hereby  convene  the  legisla 
ture  of  the  State,  and  the  members  of  the  22d  general  assembly  are  hereby 
required  to  be  and  appear  in  their  respective  places  in  the  capital  on  Tues 
day,  the  23d  day  of  April  A.  D.  1861,  for  the  purpose  of  enacting  such 
laws  and  adopting  such  measures  as  may  be  deemed  necessary  upon  the 
following  subjects:  The  more  perfect  organization  and  equipment  of 
the  militia  of  the  State  and  placing  the  same  on  the  best  footing  to  ren 
der  assistance  to  the  general  government  in  preserving  the  Union, 
enforcing  the  laws,  and  protecting  the  property  and  rights  of  the  peo 
ple;  also,  the  raising  of  such  money  and  other  means  as  may  be  required 
to  carry  out  the  foregoing  object,  and  also  to  provide  for  the  expense  of 
such  session." 

General  orders  one  and  two  were  issued  from  headquarters  at 
Springfield,  the  tirst  commanded  divisions,  brigades  and  regiments 
to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  for  actual  service,  and  the  second 
providing  for  the  immediate  organization  of  six  regiments. 

The  president's  proclamation  at  the  South  was  regarded  as  a 
declaration  of  war,  and  Davis  issued  a  similar  one  calling  for 
volunteers  and  granting  letters  of  marque  for  privateers  to  prey 
on  northern  commerce.  The  -shouts  of  approval  with  which  it 
Avas  received  everywhere  in  the  north  showed  the  people  were 
greatly  in  advance  of  the  government  as  to  the  propriety  of  using 
military  force.  They  had  long  writhed  under  the  murderous  stabs 
thrust  by  traitors  at  the  vitals  of  the  nation,  and  now  when  this  re 
straint  was  removed,  and  the  time  had  come  for  action,  the  rebound 
of  popular  feeling  and  indignation  was  overwhelming.  The  prai 
ries,  hamlets  and  cities  of  Illinois  became  ablaze  with  excitement. 
Pulpits  thundered  with  anathemas  against  the  crime  of  treason, 
secular  orators  spoke  eloquently  of  the  flag  which,  as  the  symbol 
of  the  nation's  majesty,  had  been  so  ruthlessly  insulted,  and 
newspapers  teemed  with  proclamations  and  preparations  for  war. 
All  ages,  sexes  and  conditions  as  if  moved  by  a  common  impulse 
partook  of  the  enthusiasm.  The  aged  and  feeble  again  assumed 
the  burdens  of  civil  life  that  the  young  and  vigorous  might  grap 
ple  with  the  sterner  duties  of  war;  the  wealthy  provided  for  the 
families  of  the  indigent  whose  natural  protectors  were  guarding 
the  life  of  the  nation.  Fair  woman  laid  the  incense  of  her  sym 
pathy  and  devotion  on  the  altar  of  her  country;  and  even  chil 
dren,  imbibing  the  inspiration,  converted  their  play  grounds  into 
camp  and  parade  grounds,  and  miniature  drums  and  cannon 
became  the  common  toys  of  their  nursery. 

A  similar  uprising  occurred  in  all  the  loyal  States  of  the  Union, 
and  men  and  money,  the  sinews  of  war,  were  furnished  with  lav 
ish  profusion.  Within  two  weeks  after  the  president  issued 
his  proclamation,  beside  a  large  surplus  of  rejected  applicants, 
there  were  a  hundred  thousand  men  preparing  for  active  opera 
tions,  while  more  than  thirty  millions  of  dollars  had  been  offered 
by  private  individuals,  corporations,  and  legislatures  to  procure 
arms  and  munitions. 


CHAPTER  LV. 
1861-1864— ILLINOIS  IN  THE  REBELLION. 

Unprecedented   Success  in  Furnishing  Men — Patriotic    Efforts  of 
Women — Military  Operations  Within  the  State. 


Enlistments. — Almost  simultaneously  with  the  call  for  troops 
enlistments  commenced,  and  Avithin  ten  days  10,000  volunteers 
offered  service,  and  the  sum  of  near  $1,000,000  was  tendered  by 
patriotic  citizens  to  procure  supplies,  for  which  the  State,  in  the 
sudden  emergency,  had  made  no  provision.  At  the  time  the 
requisition  was  made  the  military  la\v  of  the  State  was  imperfect, 
and  in  many  respects  in  conflict  with  the  regulations  of  the  war 
department,  while  perhaps  not  more  than  30  military  companies 
were  to  be  found  in  the  entire  State.  In  some  of  the  larger  towns 
and  cities,  however,  tlnere  were  a  number  of  well-drilled  com 
panies  which  volunteered,  and  proved  a  valuable  acquisition  in 
the  organization  of  the  immense  forces  subsequently  sent  to  the 
field.  ^It  was  early  thought  that  Cairo  was  in  danger  of  seizure 
by  the  rebels,  and  these  companies  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  force 
hurriedly  gathered  and  sent  thither  for  its  defense.  On  the  19th 
of  April,  1861,  Simon  Cameron,  secretary  of  war,  telegraphed  Gov. 
Yates  to  take  possession  of  this  important  strategic  point  as 
soon  as  a  force  could  be  raised  for  that  purpose.  The  governor 
forthwith  sent  a  dispatch  to  Gen.  Swift,  of  Chicago,  to  raise  and 
equip  as  large  a  body  of  men  as  possible  for  immediate  service, 
and  sent  a  messenger  by  rail  with  full  instructions  for  the  occupa 
tion  of  Cairo.  With  commendable  promptness  this  officer,  on  the 
21st  of  the  month,  got  on  board  the  southern  bound  train  of  the 
Central  railroad  with  four  pieces  of  cannon  and  the  following 
companies:  Company  A,  Chicago  Zouaves,  Captain  Hayden,  89 
men  ;  Company  B,  Chicago  Zouaves,  Captain  Clybourne,  83  men  ; 
Chicago  Light  Artillery,  Captain  Smith,  150  men  ;  Captain  Hard- 
ing's  company,  80  men  ;  Turner's  Union  Cadets,  97  men  ;  and 
Lincoln  Rifles,  Captain  Mihalotzy,  60  men.  These  were  followed, 
on  the  22d,  by  Captain  Houghtelling's  Light  Artillery,  of  Ottawa, 
80  men  ;  Captain  Hawling's  Light  Artillery,  of  Lockport,  and  Cap- 
toin  McAlister's  Light  Artillery,  of  Plain  field, 

Of  the  volunteers  who  offered  their  services  under  the  call  of  the 
governor  only  6  regiments  could  be  accepted  under  the  quota  of 
the  State.  These,  in  accordance  with  an  act  of  the  legislature, 
which  met  on  the  23d.  were  designated  by  the  nuinbers»eo]nmrn- 
cing  with  7  and  ending  with  12,  as  a  mark  of  respect  tor  the  6 
regiments  which  had  served  in  the  .Mexican  war.  The  entire  force 


THE  WAR   OF  THE   REBELLION. 


733 


was  styled  the  1st  Brigade  of  Illinois  volunteers.  The  regulations 
of  the  wai'  department  required  each  regiment  to  consist  of  1  colo 
nel,  1  lieutenant-colonel,  1  major,  1  adjutant,  1  regimental  quarter 
master,  1  surgeon,  1  surgeon's  mate,  1  sergeant-major,  1  drum- 
major,  1  fife-major,  10  captains,  10  lieutenants,  10  ensigns,  10 
drummers,  10  lifers,  40  corporals,  40  sergeants  and  G40  privates. 
Thus  organized  a  regiment  numbered  780  men,  rank  and  tile,  and 
the  entire  brigade  4,680.  Gen.  Prentiss  was  placed  in  command, 
and  proceeding  to  Cairo  with  the  larger  part  of  the  force,  he  re 
lieved  Gen.  Swift.  The  commanding  officer  of  each  regiment,  the 
call  under  which  it  was  organized,  the  time  and  place  it  was  mus 
tered  into  service,  and  the  aggregate  strength  are  given  in  the 
subjoind  schedule,  taken  from  the  report  of  the  adjutant  general. 
There  was  a  large  surplus  of  men  in  camp,  and  such  was  the  pa 
triotic  desire  to  enter  the  service  that  man}*  of  them  wept  when 
refused  admission. 

The  legislature,  anticipating  another  call  for  troops,  authorized 
the  formation  of  10  additional  regiments  of  infantry,  1  of  cavalry, 
and  a  battalion  of  artillery.  The  law  provided  that  one  regiment 
should  be  furnished  by  each  congressional  district,  and  one  by  the 
State  at  large.  Over  200  companies  immediately  volunteered,  and 
from  this  large  number  the  required  force  was  selected  and  or 
dered  into  camp.  The  act  creating  the  regiments  had  hardly 
passed  the  legislature  before  the  president  issued  a  call  for  42 ,000 
volunteers  to  serve  for  three  years  unless  sooner  discharged.  The 
quota  of  Illinois  under  this  call  was  only  6  regiments,  and  a  mes 
senger  was  sent  to  Washington  to  urge  upon  the  war  department 
the  importance  of  accepting  the  entire  force  organized  by  the 
State.  It  was  believed  that  more  men  would  be  needed,  and  as 
they  were  already  in  camp,  and  had  made  considerable  proficiency 
in  drill,  to  disband  them  would  cause  distrust  in  the  wisdom  of  the 
government.  As  the  result  of  persistent  importunity  the  four 

SCHEDULE — Shoivina  statement  of  volunteer  troops  organized  within  the  State,  and  sent  to  the  field, 
commencing  April,  1861,  and  ending  December  31,  1865,  with  number  of  regiment,  name  of  original 
commanding  officer,  call  under  which  recruited  and  organized,  date  of  organization  and  muster 
into  United  States'  service,  pluce  of  muster,  and  the  aggregate  strength  of  each  organization. 

INFANTRY. 


No. 

7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 

Commanding   officer  at 
organization. 

Call    under    which    re 
cruited  and  organized. 

Date  of  organ 
ization     and 
muster    into 
TT.  S.  service 

Place    where   mus 
tered     into     the 
United  States  ser 
vice. 

Agg.str'gth 
since  or- 
ganizat'n  . 

Cc 

Aug.  15  1861  . 

July  25,  1861 

May  24   1861. 
May  25  1861. 
May  24,  1861. 

Cairo,  Illinois  
Dixon  

1747 
1853 
1265 
1759 
1384 
1675 
1112 
2015 
2028 
1833 
1259 
2043 
1095 
1817 
1266 
1164 
1982 
989 
1062 

Pvicb/d  J.  Oglesby. 
Eleazer  A.  Pain'e. 
Jas.  D.  Morgan  .  .  . 
W.  H.  L.  Wallace. 
John  Me  Arthur.  .  . 
JohnB.  Wyman.. 
John  M.  Palmer.  . 
Thos.  J.   Turner.. 
Rob't  F.  Smith... 
Leonard  F.Ross.. 
Mich'l  K.  Lawler. 
John  B.  Turchin.. 
Chas.C.  Marsh.... 
Ulysses  S.  Grant,  . 
Henry  Dougherty, 
Jas.  A,  Mulligan 
Fred'k  Hecker.. 
Wni.N.  Coler... 

May  15    1861 

Jacksonville 

Freeport  

Ouincy 

May  15  1861 

May  28,  1861. 

Anna  

May  15    1861     

June  13,   1861 
June  15,   1861 
June  25.  1861 
June  18,   1861 
July  8,    1861. 

Joliet    

Mattoon  
Belleville  

Authorized  by  the  Sec. 
of  War,  July,  1861... 

Chicago 

Chicago 

734 


HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


remain  ing*  regiments  were  accepted,  and  the  entire  force  was  mus 
tered  into  service,  as  shown  in  the  schedule. 

Owing  to  the  great  expense  connected  with  the  equipment  of 
cavalry  and  the  opposition  of  Gen.  Scott  to  the  employment  of 
any  considerable  force  of  this  i'.rin  of  the  service,  the  governor 
accepted  only  5  companies  but  designated  the  remaining  5,  which 
should  be  received  in  case  the  governor  should  need  them.  The 
battalion  of  artillery  authorized  by  the  legislature  was  never  or 
ganized  as  contemplated  in  the  law,  yet  several  companies,  some 
of  which  were  in  Gen.  Swift's  expedition,  were  received  into  the 
service,  as  per  schedule. 

The  more  than  knightly  ardor  with  which  the  young  men  of  the 
State  at  first  exhibited  was  still  unabated,  and  several  thousand 
being  denied  the  privilege  of  serving  in  regiments  of  their  own 
State,  went  abroad  and  enlisted  in  the  forc.es  of  other  States. 

In  view  of  the  alarming  aspect  of  the  rebelli'on,  the  secretary 
of  war,  in  May,  June  and  July,  1801,  authorized  some  17  regi 
ments  of  infantry  and  5  of  cavalry.  These  regiments  were 
speedily  tilled  up,  and  in  answer  to  an  application  for  furnishing 
additional  forces,  the  secretary  of  war  replied  that  no  more  troops 
would  be  received  till  authorized  by  congress.  Congress  convened 
July  4th,  and  consequent  upon  the  battles  of  Bull  Hun  and 
Wilson's  Creek  with  the  national  capital  imperilled  and  Fremont's 
force  threatened  by  superior  numbers,  empowered  the  president  to 
call  into  the  service  500,000  volunteers;  13  regiments  of  infan 
try,  3  of  cavalry,  as  a  part  of  the  quota  of  the  State  under  the  call 
were  forthwith  tendered;  the  people  impatient  at  the  slow  progress 
of  the  war,  would  have  increased  this  force  by  thousands  had  they 
been  permitted.  From  the  14th  of  August  till  the  3d  of  December,  it 
was  agreed  to  accept  all  the  infantry  which  should  be  willing  to 
enter  the  service.  As  the  result,  11  regiments  of  infantry,  4  of 
cavalry,  and  8  companies  for  the '  2tl  regiment  of  artillery  volim- 


26 
27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 
33 
34 
35 
36 
37 
38 
39 
40 
'41 
42 
43 
44 
45 
46 
47 
48 
49 
50 
51 
52 
53 
54 
55 
56 
57 
58 
59 
60 

Col.  John  M.  Loomis.  . 
Nap.  B.  Buford 

July  25,  1861  

Oct.  31,   1861. 

Camp  Butler  

1602 
1193 
1939 
1547 
1878 
1973 
1711 
1660 
1558 
1012 
1593 
1157 
1388 
1807 
1277 
1211 
18-24 
1902 
1512 
1716 
2015 
2051 
1874 
1482 
1761 
1550 
1519 
1434 
1720 
1287 
1180 
1754 
2202 
1762 
1647 

A.  K.  Johnson  
Jas.  S.  Rearden... 
Philip  B.  Fouke.. 
John  A.  Logan  

Julv  25    1861 

Aug.   3,  1861. 
Jnly  27,  1861. 
Sept.  30,  1861. 
Sept.  8,    1861. 
Dec.  31,   1861. 
Aug,  15,  1861. 
Sept,  7,   1861. 

Camp  Butler  
Camp  Butler  
Camp  Butler 

<  i 

i  < 

Camp  Butler  

Authorized  by  the  Sec 
retary    of    War,     in 
May,'  June  and  Julv, 
1861 

Chas.  E.  Hovey.  "1 
Edward  N.  Kirk 
Gns.  A.  Smith..  V 
Kich.   Greusel. 
Julius  AV~hit6...J 
Win.  P.  Carlin  
Austin  Light...  ] 
Steph.  G.  Hicks.  I 
Isaac  C.   Pugh.  .  f 
Wm.A.  Webb.J 
Julius  Raith  
Chas.NoblesdorflT  ^ 
John  E.  Smith..  > 
John  A.  Davis  
John  Bryner  
Isham  N.  Haynie 
Wm.  R.  Morrison 
Moses  M.  Bane... 
G.  AV.  Cummine.  . 
Isaac  G.  Wilson.. 
W.H.W.Cnshman 
Thos.  W.  Harris  .. 
David  Stuart  
Robert  Kirkham.  . 
Silas  I).  Baldwin  , 
WTm.    F.  Lynch  .  .  . 
P.  Sidney  Post  
Silas  C.  Toler  

Camp  Butler  
Camp  Butler 

Sept.  23,   1861 
Sept.  18,    1861 
Aug.   15,  1861 
Decemb.  186] 
Aug.   10,  1861 
Aug.    9,    1861 
Sept.  17,    1861 
Dec.   16,    1861 
Sept.  13,    18G1 
Dec.   26,    1861 
Dec.  28,    1861 
Oct.     1,     1861 
Nov.  18,    1861 
Dec.    31,  1861 
Sept.  12,  1861 
Dec'61  Feb'62 
Nov.   19,  1861 
March   1862 
Feb.    18,  1862 
Oct.   31,    1861 
Feb.  27,     1862 
Dec.   26,    1861 
Dec.   21,    1861 
August,    1861 
Feb.  17.    1862 

Aurora  

July  25    1861 

Chicago  
Camp  Butler 

Author.  zed  by  the  Sec 
retary    of    War,     in 
May,  June  and  July, 
186  i 

Chicago  

Salem 

Decatur  

Chicago  

July  25,  1861  
Authorized,   Sec,   War, 
May,  June,  July,  1861 
July  25,  1861  
Sec'.  War,  July,  1861... 
July  25  1861 

("amp  Butler  

Chicago  

Galena 

Camp  Butler  

Peoria 

Camp  Butler  

Camp  Butler 

Authorized  Sept.  20,  '61 
Authorized  Jnly   1,  '61 
Authorized  Sept.  16,  '61 
Authorized   Oct.    3,  '61 
Authorized  Julv,    1861 
Authorized  Aug,  14,  '61 

Authorized  Sept,  25,  '61 
Julv  25,  1^61   
Authorized    Oct.    3.  '61 

Camp  Douglas  
Geneva  

OttaAva          

Anna 

Camp  Douglas  
Shawneetown  
Camp  Douglas  
Camp  Douglas  
St.  Louis,  Mo  
Anna.. 

THE   WAR  OF  THE  KEBELLTON. 


735 


teered  and  were  accepted.  On  the  3d  of  December  an  order  was 
promulgated  which  stopped  all  further  recruiting,  except  for  the 
completion  of  companies  already  in  process  of  formation.  With 
the  enlistment  of  over  4,000  for  this  purpose  during  the  remainder 
of  the  month,  the  record  of  the  year  was  completed.  Despite  the 
rebuffs  and  opposition  frequently  manifested  by  the  war  depart 
ment,  the  State  at  the  close  of  the  year  had  in  camps  of  instruc 
tion  over  17,000  men,  had  sent  to  the  field  nearly  50,000,  and  con 
sequently  had  exceeded  her  quotas  about  15,000. 

On  the  2d  of  April,  1802,  all  the  corps  authorized  previous  to 
December,  were  full  and  the  officers  who  had  been  detached  for 
recruiting  purposes  were  ordered  to  rejoin  their  regiments.  Many 
of  the  old  regiments,  however,  as  the  result  of  disease  and  recent 
battles,  had  been  reduced  below  the  proper  standard,  and  recruit 
ing  was  still  continued  for  the  purpose  of  replenishing  them  with 
their  complement  of  men.  Early  in  May  Washington  was  threat 
ened  by  a  large  force  of  the  enemy,  and  Mr.  Stanton,  secretary  of 
war,  telegraphed  Governor  Yates  on  the  25th  instant,  for  more 
troops  and  several  regiments  of  infantry  and  cavalry  were  tilled 
up  and  sent  to  the  field. 

On  the  6th  of  July,  1862,  the  president  issued  a  call  for  300,000 
volunteers  to  serve  for  3  years,  and  on  the  7th  of  August  another 
call  for  300.000  militia,  to  serve  for  a  period  of  nine  months.  The 
secretary,  believing  that  a  draft  would  be  necessary,  ordered 
the  enrollment  of  the  militia  that  it  might  take  effect  on  the  18 tli 
of  August  if  the  quota  under  the  first  call  was  not  completed  by 
that  time.  This  vigorous  determination  on  the  part  of  the  gov 
ernment  was  hailed  with  demonstrations  of  approval  by  the  people 
of  the  State,  and  everywhere  preparations  were  commenced  to 
make  a  response  commensurate  with  the  magnitude  of  the  requisi 
tion.  The  adjutant-generals'  office  was  at  once  thronged  by  ines- 
-sengers  from  every  part  of  the  State,  demanding  for  their  several 


01 

<;-j 

(i!! 
<i4 

r..-i 
66 
67 
68 
69 
7(1 
71 
72 
7U 
74 
75 
76 
77 
78 
79 
80 
81 
82 
83 
84 
85 
8C 
87 
,— 
89 
W 
HI 
99 
93 
94 

Co 

L 

(' 

1.  Jacob  Fry  

Authorized  Aug.  14,  '61  Marcl 
Authorized  Oct.    3,  '61;  April 

Authorized  Aug.  14,  '61  Dec. 
May 
Transf  d  from  Mo.  14th  April 
May  25    1862                      June 

i  1  1862  Carrollton 

1385 
1730 
1228 
1624 
1684 
1694 
979 
889 
912 
1006 
940 
1471 
968 
989 
987 
1110 
1051 
1028 
974 
928 
1187 
961 
1286 
956 
959 
993 
994 
907 
1285 
95" 
1041 
1265 
1036 
1091 

James  M.  True.  .  . 
Francis  Mora  
Col.  D.D.Williams. 
.  Daniel  Cameron  .. 
Patrick  E.  Burke. 
Rosell  M.  Hough  . 
Elias  Stuart  
Jos.  H.  Tucker.  .  . 
O.  T.  Reeves  
Othniel  Gilbert  .  . 
Fred'k  A.  Starring 
Jas.  F.  Jaquess.  .  . 
Jason  Marsh  
George  Ryan  
Alonzo  AV!  Mack.. 
David  P.  Grier.  .,  . 
W.  H.    Beunison.. 
Lvman   Guinnip.. 

10,  1862  Anna  

1  '  Anna 

31,  1862  Camp  Butler  

L5,    1862  Camp  Douglas  
1862  ..  St.  Louis,  Mo  
13,    1862  Camp  Douglas  
20,  1862!  Camp  Butler  
14,   1862;  Camp  Douglas  
4,     1862  Camp  Butler  
26,  1862  Camp  Douglas  
21,  1862,  Camp  Douglas  
jCamp  Butler.   
4      1862  Rocktbrd 

'  June 

'  '           ....             June 

'  '                             !  July 

"            July 

July,  1862                            Aug 

"        -   -                     !  Sept 

"                             ..'Sept. 

2  1862!Dixon 

22  1862'Kankakee 

1  '                                 <{  *Sept 

9  0  pn«  •  P*>r»rin. 

"          .,  Sept      1      1Pfi'2  Oiiinrv 

"                               lAue 

28,  1862  Danville  
25  186°  Centralia 

Thos.  G.Allen.... 
Jas.  J.  Dollins.... 
Frederick  Hecker. 
Aimer  C.  Harding. 
Louis  H    Waters. 
Robert  S.  Moore.. 
David  D.  Irons  
John  E.  Whiting. 
F.  T.  Sherman  
John  Christopher. 
Timothy  O'Mera.  . 
Henry  M.  Day  
Smith  D.  Atkins.. 
Holden  Putnam.  .  . 
Win.  W.  Orme... 

||        Aug. 

26,  '  1862  Anna  
Camp  Butler  
21,    1862  Momnouth  
1,    1862  Quincy  
27  186°  Peoria 

"                                           .  .    AU"-. 

"        Sept 
I  Aug 

4          -                        Sept 

22,    1862  Shawneetown  
27,  1862,  Camp  Douglas  
25,  9  cos1  Camp  Douglas  
22,   1862  Camp  Douglas  
8,    1862  Camp  Butler  
4     1862  Rockford 

*Au^ 

'        .                          Nov  ' 

'                                  Sept 

•        Srpt 

1                                  Oct 

13,  1862  Priuc'tn&  Chicago. 
20.  1862  Bloom  in  0-ton 

..  Autr. 

736 


HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


counties  the  privilege  of  volunteering,  and  thereby  securing 
exemption  from  the  draft.  This  preference  for  volunteering,  and 
an  urgent  request  that  the  quota  of  the  State  under  both  calls 
might  be  immediately  ascertained,  was  made  known  to  the  secre 
tary  of  war.  Information  was  duly  received  that  the  entire  num 
ber  was  52,290,  and  volunteers  would  be  accepted  till  the  15th  of 
August  for  forming  new  regiments,  and  after  that  for  filling  old 
ones  already  in  the  field.  The  State  had  now  furnished  16.978  in 
excess  of  previous  quotas,  and  it  was  at  first  intended  that  this 
surplus  should  be  deducted  from  the  present  requisition.  This, 
however,  was  afterwards  countermanded  and  it  was  therefore 
necessary  to  raise  the  entire  number  in  13  days  or  submit  to  the 
alternative  of  a  draft.  The  result  is  thus  eloquently  given  in  the 
language  of  Adjutant-Gen.  Fuller: 

"  These  new  volunteers  must  come,  if  come  at  all,  from  the  farmers 
and  mechanics  of  the  State.  The  farmers  were  in  the  midst  of  harvest, 
and  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that,  inspired  by  a  holy  zeal,  animated 
by  a  common  purpose,  and  firmly  resolved  on  rescuing  the  government 
from  the  very  brink  of  ruin,  and  restoring  it  to  the  condition  our  fathers 
left  it,  that  over  50,000  of  them  left  their  harvests  ungathered,  their  tools 
and  their  benches,  the  plows  in  their  furrows,  and  turning  their  backs 
on  their  homes,  and  before  11  days  expired  the  demands  of  the  govern 
ment  were  met  and  both  quotas  were  filled.  Proud  indeed  was  the  clay 
to  all  Illinoisans  when  the  announcement  was  made  that  the  enlist 
ments  were  full.  And  when  the  historian  shall  record  the  eventful 
days  of  August,  1862,  no  prouder  record  can  be  erected  to  the  honor  and 
memory  of  a  free  people  than  a  plain  and  full  narrative  of  actual  reali 
ties.  It  is  not  my  province  in  this  report  to  bestow  fulsome  praise  or 
write  glowiug  eulogies,  but  when  I  remember  what  we  all  witnessed  in 
those  days ;  when  I  remember  the  patriotism  and  unselfish  impulse 
which  animated  every  soul,  and  the  universal  liberality  of  those  who 
were  either  too  young  or  too  old  to  enlist  to  aid  those  who  were  eager 
to  join  their  brethren  in  the  field;  when  I  remember  the  holy  ardor 
which  aged  mothers  and  fair  daughters  infused  into  husbands,  sons  and 


95 
96 
97 
98 
99 
100 
101 
102 
103 
104 
105 
106 
107 
108 
109 
110 
111 
112 
113 
114 
115 
116 
117 
118 
119 
_,   120 
121 
'     122 
123 
124 
125 
126 
127 
128 
129 

('( 
]S 

C 

1.  Lawr'n  S.  Church. 
Thos.  E.  Champion 
FS.   Rutherford.. 
J.  J.  Fuukhouser. 
G.  W.  K.  Bailey.. 
Fred.  A.  Bartleson 
Chas.  H.  Fox  
~Wm.  McHurtry., 
Amos  C.  Babcock. 
Absalom  B.  Moore 
Daniel  Dustin  
Rob't  B.  Latham.. 
Thomas  Snell  
John  Warner  
Alex.  J.  Nimino.  . 
Thos.  S.  Casey  
James  S.  Martin.. 
T.  J.  Henderson... 
Geo.  B.  Hoge  
Jas.  W.  Judy  
Jesse  H.  Moore... 
Nathan  H  .  Tupper 
Risdeu  M.  Moore. 
John  G.  Fonda  
Thos.  J.  Kenney.  . 
Geo.  W,  McKeaig. 
ver  Organized 

July, 

1862 

Sept.  4,  1862 
Sept.  6,  1862 
Sept.  8,  1862 
Sept.  3,  1862 
Aug.  26,  1862 
Aug  30,  1862 
•Sept.  2,  1862 

Oct.  2,  1862 
Aug.  27,  1862 
Sept.  2,  1862 
Sept.  17,  1862 
Sept.  4,  1862 
Aug.  28,  1862 
Sept.  11,  1861 

Sept.  18,  1862 
Sept.  12,  1862 
Oct.  1,  1862 
Sept.  18,  1862 
Sept,  13,  1862 
Sept.  30,  1862 
Sept.  19,  1862 
Nov.  29,  1862 
Oct.  7,  1862 
Oct.  29,  1862 

Rockford  
Rockford  
Camp  Butler 

1427 
120G 
1082 
1078 
936 
921 
911 
998 
917 
977 
1001 
1097 
944 
927 
967 
873 
994 
1095 
1258 
990 
960 
952 
995 
1101 
952 
844 

Centralia 

Florence,  Pike  co.. 
Joliet 

Jacksonville  
Knoxville 

Peoria 

Ottawa 

Lincoln 

Camp  Butler 

Peoria         

Anna 

Anna     

Salem 

Peoria     

Camp  Doiiglas  
Camp  Butler  
Camp  Butler  
Decatur    

...  JL  

Camp  Butler 

Camp  Butler  
Quincv 

..  John  I.  Rinaker.. 
James  Moore  
Thomas  J.  Sloan  .  . 
Oscar  F.   Harmon. 
Jonth'n  Richmond 
John  VauArman.  . 
Robert  M.  Hudley, 
Geo.  P.  Smith... 

July 

1862  

Sept.  4,  1862 
Sept.  6,  1862 
Sept.  10,  1862 
Sept.  4,  1862 

*Sept.  5,  9  cos 
Dec.  18,  1862 
Sent.  8.  1862 

Carlinville 

934 

1050 
1130 
933 
998 
957 
866 
1011 

Mattoon                

Danville  

Camp  Douglas  
Camp  Butler 

Poutiac  .  .  . 

THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION. 


737 


brothers — I  say  when  I  remember  all  these  things,  I  cannot  but  feel 
justified  in  departing  from  the  dull  routine  of  statistics  and  bestow 
upon  the  subject  this  parting  notice." 

A  vast  army  was  thns  suddenly  ushered  into  existence,  and 
the  government  being  unable  to  supply  tents,  how  to  provide  com 
fortable  quarters  became  an  important  consideration.  In  many 
counties,  therefore,  large  numbers  were  temporarily  lodged  under 
the  sheds  of  fair  grounds  till  barracks  could  be  erected  at  the  prin 
cipal  camps  of  instruction  at  Springfield  and  Chicago.  It  was  also 
difficult  to  procure  clothing.  The  vast  multitude  of  recruits  in  the 
different  States,  and  the  sudden  emergency  which  had  called  them 
forth,  taxed  the  government  to  its  utmost  capacity  to  furnish 
equipments.  Before  the  close  of  the  year,  however,  there  were 
clothed,  armed  and  sent  from  the  State  59  regiments  of  infantry, 
and  four  batteries  of  artillery,  aggregating  a  force  of  53,819  men. 
There  was  also  enlisted  during  the  same  time  for  the  14th 
cavalry,  and  for  old  regiments  an  additional  number,  which,  added 
to  the  former,  makes  a  grand  total  of  58,416  men,  an  excess  of 
23,097  over  the  quotas  of  the  State. 

The  last  call  for  troops  was  on  the  19th  of  December,  1864.  The 
number  required  was  300,000,  and  if  not  raised  by  voluntary  en 
listments,  by  the  15th  of  February  following  the  State  was  to  be 
drafted.  Past  experience  had  shown  that  troops  could  be  more 
readily  secured  by  the  formation  of  new  organizations,  and  appli 
cation  was  made  to  the  war  department  for  the  privilege  of  raising 
ten  additional  regiments.  Permission  was  granted,  and  a  number 
of  persons  who  had  distinguished  themselves  in  the  service,  but 
whose  terms  of  enlistment  had  expired,  commenced  recruiting, 
each  authorized  to  raise  a  single  company.  Formerly  one  person 
had  been  permitted  to  raise  a  whole  regiment,  but  it  required  a 
much  longer  time  for  its  accomplishment  than  where  the  work 
was  sub-divided  among  a  number.  This  modification  in  the  prac 
tice  which  had  hitherto  prevailed  operated  with  astonishing  success. 
The  adjutant  general's  office  was  again  thronged  with  applications 


130  Col.  Nathaniel  Niles... 

131  "     George  W.  Neeley. 

132  "  '  Thos.  C.  Pickett.  1 

133  "    Thad.  Phillips... 

134  "    W.W.McChe'sney 

135  "    John  S.  Wolfe. . . 

136  "    Fred    A.  Johns.. 

137  "    John  Wood 

138  "    J.  W.Goodwin.. 

139  "    Peter  Davidson.. 

140  '    L.  H.  Whitney.. 

141  '    Stephen  Bronson. 

142  '    Kolliu  V.  Ankney 

143  '    Dudley  C.  Smith 

144  '    Cyrus   Hall 

145  '    George  W.  Lackey. 

146  '    Henry  H.  Dean 

147  "    Hiram  F.  Sickles.. 

148  "    Horace  H.  Wilsie. 

149  "    Wm.  C.  Kueffner. 

150  "    Geo.  W.  Keener.. 
1511   "    French  B.  Woodal 

152  "    F.  D.  Stephenson. 

153  "    Stephen  Bronsou. 

154  "    McLean  F.  Wood. 

155  "    Gnstavns  A.  Smith 

156  "    Alfred  F.  Smith.. 

J.  W.  Wilson 

John  A.  Bross 

Capt.  John  Curtis 

Simon  J.  Stookey 
;      James   Steele...'. 

47 


July,    1862 


Oct.  25,  1865. 
Nov.  13,  1802. 
June  1,  1864. 
May  31,  1864. 


100  day  organizations  June  6,  1864. 
tendered  by  the  Gov-jjune  1,  1864. 
ernor  of  Illinois,  April  i  June  5,  1864 . 
21,  '64.  and  accepted  June  21,  1864 


by     the      President, 
April  23,  1864. 


July,    1864 

100  day's  organization.. 
July,  "1864 

December  19, 


1864 


Spec  auth'ty  Sec.  War. 

*Sept.24,  lfc'63 

100  day's  organization. 
100  day's  organization. 
April  15,  1861 


June  1,  1864. 
June  18,  1864. 
June  16,  1854. 
June  18,  1864. 
June  11,  1864. 
Oct.  21,  1864. 
June  9,  1864. 
Sept.  20,  1864. 
Feb.  18,  1865. 
Feb.  18,  1865. 
Feb.  11,  1865. 
Feb.  14,  1865. 
Feb.  25,  1865. 
Feb.  18,  1865. 
Feb.  27,  1865. 
Feb.  22,  1865. 
Feb.  28.  1865. 
March  9,  1865 


Dec. 


1861. 


i,    iciu.  1 1_ 

>1      1BRJ     If 


June  21,  1864. 
June  21,  1864. 
June  15,  1864. 


Camp  Butler 

Camp  Massac. 

Camp  Fry 

Camp  Butler 

Camp  Fry 

Mattoon 

Centralia 

luincy 

uincy 

'eoria 

Camp  Butler 

Elgin 

Camp  Butler 

Mattoon 

Alton,  Ills 

Camp  Butler 

Camp  Butler 

Chicago 

Quincy 

Camp  Butler, 

Camp  Butler , 

Quincy 

Camp  Butler 

(Chicago 

Camp  Butler 

Camp  Biitler 

[Chicago 

Chicago 

lincy 

Cam])  "Butler 

iCamp  Butler 

i  Chicago 


932 
880 
853 
851 
878 
852 
842 
849 
835 
878 
871 
842 
851 
865 

1159 
880 

1056 

1047 
917 
983 
933 
970 
945 

107S 
994 
929 
975 
985 
903 
91 


738 


HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


for  authority  to  raise  companies,  aiid  as  fast  as  a  sufficient  number 
was  secured  for  a  regiment  it  was  organized  and  inarched  to  the 
front.  Early  in  February  it  was  feared  that  recruiting  was  going 
on  so  rapidly  that  more  volunteers  would  offer  than  could  possibly 
enter  the  10  regiments,  and  the  draft  was  temporarily  postponed. 
These  regiments  were  soon  completed,  and  it  was  directed  that  the 
remaining  companies  arriving  under  voluntary  enlistments  should 
be  disposed  of  in  filling  up  old  regiments.  This  course  was  con 
tinued  till  the  13th  of  April,  18G5,  when,  by  an  order  of  the  war 
department,  recruiting  ceased  throughout  the  U.  S.  The  State  now 
only  lacked  4,896  of  completing  her  quota.  These  would  have 
been  speedily  obtained  had  not  the  termination  of  the  war  ren 
dered  it  unnecessary. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  war,  in  consequence  of  an  imperfect 
enrollment  of  those  subject  to  military  duty,  it  became  evident 
that  the  State  was  furnishing  thousands  in  excess  of  what  a  cor 
rect  estimate  would  have  required.  So  glaring  had  this  dispro 
portion  become,  that  under  the  last  call  the  quota  in  a  number  of 
sub-districts  exceeded  the  number  of  able-bodied  men.  Yet  the 
people,  when  it  was  found  inexpedient  to  correct  the  enrollment, 
determined  to  raise  the  number  required,  believing  that  in  the 
extraordinary  exigencies  of  the  times  the  safety  of  the  country 
demanded  the  sacrifice.  Let  the  thousands  of  brave  men  which 
the  State  thus  voluntarily  laid  on  the  altar  of  the  country  forever 
remain  a  proud  monument  of  the  patriotism  which  so  triumphantly 
sustained  it  in  the  hour  of  danger. 

The  office  of  the  Adjutant  General,  which  played  such  an  important 
part  in  the  organization  of  the  troops,  was  occupied,  at  the  com 
mencement  of  the  war  by  Thomas  S.  Mather.  The  duties  of  the 
office  were  then  executed  by  virtue  of  the  militia  law  of  1845,  and 
acts  amendatory  thereof.  Mr.  Mather  held  the  office  till  November, 
1861,  when  Gen.  Allen  C.  Fuller  assumed  control.  The  latter  in 
cumbent,  possessing  superior  qualifications,  soon  reduced  the 
military  records  of  the  State,  hitherto  sparse  and  confused,  to 
order,  and  systematized  the  business  of  the  office.  A  fruitful  source 
of  disorder  grew  out  of  the  acceptance  by  the  war  department  of 
what  were  termed  independent  regiments.  The  correspondence 
of  the  first  22  regiments  of  infantry  and  4  of  cavalry  were  addressed 
directly  to  the  war  department,  and  for  a  time  their  officers  were 
disinclined  to  furnish  the  adjutant  general  with  muster  rolls, 
and  other  official  information.  To  remedy  this  evil  and  promote 

CAVALBY. 


Col.  Thos.   A.   Marshall 
'    Silas  Noble  

Auth'd  bv  Sec'y  War.  . 
July2.  1861  
July  25,  1861  

June,  1861.... 
Aug.  24,  1861. 
Sept.  21,  1861. 
Sept.  30,  1861. 
Dee.  1861  
jSTov.61  Jau'62 
Au"-    1861 

Blooniin^ton 

1206 
1861 
2183 
1656 
1669 
2248 
2282 
2412 
2619 
1934 
2362 
2174 
1759 
1565 
1473 
1462 
1-247 

Camp  Butler  
Camp  Butler  
Ottawa 

'    Eugene  A.  Carr  
'    T.  Lyle  Dickey.  .  .  . 
'    John  J.  Updegraff. 
'     Thos.  H.Cavauaugh 
'    Wm.  Pitt  Kellogg 
'    John  F.  Farnaworth 
'     Albert  G.  Brackett 
'    James  A.  Barrett.. 
•    Robert  G.  Ingersoll 
'    Arno  Voss  

Authorized  July,    '61. 
Auth'd  Aug.  27,  1861.  .  . 
July  25,  1861  

Camp  Butler..,  
Camp  Butler 

July  25  1861 

Authorized  July,  1861. 
Authorized  July,  1861, 
Auth'd  Sept.  5,  1861.... 
*July.  1861  
Auth'd  Sept.  28,  1861. 
Autlrd  Nov.  27,  1861... 
July,  1862  
July,  1861 

Sept.  18,  1861. 
Oct.  26.  1861. 
Nov.  25,  1861  . 
Dec.  20,   1861 
Dec'61  Feb  '62 

Jan.  7,    1863 
org'd  Dec25'63 
Jan.Apl.18C3. 
Jan.  28.   1S64. 

St.  Charles  
Camp  Douglas  
Camp  Butler  
Peoria 

Camp  Butler  
Camp  Douglas  
Peoria 

'    Joseph  W.  Bell.  .  .  . 
Horace  Capron  
'    Warren  Stewart... 
1    Christian  Thielman 
1    John  L.  Beveridge. 

Camp  Butler,  
Camp  Butler  

St.  Charles... 

April,  1861,  July,  1862. 
1863... 

THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION. 


739 


harmony  between  the  federal  and  State  authorities,  tbe  secretary 
of  war  promulgated  order  18,  which  contains  the  following  pro 
vision:  "The  governors  of  tlie  States  are  legally  the  authorities 
for  raising  volunteer  regiments  and  commissioning  their  officers. 
Accordingly  no  independent  organizations,  as  such,  will  hereafter 
be  recognized  in  the  U.  S.  service.  Copies  of  the  rolls  of  muster 
into  service  will  be  sent  as  soon  as  practicable  to  the  governors 
of  the  States  to  which  they  belong  by  the  commanders  of  bri 
gades,  regiment  or  corps,  heretofore  recognized  as  independent 
of  State  organizations,  and  all  vacancies  of  commissions  in  such 
regiments  and  corps  will  be  hereafter  filled  by  the  respective 
governors  according  to  law."  Mr.  Fuller  retained  possession  of 
the  office  till  January  1,  1803.  Thence  to  the  installation  of 
Gen.  1.  ]S~.  Haynie,  January  14, 1865,  the  duties  of  the  office  were 
discharged  by  Lieut.-Col.  Edward  P.  Niles,  who,  from  the  com 
mencement  of  the  war,  had  been  intimately  connected  with  its 
routine.  By  the  provisions  of  an  act  to  provide  for  the  appoint 
ment,  and  to  prescribe  the  duties  of,  the  adjutant  general,  ap 
proved  February  2d,  1805,  the  office  became  an  organized  de 
partment  of  the  State  government.  In  accordance  with  the  law 

FIRST  RE6IMEXT— ILLINOIS  LIGHT   ARTILLERY. 


A 
B 
C 
D 
E 
F 
G 
B 
I 
K 
L 
M 

Field  and  Staff 

• 

7 
1GS 
204 
175 
141 
148 
159 
113 
147 
169 
96 
153 
154 
883 

Copt.  C.M.  Willard.... 
"      Ezra  Taylor  
"  '  C.  Haugntaling.  . 
"    '  Ed.  McAllister.. 
"  .    A.  C.  Waterhouse 
1     John  T.  Cheney.. 
'      Arthur  O'Leary. 
'      Axel  Silversparr. 
'      Edward  Bouton  . 
'      A.    Franklin  
'      John  Rourke  
'      John  B.  Miller... 
Recruits  

April,  1861  

iChicRfo 

Chicago 

„.,    „„.. 
Jan.  14,   186-2. 
Dec.  19,   1861, 
Feb.  25.  18G2 
Feb.  28.   186-2. 
Feb.  20,  18(52. 
Feb.  15,   186-2. 
Jan.    9,    186-2. 
Feb.  22    1862 

Ottawa 

July    1861    

Plain  field 

Chicago 

Camp  Butler  

Chicago 

Shawneetown  

July,    1862  

Aug.  12,  1862. 

Chicago 

SECOKD  REGIMENT— ILLINOIS  LIGHT  ARTILLERY. 


Ca'it.  Peter  Davidson.. 

July,    18(51  

Auf.  17,  1861 

Peoria 

116 

"    Rilev  Macison  

April,    1861  

June  20.  1861. 

Springfield  

127 

"    Caleb  Hopkins.... 

Julv,  1861  

Ati:;.  5.   1861 

Cairo 

154 

"    JasnerM.  Dresser 

Auth'd,  Sept.  1861  

Dec.  17    1801 

Cairo 

117 

"    Adolph    Schwartz 

Feb.   1.    1862 

Cairo  .  .  . 

136 

•'    John  \Y.  Powell. 
'    Chas.  J.  Stol  brand 
'    Andrew  Steinbeck 
'    Charles  W.  Keith. 
'    Bciij.  F.  Rogers... 
'    Win.  H.  Bolton... 

Autli'd  Sept.  15,  1861  .   . 
Authorized   1861  ....... 

Dec.  11,   1861 
Dec.  31,   1861. 
Dec.  31,  18G1. 
Dec.  31,  1861. 
Dec.  31,  1861 
Feb.  28,  1862 

Cape  Girardeau,Mo. 
Camp  Butler  
('amp  Butler  
Camp  Butler  
Camp  Butler  
Chicago                  f 

190 
108 
115 
107 
108 
145 

'    John  C.  Phillips.. 
Field  and  staff.. 

Authorized  1862  

June  6,  1862. 

Chicago  

100 
10 

Recruits  

1171 

INDEPENDENT   BATTERIES. 


Bd  of  Trade  Capt.  James  S.  Stokes. ;  July,    1862 (July  31,  1862.  Chicago 

Springfield 

Mercantile 


Elgin 

Coggswell'. 
Henshaw'a. 

Bridges 

Colvin's  . . . 
Busteed's . . 




rj  Ul  \  I?*.  JLCU-i. 

Aug.  21.  18fi2. 

\j  ii  icrt^u  ...... 
Camp  Butler. 



Aug.  29,  1862. 
Nov.  15.  1862. 

Chicairo  
Ehrin... 

Thus.  F.  Vaughn i 
Chas.  G.  Cooley,  ' 
Geo.W.  Ren  wick  | 

Wm.    Coggswell.  '•  Auth'd  Sept.  15,  1861.  Sep.  23.  1861.  !C 'nip  Douglas 

Ed.  C.  Henshaw . !  July,   1862 Oct.  15,   1862 .  j  Ottawa 

Lymau  Bridsres..  Auth'd  Jan.  1.   1862..  i  Jan.    1,    1862 .;  Chicago 

John  H.  Colvin.J  Auth'd  July,   18(53. ..  {Oct.  10,   1863. ! Chicago 

! '  Chicago 


258 
199 
270 
242 
221 
196 
252 
91 
127 


RECAPITULATION. 

Infantry 185941 

Cavalry 3?,082 

Artillery 7,277 


740  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

Gen.  Haynie  provided  a  seal  of  office.  Previously,  to  give  validity 
to  commissions  and  other  official  instruments,  it  was  necessary 
to  procure  the  seal  and  signature  of  tbe  secretary  of  State. 
After  a  suitable  imprint  was  provided,  this  indirect  method  of 
transacting  the  business  of  the  office  was  discontinued.  The  ex 
tensive  reports,  issued  under  the  supervision  of  Gen.  Haynie, 
contain  all  the  military  information  that  can  be  interesting  to  the 
reader  or  useful  in  the  organization  of  future  armies,  and  may 
justly  be  regarded  as  a  monument  of  industry,  of  which  the  State 
should  be  proud. 

From  data  thus  furnished,  the  whole  number  of  enlistments 
during  the  war  was  256,000,  average  strength  299,903,  number 
killed  in  action,  5,888;  died  of  wounds,  3,032 ;  of  disease,  19,496, 
in  prison,  967 ;  lost  at  sea,  205  ;  aggregate,  29,588.* 

Medical  Department. — At  the  instance  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 
the  governor  appointed  a  board  of  medical  examiners  consisting 
of  A.  II.  Johnson,  president,  and  O.  M.  Ryan,  secretary.  The 
medical  profession  sharing  the  enthusiasm  that  animated  the 
masses,  tendered  their  services  to  the  government  with  a  zeal 
which,  in  many  instances,  surpassed  their  qualifications  for  the 
work  they  were  required  to  perform.  They  went  forth  in  large 
numbers  from  the  prairie,  the  village  and  country  where  their 
undi  versified  practice  little  qualified,  them  for  the  more  arduous 
and  extensive  duties  of  the  army. 

The  board  met  on  the  18th  of  June,  1861,  in  Springfield,  aud  in 
accordance  *vith  the  army  regulations  they  proceeded  to  "inves 
tigate  carefully  the  physical  ability,  moral  character  aud  profes 
sional  attainments  of  each  candidate.  To  accommodate  the  large 
number  who  applied  for  positions,  sessions  were  held  in  Chicago, 
Alton,  Cairo  and  the  field.  The  importance  of  the  work  which 
they  performed  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  much  the 
larger  part  of  the  mortality  connected  with  armies  results  from 
diseases  instead  of  the  sword,  and  that  many  of  those  who  pro 
posed  to  assume  the  responsibilities  of  physicians  had  never 
received  the  first  rudiments  of  a  medical  education.  It  is  but 
justice  to  state  that  the  selections  made  by  the  board  were  judi 
cious,  and  that  the  medical  treatment  enjoyed  by  our  volunteers 
was  efficient.  Many  not  only  evinced  a  high  order  of  skill  in  the 
practice  of  surgery  and  therapeutics,  but  what  was  of  more  import 
ance,  with  a  paternal  solicitude  instituted  the  most  rigid  sanitary 
regulations  for  the  prevention  of  disease. 

Camps. — The  two  principal  camps  in  the  State  were  Camp  But 
ler,  at  Springfield,  and  Camp  Douglas,  at  Chicago.  The  immedi 
ate  location  of  the  former  was  near  where  the  Toledo,  Wabash  & 
Western  railroad  crosses  the  Saugamon  river,  and  that  of  the  lat 
ter  just  by  the  last  resting  place  of  the  great  statesman  after  whom 
it  was  named.  Each  was  provided  with  commissary  and  ordnance 
warehouses,  general  prison  and  small  pox  hospitals,  company  and 
prison  barracks,  officers'  quarters  and  other  structures  necessary 
for  the  outfit  of  an  extensive  encampment.  Both  places — espe 
cially  Camp  Butler — became  the  principal  points  for  the  rendez- 

*Computation  by  Adjutant  General  E.  L.  Higgins. 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  741 

vous  and  instruction  of  volunteers  and  mustering  tliem  out  of  ser 
vice  after  the  war. 

As  the  result  of  the  battle  of  Fort  Donelson  some  10,000  priso 
ners  were  sent  to  these  cainps,  and  thereafter  they  became  places 
of  custody  for  other  prisoners  captured  in  the  war.  Their  treat 
ment  by  the  officers  in  charge  was  always  humane,  though  if  the 
statements  of  rebel  writers  could  be  credited,  they  suffered  more 
hellish  barbarities  than  were  perpetrated  in  the  prison  pens  of 
the  South.  Of  the  30,000  prisoners  received  at  different  times  at 
Camp  Douglas  3,500  died,  about  10  per  cent.,  while  of  the  number 
of  prisoners  received  at  Belle  Isle  more  than  50  per  cent,  died 
from  exposure,  starvation  and  brutality.  The  site  of  Camp  But 
ler  is  still  preserved  as  a  national  cemetery,  in  which  many  of 
the  gallant  sons  of  Illinois  sleep  in  honored  graves.  Other  camps 
were  formed  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  but  they  in  general 
subserved  only  temporary  purposes. 

Women  of  Illinois. — We  have  spoken  of  the  patriotic  sons 
of  Illinois,  her  daughters  must  not  be  omitted.  Perhaps  the 
brightest  page  in  the  history  of  the  State  is  that  which  records 
their  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  soldier.  Their  devotion  to  the 
national  cause  was  rather  the  promptings  of  inspiration  than  the 
ordinary  impulse  of  patriotism,  and  its  defenders  were  objects  of 
their  deepest  sympathy.  Women  in  all  ages  have  prompted  men 
to  deeds  of  noble  daring,  while  with  the  progress  of  civilization 
in  modern  times  her  influence  has  become  more  potent  than  presi 
dents,  cabinets  or  crowns.  It  is  a  true  adage  that  she  who  rocks 
the  cradle  rules  the  world.  In  the  hallowed  associations  of  home 
are  born  and  nurtured  the  great  intellects,  large  hearts  and  the 
staunch  integrity  which  has  accomplished  all  that  is  noble  in  the 
history  of  the  race. 

The  women  of  Illinois,  in  common  with  others  all  over  the  land, 
were  the  tirstto  commiserate  the  sufferings  of  the  soldier,  and  the 
first  to  make  efforts  to  afford  relief.  In  this  they  were  actuated 
not  only  by  a  heroic  love  of  country,  but  their  kindred  were 
enduring  the  privations  of  war,  and  who  like  them  could  feel  for 
their  distress  ?  Though  physically  incapacitated  to  share  with 
them  the  toil  and  perils  of  battle,  yet  before  its  smoke  and  the 
echoes  of  its  artillery  passed  away  they  could  bind  up  their 
wounds,  and  by  their  self-denial  inspire  them  with  a  holier  ardor 
for  the  cause  they  were  defending.  How  many  weary  sufferers  on 
the  iield  of  carnage,  in  the  lonely  hospital  relieved  by  their 
bounty  and  cheered  by  their  presence,  none  but  the  recording 
angel  can  tell. 

Their  labors  soon  assumed  an  organized  form ;  hundreds  of  relief 
societies  sprang  up  all  over  the  State,  and  proportionately  as  the 
terrible  effects  of  the  war  increased,  the  warm  current  of  their 
sympathies  and  charities  augmented.  These  consisted  of  food, 
clothing,  medicine,  hospital  delicacies,  reading  matter  and  thou 
sands  of  other  articles  in  such  quantities  as  to  necessitate  the 
chartering  of  cars,  and  in  some  instances  steamboats  to  carry 
them  to  their  destination. 

The  counties  of  the  State  next  became  enlisted  in  the  work  of 
benevolence.  In  the  69  where  records  were  made  and  reported, 
the  sums  donated  as  bounties  to  volunteers  for  the  support  of  sol- 


742  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

diers'  families  and  other  objects  amounted  to  more  than  $1.500,- 
000.  In  this  estimate  the  donations  of  33  counties,  and  the  unre 
corded  benevolence  of  thousands  of  individuals  all  over  the  State, 
is  not  in  eluded. 

Another  form  which  the  work  assumed  was  the  establishment 
of  soldiers' homes  in  the  principal  cities.  In  these  places  of  ref 
uge  the  traveling  soldier,  when  he  had  no  one  else  to  care  for  him, 
was  provided  with  board  and  lodging  free  of  cost.  During  the 
war  the  several  homes  in  Illinois  and  other  parts  af  the  West  fur 
nished  lodging  for  600,000  men  and  meals  valued  at  $2,500,000. 
The  relief  thus  afforded  was  not  intended  as  a  substitute  but  as 
supplemental  to  that  of  the  government.  The  troops  of  Illinois 
participated  in  some  of  the  most  gigantic  struggles  of  the  Avar, 
in  which  no  government  system,  however  provident  or  elastic,  can 
do  more  than  mitigate  the  suffering.  In  these  bloody  conflicts 
the  private  benevolence  of  the  people  nobly  seconded  the  efforts 
of  the  government,  and  could  the  relief  afforded  by  both  have  been 
tenfold  more  effective,  the  wounded  would  still  have  suffered 
unspeakable  privations  and  agony. 

The  sanitary  commission  greatly  assisted  in  arousing  and  giv 
ing  direction  to  the  benevolent  enterprise  of  the  State.  The  first 
members  of  the  society  Avere  appointed  on  the  9th  of  June,  1801, 
by  the  Secretary  of  War.  They  met  and  organized  in  Washing 
ton  the  same  month,  and  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  Dr. 
Newberry,  one  of  the  most  efficient  members,  organized  the 
Northwestern  branch  at  Chicago. 

"  This  was  one  of  the  most  efficient  of  all  its  auxilaries  in  collecting 
supplies,  and  its  various  tributaries  scattered  throughout  the  States  of 
Illinois,  Iowa  and  Wisconsin,  did  more  for  the  relief  of  the  soldier 
probably  in  proportion  to  their  means,  than  those  of  any  other  section 
of  the  country.  No  where  had  the  commission  warmer  or  more  enthusias 
tic  friends  than  at  Chicago.  It  was  most  fortunate  in  enlisting  at  an  early 
period  the  active  sympathy  of  some  of  the  most  influential  and  trusted 
men  of  that  important  place.  The  names  of  the  gentlemen  who  con 
ducted  its  operations,  Judge  Skinner,  E.  B.  McCagg  and  E.  W.  Blatch- 
ford  were  alone  a  tower  of  strength  to  its  cause  throughout  the  North 
west  and  the  commission  reaped  the  benefit  in  the  vast  contributions  of 
that  region  of  their  wide  spread  reputation  and  active  exertions."* 

The  most  successful  effort  in  turning  the  great  tide  of  popular 
sympathy  into  the  channel  of  the  commission,  occurred  at  Chicago 
in  May,  18G5.  The  means  employed  was  a  fair  in  which  not 
only  Illinois,  but  her  sister  States  of  the  West,  were  largely  rep 
resented.  Though  all  gave  it  a  hearty  support  the  conception  of 
its  plan  and  the  success  with  which  it  was  carried  out  was  mostly 
due  to  the  efforts  of  Madams  Hoge  and  Livermore.  These  ladies 
who  are  the  personification  of  benevolence  and  energy  wrote 
appeals,  distributed  circulars,  and  addressed  public  meetings  till 
the  great  heart  of  the  Northwest  was  moved  to  its  utmost  depths. 
Union  Hall,  the  principal  building,  occupied  the  whole  of  Dear 
born  Park  and  was  brilliantly  illuminated  with  gas  from  floor  to 
apex.  In  the  centre  were  tastefully  arranged  in  booths  and  on 
tables  the  consecrated  offerings  of  churches,  and  rare  and  beauti 
ful  contributions  from  the  nations  of  Europe.  In  the  two 
wings  business  and  industry  were  represented  by  goods  and 
machinery,  less  ornamental  bat  more  useful.  Eastward  a  whole 

*  History  of  the  Sanitary  Commission. 


THE   WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  743 

block  was  covered  by  Floral  Hall,  whose  contents  appeared  like  a 
crystalized  vision  of  beauty,  in  which  both  nature  and  art  had 
been  laid  under  contribution  for  their  most  exquisite  productions. 
Bryan's  Hall,  then  the  largest  room  in  the  city,  was  used  as  a 
depository  for  battle -torn  banners  and  other  trophies  of  the  war, 
indicative  of  Illinois  and  we-stern  valor. 

Generals  Grant  and  Hooker,  Senator  Yates,  and  a  large  number 
of  other  distinguished  personages,  gave  the  prestige  of  their 
presence  to  the  occasion.  A  vast  multitude  thronged  the  different 
avenues  of  approach  to  the  city,  and  though  the  rebellion  had 
suddenly  collapsed  and  the  necessity  for  raising  funds  had  greatly 
ceased,  the  gross  proceeds  amounted  to  more  than  $300,000  and 
the  net  profits  to  $250,000. 

Military  Movements  in  the  State. — The  operations  of  the  immense 
hosts  furnished  by  the  State  within  her  borders,  was  limited  in 
extent.  We  have  already  spoken  of  the  occupation  of  Cairo, 
located  at  the  junction  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers  and 
Illinois  Central  railroad,  which  was  early  regarded  as  a  strategic 
point  of  more  than  ordinary  significance.  Its  near  proximity  to 
Kentucky,  Missouri  and  Tennessee,  whose  governments  were  con 
trolled  by  disloyal  men,  rendered  it  liable  to  seizure.  One  of  the 
first  acts  of  the  garrison  was  to  suppress  the  traffic  in  lead  and 
other  contraband  merchandise  carried  on  by  Galena,  St.  Louis 
and  Cincinnati,  with  the  rebellious  cities  on  the  Lower  Mississippi. 
Among  other  contraband  shipments  Gov.  Yates  received  intelli 
gence  that  two  steameas,  the  C.  E.  Hillman  and  John  D.  Perry, 
carrying  arms  and  ammunition,  were  about  to  descend  the  river 
from  St.  Louis  and  telegraphed  Col.  Prentiss  to  stop  them  and 
take  possession  of  their  cargoes.  In  due  time  the  vessels  made 
their  appearance  and  were  immediately  boarded  and  brought  to 
the  wharf.  A  large  number  of  arms  and  other  military  stores 
were  seized  and  confiscated,  a  proceeding  at  the  time  somewhat 
informal,  but  subsequently  approved  by  the  Secretary  of  Avar. 
To  prevent  the  recurrence  of  similar  attempts  on  the  part  of  the 
rebels  to  obtain  supplies  all  further  shipments  to  posts  under  in 
surrection  ary  control  were  interdicted. 

The  State  was  almost  destitute  of  arms,  and  the  Cairo  expedi 
tion  had  been  equipped  to  a  great  extent  with  shot  guns  and  rifles, 
taken  from  the  stores  in  Chicago.  According  to  the  report  of  the 
ordinance  qartermaster,  the  arsenal  contained  only  302  muskets, 
10.3  rifles,  133  musketoons,  and  297  pistols.  In  addition  to  these 
there  were  a  number  of  other  arms  in  possession  of  different  inilitia 
companies  of  the  State,  of  antique  patterns,  and  fur  inferior  to 
weapons  of  a  more  modern  construction.  Under  these  circum 
stances  an  effort  was  made  to  obtain  arms  from  the  arsenal  of 
New  York,  and  a  messenger  was  sent  to  Washington  for  a  similar 
purpose.  It,  however,  soon  became  evident  that  this  destitution 
was  not  confined  to  Illinois,  but  as  the  result  of  Floyd's  treachery, 
common  to  all  the  Northern  States.  According  to  rebel  newspa 
pers,  there  had  been  deposited  at  different  points  in  the  South 
107,000  stand  of  muskets,  and  200,000  pistols  for  the  avowed  pur 
pose  of  overturning  the  government  to  which  they  rightfully  be 
longed.  Furthermore,  of  the  home  squadron,  consisting  of  12 
vessels,  carrying  187  guns  and  2,000  men,  only  4  small  vessels, 


744  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

canning  25  guns  and  280  inert,  were  available,  the  others  having 
been  dispersed  to  distant  seas. 

While  the  subject  of  procuring  arms  was  under  advisement,  the 
messenger  who  had  been  dispatched  to  Washington  returned  with 
an  order  on  the  arsenal  at  St.  Louis  for  10,000  muskets.  This  re 
pository  of  military  stores  was  now  closely  watched  by  traitors, 
and  a  mob  of  them  were  ready  to  seize  the  arms  which  it  contained 
the  moment  an  attempt  should  be  made  to  remove  them.  While 
those  in  charge  of  the  requisition  were  looking  about  for  compe 
tent  men,  and  considering  an  available  plan  for  getting  possession 
of  them,  Captain  Stokes,  of  Chicago,  volunteered  to  undertake  the 
hazardous  enterprise.  Gov.  Yates  at  once  put  into  his  hands  the 
order  issued  by  the  secretary  of  war,  and  hastening  to  St.  Louis, 
he  found  the  arsenal  surrounded  by  a  disorderly,  treasonable 
rabble.  After  a  number  of  unavailing  attempts  to  pass  through 
the  crowd,  he  at  length  reached  the  building,  and  communicated 
to  the  officer  in  change  the  object  of  his  visit.  The  commander  in 
formed  him  that  the  arsenal  was  surrounded  by  hundreds  of  spies 
in  communication  with  the  secessionists  of  the  city,  and  that  the 
most  trivial  movement  might  exeits  suspicion,  and  bring  an  over 
powering  force  ui)on  the  garrison  at  any  moment.  Although  he 
doubted  the  possibility  of  complying  with  the  requisition,  it  was 
evident  that  delay  would  render  it  more  difficult,  and  permission 
was  given  to  Captain  Stokes  to  make  the  attempt.  These  appre 
hensions  were  well  founded,  for  the  next  day  information  was  re 
ceived  that  Gov.  Jackson  had  ordered  2,000  armed  men  down 
from  Jefferson  City,  and  was  evidently  contemplating  by  this 
movement  the  capture  of  the  arsenal.  Two  batteries  had  already 
been  planted  by  his  friends,  one  near  the  arsenal,  and  one  on  the 
St.  Louis  levee,  and  were  either  designed  for  this  purpose,  or  some 
other  treasonable  object.  Captain  Stokes  immediately  telegraphed 
to  Alton  to  have  a  steamer  descend  the  river  and  about  midnight 
land  opposite  the  arsenal,  and  proceeding  to  the  same  place  with 
700  men  of  the  7th  Illinois,  soon  commenced  lowering  the  heavy 
boxes  containing  the  guns  from  the  upper  to  the  lower  portion  of 
the  building.  At  the  same  time,  to  divert  attention  from  his  real 
design,  he  caused  500  unserviceable  muskets  to  be  openly  placed 
on  a  different  boa.t.  As  intended,  this  movement  was  soon  de 
tected,  and  the  shouts  and  excitement  upon  their  seizure,  drew 
most  of  the  crowd  from  the  arsenal.  Captain  Stokes  ordered  the 
remainder,  who  were  acting  as  a  posse,  to  be  shut  up  in  the  guard 
house,  and  as  soon  as  the  boat  came  along  side  commenced 
freighting  her  with  guns.  When  the  10,000  muskets  were  aboard 
he  asked  permission  to  empty  the  entire  arsenal,  and  was  told  to 
go  ahead  and  take  what  he  wanted.  He,  therefore,  instead  of 
confining  himself  to  the  requisition,  besides  cannon  and  a  large 
number  of  other  valuable  accoutrements,  took  500  carbines,  500 
pistols,  and  20,000  muskets,  leaving  only  7,000  to  arm  the  St. 
Louis  volunteers.  When  all  was  on  board  and  the  order  was  given 
to  start,  it  was  found  that  the  immense  weight  of  the  cargo  had 
bound  the  bow  of  the  boat  to  a  rock,  which  at  every  turn  of  the 
wheel  was  crushing  through  the  bottom.  The  arms  hiid  been  piled 
in  large  quantities  about  the  engines  to  protect  thm  from  the  bat 
tery  on  the  levee,  and  assistance  was  immediately  summoned  from 
the  arsenal  to  remove  them  to  the  stern.  Fortunately,  when  this 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  745 

was  partially  effected  the  boat  fell  away  from  the  shore  and  floated 
into  deep  water. 

"Which  way  £"  said  Captain  Mitchell,  of  the  steamer.  "Straight 
in  the  regular  channel  to  Alton, "replied  Captain  Stokes.  "What 
if  we  are  attacked  F  said  Captain  Mitchell.  "Then  we  will  fight," 
was  the  reply  of  Captain  Stokes.  "What  if  we  are  overpowered?" 
said  Mitchell.  "Run  the  boat  to  the  deepest  part  of  the  river  and 
sink  her,"  replied  Stokes.  "I'll1  do  it,"  was  the  heroic  answer  of 
Mitchell,  and  away  they  went  past  the  secession  battery,  past  the 
St.  Louis  levee,  and  in  the  regular  channel  onto  Alton,  where  they 
arrived  at  5  o'clock  in  'the  morning.  When  they  touched  the  land 
ing,  Captain  Stokes,  fearing  pursuit  by  some  of  the  secession  mili 
tary  companies  by  which  the  city  of  St.  Louis  was  disgraced,  ran 
to  the  market  house  and  rang  the  fire  bell.  The  citizens  came 
flocking  pell-mell  to  the  river  in  all  sorts  of  habiliments.  Captain 
Stokes  informed  them  as  to  the  state  of  affairs,  and  pointed  to  the 
freight  cars.  Instantly  men,  women  and  children  boarded  the 
steamer,  seized  the  freight,  and  clambered  up  the  levee  to  the 
cars.  Rich  and  poor  tugged  together  with  might  and  main  for  two 
hours,  when  the  cargo  was  all  deposited  on  the  cars,  and  the  train 
moved  off  to  Springfield  amid  the  most  enthusiastic  cheers."*These 
arms  thus  rescued  from  the  very  grasp  of  traitors,  served  to  equip 
the  first  regiments  of  the  State,  and  on  many  a  bloody  field  be 
came  the  terrible  avengers  of  those  who  sought  to  use  them  against 
their  country. 

•  Patriotism  of  Illinois. 


CHAPTER  LVI. 
1861—1862.    ILLINOIS  IN  MISSOURI. 

Battles  of  'Lexington ,  Monroe,  Charleston,  Fredericktown,  Belmont  and 

Pea  Ridge. 


Having  given  a  brief  sketch  of  the  operation  of  Illinois  at  home 
let  us  look  abroad  at  the  exploits  of  her  soldiers  in  the  field. 

In  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  east  of  the  Alleghanies,  and  on 
the  Southern  seaboard,  every  commercial  highway  was  blockaded 
by  the  terrible  enginery  of  war,  and  every  mountain  pass  and  sa 
lient  out-post  echoed  with  the  tramp  of  hostile  squadrons.  In  the 
disposition  of  the  Union  armies,  Illinois  troops  were  mostly  con 
fined  to  operations  on  the  Mississippi,  the  Tennessee,  the  Cum 
berland,  the  White,  the  Bed,  the  Savannah,  and  in  the  battles  of 
Belmont,  Pea  Ridge,  Donelson,  Shiloh,  Corinth,  Perryville,  Vicks- 
burg,  Jackson,  Stone  river,  Chickamauga  and  Lookout  Mountain, 
Missionary  Ridge,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  Jouesboro,  Atlanta,  Savan 
nah,  Franklin  and  Nashville,  and  they  won  fame  for  themselves 
and  a  proud  record  for  the  State. 

Military  operations  in  the  West  commenced  with  the  occupation 
of  Cairo.  Missouri  lying  westward,  with  a  treasonable  executive 
and  a  population  partly  disloyal,  soon  became  involved  in  civil 
strife.  Gov.  Jackson  appointed  Sterling  Price  brigadier  general 
of  the  State  troops,  which  were  to  be  organized  and  equipped  for 
action.  He  managed  to  get  the  police  of  St.  Louis  under  his  con 
trol,  and  endeavored  to  persuade  the  people  of  the  city  and  State 
to  cast  their  destiny  with  their  brethren  of  the  Southern  Confed 
eracy.  Acting  upon  his  advice  a  body  of  armed  men,  notoriously 
hostile  to  the  government,  and  in  communication  with  traitors  in 
the  seceded  States,  met  near  the  city,  styling  their  place  of  ren 
dezvous  Camp  Jackson,  in  honor  of  the  governor.  Captain  Lyon, 
then  in  command  of  the  arsenal,  had  in  the  meantime  been  em 
powered  by  the  president  to  enroll  10,000  loyal  men  to  maintain 
the  authority  of  the  government  within  the  limits  of  the  State. 
With  the  promptitude  which  the  emergency  demanded,  he  ap 
peared  on  the  morning  of  May  10th  with  a  "force  of  6,000  men  before 
the  hostile  camp,  and  demanded  its  surrender.  Taken  wholly  by 
surprise,  and  threatened  by  a  superior  force,  there  was  no  alterna 
tive  but  to  submit,  and  accordingly  20  cannons,  1200  rifles,  and  a 
large  amount  of  ammunition  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Unionists. 
The  force,  after  dispersing  the  rebels  retired  to  the  city,  and  being 
assaulted  with  showers  of  stones  and  pistol  shots  from  disnnion- 
ists,  they  fired  into  their  ranks  and  killed  some  of  their  leaders. 
Great  excitement  ensued,  and  but  for  the  vigorous  interposition 
746 


THE  WAR  OF   THE  REBELLION.  747 

of  Lyon  the  commercial  metropolis  of  Missouri  would  Lave  become 
the  scene  of  strife  between  warring  factions.  His  course  being 
highly  approved  at  Washington,  he  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  bri 
gadier  general,  and  placed  in  command  of  the  government  forces 
then  operating  in  the  State. 

Perceiving  that  the  militia  force  under  Price,  although  organ 
ized  with  the  professed  intention  of  preserving  peace,  was  also 
treasonable  in  its  sympathies  and  ulterior  designs,  he  ordered  them 
to  surrender  their  arms.  When  this  demand  was  made  Jackson 
issued  a  proclamation  calling  50,000  State  militia  to  repel  fed 
eral  invasion,  thus  further  disclosing  the  real  animus  of  the  organ 
ization  under  his  control.  With  a  view  of  arresting  further 
proceedings  of  this  kind,  Lyon  started  in  steamers  for  Jefferson. 
City  with  a  force  of  2,000  men,  and  arriving  thither  he  found  that 
Jackson  had  evacuated  the  city  and  retreated  to  Booueville, 
higher  up  the  river.  Following  him  to  the  latter  place,  he,  on  the 
17th  of  June,  met  and  completely  routed  the  rebel  force,  and  most 
of  their  military  stores  fell  into  his  hands.  With  the  Union  force 
in  rapid  pursuit  Jackson  and  his  followers  fled  to  the  southwest 
ern  part  of  the  State,  where  he  expected  assistance  from  Price. 
He  was,  however,  met  in  Jasper  county  by  15,000  men  under  Col. 
Franz  Sigel,  a  spirited  officer,  who  was  pushing  for  ward  to  prevent 
his  junction  with  reinforcements.  On  the  4th  of  July  Sigel  had 
an  engagement  with  his  force  near  Carthage,  and  although  out 
numbered  two  to  one,  inflicted  upon  him  a  severe  blow,  the  rebel 
loss  being  50  killed  and  150  wounded,  while  his  own  was  only  13 
killed  and  31  wounded.  Si  gel's  ammunition  being  exhausted,  he 
was  compelled  to  fall  back,  first  to  Mt.  Vernoii,  and  then  to  Spring 
field,  where  he  met  Gen.  Lyou.  The  retreat  was  fortunate,  for 
the  next  day  Price,  reinforced  by  several  thousand  men  from 
Texas  and  Arkansas,  under  command  of  McCulloch,  advanced  to 
the  support  of  Jackson.  This  force  continued  its  inarch  in  the 
direction  taken  by  Sigel,  and  took  a  position  on  Wilson's  creek, 
with  the  intention  of  moving  against  Springfield,  only  ten  miles  dis 
tant.  Ly on's  force  at  the  latter  place  was  only  5,000  men,  and  many 
of  these  were  inexperienced  recruits,  who  had  just  taken  the  place 
of  3-moutlis  troops,  while  he  was  confronted  with  20,000  enemies. 
A  council  of  war  was  held,  and  in  view  of  the  demoralizing  effect 
a  retreat  would  have  upon  the  Union  cause,  it  was  decided  to  risk 
a  battle  with  even  this  superior  force. 

Accordingly  on  the  8th  of  August  L^on  led  his  forces  against 
the  enemy.  A  bloody  fight  ensued,  in  which  Lyon,  at  the  head  of 
one  of  his  regiments,  in  a  heavy  charge  against  the  foe,  was 
pierced  through  the  heart  by  two  bullets,  and  fell  lifeless  from  his 
steed. 

The  command  now  devolved  on  Major  Sturgis,  and  after  three 
hours'  hard  fighting  the  enemy  was  driven  from  the  field.  The 
Union  troops,  being  now  without  ammunition,  retired  to  Spring 
field,  where  Sigel  took  command,  and  conducted  them  to  Holla. 
The  loss  of  the  enemy  was  reported  at  1,347,  ours  at  1.235,  besides 
the  death  of  Lyon,  who  was  himself  a  host.  His  glorious  past, 
the  purity  of  his  life,  and  almost  reckless  daring,  had  made  him 
the  idol  of  the  people,  and  when  stricken  down  the  nation  was 
filled  with  mourning.  Rebel  authorities  endeavored  to  magnify 
tins  battle  into  a  victory,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  20,000  of 


748  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

their  men  had  been  met  by  5,000  federals  and  so  badly  disabled 
that  they  could  not  pursue  the  latter  when  they  retreated.  As 
Price  was  unable  to  resume  operations  for  more  than  a  month,  it 
was  evidently  a  Union  triumph,  although  dearly  purchased  at  the 
cost  of  Lyon's  life. 

Early  in  July,  1861,  Fremont  was  entrusted  with  the  chief  coin- 
in  and  of  the  western  department,  embracing  the  State  of  Illinois, 
and  the  States  and  territories  between  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Boeky  Mountains.  He  found  the  situation  of  affairs  in  his  new 
field  of  labor  very  unpromising.  Pope  was  in  northern  Missouri 
with  a  small  force,  Prentiss  at  Cairo  with  a  few  regiments.  Confront 
ing  these  and  ready  to  pounce  upon  them  with  irresistible  might 
whenever  the  varying  fortunes  of  war  furnished  an  opportunity, were 
20,000  meii  under  Pillow  at  New  Madrid,  and  30,000  under  Price  in 
the  southwest  part  of  the  State.  One  of  Fremont's  first  acts  was  to 
reinforce  Cairo  and  Bird's  Point,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  both  imperiled  by  the  overwhelming  forces  on  the  river 
below.  On  the  30th  of  August  he  issued  a  proclamation  placing 
the  whole  State  of  Missouri  under  martial  law,  and  declaring  the 
property  of  rebels  confiscated,  and  their  slaves  free  men.  Public 
opinion,  however,  was  not  yet  prepared  for  emancipation,  and 
President  Lincoln  annulled  that  portion  relating  to  slavery. 

Battle  of  Lexington. — After  recovering  from  the  battle  of  Wil 
son's  creek,  Price  started  northward  to  the  Missouri  river,  it  was 
supposed  to  get  possession  of  Jefferson  City,  and  reinstate  the  au 
thority  of  Gov.  Jackson.  Despite  small  detachments  sent  out  to 
intercept  his  movements,  he  turned  his  course  to  the  northwest, 
and  on  the  llth  of  September  set  down  before  Lexington,  on  the 
Missouri,  300  miles  above  St.  Louis.  Col.  Mulligan,  in  command 
of  the  23d  Illinois  infantry,  1st  Illinois  cavalry,  and  about  1,200 
Missouri  troops,  had  previously  taken  position  between  Old  and 
New  Lexington,  distant  about  half  a  mile,  and  commenced  fortify 
ing  it.  His  entire  force  was  less  than  3,000,  while  the  assailants 
were  estimated  at  nearly  20,000,  and  consisted,  according  to  rebel 
statements,  of  the  elite  of  the  Confederate  army.  As  early  as  the 
12th  an  assault  was  made  on  his  works,  but  the  fierce  and  derter- 
inined  manner  in  which  it  was  met  soon  convinced  Price  that  even 
with  his  overwhelming  numbers,  it  would  not  be  prudent  to  at 
tempt  to  carry  the  place  by  storm.  Accordingly,  as  a  means  of 
gradual  approach,  bales  of  hemp,  saturated  with  water,  to  prevent 
ignition  from  the  hot  shots  of  Mulligan's  guns,  were  rolled  in 
front  of  his  batteries.  Mulligan,  in  the  meantime,  had  burnt  a 
portion  of  the  old  town  to  prevent  the  enemy  taking  shelter  in  it, 
and  sent  messengers  by  different  routes  for  more  troops. 

Price,  Avho  had  been  waiting  for  ammunition,  received  a  supply 
and  on  the  18th  13  guns,  posted  in  commanding  positions,  opened 
their  fiery  throats  upon  the  federal  iutenchments.  The  Union 
commander  had  five  small  brass  pieces  which  were  brought  into 
position  and  worked  with  great  gallantry,  being  charged  with 
rough  shot  manufactured  for  the  occasion  in*  a  neighboring  foundry. 
Price  having  previously  seized  the  boats  in  the  river,  and  fortified 
the  adjacent  bluffs.,  the  besieged  troops  were  cutoff'  from  water, 
and  suffered  the  most  intense  agonies  of  thirst.  This  hardship 
was  further  aggravated  by  the  stench  arising  from  the  putrid  car- 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  749 

casses  of  horses  which  in  large  numbers  had  been  slaughtered  by 
the  lire  of  the  rebel  guns.  It,  however,  rained  at  intervals,  and 
the  thirsty  men,  by  spreading  their  blankets  till  they  became  sat 
urated  with  water,  and  then  wringing  them  in  camp  dishes,  were 
enabled  to  prolong  the  seige  till  the  20th,  when  they  surrendered. 

Col.  Mulligan  facetiously  remarks  of  the  home  guards,  a  portion 
of  the  Missouri  troops  under  his  command  who  refused  to  light, 
that  they  were  "invincible  in  peace  and  invisible  in  war."  Col. 
Estvan,  of  the  rebel  service,  in  writing  of  the  capitulation,  said  : 
uThis  surrender  does  not  cast  the  slightest  discredit  on  Col.  Mul 
ligan,  his  officers  and  men.  After  having  exhausted  all  their 
means  against  an  enemy  three  times  their  strength,  they  had  no 
choice  but  capitulation.  The  booty  was  considerable.  In  addi 
tion  to  arms,  clothing  and  ammunition,  we  took  more  than  a  mil 
lion  dollars  in  hard  cash.  These  dollars  nearly  rendered  our 
fellows  frantic,  for  this  was  the  object  which  had  induced  the  ma 
jority  of  them  to  take  up  arms  against  their  former  government."* 

A  writer  in  the  Chicago  Post  thus  speaks  of  Mulligan's  command 
known  as  the  Irish  Brigade,  of  which  he  was  a  private  : 

"On  the  17th  the  enemy  commenced  erecting  breastworks  of  hemp 
bales  from,  behind  which  they  continued  to  fire  as  they  rolled  them  to 
wards  us.  About  3  o'clock  of  the  same  day  they  charged  over  our  en 
trenchments,  upon  Col.  Peabody's  home  guards,  and  planted  their  flags 
on  the  top  of  our  breastworks,  The  Irish  Brigade  was  ordered  to  leave 
its  position  on  the  opposite  side  to  retake  the  ground  which  Peabody  had 
lost.  We  fired  on  the  run,  and  continued  on  the  double  quick.  The 
rebels  scattered  and  fled  like  a  flock  of  sheep,  but  left  the  top  of  the 
breastworks  covered  with  dead  and  wounded.  In  this  single  charge  we 
killed  and  wounded  some  55  and  lost  about  30.  They  had  no  bayonets, 
and  most  of  their  weapons  being  shot  guns  we  did  not  give  them  time  to 
use  them.  They  fired  at  random.  Col.  Mulligan  received  a  buck-shot 
through  one  of  his  legs,  which  lamed  but  did  not  disable  him  ;  six  or 
seven  passed  through  his  blouse.  Six  different  times  during  the  ensuing 
night  the  rebels  were  allowed  to  approach  the  ditch  on  the  side  next  the 
city.  When  they  got  sufficiently  near,  our  boys  on  the  inside 
would  explode  a  mine,  hurling  them  promiscuously  in  every  direction, 
and  slaughtering  them  by  hundreds.  Six  mines  were  thus  sprung  un 
der  their  feet,  and  they  evidently  began  to  regard  that  side  of  the  en 
trenchment  as  a  dangerous  locality." 

Col.  Mulligan,  who  by  the  gallant  though  unsuccessful  defense  of 
1/exington,  won  the  esteem  of  Illinois,  was  born  in  1829,  in  the 
city  of  Utica,  New  York.  While  a  child  his  father  died  and  his 
mother  moved  with  him  to  Chicago.  At  the  age  of  24=  he  com 
menced  studying  law  in  the  office  of  Isaac  K.  Arnold,  M.  C.  from 
the  Chicago  district,  and  in  1856  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  war  he  was  captain  of  a  militia  company, 
the  Shields  Guard,  in  the  drilling  of  which  he  acquired  a  knowl 
edge  of  military  tactics.  At  the  fall  of  Sumter  he  threw  his 
soul  into  the  cause  of  the  Union,  assisted  in  forming  the  Irish- 
American  companies  of  Chicago  into  a  regiment,  known  as  the 
Irish  brigade,  of  which  he  was  elected  colonel.  The  conduct  of 
the  regiment  at  Lexington  and  elsewhere  was  brave  and  efficient. 

Fremont  had  sent  reinforcements  to  Mulligan,  and  unfortu 
nately  his  men  had  hardly  laid  down  their  arms  when  the  succor 
ing  force  made  its  appearance  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river. 

*  This  admission  but  illy  comports  with  the  oft-repeated  statement  of  rebels  that 
they  had  taken  up  arms  to  resist  the  aggressions  of  the  north. 


750  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

He  left  St.  Louis  on  the  27th,  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  Price 
and  giving  him  battle  at  some  point  on  the  Missouri.  His  force 
was  composed  of  five  divisions,  commanded  respectively  by  Gens. 
Pope,  Sigel,  Hunter,  Ashboth  and McKinstry,  amounting  in  the 
aggregate  to  39,000  men.  The  wary  rebel  general,  however, 
soon  apprised  of  his  intentions,  commenced  retreating  southward 
and  by  offensive  cavalry  feints  succeeded  in  placing  tbe  Usage 
between  him  and  his  pursuers.  Fremont  still  following,  on  the 
28th  of  October  the  advance  divisions  of  his  arm}'  entered  Spring 
field  and  drove  a  portion  of  the  rebel  force  from  the  town.  As 
soon  as  he  came  up  preparations  commenced  to  give  the  enemy 
battle,  but  unfortunately  at  this  juncture  when  the  army  was 
eager  for  the  contest  and  everything  seemed  to  promise  success, 
he  was  relieAred  of  his  command. 

This  was  not  entirely  unexpected  as  his  relations  with  the  war 
department  had  for  some  time  been  unsatisfactory.  Its  occur 
rence  at  this  critical  time,  however,  was  a  matter  of  regret,  for 
whatever  errors  may  have  been  committed,  the  retreat  of  the  army 
and  the  abandonment  of  this  portion  of  the  State  to  rebels,  which 
followed,  was  far  more  disastrous.  The  fail  are  to  promptly  send 
troops  to  the  relief  of  Mulligan  caused  a  storm  to  break  out  against 
him,  and  his  enemies  never  afterwards  became  reconciled.  He 
was  charged  with  defrauding  the  government  in  purchasing  sup 
plies  for  the  army  ;  with  surrounding  himself  with  favorites  to  the 
exclusion  of  meritorious  officers,  and  finally  incompetency  in  the 
management  of  his  department;  it  should,  however,  be  men 
tioned  in  extenuation  of  these  charges,  that  the  failure  to  relieve 
Lexington  was  rather  the  result  of  adverse  circumstances  than 
the  fault  of  Fremont;  that  his  attempt  to  free  the  slaves  of  rebel 
masters,  although  rejected  at  the  time,  subsequently  became  the 
policy  of  the  government,  and  that  had  he  been  enabled  to  carry 
out  his  plans  for  the  descent  of  the  Mississippi,  which  his  succes 
sors  mouths  afterward  adopted,  it  would  have  saved  the  country 
thousands  of  lives  and  millions  of  treasure. 

Battle  of  Monroe. — Besides  the  battle  of  Lexington,  a  number 
of  minor  engagements  occurred  in  Missouri  during  Fremont's 
administration,  in  which  the  troops  of  Illinois  bore  a  distinguished 
part.  A  spirited  fight  occurred  betAveen  Col.  E.  T.  Smith  of  the 
10th  Illinois  and  the  rebel  Gov.  Harris,  in  command  of  2.500  con 
federates  stationed  at  Florida.  The  federal  officer  with  a  force  of 
600  men  detached  from  his  own  regiment  and  the  3d  Iowa,  left 
his  camp  at  Monroe,  30  miles  west  of  Hannibal,  to  engage  the 
enemy.  On  nearing  the  ford  on  Salt  river,  he  was  suddenly 
attacked  and  Capt.  McAlister  of  the  16th  Illinois,  mortally 
wounded.  Finding  himself  confronted  by  greatly  superior  num 
bers  Col.  Smith  fell  back  to  Monroe  and  stationed  his  force  in  an 
academy.  Here  he  maintained  his  position  till  the  arrival  of  re 
inforcements  from  Quincy,  under  ex-Gov.  Wood,  when  the  enemy 
was  charged  and  routed  with  a  loss  of  70  men  and  a  large  num 
ber  of  horses. 

Battle  of  Charleston.— On  the  19th  of  August  an  engagement 
occurred  at  Charleston,  of  which  Gen.  Fremont  gives  theVollow- 
iug  account:  "  Keport  from  commanding  officer  at  Cairo  says  that 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  751 

Col.  Dougherty  of  the  22d  Illinois,  with  300  men  sent  out  yester 
day  at  7  o'clock  from  Bird's  Point,  attacked  the  enemy  at 
Charleston,  1,200  strong,  drove  him  back,  killed  40,  took  17  priso 
ners  and  15  horses  and  returned  at  2  A.  M.  to  Bird's  Point,  with 
a  loss  of  1  killed  and  6  wounded."  A  correspondent  of  the  New 
York  Tribune  relates  the  following  of  Lt.  Col.  Ransom  of  the  llth 
Illinois:  "  He  was  urging  his  men  to  the  charge  when  a  man 
rode  up  and  called  out  "Do  you  know  you  are  killing  our  own 
men  F  Ransom  replied  "I  know  what  I  am  doing ;  who  are  youF 
The  reply  was  "  I  am  for  Jeff  Davis."  Ransom  replied,  "  You  are 
the  man  I  am  after,"  and  instantly  two  pistols  were  drawn.  The 
rebel  fired  first,  taking  effect  in  Ool.  Ransom's  arm  near  the 
shoulder.  The  colonel  fired,  killing  his  antagonist  instantly. 

Battle  of  Fredericktoicn. — Another  ^spirited  engagement  came 
off  on  the  21st  of  October  near  Frederiektowu.  Gen.  Grant  then 
commanding  the  south  west  district  of  Missouri,  with  headquarters 
at  Cairo,  hearing  that  the  town  was  occupied  by  a  rebel  force 
under  Gen.  Jeff.  Thompson,  sent  Col.  Plummer,  of  the  llth  Mis 
souri,  to  operate  against  them.  This  regiment  was  composed  of 
Illinois  men  who  enlisted  in  Missouri.  The  completion  of  the 
quota  rendered  it  impossible  to  obtain  admission  to  the  service  at 
home,  and  hence  they  went  abroad.  The  force  of  the  latter  con 
sisted  of  his  own  regiment,  the  17th  Illinois,  Col.  Ross,  the  20th, 
Col.  Marsh,  White's  section  of  Taylor's  Chicago  battery  and 
Captains  Stewart  and  Saunders'  companies  of  Illinois  cavalry. 
On  his  arrival  at  Fredericktown  he  found  it  in  possession  of  Col. 
Carlin,  38th  Illinois,  whose  command,  in  addition  to  the  38th, 
included  the  21st  and  23d  Illinois,  Colonels  Alexander  and  Har 
vey  and  several  companies  of  infantry  and  cavalry  from  Wis 
consin  and  Iowa.  The  entire  force  under  the  leadership  of  Col. 
Plumber  rapidly  pursued  and  overtook  the  enemy,  when  a  severe 
engagement  followed.  The  17th  Illinois  and  Taylor'  s  battery 
commenced  the  attack  in  the  rear,  while  the  other  regiments  de 
ployed  to  the  right  and  left  as  they  came  up  and  delivered  their 
fire.  The  left  of  the  rebel  force  soon  gave  way,  and  their  retreat 
was  converted  into  a  rout.  The  right  under  Thompson  supported 
by  a  battery  maintained  its  position  longer,  but  the  battery 
was  at  length  captured  and  the  rout  became  general.  The 
retreating  foe  was  pursued  a  distance  of  20  miles,  and  lost  in  the 
engagement  200  men  by  death  and  80  by  capture.  The  federal 
loss  was  6  killed  and  GO  wounded. 

Gen.  Hunter,  who  was  sent  to  succeed  Gen.  Fremont,  arrived  on 
the  3d  of  November,  and  declining  an  engagement  with  Price  com 
menced  retreatingin  the  direction  of  St.  Louis.  Price  followed  him 
and  endeavored  to  destroy  th  e  Nor  them  railroad  for  the  purpose  of 
cutting  off  communication  with  St.  Louis.  On  the  18th  of  Novem 
ber  Gen.  Halleck  reached  that  city,  and  relieving  Gen.  Hunter, 
took  command  of  the  Western  Department.  He  immediately 
issued  a  proclamation  fixing  the  penalty  of  death  against  all  per 
sons  engaged  in  destroying  railroads  and  telegraphs,  and  by  supe 
rior  strategy  succeeded  in  circumventing  the  designs  of  Price. 
On  the  7th  of  December  Pope  was  placed  in  command  of  the 
troops  in  Northern  Missouri,  and  pushing*  forward  he  occupied  a 
position  between  Warreusburg  and  Clinton.  Operating  from  this 


752  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

position  be  enabled  Col.  J.  C.  Davis  to  meet  and  completely  rout 
the  enemy  near  the  mouth  of  Clear  creek.  This  victory  was 
immediately  followed  by  an  epeditionto  Lexington  for  the  purpose 
of  destroying  a  foundry  and  a  small  fleet  in  possession  of  rebel 
troops.  This  was  speedily  accomplished,  and  with  it  almost  the 
entire  region  between  the  Missouri  and  Osage  rivers  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  federals. 

Battle  of  Belmont.—In  the  meantime  Gen.  Grant  made  an 
attempt  to  capture  the  rebel  force  at  Belmont,  on  the  Missouri 
side  of  the  Mississippi.  Henceforth  the  history  of  this  officer 
is  too  well  known  to  require  recital.  With  his  past  history  we 
are  not  so  familiar.  Ulysses  S.  Grant  wras  born  in  Clermoiit  county, 
Ohio,  April  27,  1822.  At  the  age  of  17  he  was  admitted  to 
the  military  academy  at  West  Point,  and  graduated  June  30, 
1843.  Immediately  after  his  graduation  he  received  the  brevet 
of  2d  lieutenant,  and  was  placed  in  the  4th  regiment  of  United 
States  infantry,  then  stationed  in  Missouri.  During  the  Avar 
with  Mexico  his  regiment  was  ordered  to  join  the  army  of 
occupation  under  Gen.  Taylor,  and  subsequently  he  participated 
in  the  battles  of  Palo  Alto,  Eeseca  de  la  Palma  and  Monterey. 
On  the  arrival  of  Gen.  Scott  he  was  transferred  to  his  command, 
and  in  the  battles  of  Vera  Cruz  and  Molino  del  Rey  his  bravery 
was  so  conspicuous,  he  was  made  1st  lieutenant  on  the  battle  iield. 
In  the  battle  of  Chepultepec,  which  followed,  he  further  distin 
guished  himself  and  was  again  promoted,  receiving  the  brevet  of 
captain  in  the  regular  army.  With  the  cessation  of  the  war  he 
returned  home, resigned  his  commission  and  lived  a  private  life  till 
the  commencement  of  the  rebellion. 

In  April  1861,  he  waited  on  Gov.  Yates  and  tendered  him  his 
services,  modestly  stating  that  he  had  been  educated  at  the  ex 
pense  of  the  government  5  that  he  now  thought  it  his  duty 
to  assist  in  defending  it,  and  would  regard  it  a  privilege  to 
be  assigned  to  any  position  where  he  could  render  himself  use 
ful.  The  first  important  duty  with  which  he  was  entrusted  was 
the  organization  of  the  first  regiments  furnished  by  the  State 
under  the  call  of  April  15,  1861.  Evincing  in  the  performance  of 
this  work  his  superior  military  qualifications,  the  governor  placed 
him  in  command  of  the  21st  Illinois,  his  commission  as  colonel  dat 
ing  from  the  15th  of  June,  1861.  At  the  time  he  took  command  the 
regiment  was  demoralized  and  incomplete,  but  in  10  days  after 
ward  he  filled  it  to  the  maximum  standard  and  brought  it  to  a 
state  of  discipline  seldom  attained  in  so  short  a  time.  Being 
ordered  to  Northern  Missouri,  his  regiment  proceeded  on  foot  from 
Springfield  to  the  Illinois  river,  thence  on  the  cars  to  Quincy, 
where  its  first  duty  was  the  protection  of  the  Quincy  &  Palmyra 
and  the  Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph  railroads. 

On  the  31st  of  July  Grant  was  placed  in  command  of  the  troops 
at  Mexico,  in  the  North  Missouri  District,  commanded  by  Brig. 
Geir.  Pope.  Early  distinguishing  himself  in  the  field,  his  claims 
for  increased  rank  were  recognized  by  his  friends  in  Illinois  before 
his  worth  was  fully  appreciated  in  Washington.  His  vigorous 
prosecution  of  the  campaign  in  North  Missouri,  however,  soon 
won  universal  recognition,  and  he  was  promoted  August  23d  to 
the  rank  of  brigadier  general,  his  commission  dating  from  May 


THE   WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  753 

ITtli.  After  his  promotion  he  was  placed  in  command  of  the  Dis 
trict  of  Cairo,  embracing  in  its  jurisdiction  Southern  Illinois  and 
Missouri  and  that  part  of  Kentucky  west  of  the  Cumberland. 
The  force  now  under  his  command  consisted  of  two  brigades  num 
bering  2,850  men.  The  first  under  Gen.  John  A.  McClernand  con 
sisted  of  the  27th,  Col.  Buford ;  30th,  Col.  Fouke  ;  31st,  Col.  J.  A. 
Logan  5  Capt.  Dollins'  company  of  4th  cavalry  and  Taylor's  battery 
of  light  artillery.  The  second,  under  Col  H.  Dougherty,  com 
prised  his  own  regiment,  the  21st  Illinois,  and  the  7th  Iowa,  Col. 
Lauman.  The  entire  force  except  the  last  regiment  was  from  Illi 
nois. 

Grant's  first  movement  was  to  seize  Southland  and  Paducah 
respctively  at  the  mouths  of  the  Cumberland  and  Tennessee,  and 
use  them  as  the  base  of  future  operations  in  the  rebel  States. 
Having  garrisoned  these  places,  his  next  movement  Avas  to  dis 
lodge  a  rebel  force  stationed  at  Belmont,  on  theJVlissouri  side  of 
the  Mississippi.  The  entire  force  under  his  command  was  em 
barked  on  board  the  gunboats  Tyler  and  Lexington  and  landed 
November  7th,  1861,  at  Lucas'  bend,  about  two  miles  from  the 
camp  of  the  enemy.  As  soon  as  debarkation  was  effected  a  line 
of  battle  was  formed,  Buford  commanding  the  right,  Fouke  the 
center  and  Logan  the  left.  The  advance  toward  the  camp  was 
a  continuous  running  fight,  in  which  a  storm  of  the  enemy's  mis 
siles  battered  and  tore  down  the  timber  in  the  faces  of  our  men. 
Passing  over  all  obstacles  and  surmounting  all  opposition  the 
three  divisions  vied  with  each  other  for  the  honor  of  first  reach 
ing  the  rebel  position.  The  scene  became  terrific,  men  grappled 
with  men,  column  charged  upon  column,  musketry  rattled,  can 
non  thundered  and  tore  frightful  gaps  in  the  contending  forces. 
Presently  the  57th  planted  its  colors  in  the  midst  of  the  hostile 
encampment,  and  a  loud  and  prolonged  shout  was  heard  above 
the  din  of  battle.  Next,  the  21st  captured  a  12-pound  gun  battery, 
one  of  the  enemy's  principal  defences,  when  a  final  impetuous, 
irresistible  charge  drove  him  in  every  direction  and  left  the  field 
in  possession  of  the  federals.  The  victory  was  complete.  The 
captured  camp  was  immediately  fired,  and  all  the  rebel  baggage 
and  ammunition  destroyed. 

In  the  meantime  a  heavy  rebel  force  was  thrown  across  the 
river  from  Columbus  and  moved  up  to  repair  the  disaster,  while 
batteries  opened  upon  our  men  from  the  opposite  shore.  Unable 
to  cope  writh  such  formidable  numbers,  a  retreat  became  necessary 
to  avoid  being  cut  off  from  the  boats.  The  command  was  there 
fore  given  to  retire,  but  before  it  could  be  executed  the  passage 
became  blocked  up  with  rebel  forces.  The  boys  of  Illinois  and 
Iowa,  however,  had  fought  their  way  forward,  and  they  now  in 
opposition  to  a  foe  of  greatly  superior  numbers  fought  their  way 
back.  Every  regiment  suffered  severely,  but  it  was  believed  the 
enemy  suffered  worse.  Grant  in  his  official  report  gives  the  loss 
of  the  former  at  84  killed  and  150  wounded  j  that  of  the  latter  was 
not  known. 

The  object  of  the  battle  was  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  send 
ing  reinforcements  to  Price  and  Thompson  in  Missouri. 
But  how  this  was  to  be  done  does  not  appear,  when  the 
impossibility  of  holding  the  position  under  the  heavy  guns  of 
Columbus  was  apparent.  Though  the  propriety  of  the  expedition 
48 


754  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

may  be  questioned  the  valor  of  Illinois  was  undoubted.  Gen.  Mc- 
Clernand  was  in  the  midst  of  danger  display  ing  great  coolness  and 
skill  in  handling 'his  forces.  Gen.  Logan  exhibited  the  intrepid 
ity  and  judgment  which  distinguished  him  in  subsequent 
battles,  and  Col.  Dougherty  at  the  head  of  his  brigade  was  three 
times  wounded  and  at  length  taken  prisoner.  Says  Modern  and: 

"I  caunot  bestow  too  high  commendation  upon  all  I  had  the  honor  to 
command  on  that  day.  Supplied  with  inferior  and  defective  arms,  many 
of  which  could  not  be  discharged,  many  bursting  in  use,  they  fought  an 
an  enemy  in  woods  with  which  he  was  familiar,  behind  defensive  works 
which  he  had  been  preparing  for  mouths,  in  the  face  of  a  battery  at  Bel- 
mont  aud  under  the  huge  gnus  at  Columbus,  and  although  numbering 
three  or  four  to  our  one,  we  beat  him  and  captured  several  stand  of  colors, 
destroying  his  camp  aud  carrying  off  a  large  amount  of  property  already 
mentioned.  To  mention  all  who  did  well  would  include  every  man  of 
my  command  who  came  under  my  personal  notice.  Both  officers  and 
privates  did  their  whole  duty,  uobly  sustaining  the  character  of  Ameri 
cans  and  Illinoisans.  They  shed  new  luster  upon  the  flag  of  their  country 
by  holding  it  in  triumph  through  the  shock  of  battle  and  the  din  of  arms. 
The  blood  they  so  freely  poured  out  proved  their  devotion  to  their  coun 
try  and  serves  to  hallow  a  just  cause  with  glorious  recollections.  Theii 
success  was  that  of  citizen  soldiers." 

Battle  of  Pea  Ridge. — The  forces  operating  in  Missouri  at  the 
close  of  January,  1862,  were  combined  under  the  command  of  Gen. 
S.  B.  Curtis,  a  distinguished  officer  of  the  IT.  S.  army.  Early  the 
following  month  they  pushed  rapidly  toward  Springfield,  where 
oil  the  12th  they  encountered  Price  with  about  4,000  men.  Sharp 
skirmishing  ensued  and  the  rebel  general  fleeing  during  the  night 
to  avoid  an  engagement,  was  pursued  for  more  than  100  miles. 
Stopping  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Boston  mountains  he  was  re-inforced 
by  McQulloch  and  Van  Dorn,  whereby  his  army  was  augmented 
to  near  40,000  men,  and  he  was  again  enabled  to  resume  offensive 
operations.  Curtis  thus  threatened,  had  distributed  portions  oi 
his  command  for  garrison  duty  along  his  extensive  line  of  com 
munication,  and  now  had  left  only  12,000  men  and  about  50  pieces 
of  artillery.  His  several  divisions  had  been  sent  in  various  direc 
tions  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  forage  and  dispersing  rebel 
bands  gathering  at  different  points  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the 
State.  The  1st  and  2d  were  under  Sigel  near  Bentonville^  the  3d 
under  Davis  near  Sugar  Creek,  and  the  4th  under  Carr  at  Cross 
Hollow.  Early  in  March  intelligence  was  received  that  Van  Dorn 
who  assumed  chief  command,  was  advancing  to  make  an  attack 

A  correspondent  of  the  Chicago  Post,  writing  of  Belmont,says  :  "An  incident  wor 
thy  of  being  recorded  occurred  during  the  recent  battle.  Col  Phil.  B.  Fouke,  of  the 
31st  Illinois,  and  Col.  John  V.  Wright,  of  the  13th  Tennessee,  both  members  of  the  last 
congress,  Avere  warm  friends  and  occupied  seats  together.  When  the  war  broke  out 
before  they  had  left  Washington,  Mr.  Wright  received  the  appointment  of  colonel 
from  the  governor  of  Tennessee.  When  about  to  separate  Mr.  Wright  said:  'Phil.,  I 
am  goiiiii-  into  the  war.  and  I  suppose  you  will  be  in  it  also,  and  I  promise  if  we  meet 
on  the  battle  field  that  I  will  take  care  of  your  men  if  you  will  take  care  of  mine.' 
The  pledge  was  mutual,  and  the  ''ext  time  they  met  was  on  the  bloody  field  of  Beltnont. 
At  one  time  during  the  fight  Col.  Fouke's  men  were  lying  down  waiting-  for  the  enemy 
and  he  was  standing  on  a  log  in  full  view  waiting  for  them,  when  about  twenty  of 
Wright's  men  leveled  their  muskets  at  him,  which  movement  being  seen  by  Col. Wright, 
he  looked  in  the  direction  and  recognized  Col.  Fouke,  ordered  his  men  to  desist,  saying 
that  man  was  his  friend  and  he  did  not  want  him  harmed.  This  interposition  doubt 
less  saved  Col.  Fouke's  life  us  these  Tennesseeans  are  crack  shots.  Col .  Wright  was 
was  afterwards  severely  wounded,  but  the  next  day  sent  his  adjutant  to  inform  Col. 
Fouke  that  he  had  not  forgotten  h.is  pledge .  Before  the  battle  was  ended  Col.  Fouke's 
regiment  took  a  number  of  Col.  Wright's  men,  and  hereligously  obsesved  his  share  of 
the  pledge,  looking  after  the  wants  of  the  prisoners  as  though  they  were  his  own 
men." 


THE   WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  755 

and  the  several  divisions  of  the  Union  forces  were  ordered  to  con 
centrate  on  Sugar  Creek,  a  point  regarded  favorable  for  effective 
resistance.  Sigel  in  bringing  up  his  division  was  assailed  by  large 
numbers  of  the  enemy,  aiid  for  five  hours  compelled  to  cut  his 
way  through  their  midst  to  effect  a  junction  with  the  others. 

On  the  Gth  of  March,  1802,  the  entire  force  was  brought  together 
on  the  western  edge  of  Pea  Eidge,  and  in  anticipation  of  an 
engagement,  slept  on  their  arms.  The  battle  commenced  at  early 
dawn  and  raged  furiously  the  whole  day,  during  which  Van  Dorn 
succeeded  in  marching  round  the  Federal  arm}',  and  took  a  posi 
tion  in  the  rear.  Curtis  was  thus  compelled  to  change  his  front, 
and  although  exposed  to  the  continued  fire  of  the  enemy,  the 
movement  was  executed  with  the  most  intrepid  gallantry.  In  the 
centre  and  on  the  left  the  battle  raged  with  increased  fury,  and 
when  evening  put  an  end  to  the  carnage,  McCulloch  and  Mc'intosh, 
two  of  the  most  efficient  rebel  officers,  were  among  the  slain.  The 
weather  was  cold  and  the  army  lay  down  to  pass  a  comfortless 
night,  being  unable  to  kindle  lires  without  drawing  the  attention 
of  the  enemy.  During  the  night  the  rebels  effected  a  junction  of 
their  forces,  and  as  the  rising  sun  lighted  up  the  battle  ground, 
they  recommenced  the  conflict,  confident  of  overwhelming  the 
federals  by  superior  numbers.  The  latter,  however,  were  handled 
with  great  skill  and  Sigel  served  the  artillery  with  such  accuracy 
that  the  rebel  line  in  a  short  time  was  seriously  shaken  and  finally 
forced  from  the  field.  The  routed  army  fled  in  the  direction  of 
Keitsville  and  was  followed  a  distance  of  12  miles,  when  further 
pursuit,  in  consequence  of  the  wooded  and  broken  country,  became 
impracticable.  That  portion  of  the  battle  field  pounded  by  our 
artillery  presented  a  ghastly  scene  of  dismounted  cannons, 
shivered  carriages  and  mangled  bodies.  Price's  loss  was  estimated 
at  3,000  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing.  A  novel  feature  intro 
duced  ut  this  battle  was  the  employment  of  some  2,500  Indians 
seduced  from  their  allegiance  by  the  rebels.  They  were  of  little 
service  to  their  allies  in  fighting  the  living  but  vented  their  brutal 
ferocity  in  mutulating  the  bodies  of  the  dead. 

The  Illinois  troops  participating  in  the  engagement  were  the 
35th.  Col.  G.  A.  Smith  :  3Gth,  Col.  Greusel ;  37th,  Col.  J.  White  ; 
57th,  Major  Post ;  3d  cavalry,  Col.  E.  A.  Carr  ;  a  battalion  of  the 
15th  cavalry,  Capt.  Jenks,  and  Davidson's  Peoria  battery.  All 
acquitted  themselves  in  such  a  manner  as  to  reflect  honor  upon 
the  State.  Day  Elmore.  a  drummer  of  the  3Cth,  exchanged  his 
drum  for  a  musket  and  fought  with  the  bravery  of  a  veteran  dur 
ing  the  intire  battle. 

After  this  engagement  large  numbers  of  the  Missourians  who 
had  fought  with  the  rebels,  were  permitted  to  return  home,  a.nd 
on  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance,  the  State  fora  short  time  en 
joyed  comparative  quiet.  In  June,  at  the  suggestion  of  Gen.  Curtis 
Missouri  was  erected  into  a  separate  military  district,  and  Gen.  J.  M. 
Schofield,  who  had  served  with  distinction  as  chief  of  the  lamented 
Lyon's  staff',  was  placed  in  command.  Marauding  bands  again 
began  to  be  troublesome,  and  Schofield,  on  the22d  inst.,  issued  a 
proclamation  holding  rebel  sympathizers  and  their  propery  re 
sponsible  for  the  depreciations  committed  in  their  respective  dis 
tricts.  Encouraged  by  Price  at  Helena,  numerous  rebel  emissaries 
next  spread  themselves  over  the  State,  and  while  openly  profess- 


756  HISTORY  OP  ILLINOIS. 


ing  Union  sentiments,  they  secretly  organized  a  force  estimated 
at  40,000  men,  and  agreed  upon  signals  whereby  they  could  sud 
denly  seize  all  the  important  points  in  the  country.  To  prepare 
for  the  conspiracy  Schofield  obtained  from  the  general  government 
authority  to  organize  the  militia,  and  as  the  loyal  people  readily 
submitted  to  the  enrollment,  and  the  disloyal  refused,  thus  dis 
closing  the  real  character  of  each  man.  Some  20,000  men  were 
reported  for  military  duty,  and  to  raise  funds  for  their  support, 
the  wealthy  in  St.  Louis  county  who  refused  to  serve,  were  re 
quired  to  furnish  $500,000.  A  bloody  struggle  was  now  going  on 
in  the  north-east  portion  of  the  State  between  bauds  of  guerillas 
and  the  militia.  By  the  1st  of  September  as  many  as  a  hundred 
small  engagements  had  occurred  in  which  Illinois  troops  largely 
participated,  and  some  10,000  rebels  were  killed,  wounded  or 
driven  from  the  State.  At  this  date  the  rebels  under  Hindman, 
in  northern  Arkansas,  numbering  50,000,  were  also  contemplating 
an  invasion  of  south-western  Missouri.  As  the  result,  battles  of 
considerable  magnitude  were  fought  at  Fort  Wayne,  Cane  Hill, 
and  Fayetteville,  in  which  the  rebels  sustained  such  serious  losses 
that  Hindman  abandoned  his  designs. 


CHAPTER  LVII. 

1861-1862— ILLINOIS    ON    THE    CUMBERLAND,  TENNES- 
SEE  AND  MISSISSIPPI. 


Battle  of  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson — Capture  of  Columbus*  New 
Madrid  and  Island  No.  10. 


We  must  now  go  back  to  the  commencement  of  the  operations 
for  opening  the  Mississippi.  The  course  of  this  magnificent  river 
from  north  to  south  and  the  intercourse  necessarily  existing  among 
the  inhabitants  of  its  fertile  valley  will  always  render  it  impossi 
ble  to  form  them  into  separate  nationalities  by  arbitrary  bounda 
ries.  Running  entirely  across  the  rebel  confederacy  and  making 
it  vulnerable  to  the  assaults  of  a  fleet,  the  government  at  an  early 
day  commenced  making  preparation  for  offensive  naval  operations. 
Columbus.  Kentucky,  situated  on  the  east  bank,  20  miles  below 
Cairo,  had  been  seized  as  early  as  Sept.  1861,  and  so  fortified  as 
to  be  termed  the  rebel  Gibraltar.  Its  massive  works  and  heavy 
guns  rendering  capture  by  a  direct  assault  almost  impossible,  it 
was  determined  to  cut  off  its  supplies  and  thus  compel  its  aban 
donment  by  an  expedition  up  the  Tennessee  and  Cumberland 
rivers.  Near  where  these  streams  flow  across  the  northern  boun 
dary  of  Tennessee,  the  rebels  bad  erected  two  strong  fortifications 
known  as  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson.  After  mature  deliberation, 
Gen.  Halleck  decided  first  to  attack  the  former  of  these  strong 
holds,  and  then  moving  across  the  intervening  land,  attack  the 
latter.  For  tins  purpose  Commodore  A.  H.  Foote,  as  gallant  an 
officer  as  ever  sailed  the  deep,  with  a  fleet  of  7  gunboats,  the  St. 
Louis,  Cincinnati,  Carondelet,  Essex,  Tyler,  Lexington  and 
Mound  City,  and  Gen.  Grant,  with  a  co-operating  land  force  from 
(7airo  and  Paducah,  were  sent  up  the  Tennessee.  On  the  5th  of 
February,  1862,  the  land  forces  disembarked  from  their  transports 
and  prepared  to  spend  the  night,  during  which  a  thunder  storm 
burst  on  the  encampment,  portraying  in  its  terrific  grandeur,  the 
fury  of  the  coming  battle.  Grant  ordered  Gen.  Mc'Clernand  com 
manding  the  first  division,  to  take  a  position  in  the  rear  of  the 
fort  for  the  two-fold  purpose  of  guarding  against  reinforcements, 
or  preventing  the  escape  of  the  garrison  as  the  exigencies  of  the 
engagement  might  require.  His  division  consisted  of  2  brigades 
commanded  respectively  by  Cols.  Oglesby  and  W.  H.  L.  Wallace; 
the  first  comprising  the  8th,  18th,  27th,  the  29th,  30th  and  31st 
Illinois  infantry,  DresserVand  Schwartz's  batteries,-  the  2d,  the 
llth,  12th,  45th  and  48th  Illinois  infantry,  Taylor's  and  McAlis- 
ters'  batteries  and  4th  cavalry. 
757 


758  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

The  2d  division  under  Gen.  0.  F.  Smith,  was  thrown  across  the 
river  and  ordered  to  proceed  up  the  Kentucky  shore  and  occupy 
the  heights  adjacent  the  fort,  which  the  enemy  had  begun  to  for 
tify.  The  9th,  12th,  28th  and  41st  Illinois  constituted  a  part  of 
the  force. 

Owing  to  the  badness  of  the  roads,  none  of  the  land  forces 
arrived  soon  enough  to  share  in  its  capture.  About  10  o'clock 
Foote  steamed  up  toward  the  fort,  which  standing  in  a  bend  of 
the  river,  had  complete  command  of  the  channel  for  a  long  dis 
tance  below.  Being  a  bastioued  earth  work  and  mounting  17 
guns  of  the  largest  calibre,  it  was  deemed  capable  of  resisting  any 
assailing  force  however  formidable.  An  island  lay  in  the  stream 
about  a  mile  below,  under  cover  of  which  the  fleet  advanced 
without  becoming  exposed  to  the  fire  of  its  long  ranged  rilled 
guns.  The  wooden  vessels  remained  at  the  island  while  the  iron 
clads  emerging  from  behind  it,  and  proceeding  in  the  direction  of 
the  fort  were  met  by  the  ponderous  shot  of  the  fort.  The  boats 
immediately  returned  this  greeting,  and  their  screaming  missiles 
fell  with  such  rapidity  in  and  around  the  fort  as  to  cause  some 
4,000  infantry  to  flee  with  precipitation.  Coming  within  closer 
range  the  breastworks  were  plowed  up  and  dashed  in  the  face  of 
the  garrison,  gun  after  gun  was  dismounted,  and  within  an  hour 
from  the  commencement  of  the  engagement,  the  stronghold  was 
surrendered.  Sixty  prisoners  and  a  large  amount  of  military  stores 
fell  into  our  hands.  Unfortunately  the  infantry  which  fled  at  the 
commencement  of  the  engagement,  were  beyond  the  reach  of  pur 
suit,  before  Mc'Clernaud  and  his  Illinois  men  could  arrive  and  in 
tercept  them.  The  principal  damage  inflicted  on  the  fleet  was 
sustained  by  the  Estex.  A  24-pound  shot  passing  in  at  a  port 
hole,  ajid  plunging  into  one  of  her  boilers,  caused  the  steam  to 
escape  and  completely  envelope  the  crew.  Some  in  their  terrible 
agony  throwing  themselves  out  of  port  holes  into  the  river  while 
others  struggling  in  vain  to  escape,  sank  gasping  for  breath, 
scalded  in  the  fiery  vapor. 

This  important  victory  was  the  first  won  on  the  western  waters; 
the  telegram  announcing  the  event  was  read  in  both  houses  of 
congress,  and  a  vote  of  thanks  tendered  Commodore  Foote.  The 
fleet  under  Lieut.  Phelps  was  sent  up  the  river  to  capture  two 
rebel  boats  which  were  pursued  so  closely  that  their  crews  blew 
them  up  to  prevent  their  falling  into  the  hands  of  the.pursuers. 
The  expedition  sailed  up  the  river  as  far  as  Florence,  destroying 
the  bridge  of  the  M.  &  O.  railroad  connecting  Bowling  Green, 
Memphis  and  Columbus,  and  compelling  the  rebels  to  burn  five 
of  their  valuable  steamers.  All  along  the  route  Phelps  met  with 
many  cheering  evidences  of  loyalty  among  the  people  of  Tennes 
see  and  Kentucky,  old  men  and  women  flocking  to  the  shore,  and 
shedding  tears  at  again  beholding  the  old  flag. 

Donelson. — The  fall  of  Henry  opened  the  way  for  an  advance 
upon  Donelsou.  This  formidable  rebel  stronghold  was  situated 
on  the  west  bank  of  the  Cumberland,  and  served  as  an  outpost 
for  the  defense  of  Nashville,  80  miles  higher  up  the  river.  The 
ground  upon  which  it  was  situated  is  about  100  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  river,  which  at  that  point  bends  toward  the  west,  and 
after  running  a  few  hundred  yards  turns  again  and  pursues  its 


THE  WAR   OF  THE  REBELLION.  750 

general  course  northward.  To  command  the  river  northward  and 
guard  against  a  naval  attack,  two  batteries  of  heavy  ordnance  had 
been  planted  at  the  foot  of  the  bluff  near  the  edge  of  the  water. 
The  fort  itself  was  an  irregular  work  enclosing  about  100  acres, 
and  except  on  the  river  side  surrounded  at  the  distance  of  a  mile 
with  rifle  pits.  On  the  west  side  a  formidable  abatis  ran  between 
the  fort  and  rifle-pits,  while  from  every  commanding  point  along 
the  whole  line,  howitzers  and  field-pieces,  pointed  their  grim  muz 
zles  directly  at  the  face  of  the  besieging  army.  These  almost 
impregnable  works  were  occupied  by  20,000  impetuous  fire  eaters 
from  the  southwest  under  command  of  Floyd,  Pillow,  Buckner, 
and  Johnson.  Additional  troops  being  necessary  to  effect  its 
reduction,  Gen.  Grant  ordered  forward  all  the  available  forces  in 
his  district,  while  troops  from  Cincinnati  and  the  right  wing  of 
Gen.  Buel's  division  from  Kentucky,  under  Gen.  Critteuden,  were 
hurried  forward  and  placed  at  his  disposal.  The  army  thus  aug 
mented,  consisted  of  3  divisions  under  McClernand,  Smith  and 
Wallace  and  numbered  some  25.000  men,  the  elite  of  western 
troops. 

On  the  morning  of  the  12th,  Gen.  Grant,  with  Smith's  and  Mc- 
Clernand's  divisions  started  for  Fort  Donelson  and  by  noon 
arrived  within  two  miles  of  the  enemy's  outposts.  After  driving 
in  the  rebel  pickets,  and  investing  the  works,  Col.  Haynie  of  W. 
H.  L.  Walace's  brigade,  McClernand's  division,  with  the  17th, 
48th  and  49th  Illinois,  was  sent  to  make  an  assault  on  the 
enemy's  middle  redoubt.  "Forming  a  line  of  battle  they  moved 
in  line  order  across  the  intervening  ravines  and  mounted  with  the 
coolness  of  veterans  the  steep  height  on  which  the  redoubt  stood. 
The  enemy  screened  behind  their  embankments,  poured  into  the 
exposed  ranks  a  terrible  fire  of  musketry.  Still  the  brave  Illi- 
noisans,  undaunted,  steadly  advanced.  But  at  this  critical  junc 
ture  it  was  found  that  the  line  was  not  long  enough  to  envelope 
the  works  and  the  45th  Illinois  was  ordered  to  their  support. 
\Vhile  these  movements  were  being  carried  out  the  enemy  sent 
forward  heavy  reinforcements  of  men  and  field  artillery,  which 
soon  swept  the  advancing  line  with  murderous  effect.  But  onward 
pressed  the  undaunted  regiments  leaving  their  dead  and  wounded 
strewing  the  slope  till  they  came  to  the  foot  of  the  works,  where 
an  abatis  presented  a  tangled  wall  of  jagged  points,  through 
which  no  soldiers  under  heaven  could  forco  their  way  in  the  face  of 
such  a  fire.  Braver  officers  never  led  men  to  death,  but  they  found 
they  had  been  sent  to  accomplish  impossible  work,  and  gave  the 
reluctant  command  to  fall  back.*" 

This  determined  assault  rendered  it  evident  that  the  task  before 
the  army  was  one  of  no  ordinary  magnitude,  and  it  was  deemed 
best  to  await  the  arrival  of  Wallace's  division  and  the  fleet  under 
Foote,  before  attempting  any  further  demonstrations.  Mean 
while  the  pleasant  weather  which  had  previously  cheered  the  army 
suddenly  changed-  A  continous  storm  of  sleet  and  snow  pre 
vailed  during  the  night  of  the  13th  and  the  army,  destitute  of 
blankets  and  tents,  was  compelled  to  suffer  the  unmitigated  rigors 
of  winter.  On  the  14th  an  irregular  fire  of  sharp-shooters  occa 
sionally  interluded  with  bursts  of  artillery,  was  kept  up  but  un- 

*  Headlcy's  Rebellion 


760  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

attended  by  important  results.  The  same  day  the  expected  re 
inforcements  came  up  and  the  commander  of  the  fleet  put  his 
boats  in  motion  for  an  assault  on  the  batteries  at  the  foot  of  the 
blulf,  the  wooden  vessels  in  the  rear  and  the  iron-clads  in  front. 
Coming  within  range,  the  contest  commenced  and  continued  to 
increase  as  the  distance  between  the  combatants  diminished.  The 
loud  explosions  of  the  guns  shook  the  adjacent  shores  and  rever 
berating  far  inland,  spread  dismay  among  the  rebellious  inhabi 
tants.  Still  farther  and  farther  they  advanced,  discharging  their 
heavy  ordnance  directly  into  the  batteries,  and  in  turn  exposed  to 
the  storm  of  shot  and  shell  rained  down  upon  the  river.  The  fire 
of  the  batteries  at  length  began  to  slack,  but  unfortunately  before 
they  were  entirely  silenced,  a  shot  destroyed  the  steering  appara 
tus  of  the  Louisville  and  another  disabled  the  St.  Louis,  and  both 
crafts  unmanageable,  rapidly  drifted  with  the  swift  current  from 
under  the  enemy's  guns. 

Grant  now  determined  to  strengthen  his  line  of  investment  so 
as  to  render  egress  impossible,  and  await  the  repair  and  farther 
co-operation  of  the  boats.  The  rebels,  however,  becoming  alarmed 
at  finding  themselves  almost  literally  walled  in  by  the  besieging 
forces,  resolved  to  open  an  exit  and  escape  to  the  country.  Accord 
ingly  early  in  the  morning  of  the  15th,  the  enemy,  some  7,500 
strong,  emerged  from  his  works  and  in  separate  columns,  hurled 
himself  against  MeClernand's  division  on  the  right  of  the  federal 
line.  Oglesby's  brigade,  the  8th,  18th,  29th,  3()th  and  31st  Illinois 
received  the  first  concussion.  Next  Wallace's,  the  llth,  20th,  43d 
and  48th  ;  Morrison's,  the  17th  and  49th,  and  Me  Arthurs',  the  9th, 
12th,  29th  and  41st  were  struck  by  the  angry  foe,  and  the  entire 
division  for  four  hours  alone  contended  with  his  overwhelming 
numbers.  It  was  an  irregular  battle-field  of  hill,  ravine  and  forest  ; 
and  concert  of  action  among  the  several  regiments  engaged  at 
different  points  of  attack  was  difficult.  Stubbornly,  gallantly, 
enthusiastically,  however,  the  sons  of  Illinois  met  the  onslaught, 
the  advancing  and  receding  roar  of  musketry  and  cannon  through 
the  forest  marking  the  shifting  tide  of  battle.  At  length  from  the 
incessant  pounding  of  shot,  shell,  and  cannister,  the  extreme 
right  of  the  line  began  to  crumble  away  and  the  exultant  enemy 
concentrating  at  a  single  point,  and  hurling  himself  in  overwhelm 
ing  masses  against  the  division,  it  was  compelled  to  fall  back,  not 
however,  till  the  regiments  had  exhausted  their  ammunition,  and 
some  of  them  had  lost  near  a  third  of  their  men. 

Never  fought  braver  men  than  ours  on  that  bloody  day,  some 
of  the  companies  remaining  rooted  to  their  position  till  the 
enemy's  forces  rolled  about  and  swallowed  them  up.  Some  of  the 
regiments  were  literally  cut  to  pieces,  while  the  loss  of  officers  was 
great  beyond  proportion.  Col.  Quinn  of  the  20th,  Major  Post  of 
the  8th,  Captain  Eigby  of  the  31st,  Lieut-Col.  Smith  of  the  48th, 
Capt.  Craig,  and  Lieuts.  Skeats  and  Mansker  of  the  18th,  Capt. 
Shaw  and  Lieuts.  Boyce  and  Yore  of  the  llth,  Adjutau't  Kirk- 
patrick  of  the  13th,  Capt.  Mendell  of  the  7th  and  Capt.  Brokaw 
of  the  49th,  were  among  the  many  who  laid  down  their  lives  on 
the  fatal  field  that  liberty,  right,  and  progress  might  live.  In  the 
retrograde  movement,  McAllister's  battery  having  exhausted  the 
150  rounds  of  ammunition  with  which  it  went  into  action,  was 
captured  while  waiting  a  fresh  supply. 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  761 

Iii  the  early  part  of  the  assault  McClernand,  fearful  he  might 
be  overborne  by  superior  numbers,  gent  to  Wallace,  whose  division 
occupied  the  center  of  the  Hue,  for  reiu  for  cements.  The  latter 
sent  Cruft's  brigade  to  his  assistance,  but  being  imperfectly 
guided,  it  was  carried  too  far  to  the  right  to  render  successful  aid. 
The  enemy  still  advancing,  he  next  interposed  Thayer's  brigade 
between  them  and  the  retiring  regiments,  which  had  expended 
their  ammunition.  The  force. was  immediately  placed  in  line  by 
pushing  forward  Wood's  Chicago  battery  to  the  road  along  which 
the  foe  was  moving,  posting  the  58th  Illinois  and  1st  Ne 
braska  on  the  right  of  the  battery,  and  58th  Ohio  and  a  portion 
of  the  32d  Illinois  on  the  left.  Behind  the  line  thus  formed  at 
right  angles  with  the  road,  the  76th  Ohio  and  46th  and  57th  Illi 
nois  were  stationed  as  reserves.  Hardly  were  these  arragenients 
complete  before  the  rebels  emerged  from  the  woods  and  dashed 
up  in  front  of  the  brigade.  A  blinding  sheet  of  flame  burst  forth 
from  cannon  and  musketry,  causing  the  exultant  foe  to  recoil  and 
fall  back  to  the  elevated  ground  previously  taken  from  McClernand. 
Battered  and  buffeted  by  the  blows  which  had  been  previously 
dealt  him,  his  further  advance  was  stayed,  and  this  was  the  last 
offensive  movement  he  was  able  to  make. 

At  3  o'clock  Gen.  Grant  made  his  appearance  on  the  field,  having 
been  in  consultation  with  Commodore  Foote  in  reference  to 
another  attack  by  the  fleet.  He  immediately  ordered  the  division 
of  Gen.  Smith,  con  taming  the  7th,  43d,  50th,  57th  and  38th  Illinois 
to  move  against  the  enemy  in  their  front,  and  a  renewed  attack 
on  the  right.  At  the  request  of  Gen.  McClernand,  whose  division 
had  borne  the  brunt  of  the  battle,  Gen.  Wallace  took  the  advance. 
Placing  the  8th  Missouri  and  4th  Indiana  in  the  lead,  and  pushing 
the  17th  and  49th  Illinois  far  along  the  enemy's  flank,  he  gave  the 
command,  "forward."  Knowing  well  the  fearful  object  his  men  had 
to  accomplish,  he  gave  them  the  simple  instruction  to  ascend  the 
height  in  columns  of  regiments  and  then  act  as  circumstances  might 
suggest.  The  men  pleased  with  the  confidence  reposed  in  their 
judgment,  and  nerving  themselves  for  the  bloody  work,  moved 
forward  and  commenced  ascending  the  hill,  when  plunging  volley 
after  volley  tore  through  and  decimated  their  ranks.  Nothing 
short  of  annihilation,  however,  could  stay  their  advance,  and  in 
the  face  of  the  murderous  fire  they  bounded  to  the  summit  and 
drove  the  rebels  behind  their  inner  works. 

While  this  important  success  was  achieved  on  the  right,  Gen.  S. 
F.  Smith,  with  the  2d  and  7th  Iowa  and  52d  Indiana,  performed 
an  equally  brilliant  exploit  on  the  left.  After  feigning  an  attack 
in  a  different  direction,  he  commenced  ascending  the  steep  hill  on 
which  was  posted  the  rebel  force  he  proposed  to  attack.  The 
enemy  perceiving  his  design  at  once  opened  a  destructive  fire  upon 
the  advancing  regiments,  yet  without  discharging  a  single  gun  in 
reply,  they  swept  up  the  slippery  heights.  Mounting  higher  and 
higher  they  at  length  gained  the  summit  from  which  volcano-like 
had  been  hurled  the  storm  of  fiery  projectiles  encountered  in  the 
ascent.  A  determined  bayonet  charge  quickly  ended  the  contest, 
and  high  above  and  within  the  rebel  ramparts  their  colors  were 
flung  to  the  breeze,  while  a  prolonged  shout  announced  the  wel 
come  victory  to  their  comrades  on  other  parts  of  the  field.  The 


702  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

position  was  immediately  fortified,  and  when  the  suii  went  down 
the  enemy  was  again  confined  within  his  works. 

Convinced  that  they  could  not  hold  the  works,  Floyd  and  Pil 
low  passed  the  command  over  to  Buckner,  and  during  the  night 
with  about  5,000  men  embarked  on  board  steamboats  and  escaped 
up  the  river.  The  following  morning,  although  our  troops  had 
inarched  from  Fort  Henry  with  only  such  food  as  they  could  carry 
in  their  haversacks,  and  for  three  nights  had  been  exposed  to  tbe 
rigors  of  winter,  yet  at  early  dawn  they  eagerly  awaited  orders  to 
renew  the  conflict.  The  besieged  anticipating  an  immediate 
attack,  and  satisfied  that  all  further  attempts  to  extricate  them 
selves  from  the  iron  grasp  with  which  they  were  bound  would  be 
futile,  ran  up  a  flag  as  evidence  of  submission.  Correspondence 
was  immediately  interchanged  respecting  terms  of  surrender.  Grant 
to  the  overtures  of  the  rebel  general  said  :  "  No  terms  other  than 
unconditional  and  immediate  surrender  can  be  accepted.  1  propose 
to  move  immediately  upon  your  icorks."  Buckner  thought  the  terms 
ungenerous,  but  was  compelled  to  submit,  and  Sunday  morning 
February  IGth,  1862,  Donelson,  of  almost  fabulous  strength,  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  federal  conquerers.  The  spoils  obtained  con 
sisted  of  40  cannon,  20,000  stand  of  arms,  3,000  horses  and  a  large 
amount  of  commissary  stores  ;  while  as  the  result  of  the  victory 
Bowling  Green,  Nashville  and  Columbus  became  untenable.  The 
federal  loss  in  men  was  440  killed,  1,735  wounded ;  that  of  the 
enemy  231  killed,  1,007  wounded  and  15,000  captured. 

The  people  of  the  North  expressed  their  appreciation  of  this 
great  victory  b}'  public  meetings,  illuminations  and  other  similar 
demonstrations  5  Grant  congratulated  his  soldiers  upon  the  tri 
umph  gained  by  their  valor  j  while  Davis  and  other  rebel  author 
ities  were  deeply  mortified  at  their  disgrace,  and  Floyd  and  Pil 
low  were  suspended  from  command. 

Besides  the  Illinois  infantry  already  enumerated,  Schwartz's, 
Dresser's,  Taylor's,  Wood's,  Me  A  lister's  and  Willard's  batteries, 
McClernaud's  division  and  Stewart's,  O'Harnett's,Carmichael\s,  Kel- 
logg's  and  Dickey's  cavalry  of  the  same  command  also  participated 
in  the  battle.  The  want  of  space  renders  it  impossible  to  mention 
the  many  instances  of  Illinois  valor  noticed  in  the  reports  of  the 
battle.  Says  Mr.  Stevenson,  author  of  Indiana's  lloll  of  Honor : 
"Upon  McClernand's  division  was  first  hurled  the  rebel  thunder. 
Under  fire  from  several  batteries  an  immense  mass  of  infantry 
charged  upon  his  line.  Sudden  as  was  the  attack,  the  gallant 
sons  of  Illinois  were  ready  to  meet  it.  Into  the  enemy's  teeth  they 
poured  a  steady,  deadly  fire.  Taylor's  battery  and  McAlister's 
guns  met  them  with  a  storm  of  grape  and  shell,  and  a  brigade 
charging  drove  four  times  their  number  back  into  their  embank 
ments.  The  struggle  was  hand  to  hand.  The  bayonet,  the  bowie- 
knife  and  the  but  end  of  the  musket  were  freely  used.  Scarce  a 
regiment,  company  or  battery  from  the  State  failed  to  distinguish 
itself,  and  if  there  was  failure  it  was  for  the  want  of  opportunity. 
A  New  England  poet  reading  the  telegrams  of  the  battle  as  they 
came  in,  and  admiring  the  audacity  of  Illinois'  daring,  wrote  the 
following  stanzas : 


THE   WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION  763 


•'Oh,  gales  that  dash  the  Atlantic's  swell 

Along  our  rocky  shores, 
AY  hose  thunder  diapason  swell 

New  England's  glad  hurrahs. 

"Bear  to  the  prairies  of  the  West 

The  echoes  of  our  joy, 
The  prayer  that  springs  in  every  breast, 

God  bless  thee,  Illinois. 

"Oh,  awful  hours  when  grape  and  shell 

Tore  through  the  unflinching  line, 
Stand  firm,  remove  the  men  who  fell, 

Close  up  and  wait  the  sign. 

"It  came  at  last,  now  lads  the  steel, 

The  rushing  hosts  deploy, 
Charge  boys,  the  broken  traitors  reel, 

Huzza  for  Illinois. 

"In  vain  thy  ramparts,  Donelson, 

The  living  torrent  bars, 
It  leaps  the  wall,  the  fort  is  won, 

Up  go  the  stripes  and  stars. 

"Thy  proudest  mother's  eyelids  fill, 

As  dares  her  gallant  boy, 
And  Plymouth  Rock  and  Bunker  Hill 

Yearn  to  thee,  Illinois."* 

The  news  of  the  surrender  reached  Xashville  as  the  people 
were  assembling  at  church.  A  dispatch  had  been  received  the 
previous  evening  from  Pillow  claiming  the  victory,  and  now  they 
were  meeting-  in  the  sanctuary  to  offer  thanks  to  the  God  of  battles 
for  the  success  of  their  cause.  The  truth  fell  like  a  thunder 
bolt.  Joy  and  exultation  gave  place  to  alarm,  and  the  whole 
population  in  a  short  time  was  in  commotion.  Gov.  Harris,  it  is 
said,  rushed  wildly  through  streets  crying,  the  enemy  will  soon  be 
in  the  city,  and  the  terrified  inhabitants  seizing  every  available 
means  of  conveyance  fled  as  if  from  certain  destruction.  Says 
Pollard,  "An  earthquake  could  not  have  shocked  the  city  more." 
The  congregations  of  the  churches  were  broken  up  in  confusion 
and  dismay.  Women  and  children  rushed  into  the  streets  wailing 
witli  terror,  trunks  were  thrown  from  three-story  windows  in  the 
rush  of  the  fugitives,  and  thousands  hastened  to  leave  their  beau 
tiful  city  in  the  midst  of  the  most  distressing  scenes  of  terror  and 
confusion  and  plunder  by  the  mob. 

On  the  24th  of  February,  the  Union  forces  under  Buell  entered 
and  took  possession  of  the  city.  A  general  order  was  issued 
promising  protection  to  all  peaceably  disposed  citizens,  and  on  the 
refusal  of  the  municipal  authorities  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance 
they  were  ejected  from  office.  Andrew  Johnson  was  appointed 
military  governor  of  the  State,  and  while  he  was  entering  on 
the  vigorous  prosecution  of  his  duties  the  federal  army  was  slowly 
moving  southward  in  the  rear  of  the  fugitive  enemy. 

Occupation  of  Columbus. — Columbus,  from  the  formidable  char 
acter  of  its  fortifications  called  the  Gibralter  of  the  West,  was 

'Atlantic  Monthly. 


764  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

selected  as  the  next  place  of  attack.  The  force  designated  to 
operate  against  it  was  the  fleet  under  Commodore  Foote,  and  a 
co-operating  force  of  infantry  under  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman.  The 
latter  consisted  of  the  27th  and  55th  Illinois  and  74th  Ohio,  the 
former  of  6  gnu  and  4  mortar  boats  in  charge  of  Capt.  Phelps,  of 
the  United  States  navy.  The  ponderous  mortars,  of  which  there 
was  only  one  on  each  boat,  weighed  17,000  pounds,  and  threw 
shells  of  more  than  200  pounds  a  distance  of  three  miles.  Such 
was  the  deafening  effect  of  the  concussion  when  fired,  the  gun 
ners  were  compelled  to  take  refuge  behind  the  timber  work  which 
enclosed  them  to  escape  the  shock. 

With  everything  in  readiness  the  entire  force,  the  infantry  on 
transports,  slowly  and  cautiously  descended  the  Mississippi,  till 
on  the  4th  of  March  the  bluffs  of  Columbus  became  visible. 
Preparations  were  commenced  to  open  fire  when  a  strange  flag 
was  discovered  floating  above  the  works,  different  from  the  rebel 
colors,  and  it  became  questionable  who  were  in  possession  of  the 
place,  our  own  forces  or  those  of  the  enemy.  To  solve  the  mystery 
Capt.  Phelps  and  50  Illinois  volunteers  made  a  dashing  recon- 
noisance  in  a  tug  directly  under  the  wrater  batteries,  but  failed  to 
elicit  a  single  hostile  shot.  It  was  now  evident  that  the  town  had 
been  evacuated.  A  rush  was  made  for  the  shore,  and  in  less  than 
five  minutes  the  flag  of  the  21st  Illinois  proudly  waved  over  the 
fort  which  the  chivalrous  southrons  regarded  as  impregnable. 
Cheer  after  cheer  from  soldier  and  tar  rent  the  air  at  this  happy 
consummation  of  the  expedition.  The  strange  bunting  which  had 
been  discried,  proA^ed  to  be  a  flag  improvised  from  pieces  of  calico 
by  soldiers  of  the  2d  Illinois  cavalry,  who  the  previous  day,  to  the 
number  of  400,  had  galloped  from- Paducah  and  taken  possession 
of  the* town.  Gen.  Polk  with  20,000  men  had  been  intrusted  with 
the  custody  of  this  almost  impregnable  fortress,  but  finding  him 
self  completely  turned  on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi,  the  result 
of  Union  triumphs  in  Missouri,  and  the  conquests  of  Henry  and 
Donelson,  he  was  compelled  to  evacuate  it  without  striking  a 
single  blow  in  its  defense.  Says  an  officer  in  the  expedition:  UI 
could  not  resist  landing  to  examine  the  works,  which  are  of  im 
mense  strength,  consisting  of  tiers  upon  tiers  of  batteries  on  the 
river  front,  and  a  strong  parapet  and  ditch  strengthened  by  a 
thick  abatis  on  the  land  side.  The  fortifications  appear  to  have 
been  evacuated  hastily  considering  the  quantities  of  ordinance 
stores,  a  number  of  anchors,  the  remnant  of  the  chain  which  was 
once  stretched  across  the  river,  and  a  large  supply  of  torpedoes 
remaining.  Desolation  was  visible  everywhere,  huts,  tents  and 
barricades  presenting  their  blackened  remains,  though  the  town 
was  spared." 

Capture  of  Neiv  Madrid. — The  tide  of  victory  following  the  cur 
rent  of  the  Mississippi,  New  Madrid  and  Island  No.  10,  were  soon 
added  to  the  list  of  Union  triumphs.  On  the  22d  of  February, 
the  anniversary  of  Washington's  birth  day,  Gen.  Pope  was  ordered 
by  Gen.  Hal  leek  to  dislodge  a  large  rebel  force  stationed  at  Xew 
Madrid.  On  the  24th  of  March  his  force  arrived  at  Commerce, 
and  on  learning  that  Jeff  Thompson  with  a  rebel  force,  was  in  the 
neighborhood,  it  was  determined  to  give  him  battle.  Accordingly 
two  companies  of  the  7th  Illinois  cavalry,  and  the  20th  Illinois 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  765 

infantry  was  sent  in  pursuit  and  soon  encountered  the  foe,  having 
a  mounted  force  of  2,000  men  and  3  pieces  of  artillery.  A  dash 
ing  charge  was  immediately  ordered.  The  rebels  after  delivering 
a  scattering  volley,  hurriedly  fled,  with  our  men  in  pursuit.  As 
the  chase  was  continued  at  short  intervals,  squads  of  the  enemy 
broke  into  the  woods  and  tired  at  our  men  as  they  passed,  till  not 
more  than  one-fourth  of  the  original  number  remained  in  the  road. 
These  to  expedite  their  frantic  flight,  left  their  track  strewed  with 
coats,  hats,  blankets,  guns  and  other  baggage;  3  pieces  of  artillery 
were  run  down  and  captured,  and  thus  for  20  miles  the  precipi 
tate  flight  and  pursuit  was  kept  up  till  the  flying  foe  sought  shel 
ter  under  the  friendly  guns  of  ETew  Madrid. 

The  main  column  of  our  forces  arrived  on  the  3d  of  March, 
when  Pope,  not  knowing  the  exact  position  of  the  enemy,  sent 
forward  3  regiments  and  a  battery  of  artillery  to  make  a'recou- 
iioisance.  On  coming  within  ranging  distance  they  were  met  by 
shells  from  gunboats  stationed  in  the  river,  when  they  fell  back 
and  encamped  beyond  their  reach.  The  rebel  entrenchments  might 
have  been  easily  carried,  but  it  would  have  been  impossible  to 
hold  them  in  consequence  of  the  destructive  fire  of  the  gun-boats. 
It  was  therefore  deemed  best  to  order  4  seige  guns  from  Cairo 
before  making  the  attempt.  In  the  meantime  a  force  under  Col. 
Plummer,  consisting  of  the  llth  Missouri  and  the  26th  and  47th 
Illinois,  was  sent  with  all  speed  to  occupy  Point  Pleasant,  12 
miles  below,  for  the  purpose  of  blockading  the  river  and  cutting 
off  reinforcements.  This  was  successfully  accomplished  though 
not  till  the  rebel  force  was  increased  to  9  gunboats  and  9,000  in 
fantry  and  several  batteries  of  artillery.  The  rebel  fleet  was  com 
manded  by  Commodore  Hollins,  and  the  land  forces  by  McCowu, 
Stuart  and  Gant.  The  siege  guns  arrived  at  sunset  on  the  12th, 
and  the  10th  and  16th  Illinois,  Cols.  Morgan  and  Smith,  were  de 
tached  to  cover  the  position  chosen  for  the  battery,  and  assist  in 
its  erection.  Although  exposed  to  constant  volleys  of  musketry, 
rifle  pits  were  excavated,  and  the  guns  mounted  ready  for  action, 
within  35  hours  after  they  had  been  shipped  from  Cairo.  At 
early  dawn,  on  the  13th,  the  battery  opened  with  telling  effect, 
and  in  a  few  hours  disabled  several  of  the  gun-boats  and  dis 
mounted  the  heavy  pieces  of  artillery  in  the  enemy's  main  works. 
While  this  furious  cannonade  was  maintained  throughout  the  day 
on  the  right,  Paine's  division,  containing  the  51st  and  64th  Illinois, 
supported  by  Palmer's,  forced  their  way  up  to  the  rebel  works  oil 
the  right,  compelling  the  rebel  pickets  to  seek  shelter  within  their 
works.  At  nightfall,  during  a  blinding  thunder  storm,  the  hostile 
force  hurriedly  fled,  leaving  their  dead  unburied,  their  suppers 
untasted  on  the  tables,  their  candles  burning  in  their  tents  and 
other  evidences  of  a  disgraceful  panic. 

The  details  of  the  battle  show  that  the  Illinois  troops  who  par 
ticipated  in  it  fought  with  no  ordinary  bravery 'and  success,  and 
added  additional  lustre  to  their  previous  record.  Gen.  Pope  in  his 
official  report  says : 

"The  10th  and  16th  Illinois,  commanded  respectively  by  Cols.  Morgan 
and  J.  R.  Smith,  were  detailed  as  guards  to  the  proposed  trenches,  and 
to  aid  in  constructing  them.  They  marched  from  camp  at  sunset  on  the 
12th,  and  drove  in  the  pickets  and  guard  of  the  enemy,  as  they  were  or 
dered,  at  shoulder  arms,  and  without  returning  a  shot,  covered  the  front 


766  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

of  the  entrenching  parties,  and  occupied  the  trenches  and  rifle  pits  dur 
ing  the  whole  day  and  night  of  the  13th,  under  a  furious  and  incessant 
cannonading  from  160  pieces  of  heavy  artillery.  At  the  earnest  request 
of  their  colonels,  their  regimental  flags  were  kept  flying  over  our 
trenches  though  they  offered  a  conspicuous  mark  to  the  enemy.  The 
coolness,  courage  and  cheerfulness  of  these  troops,  exposed  for  two 
nights  and  a  day  to  the  incessant  fire  of  tne  enemy  at  short  range,  and 
the  severe  storm  which  raged  the  whole  night,  are  above  all  praise." 

Capture  of  Island  No.  10. — Pope  now  planted  his  batteries  on 
the  banks  of  the  river  and  shut  up  the  rebel  fleet  between  him 
self  and  Island  No.  10,  the  next  place  of  attack.  The  island,  sit 
uated  just  above  New  Madrid  and  45  miles  below  Columbus,  was 
fortified  with  eleven  earth  works  and  70  heavy  cannon.  The  day 
after  the  capture  of  New  Madrid,  Foote,  with  the  fleet,  made  his 
appearance  above  it,  effected  a  recoiinoissance  of  the  adjacent 
shores  and  placed  his  mortar  boats  in  position  for  attack.  On  the 
morning  of  the  ICth  of  March,  1862,  the  bombardment  com 
menced,  but  the  rebel  batteries  were  targets  too  small  to  be  hurt 
by  shells  thrown  at  an  angle  of  45  degrees  a  distance  of  three  miles. 
The  slightest  breath  of  air  operating  on  a  projectile  thrown  so 
great  a  distance  was  sufficient  to  frustrate  the  nicest  mathemati 
cal  calculations,  and  hence  the  cannonading  continued  day  after 
day  without  beneficial  results.  The  gunboats  could  easily  have 
prevailed  against  the  hostile  works  but  for  the  danger  of  becom 
ing  disabled  and  drifting  helplessly  in  the  swift  current  directly 
under  the  enemy's  guns.  Pope  was  expected  to  co-operate  with 
the  fleet,  his  plan  being  to  gain  the  Kentucky  shore,  where  he 
could  operate  directly  agaius  the  foe  and  cut  off  his  retreat  in  case 
of  an  attempted  escape.  The  want  of  transports  being  the  only 
difficulty  attending  the  execution  of  this  plan,  the  following  expe 
dient  Avas  adopted : 

Near  where  the  fleet  lay  there  was  a  slough  running  inland  which 
connected  with  a  stream  emptying  into  the  river  below  the  island, 
not  far  from  New  Madrid.  Pope  determined  to  open  this  for  the 
passage  of  transports  round  the  island,  having  previously  sent 
Col.  Bissell  to  ascertain  the  practicability  of  the  undertaking. 
The  levee  was  cut,  and  the  surface  inland  being  lower  than  the 
bank  of  the  river,  when  the  opening  was  effected  water  passed 
through  in  a  stream  of  sufficient  depth,  to  float  ordinary  trans 
ports.  The  route  to  be  opened  was  12  miles  in  length,  one-half 
of  it  extending  through  a  growth  of  trees,  many  of  which  were 
two  feet  in  diameter.  To  admit  the  passage  of  boats  it  was  necessary 
to  saw  them  off' four  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  water  for  the  space 
of  50  feet  in  width.  The  machinery  employed  for  this  purpose  was 
placed  on  boats  and  operated  by  twenty  men  who,  in  some 
instances  consumed  several  hours  in  the  removal  of  one  tree.  The 
transports  slowly  advancing  as  the  channel  was  opened,  at 
length  again  entered  the  turbid  Mississippi,  the  crew  chanting 
"On  the  other  side  of  Jordan"  in  lieu  of  u  Jordan  is  a  hard  road  to 
travel,"  with  which  they  had  previously  beguiled  their  labors. 

During  the  accomplishment  of  this  splendid  achievement  of 
engineering  skill,  two  other  feats  were  performed  equally  brilliant, 
but  of  a  different  character.  The  rebels  in  possession  of  Union 
City,  becoming  very  troublesome,  Col.  Btitbrd,  of  the  12th  Illinois 
infantry,  with  his  own  regiment,  two  companies  of  the  2d  Illinois 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  767 

cavalry  and  400  other  troops  was  ordered  to  dislodge  them.  En 
tering  the  town  by  forced  marches  he  surprised  and  dispersed  a 
large  force  of  the  enemy  under  the  command  of  the  notorious  Henry 
Clay  King.  Panic-stricken  they  fled  in  every  direction,  leaving  their 
horses,  arms  and  a  considerable  amount  of  other  property  as  spoils 
for  the  victors.  On  the  following-  day  Col. Roberts,  of  the  4LM  Illi 
nois,  with  twenty  of  his  most  daring-  men,  having  provided  boats 
with  muffled  oars,  made  for  the  island  for  the  purpose  of  destroy 
ing  the  upper  battery.  As  the  night  advanced  the  surface  of  the 
river  became  ruffled  with  fitful  gusts  of  wind  $  presently  the  cor 
rugated  edge  of  a  cloud  rose  up  from  the  western  horizon,  and  the 
muttering  of  distant  thunder  presaged  an  approaching  storm. 
Favored  by  the  darkness  and  the  roar  of  the  coming  storm  they 
reached  the  shore  and  started  for  the  battery  about  -00  yards  dis 
tant.  When  arriving  at  the  ditch  in  front  of  the  works  a  vivid 
flash  of  lightning  made  their  presence  known  to  the  sentinel,  who 
fired  his  gun  and  fled,  evidently  thinking  the  whole  Lincoln  army 
was  after  him.  The  flash  also  revealed  the  situation  of  the  guns, 
and  hardly  had  the  reverberating  thunder  died  away  in  the  dis 
tance  before  that  which  a  fortnight's  bombardment  had  failed  to 
accomplish  was  consummated.  Six  heavy  guns  were  spiked, 
among  which  wasa  superb  9  inch  pivot  gun,  called  Lady  Davis,  in 
honor  of  the  rebel  president's  wife.  The  romance  of  war  does 
not  furnish  a  deed  of  more  dashing  gallantry  than  the  perform 
ance  of  these  men,  who  all  returned  unharmed. 

Before  the  transports  could  be  made  available  in  moving  troops 
to  the  opposite  shore  of  the  river,  it  was  necessary  to  get  some  of 
the  gunboats  below  the  island  to  protect  them  in  case  of  an  attack. 
Accordingly  on  the  night  of  the  3d  of  April,  the  Carondelet  with 
her  vulnerable  parts  protected,  was  cut  loose  and  started  down 
the  river  for  the  purpose  of  running  the  rebel  batteries.  A  storm 
of  great  fury  had  again  burst  on  the  river,  and  completely  shroud 
ing  the  boat  in  darkness,  it  rapidly  moved  forward  on  its  perilous 
mission.  As  it  approached  the  island  the  soot  in  the  chimney 
caught  tire  and  suddenly, with  spectral  glare,  lighted  up  the  river. 
The  flue  caps  were  immediately  opened  and  fortunately  the  flames 
subsided  before  the  enemy  discovered  their  real  character  in  the 
blinding  darkness  of  the  storm.  A  second  time  while  the  crew  were 
congratulating  themselves  on  their  miraculous  escape,  the  flames 
burst  forth,  casting  a  brilliant  light  in  the  face  of  the  foe, 
rendering  further  concealment  impossible.  Suddenly  signal 
rockets  from  the  island  and  Kentucky  shore  streamed  up  in  the 
darkness ;  drums  beat  to  quarters  and  cannon  and  musketry 
opened  upon  the  boat  in  deafening  roar.  The  storm  was  still 
unabated,  and  warring  elements  played  in  wild  response  to  hos 
tile  batteries.  Flashing  guns  alternating  with  gleams  of  light 
ning,  peals  of  thunder  answering  to  booming  cannon,  and 
drenching  torrents  of  rain,  intermingled  with  tailing  missiles, 
enveloped  the  crew  in  a  pageant  of  terrific  grandeur.  Calm, 
however,  as  if  about  to  enter  a  peaceful  harbor,  they  put  on  steam 
and  steered  directly  under  the  enemy's  guns.  Owing  to  the  dif- 
flculty  of  depressing  their  guns  so  as  to  cover  the  vessel,  she  ran 
the  fiery  gauntlet  without  sustaining  the  slightest  injury.  The 
firing  of  a  signal  gun  announced  to  friends  above  and  below  the 
island,  the  successful  result,  and  as  the  boat  neared  the  wharf  at 


768  HISTORY  OF   ILLINOIS. 

New  Madrid  it  was  greeted  with  the  wildest  enthusiasm.  Soldiers 
almost  frantic  with  joy,  seized  the  sailors  and  carried  them  up  the 
banks  of  the  river  to  the  nearest  hotel,  where  they  became  objects 
of  absorbing1  interest.  On  the  night  of  the  6th  the  Pittsburgh 
also  successfully  performed  the  same  feat,  completing  the  prepa 
rations  for  the  reduction  of  the  island. 

Paiue's  division,  in  which  were  the  22d  and  51st  Illinois  was  now 
embarked  and  crossed  over  the  wild  floods  of  theMississippi,  pre 
senting  in  its  passage,  one  of  the  most  magnificent  spectacles  ever 
witnessed.  Stanly  and  Hamilton's  divisions  followed,  and  by  12 
o'clock  the  ensuing  night,  April  7th,  all  the  force  required,  was 
safe  on  the  Kentucky  shore.  As  soon  as  the  rebels  discovered 
that  a  lodgment  had  been  effected  they  evacuated  the  island  as 
untenable  and  concentrated  at  Tiptonville,  situated  at  the 
lower  extremity  of  the  12  miles  of  batteries  which  stretched  along 
the  Kentucky  side  of  the  river.  The  three  divisions,  Paine's 
command  in  advance,  immediately  started  in  pursuit.  The  enemy 
7,000  strong,  under  McCown,  was  encountered  and  driven  back 
into  the  swamps,  where  he  was  forced  to  unconditionally  surren 
der.  Says  Pope  :  "Gen.  Paine  fortunate  in  having  the  advance, 
exhibited  unusual  vigor  and  courage,  and  had  the  satisfaction  to 
receive  the  surrender  of  the  enemy.  Three  generals,  5,000  pris 
oners,  17  steamboats,  74  heavy  pieces  of  artillery,  10,000  Ibs.  of 
powder  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  victors.'7 

Besides  the  Illinois  regiments  mentioned,  the  7th  (cavalry)  and 
the  60th  also  participated  in  the  battle  and  demeaned  them 
selves  with  the  alacrity,  courage  and  prudence  which  should  ever 
characterize  .the  citizen  soldiery  of  the  republic.  Their  acknowl 
edged  efficiency  furnishes  ample  proof  that  the  soldier  is  not  a 
machine  moved  and  controlled  independently  of  his  volition,  but 
that  intelligence  and  moral  worth  are  as  essential  to  his  success 
as  they  are  in  other  pursuits  of  life,  however  exalted. 

Maj.  Gen.  John  Pope,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  the  two  pre 
ceding  brilliant  victories,  was  born  at  Kaskaskia,  Illinois,  March 
12th,  1823.  His  father,  Nathaniel  Pope,  was  a  prominent  actor 
in  the  early  history  of  Illinois.  His  son  John  graduated  at  West 
Point  in  1842,  fought  his  way  through  the  Mexican  war,  and  for 
his  meritorious  conduct  was  made  captain  by  brevet,  his  commis 
sion  dating  from  Feb.  23d,  1846.  In  1849  he  commanded  an 
expedition  sent  out  from  Minnesota  to  test  the  practicability 
of  obtaining  water  by  artesian  borings  in  the  great  plain  which 
stretches  with  such  terrible  aridity  between  Texas  and  New 
Mexico.  The  enterprise  proved  a  failure.  The  interval  from  1854 
to  1859  he  spent  in  exploring  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  was  pro 
moted  to  a  captaincy  in  the  corps  of  topographical  engineers. 
When  the  rebellion  commenced  he  was  made  brigadier-general  of 
volunteers  and  assigned  to  command  the  district  of  North  Mis 
souri,  where  after  dispersing  the  predatory  rebel  bands,  he  made 
his  way  to  New  Madrid  and  Island  No.  10. 


CHAPTER  LYI1I 

1862— ILLINOIS      IN     NORTHERN      MISSISSIPPI     AND 

ALABAMA. 

Battle    of  Pittsburg     Landing — Mitchell's     Campaign — Siege    of 

Corinth 


While  these  events  were  transpiring  on  the  Mississippi  a  battle  of 
much  grander  proportions  was  raging  on  the  banks  of  the  Tennessee. 
The  rebel  line  of  defense,  extending  from  Columbus  eastward 
through  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson  to  the  Alleghanies,  havingbeen 
broken  by  federal  forces  the  enemy  fell  back  and  established  a  new 
one  farther  southward  on  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  railroad. 
This  great  thoroughfare  runs  eastward  from  Memphis  through 
Corinth,  Florence,  Huntsville,  Chattanooga  and  other  important 
places,  hence  the  rebels  regarded  its  defense  essential  to  the  pre 
servation  of  Northern  Mississippi,  Alabama  and  Georgia.  The 
Union  forces,  after  having  secured  possession  of  the  Tennessee,  kept 
it  open  by  means  of  gunboats  as  far  as  Eastport,  Mississippi,  and 
made  it  the  base  of  operations.  The  rebel  authorities  aware  of 
the  tremendous  issues  at  stake,  commenced  concentrating  all  their 
available  forces  at  Corinth,  situated  at  the  intersection  of  the 
Memphis  and  Charleston  and  the  Ohio  and  Mobile  railroads. 
Johnson  after  his  escape  from  Donelson,  led  his  forces  through 
Nashville  to  this  strategic  point,  and  hither  also  came  Price  from 
Western  Arkansas,  Bragg  from  Pensacola,  and  Polk  from 
Columbus. 

For  the  purpose  of  tapping  this  great  central  line  of  transpor 
tation  reaching  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  sea,  on  which  the 
rebels  were  rallying,  Halleck  ordered  forward  the  different  divis 
ions  of  the  Union  army.  About  the  middle  of  March  Grant,  with 
the  conquerors  of  Donelson,  moved  forward  to  Savannah,  when 
the  division  of  Lew.  Wallace  was  thrown  across  the  river  at 
Crumps  landing,  about  2  miles  above,  and  those  of  Prentiss, 
Smith  and  McClernand  at  Pittsburg  landing,  5  miles  higher  up 
the  stream.  Buel,  who  with  a  separate  army  from  the  department 
of  the  Ohio,  had  taken  possession  of  Nashville,  and  on  learning  in 
the  meantime  the  destination  of  Johnson  also  started  to  co-operate 
with  the  forces  on  the  Tennessee. 

Pittsburgh  Landing,  where  most  of  Grant's  army  was  now 
posted,  was  the  point  of  debarkation  for  Corinth,  Purdy  and  some 
other  towns  on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  The  bank  here  rises 
to  a  height  of  80  feet  and  is  cloven  by  ravines,  through  one  of 
which  the  Corinth  road  ascends  to  the  general  level  of  the  coun- 
49  769 


770  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

try  where  it  sends  off  branches  to  neighboring  towns.  From  the 
river  an  irregular  plateau  sweeps  inland,  bounded  on  the  north 
and  west  by  Snake  Creek,  on  the  south  by  Lick  creek,  both  small 
streams,  emptying  into  the  Tennessee  5  miles  apart,  one  below  and 
the  other  above  the  landing.  Variegated  with  ravines  and  ridges, 
partly  wooded  and  partly  cultivated,  it  lay  like  a  picture  in  a 
frame,  green  with  the  opening  verdure  of  April.  Three  miles 
from  the  landing,  on  the  Corinth  road,  near  the  centre  of  the  field, 
was  a  small  church  styled  Shiloh,  from  which  the  subsequent 
battle  received  its  name.  On  the  4th  of  March  Grant  had  been 
superseded  by  C.  F.  Smith,  one  of  his  commanders,  who  shortly 
afterwards  was  attacked  by  a  fatal  disease,  when  his  division  was 
transferred  to  W.  H.  L.  Wallace  and  Grant  was  re -in  stated. 

Sunday  morniug,  April  6th,  the  several  divisions  of  his  army 
were  situated  as  follows  :  Commencing  on  the  right  near  the  river 
below,  and  sweeping  round  in  the  form  of  an  irregular  semi-circle 
to  the  river  above  were  the  divisions  of  W.  H.  L.  Wallace, 
McClernand,  Sherman,  Prentiss  and  Hurlbut,  while  that  of  Lew. 
Wallace  was  still  at  Crump's  Landing.  The  confederate  army 
consisted  of  3  corps  and  the  following  principal  officers: 
A.  Sidney  Johnson,  first  in  command,  P.  T.  G.  Beau- 
regard  second,  and  Polk,  Bragg  and  Hardee,  corps  com 
manders.  It  was  well  known  in  the  rebel  camp  that  Buell  was 
rapidly  advancing  from  Kashville  to  reinforce  Grant,  and  it  was 
determined  to  attack  and  defeat  the  latter  before  he  was  strength 
ened.  By  the  aid  of  spies  Johnson  was  apprised  of  the  daily 
progres^  made  by  Buell,  and  when  on  the  3d  of  April  his  junction 
with  Grant  became  imminent,  he  started  with  all  his  available 
forces  for  Pittsburg  Landing.  Owing  to  bad  roads  the  whole  day 
was  consumed  in  reaching  the  Union  outposts,  and  after  some 
slight  skirmishing  the  army  encamped  with  the  expectation  of 
making  an  attack  on  the  morrow.  Fortunately  a  severe  storm 
fell  the  next  day  and  the  contemplated  attack  was  postponed  till 
the  Sabbath  morning  following.  Buell  in  the  meantime  pushed 
forward  with  all  possible  dispatch  over  the  muddy  roads  and 
gained  a  day,  which,  as  the  sequel  shows,  was  of  vital  importance. 
The  rebels,  although  unable  to  make  an  attack  moved  up  to 
to  within  a  mile  of  the  Union  pickets,  and  though  some  skirmish 
ing  had  occurred,  their  presence  in  force  was  unsuspected. 

As  previously  arranged,  with  the  early  gray  of  the  Sabbath's 
dawn,  the  confederate  army  started  across  the  narrow  belts  of 
woods  wliich  separated  them  from  the  unsuspecting  federals.  On 
emerging  from  the  timber  such  was  the  impetuosity  of  their  onset 
they  swooped  down  in  compact  masses  on  our  advanced  out 
posts  before  the  small  force  which  had  been  sent  out  to  reconnoi 
tre  could  return  and  apprise  them  of  their  danger.  So  sudden 
and  complete  was  the  surprise  of  the  federals  that  some  of  them 
were  overtaken  preparing  for  breakfast,  some  sitting  listlessly  in 
their  tents,  while  others  still  wrapt  in  unconscious  slum 
bers,  were  bayoneted  before  they  had  time  to  rise  from  their  beds. 
Prentiss  and  Sherman  who  were  considerably  in  advance,  thus 
rudely  awakened  by  the  thunders  of  battle,  immediately  dis 
patched  luessengers  to  the  other  divisions  to  apprise  them  of  the 
enemy's  approach  and  request  their  co-operation.  The  latter  by 
his  stirring  appeals  and  the  reckless  exposure  of  his  person  in  the 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION. 


midst  of  the  greatest  dangers,  succeeded  in  restoring*  confidence, 
and  his  divisions,  in  which  were  the  40th  and  55th  Illinois,  half 
dressed,  fell  into  line.  The  sudden  charge  of  the  foe  and 
the  want  of  preparation  to  receive  him,  caused  one  of  his 
brigades  to  fall  back  in  confusion  and  McClernand  came  up  with 
the  llth,  30th  and  43d  Illinois  to  fill  the  gap.  Convinced  from 
the  roar  of  cannon  that  the  engagement  was  becoming  general,  he 
apprised  Hurlburt  of  Prentiss'  danger  and  requested  his  assistance. 
The  contest  along  Sherman's  line  became  desperate  and  bloody, 
the  rebels  dashing  up  to  the  very  muzzles  of  Waterhouse's  guns, 
and  in  a  hand  to  hand  fight,  contending  for  their  possession. 
Although  further  re-iuforced  by  the  14th,  15th  and  40th  Illinois 
from  Huiiburt's  division  and  Schwartz's,  Dresser's,  Taylor's  and 
McAlister's  batteries  from  McClernand's,  his  battered  and  bleed 
ing  forces  were  driven  from  their  position  and  their  camp  des 
poiled  by  the  the  shouting  enemy.  By  his  protracted  stand  and 
frightful  sacrifice  of  men  the  enemy  was,  however,  partially  checked 
and  the  army  escaped  the  calamity  of  being  driven  into  the  Ten 
nessee. 

In  the  meantime  the  division  of  Prentiss,  containing  the  Cist 
Illinois,  had  become  involved  and  almost  annihilated.  At  the  first 
intimation  of  danger,  he  hastily  formed  his  line,  but  unfor 
tunately  it  was  in  an  open  field.  The  enemy  soon  came  stream 
ing  through  the  woods,  and  taking  advantage  of  the  shelter  they 
afforded,  poured  volley  after  volley  into  the  ranks  of  the  exposed 
troops  and  covered  the  field  with  their  slain.  While  Prentiss 
stubbornly  refused  to  retire  before  this  wasting  slaughter.  Har- 
dee  massing  his  impetuous  brigades,  forced  them  through  the 
gap  between  him  and  Sherman,  and  flanked  him  on  the  right, 
while  Jackson  with  his  Mississippi  fire-eaters,  sweeping  round 
in  an  opposite  direction,  turned  his  left.  Hurlburt  hastened  to 
his  assistance  but  came  too  late.  Batteries  were  immediately 
opened  on  both  sides  of  the  division,  and  ploughing  a  passage 
through  it  Prentiss  and  3,000  men  were  surrounded  and  taken 
prisoners.  As  the  captured  troops  were  borne  to  the  rear  of  the 
victorious  foe,  the  remnant  of  the  division,  in  a  confused  mass, 
was  driven  in  the  opposite  direction. 

We  have  seen  that  when  the  conflict  commenced  the  convexity  of 
the  Union  line  was  turned  from  the  river,  now,  by  the  beating  back 
of  the  center,  it  formed  an  arc  in  the  direction  of  the  stream. 
Prentiss  and  McClernand,  constituting  the  two  wings,  still 
retained  their  positions,  and  Hurlbut  moving  to  the  center  had 
been  forced  back.  The  conflict  had  been  fierce,  terrific,  deter 
mined  and  bloody ;  great  forest  trees  were  riven  into  fragments 
by  the  incessant  crash  of  artillery,  and  the  fatal  field  lay  ghastly 
with  huge  piles  of  victims.  Grant,  as  at  Donelson,  was  absent, 
and  each  command  was  compelled  to  act  upon  its  own  responsi 
bility. 

The  division  of  McClernand,  containing  the  8th,  llth,  17th. 
18th,  20th,  29th,  31st,  42d,  43d,  45th,  48th  and  49th  Illinois,  which 
had  supported  Sherman  in  the  first  onset  of  the  battle,  when  the 
latter  tell  back,  became  exposed  to  a  dangerous  flank  movement  on 
the  right.  Dresser  was  ordered  forward  with  his  rifled  guns  to 
the  vulnerable  point,  and  lor  a  time  checked  the  inflowing  tide  of 
assailants.  Schwartz  and  McAllister,  in  other  parts  of  the  line, 


HISTORY  OF   ILLINOIS. 


rendered  efficient  aid,  and  rebel  charge  after  charge  was  repulsed, 
but  only  to  make  room  for  fresh  regiments  to  pour  in  and  repeat 
them  with  redoubled  fury.  When  at  length  it  became  necessary 
to  retire  before  the  overwhelming  pressure,  there  were  not  artillery 
horses  remaining  alive  sufficient  to  remove  the  batteries,  and  por 
tions  fell  into. the  hands  of  the  enemy.  By  11  o'clock  the  division 
was  driven  back  to  a  line  with  Hurlbut. 

The  division  of  the  latter,  comprising  the  14th,  15th,  28th,  32d, 
41st  and  46th  Illinois,  as  the  others  were  falling  back,  took  a 
position  in  the  edge  of  a  wood  fronting  an  open  field  over  which 
the  enemy  must  pass  to  attack  him.  Thither  also  Sherman,  with 
a  faint  hope  of  saving  the  army  from  annihilation,  led  the  bat 
tered  fragments  of  his  command.  The  rebel  officers,  determined 
not  to  be  checked  in  their  advance  toward  the  river,  into  which 
they  proposed  to  hurl  the  defenders  of  the  Union,  threw  forward 
their  victorious  legions  with  almost  resistless  momentum.  Three 
times  they  emerged  from  the  timber  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
open  space,  and  three  times  were  they  swept  back  by  the  hurri 
cane  of  tire  which  met  them,  leaving  their  gory  track  covered 
with  the  dead  and  dying.  Gallantly  leading  his  columns  in  these 
tremendous  charges,  Johnson  was  pierced  with  a  ball,  and  stretch 
ing  out  his  arms  fell  on  one  of  his  aids  and,  expired.  Unde 
terred  by  loss  of  men  or  leader,  fresh  regiments  dashed  into  the 
deadly  vortex  with  renewed  vigor,  and  finally  exhausted  and 
overwhelmed  by  numbers,  the  federals  were  compelled  to  retire 
and  join  their  discomfited  companions  in  the  rear. 

After  Prentiss  had  been  driven  from  his  position,  the  onset  of 
the  enemy  fell  with  tremendous  force  on  the  7th,  9th,  12th,  50th, 
52d,  57th  and  58th  Illinois,  a  part  ef  the  division  of  W.  H.  L.  Wal 
lace,  which  had  been  moved  to  an  advanced  position  in  the  Union 
line.  Serving  his  batteries  planted  on  commanding  ridges  with 
great  skill,  and  his  infantry  fighting  with  the  determination  of 
battle-scarred  veterans,  four  times  he  repulsed  the  enemy  with 
terrific  slaughter.  The  other  divisions  had,  however,  given  way, 
and  his  also,  under  the  concentrated  fire  of  Folk's  and  Har- 
dee's  united  columns,  was  compelled  to.  yield,  its  brave 
commander  falling  mortally  wounded  in  his  attempts  to  resist  the 
overwhelming  flood. 

It  was  now  5  o'clock.  All  day  the  battle  had  raged,  but  the 
field  cleft  by  ravines  and  obstructed  by  timber,  had  rendered  the 
contest  irregular  and  indecisive.  When  it  commenced  Grant  was 
at  Savannah,  and  until  his  arrival  on  the  field  each  division  com 
mander  managed  his  own  force  to  suit  the  exigencies  of  the  en 
gagement.  There  was  little  unity  of  action.  Hearing  the  heavy 
and  continuous  booming  of  artillery,  he  hurried  to  the  scene  of 
conflict  and  arrived  about  9  o'clock,  but  skillful  generalship  could 
not  then  avert  the  evil  caused  by  surprise,  nor  screen  him  from 
the  angry  criticism  which  he  encountered.  In  the  desultory  con 
flict  the  principal  resistance  was  afforded  by  McOleruand,  W.  H. 
L.  Wallace  and  Hurlbut,  the  divisions  of  Sherman  and  Prentiss 
having  become  too  much  demoralized  by  the  morning's  surprise 
to  render  the  aid  which  otherwise  would  have  been  furnished. 
Lew.  WTallace,  at  Crump's  Landing,  had  been  ordered  to  form  on 
the  Union  right,  but  unfortunately  was  misled  by -a  change  in 
the  position  of  the  army.  What  in  the  •morning  ^had  been  the 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  773 

federal  right  was  now  the  enemy's  rear.  Though  apparently  he 
might  have  hurled  his  fresh  troops  against  the  jaded  enemy, 
doubled  up  his  left  and  thus  have  given  a  more  favorable  issue  to 
the,  contest,  he  retraced  his  steps,  and  moving  along  the  river 
did  not  arrive  till  nightfall,  when  the  battle  was  over.*  Had  the 
enemy  known  the  vulnerable  condition  of  our  right  and  made  his 
principal  attack  in  that  direction  instead  of  the  left,  his  success 
would  doubtless  have  been  more  complete. 

The  tide  of  battle  which  had  hitherto  drifted  adversely,  was 
now  to  change.  The  exultant  threat  of  treason,  that  it  would 
overwhelm  the  defenders  of  the  Eepublic  in  the  dark  waters  of 
the  Tennessee,  was  never  to  be  executed  ;  but,  beaten  and  hum 
bled,  its  minions  were  to  be  driven  from  the  field.  The  army 
in  the  morning  was  extended  out  in  a  semi-circle  of  5  miles; 
now  it  was  in  a  compact  body  around  the  landing,  and  though 
bleeding  and  reduced  in  numbers,  it  still  presented  a  bold  front. 
There  was  a  lull  in  the  conflict,  caused,  perhaps,  by  preparations 
of  the  enemy  for  the  final  charge  which  was  to  execute  his  threat. 
This  pause  was  also  improved  by  our  jaded  and  imperilled  men. 
Fortunately  there  had  been  deposited  on  the  bluff  a  number  of 
siege  guns  and  other  heavy  ordnance  designed  for  future  opera 
tions  against  Corinth.  These  with  the  fragments  of  field  artillery 
which  had  escaped  capture  Col.  Webster  chief  of  Grant's  staff 
hurriedly  placed  in  position.  This  defense  was  rendered  more 
effective  by  a  deep  ravine  which,  on  the  left  separated  the  Union 
from  the  Confederate  army,  the  latter  now  concentrated  in  that 
direction.  Hardly  had  our  guns  been  mounted  when  a  shower 
of  projectiles,  some  of  which  exploded  on  the  opposite  bank  of 
the  river,  announced  his  coming,  and  presently  every  avenue 
of  approach  was  crowded  by  his  dark  masses  of  infantry. 
Streaming  across  the  ravine  they  scaled  the  opposite  gun-crowned 
slopes.  But  as  soon  as  they  had  gained  the  summit  they  were 
met  by  a  blinding  fire  and  swept  back  bleeding  into  the  gorge. 
Flushed,  however,  with  previous  success,  they  were  easily  rallied, 
and  while  they  were  advancing  and  recoiling  in  a  series  of  final 
charges,  the  gun-boats  Lexington  and  Tyler  opened  upon  them 
with  their  heavy  guns.  All  day  they  had  been  anxious  spectators 
of  the  combat,  moving  restlessly  up  and  down  the  river  in  vain, 
seeking  an  opportunity  to  co-operate.  Now,  however,  the  foe  was 
in  range  and  they  sent  their  ponderous  shells  screaming  dismally 
and  deathly  into  his  ranks,  opening  huge  gaps  and  exerting  a 
in  oral  effect  upon  the  hostile  army  more  fatal  than  the  physical 
results  of  their  death  dealing  explosions.  The  rebel  officers  tried  in 

*  Wallace's  arrival  was  awaited  with  all  the  anxiety  which  an  imperiled  condition'of 
the  array  could  inspire.  The  suspense  increasing,  about  3  o'clock  a  staff  officer  rode 
up  to  the  2d  battalion  of  the  4th  Illinois  cavalry  and  asked  for  volunteers  to  go  on  the 
perilous  mission  of  meeting  and  urging  upon  him  the  importance  of  hurrying  for 
ward  his  division.  Lieut.  Frank  Fisk  and  Sergeant  Henry  Sturges  immediately  rode 
to  the  front  and  called  for  others  to  join  them.  A  party  of  seven  was  soon  formed, 
and  dashing  by  the  enemy's  left  in  easy  range  of  his  musketry,  and  bounding  over 
Owl  Creek  they  found  Wallace  near  its  intersection  of  the  Corinth  road,  made  kno\yu 
their  errand,  and  advised  a  direct  attack  upon  the  enemy,  He  replied  that  his  artil 
lery  had  not  yet  come  up  and  the  movement  would  leave  it  exposed  and  liable  to  cap 
ture.  They  also  pointed  out  the  elevated  ground  occupied  by  the  rebels,  and  the  im 
possibility  "of  his  using  his  artillery,  and  insisted  that  it  was  better  to  abandoning 
own  guns'  than  lose  the  advantage  of  an  assault  on  the  exposed  rebel  flank.  These 
arguments  were,  however,  rejected,  and  the  heroic  little  band  safely  returned  and 
reported  the  result.  They  were  then  instructed  to  ride  among  the  soldiers  and  pro 
claim  that  Wallace  was  at  hand  with  10,000  fresh  troops.  The  effect  was  electric,  the 
loud  answering  shout  of  our  almost  overpowered  men  rising  above  the  din  of  battle. 


774  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

vain  to  get  their  men  to  face  the  new  engines  of  destruction,  but 
were  compelled  to  fall  back  beyond  their  range.  Shortly  after  the 
gun-boats  caine  into  action  the  glittering  arms  of  Buel's  advanced 
division  were  seen  across  the  river.  It  had  arrived  at  Savannah 
30  hours  before,  and  Nelson,  the  commander,  detecting  in  the 
deep  and  continuous  roar  of  artillery  the  existence  of  battle,  pushed 
forward  to  render  assistance.  A  brigade  immediately  crossing 
the  stream  and  rushing  directly  to  the  front,  greatly  revived  the 
spirits  of  the  exhausted  army. 

The  sun  now  as  if  to  end  the  slaughter,  withdrew  his  light  from 
the  gory  field — a  field  literally  covered  over  with  piles  of  victims, 
some  torn  into  fragments,  others  exhibiting  but  little  evidence  of 
the  means  by  which  they  had  lost  their  lives;  some  still  writhing 
in  the  agonies  of  death,  and  others  less  injured  crying  for  help. 
Interspersed  among  them  were  the  fragments  of  guns  and  their 
carriages,  splintered  trunks  and  branches  of  forest  trees,  all  indi 
cating  the  fury  of  the  battle  storm  which  had-  wrought  their  de 
struction.  Night  came  on  but  the  period  of  repose  which  it 
brought  afforded  little  rest  to  either  belligerent.  As  soon  as  the 
position  of  the  enemy  wTas  ascertained,  the  two  gun-boats  again 
commenced  throwing  among  them  immense  shells  which,  explod 
ing  far  inland,  gave  back  reports  resembling  those  of  replying 
guns.  This  heavy  cannonade,  with  slight  intermission,  was  con 
tinued  the  whole  night,  and  the  exhausted  enemy  aroused  from 
his  imperfect  slumbers,  was  forced  back  farther  and  farther  from 
the  river. 

The  lauding  also  became  the  scene  of  important  operations. 
Crittenden's  division  of  Buel's  army  having  reached  Savauah,  was 
brought  up  on  steamers  and  placed  in  position.   The  next  news  re 
ceived  was  that  McCook's  division  had  also  arrived  at  Savanah, 
but  owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  hour,  it  was  not  brought  up  till 
the  next  morning.     The  heavy  explosions  of  artillery  reverberat 
ing  far  up  and  down  the  Tennessee  had  apprised  the  commanders 
of  these  gallant  divisions  of  what  was  going  on,  and  regardless  of 
almost  impassable  roads  they  pushed  forward  to  participate  in  the 
battle.     With  this  augmentation  of  its  forces  the  Union  army  was 
able  to  act  on  the  offensive  and  accordingly  the  several  divisions 
were  assigned  places  for  an  attack  the  next  morning.     Commenc 
ing  on  the  right  and  extending  to  the  left  were  the  commands  of 
Nelson,  Crittenden,  Hurlbut,   McClernaud,  Sherman,   and    Lew 
"Wallace,  the  latter  including  the  divisions  of  Prentiss  and  W.  H.  L. 
"Wallace.     Each  took  the  place  assigned  it,  and  as  is  usually  the 
case  after  a  heavy  cannonade  a  storm  arose  and  the  remainder  of 
the  night  was  spent  in  a  drenching  rain.     When  morning  dawned 
the  Confederates  beheld  with  surprise  Buell's  handsomely  deployed 
columns  and  doubtless  with  increased  anxiety  thought  of  the  work 
still  before  them.  Their  consternation  was  farther  increased  when 
the  strains  of  martial  music  announced  the  arrival  of  McCook's 
division  which  at  once  advanced  and  took  a  position  between 
Critteuden  and  Hurlbut. 

Nelson's  and  Crittenden's  divisions,  eager  to  measure  their 
strength  with  the  foe,  first  commenced  the  attack.  For  a  time 
the  contest  was  an  artillery  duel  of  grand  porportious  and  pro 
portionately  bloody.  Notwithstanding  the  severe  fire,  one  of  Nel 
son's  brigades  charged  across  the  open  space  between  the  two  lines 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  775 

and  captured  one  of  the  hostile  batteries.  Before  the  prize,  how 
ever,  could  be  removed,  its  captors  were  driven  back  with  a  loss 
of  one- third  their  number.  This  reverse  only  partially  checked 
the  forward  movement  of  the  division  over  the  ground  which  their 
less  fortunate  comrades  had  lost  the  day  before.  Orittendeii 
next  became  involved;  one  of  his  brigades  made  a  desperate  at 
tack  on  a  battery  of  the  enemy,  and  this  time  after  capturing  re 
tained  it.  Exasperated  by  the  loss  of  his  guns  he  charged  with 
redoubled  fury  to  recover  them,  stubbornly  refusing  to  yield  till  the 
ground  was  strewn  Avith  the  victims  of  the  bloody  struggle.  The 
tide  of  battle  sweeping  farfher  on  the  right  at  length  fell  upon 
McCook,  whose  men  fought  with  the  heroism  of  veterans,  driving 
the  enemy  before  them  as  they  moved  forward. 

About  10  o'clock  the  rebels  rallied  in  some  heavy  timber,  and, 
under  cover  of  a  furious  cannonade,  threw  themselves  with  great 
impetuousity  mostly  against  Nelson  and  Crittenden  and  turned 
them  back.  At  this  juncture  the  artillery  was  taken  to  the  front 
and  opened  a  murderous  fire  directly  in  the  face  of  the  shouting 
foe,  dashing  up  in  pursuit  of  the  retreating  Federals.  The  move 
ment  of  both  lines  was  arrested,  but  the  incessant  play  of  artil 
lery  and  musketry  went  on  with  increased  effect,  the  commanders 
on  both  sides  holding  their  men  to  the  grim  work  as  if  to  determine 
which  could  stand  pounding  the  longest.  In  the  meantime  Buel 
came  up,  and,  seeing  that  the  -enemy's  line  was  badly  shaken  by 
the  continuous  volleys  ploughing  through  it,  ordered  a  charge  as 
the  most  successful  method  of  ending  the  contest.  Cheer  after  cheer 
rent  the  air  as  the  war-begrimmed  legions  of  the  two  divisions 
swept  down  like  a  dark  cloud  on  the  recoiling  foe  till  all  the  ground 
which  had  been  lost  in  this  part  of  the  field  the  day  before  was 
regained.  Still  unwilling  to  lose  all  the  prestige  of  previous  suc 
cess,  the  rebels  again  halted  in  front  of  McCook's  division  in  a 
clump  of  timber  near  Shiloh  Church  where  for  an  hour  they  stub 
bornly  maintained  their  position.  Eeinforcements  from  Sherman 
and  McClernand  Avere,  however,  sent  up,  when  an  irresistible 
charge  swept  them  from  their  place  of  refuge  and  the  battle  on 
this  part  of  the  field  was  over. 

On  the  right  the  contest  had  been  equally  severe  and  blood}'. 
As  Wallace  in  the  morning  moved  forward  he  halted  on  an  eleva 
tion  overlooking  the  field  in  front,  and  suddenly  a  strong  rebel 
column  emerged  from  the  woods  and  formed  in  line  of  battle  par 
allel  with  his  own  division.  Both  immediately  became  engaged, 
and  Wai  lace  threw  forward  sharp-shooters  to  pick  -off  the  rebel 
artillerymen  till  he  could  get  his  batteries  with  infantry  supports 
on  the  open  field  in  front.  For  an  hour  the  flash  and  roar  of  guns 
was  incessant  when  Sherman  with  the  remnant  of  his  heroic  di 
vision,  came  up,  and,  regardless  of  danger,  dashed  forward  across 
the  field ;  midway  between  the  two  lines  he  met  such  a  destruct 
ive  fire  he  was  compelled  to  return,  having  received  a  wound  and 
lost  his  horse  "by  the  fearless  exposure  of  his  person.  Leaping 
into  the  saddle  of  another,  and  arousing  the  enthusiasm  of  his 
men,  he  gave  the  order,  "forward,"  and  again  they  started  on  the 
perilous  mission  with  the  brave  Col.  Marsh,  of  the  20th  111.,  as 
their  leader.  Sweeping  across  the  field  and  gaining  in  the  woods, 
beyond,  a  position  that  flanked  the  enemy,  the  latter  retreated  in 
hot  haste  to  another  part  of  the  timber  farther  from  danger.  Here 


776  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

lie  made  a  determined  stand  and  a  second  time  compelled  Sher 
man  to  recoil  before  his  murderous  tire ;  but  a  second  time  he 
rallied  his  men  and  rushed  into  battle  though  bleeding  from  2 
wounds,  and  having  had  2  horses  shot  under  him.  Other  forces 
in  the  meantime  came  up,  the  position  was  taken  and  the  clisconi- 
fitted  rebel  hosts  driven  from  the  field.  Thus  the  action  com 
menced  on  the  left  and,  as  if  the  foe  was  feeling  for  a  vulnerable 
Eoint,  swept  along  each  division  to  the  right  when  he  struck  his 
tst  blow  and  retired.  In  the  final  charge  on  this  part  of  the 
field,  McClernand's  and  Hurlbut's  divisions  participated  and 
added  new  laurels  to  those  which  they  had  previously  won. 

On  the  following  morning  Gen.  Sherman  with  his  cavalry  and 
two  brigades,  were  sent  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy.  Proceeding 
along  the  Corinth  road  they  encountered  the  cavalry  of  the 
enemy  which  temporarily  checked  their  advance.  A  line  of  battle 
was,  however,  soon  formed,  and  Col.  Dicky's  4th  111.  cavalry, 
leading  in  a  dashing  charge  on  the  rebel  force,  put  them  to  flight. 
After  caring  for  the  wounded  and  burying  the  dead,  the  weary 
troops  returned,  finding  the  road  strewn  with  blankets,  haversacks 
and  muskets,  which  the  rebels  had  abandoned  in  their  flight. 

No  official  statements  of  the  numbers  engaged  in  this  battle 
was  made  by  either  party.  In  the  first  day's  fight,  however,  the 
Confederate  army  was  considerably  in  excess,  while  on  the  2d  the 
Federal  having  been  reinforced  byBuell,was  largest.  The  loss 
of  the  former  was  1,728  killed  5  8,012  wounded,  and  959  missing  ; 
that  of  the  latter  1,735  killed;  wounded  7,882;  and  3,950  taken 
prisoners.  The  rebels  having  lied,  the  mournful  task  of  burying 
the  dead  of  both  armies  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  conquerors.  Nearly 
4,000  victims,  recently  brothers  of  the  same  great  national  family, 
lay  pulseless  and  still  in  the  sleep  of  death.  They  were  consigned 
to  their  graves,  and  would  that  the  demon  of  hate  and  the  car 
nage  of  war  had  been  buried  with  them. 

Gov.  Yates,  who  had  already  earned  the  appellation  of  "soldiers' 
friend"  by  his  devotion  to  the  interest  of  those  engaged  in  the 
performance  of  military  duty,  immediately  proceeded  to  the  battle 
field  to  look  after  the  wounded.  His  appeals  for  the  means  of 
affording  relief  met  Avith  a  response  from  the  people  commensur 
ate  with  the  extraordinary  necessities  that  existed.  Every  city 
and  village  of  the  State  poured  forth  contributions ;  physicians 
and  nurses  volunteered  their  services,  and  steamboats  laden 
with  every  appliance  for  ministering  to  the  distressed,  were  sent 
on  their  errands  of  mercy.  Such  an  extensive  slaughter  had  been 
unknown  in  the  history  of  the  war,  and  notwithstanding  the  pro 
fusion  of  means  which  had  been  furnished,  many  of  the  soldiers 
still  suffered  from  unavoidable  neglect.  The  Governor  therefore 
returned  hoine,  and,  procuring  another  corps  of  surgeons  and 
additional  stores,  a  second  time  repaired  to  the  scene  of  suffer 
ing.  As  fast  as  transportation  could  be  obtained,  the  wounded 
were  conveyed  to  northern  homes  and  hospitals  where  facilities 
for  more  skillful  treatment  could  be  furnished. 

Illinois  was  more  largely  represented  in  the  battle  than  any 
single  State.  On  its  death-smitten  field  her  citizen-soldiers  traced 
in  characters  of  blood  a  record  of  deeds  which  will  be  read 
not  only  in  the  patriotic  homes  of  the  broad  prairies,  but  wherever 
free  institutions  have  a  votary  or  the  honor  of  the  republic 
awakes  an  echo  in  the  human  heart. 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  777 

It  was  upon  the  troops  of  Illinois  and  those  immediately  asso 
ciated  with  them  in  the  first  day's  battle,  that  the  enemy  dealt 
his  heaviest  blows  and  received  in  turn  a  stroke  which  rendered 
his  subsequent  defeat  comparatively  easy,  both  sustaining  a  loss 
hitherto  without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  war.  Though  our 
divisions  were  driven  back  as  the  result  of  surprise  and  superior 
numbers,  the  advance  of  the  enemy  was  finally  checked,  and  when 
the  gallant  cohorts  of  Buellcame  to  their  rescue,  were  preparing  for 
offensive  operations,  and  largely  shared  in  the  magnificent  charges 
which  subsequently  bore  our  blood-stained  banners  triumphant 
over  the  field. 

The  contest  was  one  in  which  cannon  and  musketry  played  the 
most  conspicuous  part.  Yet,  in  the  constant  shifting  of  brigades 
and  divisions  the  cavalry  guarded  their  movements,  protected  their 
exposed  wings  or  dashed  over  the  field  with  important  dispatches. 
The  2d,  4th,  CharniichaePs,  O'Harnett's  and  Dollins'7  were  among 
the  organizations  from  Illinois,  and  distinguished  themselves  by 
their  soldierly  conduct. 

Among  the  bravest  of  the  heroes  who  died  on  the  bloody  field 
of  Shiloh,  that  their  country  might  live,  was  Gen.  William  Henry 
L.  Wallace.  He  was  born  on  the  8th  of  July,  1821,  at  Urbana, 
Ohio.  His  father,  in  1833,  removed  to  Illinois,  and  settled  in  the 
vicinity  of  LaSalle.  After  4  years  residence  he  removed  to  Mt. 
Morris,  Ogle  county,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  his  family  the  ben 
efit  of  tuition  in  Bock  Eiver  seminary.  Young  Wallace  completed 
a  course  of  study  in  the  institution  and,  after  some  preliminary 
study  of  the  law,  repaired  to  Springfield  to  enter  the  office  of 
Logan  and  Lincoln,  lawyers  of  great  celebrity  and  legal  ability. 
While  in  the  capital  he  formed  the  acquaintance  of  T.  Lyle  Dick}', 
also  a  lawyer  of  ability,  to  whom  he  became  attached  and  shortly 
afterward  went  to  Ottawa  and  entered  the  office  of  his  new  friend. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1845,  but  the  Mexican  war  break 
ing  out  the  following  year,  Wallace  abandoned  his  profession  and 
enlisted  in  the  regiment  raised  by  the  brave  and  eloquent  Hardin. 
He  was  mustered  in  as  orderly  sergeant,  Co.  I,  commanded  by 
Judge  Dicky,  whom  they  elected  as  captain.  After  their  arrival 
in  Mexico,  the  Judge,  in  consequence  of  his  ill  health,  was  com 
pelled  to  resign,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  1st  Lieut.,  B.  M. 
Prentiss,  and  Wallace  became  adjutant.  In  this  capacity  he 
bravely  encountered  the  thunders  of  Bueua  Vista  and  was  by  the 
side  of  his  gallant  colonel  when  he  was  stricken  down  in  this 
memorable  conflict.  When  the  rebellion  commenced  he  was 
among  the  first  to  respond  to  the  call  of  the  government  for 
troops,  and  exerted  himself  to  arouse  the  people  to  the  magnitude 
of  the  struggle.  In  May  he  was  chosen  colonel  of  the  llth  regi 
ment,  and  June  20th,  1861,  was  placed  in  command  of  Bird?s 
Point.  In  February  following  he  was  promoted  to  the  command 
of  a  brigade  in  McClernand's  division,  participated  in  the  capture 
of  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson  and  acquitted  himself  with  great 
bravery  in  the  heavy  charges  in  the  last  day's  battle.  From  Don 
elson  his  brigade  was  ordered  to  Pittsburg  Landing,  and  upon 
the  death  of  the  brave  C.  F.  Smith,  Wallace  was  placed  in  com 
mand  of  his  division.  In  the  appalling  fury  of  the  first  day's 
conflict,  his  division,  in  conjunction  with  Hurlbut's,  for  a  trine 
stood  between  the  army  and  destruction,  but  without  supports 


778  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

their  isolated  advance  bad  to  be  abandoned.  Recklessly  exposing 
liis  person  in  the  accomplishment  of  this  movement  he  was  shot 
through  the  head  and  fell  insensible  from  his  horse,  His  comrades 
essayed  to  carry  him  from  the  field,  but,  pressed  by  the  pursuing 
enemy,  they  sadly  laid  him.  down  on  the  field  and  abandoned  him 
to  his  fate.  On  the  following  day  the  lost  ground  was  regained 
and  Wallace  was  found  still  alive.  The  enemy,  perhaps  out  of 
respect  for  his  bravery,  had  placed  a  pillow  under  his  head  and 
covered  his  body  with  a  blanket.  His  wound  was,  however,  mor 
tal  and  he  died,  greatly  regretted  by  the  army  whose  confidence 
and  affection  he  had  won  by  his  many  noble  qualities. 

Benjamin  F.  Prentiss,  the  brother-in-arms  of  Wallace,  was  the 
first  Illinoisaii  to  secure  the  commission  of  a  brigadier  general,  the 
first  to  command  a  division,  and  the  first  to  be  captured.  He  was 
born  in  1819,  at  Belleville,  Ya.,  whence  his  father  removed  to  Mis 
souri,  and  thence  in  1841  to  Quincy,  111.  His  first  military  expe 
rience  was  in  the  Mormon  war,  being  1st  Lieut,  of  the  Quincy 
rifles,  commanded  by  Gen.  Morgan,  which  visited  Hancock  county 
during  the  prevalence  of  its  civil  feuds.  In  the  call  for  volunteers 
to  serve  in  the  Mexican  war,  he  entered  the  same  company  with 
Wallace,  and  as  we  have  already  seen  by  the  resignation  of  Capt. 
Dicky,  he  was  elected  to  fill  his  place.  In  the  battle  of  Buena 
Vista  his  company  won  merited  distinction  for  its  superior  drill 
and  soldierly  efficiency.  Returning  to  Quincy  he  engaged  in  mer 
cantile  pursuits  until  the  commencement  of  the  rebellion.  When 
intelligence  was  received  of  the  outrage  on  the  national  flag  at 
Sumter,  he  reorganized  the  Quincy  rifles,  and  within  a  week  af 
terward  was  on  his  way  to  Cairo.  Here  as  soon  as  there  was  a 
sufficiency  of  men  to  organize  a  brigade,  he  was  elected  its  gen 
eral.  At  the  close  of  the  3  months  term,  for  which  his  men  had  en 
listed,  he  was  made  brigadier  general  by  appointment  of  the 
President  and  sent  to  Southern  Missouri.  Next  he  was  or 
dered  to  report  to  Gen.  Grant  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  whither  he 
arrived  3  days  before  the  battle,  and  Avas  selected  to  take  com 
mand  of  a  division.  We  have  already  spoken  of  his  capture  in 
the  battle.  In  his  passage  through  the  Southern  towns  as  a  pris 
oner,  it  is  said  the  Southrons  crowded  to  see  the  Yankee  general, 
and  that  he  made  them  a  number  of  rousing  Union  speeches  such 
as  had  not  for  many  months  been  heard  in  their  sunny  latitude. 
He  and  his  men  were  conveyed  to  Montgomery,  Alabama,  where 
they  were  parolled,  after  which  they  returned  home  by  way  of 
Nashville, 

Major  Gen.  Stephen  A.  Hurlbut,  the  commander  of  the  4th 
division  in  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  was  born  at  Charleston,  S.  C., 
Nov.  29th,  1815.  Having  studied  law  in  his  native  city,  he  moved 
to  Belvidere  Illinois,  and  commenced  the  practice  of  his  profes 
sion.  Two  years  afterward  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  con 
stitutional  convention,  and  subsequently  served  several  terms  in 
the  legislature.  Lincoln,  aware  of  his  ability  and  patriotism,  ap 
pointed  him  one  of  the  first  civilian  commanders  of  the  war.  He 
was  first  ordered  to  North  Missouri,  where  he  rendered  efficient 
service  in  protecting  railroads  against  rebel  marauders  by  holding 
the  districts  through  which  they  ran  responsible  for  their  destruc 
tion.  After  having  taught  the  "  borderers n  that  treason  was 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  779 

expensive  as  well  as  dangerous  and  unlawful,  be  was  transferred 
to  Grant's  command,  participated  in  the  battle  of  Doiielsou,  and 
thence  moved  to  Pittsburg  Landing. 

Battles  may  be  divided  into  3  classes :  decisive  engagements, 
such  as  bring  them  on  and  those  that  How  from  them.  Prom 
inent  among  the  great  battles  of  the  first  class  was  the  contest  of 
Sliilnh  •  not  only  because  it  changed  the  complexion  of  the  war  in. 
the  West,  but  oiuiccouut  of  the  permanent  advantages  derived  from 
it.  Both  parties  claimed  it  as  a  victory,  but  it  was  some  time  after 
the  immediate  reverberations  of  the  battle  before  its  true  signifi 
cance  was  fully  appreciated.  Beauregard,  the  hero  of  Sumter  and 
Manassas,  had  been  called  west  by  a  deputation  of  citizens  to  extri 
cate  them  from  impending  danger, determined  upon  a  change  of 
policy.  Hitherto  the  Confederates  had  ridged  their  broad  valleys 
with  parallels  of  earthworks  and  scattered  their  troops  for  defensive 
operations,  but  Beauregard,  reversing  the  order,  commenced 
their  concentration  for  aggressive  movements.  He  proposed  first 
to  move  against  Buell,  but  the  prompt  demonstrations  of  Grant 
on  the  Tennessee  made  a  counteracting  force  in  that  direction  a 
more  pressing  necessity.  Accordingly  he  assembled  his  troops 
at  Corinth  where  they  were  hurled  upon  Grant  at  Shiloh  with  the 
intention  next  of  overwhelming  Buell.  and  finally  sweeping  north 
ward  through  Tennessee  and  Kentucky  to  the  Ohio.  Shiloh  was 
then  in  a  great  measure  a  contest  for  supremacy  in  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  the  terrible  fierceness  with  which  it  was 
fought,  only  corresponded  with  the  momentous  interests  involv 
ed.  From  its  terrible  shock,  the  rebel  army  recoiled,  too  much 
broken  to  afterward  act  on  the  offensive,  while  its  commander 
bitterly  regretted  the  necessity  which  compelled  him  to  abandon, 
his  long  cherished  schemes  of  Northern  conquest.  But  for  this 
success  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  check  the  rebel  army 
till  it  had  recovered  all  that  portion  of  the  great  valley  from 
which  they  had  recently  been  driven,  and  the  war  would  have 
thus  been  indefinitely  prolonged. 

Victory  not  only  forced  the  foe  to  abandon  all  further  attempts 
to  overrun  the  North,  but  caused  the  loss  of  a  large  addi 
tional  scope  of  territory.  As  the  fall  of  Donelson  compelled  the 
relinquishment  of  the  first  Confederate  line  of  defense,  so  the  re 
pulse  of  Shiloh  resulted  in  the  abandonment  of  the  second.  Thus 
the  whole  of  Middle  and  Eastern  Tennessee  became  exposed  to 
the  Union  army,  whose  columns  could  now  penetrate  to  the  very 
centre  of  the  Confederacy  5  but  even  here  the  effect  did  notecase. 
The  Confederate  authorities  becoming  alarmed  at  the  dangers 
threatening  their  defenses  on  the  upper  Mississippi,  commenced 
the  concentration  of  their  naval  forces  at  Memphis.  This  transfer 
proportionally  weakened  the  means  of  protection  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river,  and  thus  greatly  facilitated  the  capture  of  New  Orleans 
which  occurred  shortly  afterward. 

Mitchell's  Campaign. — At  the  same  time  the  3  divisions  of  BuelPs 
army  left  for  Nashville  to  co-operate  with  Grant,  10,000  men 
started  southward  under  the  command  of  Gen.  Mitchell.  The 
objective  point  of  the  expedition  was  Huntsville,  Ala.,  where,  by 
severing  the  Memphis  &  Charleston  Eailroad,  it  was  proposed  to 
cut  oft' reinforcements  and  supplies  destined  for  Corinth.  After 
arriving  in  Nashville  he  remained  there  till  the  4th  of  April,  en' 


780  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

gaged  in  organizing  his  army,  building  bridges,  and  otherwise 
preparing  for  his  campaign.  When  everything  was  in  readiness 
the  march  was  resumed  on  the  7th,  and  Fayetteville  was  reached 
and  occupied  without  opposition.  Here  much  anxiety  was  felt  in 
regard  to  the  issues  of  the  expedition,  for  should  our  army  either 
in  Tennessee  or  Virginia,  meet  with  a  reverse,  the  destruction  of 
Mitchell's  force  would  be  almost  unavoidable.  While  harrassed  by 
these  forebodings,  Col.  Turchin  of  the  19th  Illinois  came  forward 
and  asked  permission  to  move  at  once  upon  Hunts  ville  before  delay 
should  add  new  perils  to  those  which  already  threatened.  Gen. 
Mitchell  assented  and  with  the  18th  and  37th  Ind. ,  4th  O.  cavalry  and 
the  19th  and  24th  Illinois,  he  left  Fayetteville  on  the  morning  of 
April  10th,  1862.  With  the  Illinois  regiments  in  advance  the 
brigade  toiled  over  roads  rendered  extremely  difficult  by  the  pre 
cipitous  hills,  swampy  glades,  and  tangled  forests  of  the  country. 
Frequently  it  became  necessary,  in  consequence  of  its  impassable 
condition,  to  harness  two  or  three  teams  to  a  single  wagon  and  in 
some  places  to  drag  the  guns  by  hand.  The  indomitable  energy 
of  Turchiu,  however,  pervaded  his  men,  and  they  struggled  on 
over  almost  insurmountable  obstacles  without  complaint.  When 
night  came  on  they  partook  of  a  hearty  repast  and  threw  them 
selves  round  their  camp  fires  till  the  moon  went  down  and  the 
march  could  be  resumed  with  greater  security.  The  roads  now 
became  better,  and  the  progress  being  more  rapid,  in  the  grey 
light  of  morning,  the  city  became  visible  behind  a  grove  of  ce 
dars.  A  battery  was  immediately  placed  in  position  and  present 
ly  two  trains  came  dashing  up  on  the  railroad  toward  Stevenson. 
The  one  in  advance  was  chased  a  distance  of  ten  miles  by  a  squad 
of  cavalry,  but  the  engineer  crowded  on  steam  and  the  iron  horse 
proved  too  fleet  for  those  bestrode  by  the  cavalrymen.  The  one 
in  the  rear,  less  fortunate,  was  brought  to  by  a  shot  from  the  bat 
tery  and  all  its  passengers  were  made  prisoners. 

In  the  meantime  Col.  Mahilotzy,  of  the  24th  Illinois,  dis 
patched  a  force  to  tear  up  the  track  in  the  direction  of  Decatur, 
to  prevent  the  escape  of  other  trains  in  the  future.  The  order  was 
then  given  to  advance  on  the  town,  and  an  exciting  cavalry  race 
ensued  for  the  honor  of  first  entering  it.  Three  troopers  became  the 
winners,  who,  dashing  far  in  advance  of  the  others,  entered  and 
captured  170  rebels  before  they  had  time  to  rise  from  their 
couches.  The  inhabitants  of  the  city  were  still  wrapt  in  sleep, 
dreaming,  perhaps,  of  "  Southern  Independence  or  troubled  with 
Yankee  nightmares,  "  when  the  clatter  of  cavalry  in  the  streets 
first  apprised  them  of  danger.  On  being  awakened  they  rushed 
half  naked  into  the  streets  to  ascertain  the  character  and  object 
of  the  unexpected  visitors,  and  learned,  with  deep  mortification, 
that  their  beautiful  city  was  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  A  reign 
of  terror 'succeeded,  all  classes  being  seized  with  consternation, 
except  the  negroes,  who,  though  naturally  the  most  timid,  on  this 
occasion  maintained  a  wonderful  equanimity .  The  may  or,  after  re 
gaining  to  some  extent  his  composure,  determined  to  expel  the  in 
truders,  but  the  other  forces  soon  came  up  and  he  abandoned  his 
design.  As  the  result  of  capturing  the  city,  17  locomotives,  1.50 
cars  and  a  large  amount  of  war  material  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
victors.  The  rolling  stock  was  soon  put  in  motion  for  the  trans 
portation  of  troops,  and  within  three  days,  not  only  Huutsviile, 


THE  WAK  OF  THE  REBELLION.  781 

but  Stevenson,  Decatur,  Tuscumbia  and  107  miles  of  railroad  were 
in  the  possession  of  the  Unionists.  The  signal  guns  of  Turchin's 
force  which  had  occupied  Tuscumbia,  could  now  be  heard  at  Cor 
inth,  the  centre  of  the  enemy's  operations. 

The  great  dispersion  of  Mitchell's  division  for  the  purpose  of 
holding  the  captured  towns  and  such  a  great  extent  of  railroad, 
soon  rendered  his  situation  precarious.  The  enemey  began  to  gather 
in  force  and  threaten  him ;  no  reinforcements  had  reached  him, 
and  a  large  part  of  the  subsistence  which  had  been  sent  by 
Halleck  was  burnt  to  prevent  its  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  en 
emy.  Gen.  Turchin,  finding  his  position  at  Tuscumbia  becoming 
untenable,  fell  back  to  Decatur,  where,  after  crossing  the  Tenn 
essee  river,  he  burnt  the  bridge  just  in  time  to  prevent  the  enemy 
from  following  him.  This  was  the  only  crossing  between  Bridge 
port  and  Florence,  hence  its  destruction  was  a  severe  blow  on 
rebel  operations  in  that  part  of  the  country.  On  the  27th  of  April 
Turchin  evacuated  Decatur  and  continued  his  retrograde  move 
ment  to  Huntsville. 

Shortly  after  an  episode  occurred  at  Athens,  on  account  of 
which  the  19th  Illinois  was  severely,  but  unjustly,  censured.  The 
town  had  previously  been  occupied  by  an  Ohio  regiment,  to  which 
the  inhabitants  made  loud  professions  of  loyalty.  While  in  peace 
able  custody  of  the  place  the  regiment  was  unexpectedly  fired 
upon  by  a  squad  of  rebel  cavalry,  and  returned  to  Huntsville 
under  the  impression  that  the  attack  was  made  by  a  large  force 
of  the  enemy.  As  they  left  Athens,  notwithstanding  the  pre 
vious  professions  of  the  inhabitants,  guns  were  discharged  at 
them  from  dwellings ;  women  derided  them  with  the  vilest  epi 
thets,  while  a  crowd  of  rebels  followed  in  the  streets  and  threw 
upon  them  the  most  disgusting  garbage.  Turchin's  brigade  was 
next  ordered  to  take  possession  of  the  town,  but  no  enemy  was 
found.  The  inhabitants  were  again  loyal,  but  the  19th  Illinois, 
remembering  the  indignities  which  had  been  offered  their  com 
rades,  retaliated  by  the  destruction  of  property.  This  outrage,  as 
it  was  termed,  was  the  legitimate  fruit  of  the  previous  provoca 
tion,  and  would  never  have  occurred  had  not  the  people  who  so 
loudly  complained,  been  the  aggressors. 

In  the  meantime  the  rebels  were  concentrating  a  force  at  Bridge 
port,  a  small  town  near  Chattanooga,  which  gets  its  name  from 
the  bridge  over  the  Tennessee  at  that  point.  Mitchell  having 
ascertained  the  position  of  the  force,  on  the  29th  of  April  ap 
proached  their  encampment  under  cover  of  a  hill,  and  made  his 
presence  known  by  firing  a  volley  of  grape  and  cannister  into 
their  midst.  Some  immediately  fled,  while  others,  seizing  their 
guns,  endeavored  to  make  a  stand,  but  the  Federals,  with  fixed 
bayonets,  charged  upon  and  quickly  put  them  to  flight.  In  their 
retreat  they  attempted  to  blow  up  the  bridge,  but  were  too  closely 
pursued  to  succeed.  Another  portion  of  the  enemy  stationed  on 
the  railroad  after  the  firing  commenced  debouched  into  an  open 
field  and  formed  a  line  of  battle.  By  mistake,  he  moved  up  to 
ward  one  of  Mitchell's  batteries  which  had  been  planted  for  their 
reception.  When  within  easy  range  a  terrific  fire  of  caimister  was 
poured  into  their  ranks,  and  both  cavalry  and  infantry,  taken  by 
surprise,  threw  down  their  arms  and  fled  in  confusion.  Thus  ended 
the  battle  of  Bridgeport,  and  with  it  virtually  terminated  Mitch- 


782  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

ell's  campaign.  In  his  report  to  the  Secretary  of  War  he  said: 
"The  campaign  is  ended  and  I  now  occupy  Huntsville  in  perfect 
security,  while  in  all  Alabama,  north  of  the  Tennessee,  there  floats 
not  a  flag  but  that  of  the  Union.  "  As  the  sequence  of  his  opera 
tions  and  successes  in  northern  Alabama,  a  number  of  minor  expe 
ditions  were  sent  in  various  directions  after  roving  bands  of  rebel 
cavalry,  but  the  numbers  engaged  and  the  results  accomplished 
were  not  important. 

Gen.  Basil  Turchin,  whose  genius  and  energy  contributed  so 
largely  to  the  success  of  the  campaign,  was  born  in  the  valley  of 
the  Don,  Eussia,  Jan.  18, 1822.  At  the  age  of  14  he  entered  the 
military  school  of  St.  Petersburg,  and  after  his  graduation  his  re 
markable  military  talent  rapidly  gained  him  promotion.  At  the 
outbreak  of  the  Crimean  war  he  received  an  appointment  on  the 
staff  of  the  Crown  Prince,  the  present  Emperor  of  Russia,  planned 
and  superintended  the  coast  defenses  of  Finland,  among  the  most 
elaborate  and  scientific  feats  of  military  ingineering  in  Europe. 
Having  in  early  life  formed  a  partiality  for  free  institutions,  in 
1850  he  emigrated  to  the  United  States,  and  was  employed  as  an 
engineer  on  the  Illinois  Central  railroad.  When  he  saw  that  the 
liberty  for  which  he  had  abandoned  his  fatherland  was  in  danger 
of  being  blotted  out  by  the  overshadowing  power  of  slavery,  lie 
at  once  rushed  to  its  rescue.  He  was  appointed  Colonel  of  the 
19th  Illinois,  one  of  the  most  maligned  though  efficient  regiments 
in  the  service.  Immediately  after  its  organization  it  became  noted 
for  the  excellence  of  its  drill ;  nor  was  it  long  in  the  field,  as  we 
have  seen,  before  the  fighting  qualities  of  both  men  and  command 
er  made  it  the  synonym  of  success. 

Siege  of  Corinth. — While  Mitchell  was  thus  engaged  in  severing 
the  rebel  communications  between  the  east  and  the  west,  two  hosti  le 
armies  were  gathering  at  Corinth  for  another  deadly  struggle.  So 
long  as  this  strategic  point  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels, 
it  endangered  Nashville  on  the  one  hand,  and  retarded  operations 
a  gainst  Mem  phis  on  the  other.  Hither  Beauregard  had  led  his 
army  from  the  fatal  field  of  Shiloh,  and  hither  Halleck  had  come 
to  superintend  in  person  the  operations  of  the  Union  forces.  Hav 
ing  ordered  Pope  and  his  army  from  New  Madrid;  and  reorgan- 
zed  his  other  forces,  he  assumed  the  leadership  of  the  whole, 
placed  Grant  second  in  command  and  transferred  his  army  to 
Thomas.  Pope's  command  was  placed  on  the  right,  BuelPs  in  the 
centre,  and  that  of  Thomas  on  the  left,  the  entire  army  occupy 
ing  a  semi-circle  of  six  miles  and  numbering  108,000  men.  Thus 
arranged  the  army  began  to  advance  but  moved  cautiously,  it 
being  a  part  of  Halleck's  plan  to  approach  the  rebel  works  in 
front  after  the  manner  of  a  siege  while  he  cut  the  railroads  in  their 
rear  and  on  each  flank. 

On  the  30th  of  April,  18G2,  a  reconnoisance  was  made  toward 
Purdy,  on  the  Ohio  &  Mobile  railroad,  about  20  miles  north  of 
Corinth.  The  force  detailed  for  this  purpose  was  commanded  by 
Lew  Walla.ce,  consisting  of  2  batteries  of  artillery,  2  regiments  of 
infantry  and 3  of  cavalry,  2  of  the  latter  being  the  4th  and  llth 
Illinois.  At  night  the  infantry  and  artillery  encamped  midway 
between  Pittsburg  Landing  and  Purdy,  while  the  cavalry  com 
manded  by  Col.  T.  Lyle  Dickey,  pushed  on  till  they  arrived  at  the 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  783 

town.  The  prevalence  of  a  storm  and  the  intense  darkness  of  the 
night,  however,  rendered  inexpedient  any  attempt  at  the  reduc 
tion  of  the  place,  and  they  returned  to  the  encampment.  The 
next  morning1  Col.  Dickey  again  advanced  on  the  town,  and,  having 
severed  its  connection  with  Corinth  by  destroying  a  portion  of  the 
railroad,  the  principal  object  of  the  expedition  was  accomplished. 

Farmington. — A  second  reconnoisance  was  made  on  the  3d  of 
May  in  the  direction  of  Farming-ton,  a  commanding  position  four 
miles  east  of  Corinth,  in  possession  of  a  rebel  force  of  5,000  men. 
The  men  engaged  in  this  expedition  were  almost  entirely  from. 
Illinois,  consisting  of  the  10th,  16th,  22d,  26th,  27th,  42d,  47th  and 
50th  regiments  of  infantry,  Yates  sharp-shooters  and  Hough  taliug's 
battery  of  light  artillery,  the  whole  tinder  the  command  of  Paine  and 
Palmer.  The  force  moved  forward  live  miles  on  the  Farming-ton, 
road  where  they  met  the  eneni3T,  and  in  a  skirmishing  fight  drove 
him  back  some  distance  to  an  eminence  from  the  summit  of  which 
his  artillery  for  a  time  checked  their  advance.  Hough  taling's 
battery  moved  immediately  to  the  front  and  opened  such  destruc 
tive  fire  on  his  position  that  he  fell  back  to  Farmington.  Here 
he  again  made  a  stand  when  the  same  battery  was  brought  up 
and  opened  on  his  left,  and  an  Ohio  battery  on  his  right,  from  the 
combined  fire  of  which  he  retreated  with  the  federal  cavalry  in 
hot  pursuit.  Farmington  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Unionists. 
The  enemy  returned  on  the  9th  and  made  a  determined  effort  to 
Hank  and  cut  off  from  the  main  army  the  forces  which  occupied  it. 
A  fierce  battle  of  five  hours  duration  commenced,  in  which  Paine 
and  Palmer,  who  were  peremptorily  ordered  not  to  bring  on  a 
general  engagement,  slowly  retreated.  This  was  preminently  an  Il 
linois  battle,  and  an  exhibition  of  Illinois  prowess,  although  the2d 
Iowa  cavalry  greatly  distinguished  itself  in  charging  on  the  ene 
my's  batteries. 

Finally,  on  the  28th  of  May,  after  some  other  fighting  by 
detached  portions  of  both  armies,  Halleck  sent  forward  three 
heavy  reconoiteriug  columns  against  Corinth  to  feel  the  strength 
of  the  enemy's  entire  line,  and  unmask  his  batteries.  The  rebels 
hotly  contesting  the  ground  at  the  several  points  of  approach 
on  the  right  centre  and  left,  but  were  driven  back.  On  the 
29th  Pope  and  Sherman  opened  upon  the  rebel  entrenchments 
with  their  powerful  guns  and  drove  the  enemy  from  his  advanced 
battery.  But  while  the  movement  of  the  federal  army,  entrenched 
in  successive  parallels,  was  slowly  converging  on  the  hostile 
works  with  their  heavy  siege  guns,  Beanregard,  aware  that  he 
was  unable  to  cope  with  such  a  formidable  force,  was  secretly 
withdrawing  from  the  town  to  prevent  capture.  During  the 
entire  succeeding  night  from  Halleck's  advanced  position  could 
be  heard  the  rumbling  of  cars  and  the  shrieking  locomotive 
whistles,  terminating  at  daylight  with  several  loud  explosions. 
Skirmish  parties  were  immediately  thrown  out  and  a  general  ad 
vance  being  ordered,  the  troops  entered  Corinth  and  found  it  de 
serted.  All  the  heavy  ordnance  had  been  carried  away  while  com- 
misary  stores,  powder  and  other  valuable  property,  which,  for  the 
want  of  transportation  could  not  be  removed,  was  destroyed. 
The  news  of  the  evacuation  soon  spread  from  regiment  to  regi 
ment  and  from  division  to  division  till  the  air  echoed  with  jubilant 


784  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

shouts  in  every  part  of  the  widely  extended  field.  The  mayor  came 
forward  and  surrendered  the  town,  and  the  national  ensign  was 
hoisted  over  the  public  buildings  where  the  rebel  flag  had  so  long 
defiantly  floated  its  treasonable  folds.  The  rebels  fled  with  great 
'precipitation  notwithstanding  their  oft-repeated  boasts  to  immo 
late  the  Yankees  if  they  ever  ventured  beyond  the  Tennessee.  The 
pursuit  of  the  fugitive  enemy  was  immediate  and  the  same  day  a 
cavalry  force  overtook  his  rear  guard  on  Tuscumbia  creek  8  miles 
south  of  Corinth.  The  retreat  and  pursuit  was  continued  for  sev 
eral  days  with  skirmishing  at  various  points,  and  finally  ended 
in  the  occupation  of  Guntown  and  Baldwin  by  the  federals,  and 
Tupello  by  the  confederates. 

The  lengthening  list  of  regiments  which  Illinois  added  to  the  cat 
alogue  of  battles  in  the  siege  of  Corinth  attained  its  greatest  dimen 
sions.  The  following  array  of  numbers  constitute  a  roll  of  honor 
which  patriots  and  heroes  will  ever  revere :  The  7th,  10th,  llth,  12th, 
14th,  15th,  16th,  17th,  18th,  22d,  26th,  27th,  28th,  29th,  30th,  31st, 
34th,  35th,  38th,'  41st,  42d,  43d,  45th,  4Gth,  47th,  48th,  51st,  52d, 
53d,  55th,  57th,  60th,  64th,  and  66th.  Most  of  these  were  brigaded 
and  officered  as  at  Shiloh  and  Island  No.  10,  and  advanced  upon 
Corinth  in  Thomas'  corps.  Prominent  among  the  many  organiza 
tions  which  were  distinguished  in  the  fighting  about  the  besieged 
city  were  a  portion  of  the  2d,  4th,  7th  and  llth  cavalry,  and  the 
batteries  of  Waterhouse,  Houghtaling,  Bouton  and  Silverspare. 
Lieut.  Baker,  of  Yates'  sharp-shooters  was  the  first  to  enter  the 
rebel  works,  and  Col.  Stuart,  of  the  55th,  was  the  first  to  hoist  the 
federal  flag  over  the  captured  city.  Gen.  Sherman  thus  alludes 
to  Logan:  "I  feel  under  special  obligations  to  this  officer,  who, 
during  the  two  days  he  served  under  me,  held  the  entire  ground 
on  my  .right  extending  down  to  the  railroad.  All  the  time  he  had 
in  his  front  a  large  force  of  the  enemy,  but  so  dense  was  the  for 
est  he  could  not  reckon  their  strength  save  what  he  could  see  on 
the  railroad. " 


CHAPTER  LIX. 

^862-ILLINOIS  IN  KENTUCKY,  NORTHERN  MISSISSIPPI 
AND  MIDDLE  TENNESSEE. 

Battles  of  Perryville,  Bolivar,  Brittori's  Lane,  luka,  Corinth  and 

Stone  Eiver. 


Shortly  after  the  reduction  of  Corinth  important  changes  oc 
curred  in  the  Ariny  of  the  West. 

On  the  27th  of  June,  1862,  Pope  left  to  take  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  On  the  23d  of  July  Halleck,  by  order  of 
the  President,  assumed  command  of  the  armies  of  the  United 
States,  and  Grant  occupied  Northern  Alabama  and  West  Ten 
nessee. 

Buell,  on  the  10th  of  June,  started  eastward  to  counteract  the 
designs  of  Bragg,  who  was  collecting  a  large  force  for  an  offensive 
movement  northward.  One  corps  of  his  army  was  stationed  at 
Knoxville,  under  the  command  of  E.  Kirby  Smith,  and  two  at  Chat 
tanooga  under  Polk  and  Hardee.  The  troops  under  the  immediate 
command  of  Buell  numbered  25,000,  with  an  auxiliary  force  of 
13,000,  at  different  places  in  Northern  Alabama  and  Middle  Ten- 
nesse,  under  the  command  of  the  gallant  Mitchell.  Buell's  first 
object  was  to  repair  the  railroads  which  had  previously  been  de- 
stroj'ed  by  raiding  parties  of  rebel  cavalry,  and  thus  maintain 
ready  access  to  his  depot  of  supplies  at  Nashville.  The  perform 
ance  of  this  important  work  was  entrusted  to  Mitchell,  who  soon 
restored  the  road  between  Nashville  and  Murfreesboro ;  but  un 
fortunately,  Forrest,  with  3,000  cavalry,  immediately  afterwards 
made  a  descent  on  the  latter  place,  captured  the  small  garrison, 
again  destroyed  the  railroad  and  escaped  with  his  prisoners  and  a 
large  amount  of  booty  to  Chattanooga.  Next  the  startling  intel 
ligence  was  received  that  the  force  under  Smith,  had  burst  through 
a  gap  of  the  Cumberland  Mountains,  for  the  purpose  of  invading 
Kentucky.  Passing  without  opposition  through  the  State,  he  ap- 
approached  within  seven  miles  of  Cincinnati,  but  finding  the 
city  prepared  to  receive  him,  he  retired  without  attempting  its 
capture. 

When  war  exists  one  of  the  belligerents  must  be  subdued  before 
peace  can  be  restored ;  and  however  prudently  it  may  be  conduc 
ted,  the  destruction  of  life  and  property  is  unavoidable.  The 
forces  employed  if  divested  of  the  restraint  common  to  regular 
military  organizations,  frequently  forget  the  object  of  legit 
imate  warfare,  and  plunder  indiscriminately  both  friend  and  foe. 
Such  was  the  character  of  the  marauding  parties  which  the  rebels 
now  employed  as  a  means  of  obtaining  supplies  and  avenging 
50—785 


786  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

their  imaginary  wrongs.  Frequently  they  dashed  into  a  village 
or  district  and  having  seized  the  property  of  the  inhabitants,  it'  any 
dared  to  resist  they  were  either  shot  or  dragged  into  captivity. 
Lying  in  wait  for  railroad  trains,  they  were  not  content  with 
destroying  the  road  and  robbing  the  mails,  but  murdered  the 
passengers.  If  dispersed  at  one  point  they  suddenly  appeared  at 
another,  and  renewed  their  depredations,  seriously  interfering  with 
the  business  of  the  country  without  leading  to  any  decisive  mili 
tary  advantages. 

Almost  simultaneously  with  the  passage  of  the  Cumberland. 
Mountains  by  Smith,  Bragg  with  an  army  of  00,000  men,  crossed 
the  Tennessee  for  a  similar  offensive  movement.  Buell  had  ex 
tended  his  line  of  operations  along  the  Memphis  and  Charleston 
railroad  to  Huntsville,  where  he  had  established  his  headquarters. 
Owing  to  the  manifold  dangers  which  now  beset  him,  instead  of 
penetrating  farther  eastward  as  contemplated,  he  found  it  neces 
sary  to  return  for  the  purpose  of  guarding  the  movements  of 
Bragg.  The  latter  proceeding  by  way  of  Pikeville,  Sparta  and 
Carthage,  entered  Kentucky  on  the  5th  of  September.  During 
the  march,  Buell  harrassed  his  rear ;  on  the  17th  drove  his  forces 
out  of  Mumfordsville,  and  deducing  from  his  movements  that  he 
was  aiming  at  Louisville,  he  hastened  thither  in  advance. 

The  inhabitants  were  laboring  under  the  most  serious  appre 
hensions  for  the  safety  of  the  city,  and  when  his  advancing  col 
umns  awoke  them  from  their  nightly  slumbers,  the  cry  "Buell  has 
come,"  was  repeated  as  when  his  advent  was  greeted  by  the  im 
periled  army  at  Shiloh.  Anticipating  an  attack  by  the  rebel  army, 
a  large  number  of  fresh  troops  had  been  hurriedly  pushed  forward 
from  Illinois,  Indiana  and  Ohio  for  the  protection  of  the  city, 
when  slome  misunderstanding  arising  between  Gens.  Davis  and 
Nelson,  as  to  whose  command  they  belonged,  the  latter  was  shot 
and  killed  by  the  former.  After  the  adjustment  of  this  difficulty, 
BuelPs  army  was  reorganized,  he  being  first  and  Thomas  second  in 
command,  and  its  three  corps  being  commanded  by  Generals  A.  M. 
McCook,  Crittenden  and  C.  C.  Gilbert. 

Battle  of  Perryville. — Thus  officered  and  numbering  near 
100,000  men,  the  army  on  the  1st  of  October  left  Louisville  in  pur 
suit  of  Bragg,  who  being  unable  to  proceed  farther  northward, 
commenced  returning.  Buell  following  in  his  wake  by  way  of 
Bardstown,  heard  there  was  a  large  force  of  the  enemy  at  Perry 
ville.  He  determined  to  move  against  him  and  accordingly  or 
dered  his  three  corps  to  advance  without  delay  by  different  roads. 
On  the  7th  of  October,  1862,  Gilbert's  corps  moved  along  the 
Springfield  pike  to  within  5  miles  of  Perryville  when  heavy  skir 
mishing  commenced.  MitchelPs,  the  leading  division,  was  formed 
in  line  of  battle  across  the  road  and  Sheridan's  division,  contain 
ing  the  36th,  44th,  73d,  85th,  86th,  88th  and  125th  Illinois,  was 
shortly  after  brought  up  and  stationed  beyond  Doctor's  Creek 
on  Mitchell's  right.  This  movement  brought  McCook's  brig 
ade  of  Sherman's  division,  within  2J  miles  of  the  enemy's  position 
and  early  in  the  morning  of  the  8th  he  deployed  the  85th  Illinois 
on  his  right,  the  52d  Ohio  on  his  left,  while  the  125th  Illinois  was 
placed  as  a  reserve,  and  the  86th  Illinois  pushed  forward  as  pickets. 
The  rebel  pickets  now  commenced  the  contest  by  a  severe  fire  on 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  787 

the  85th,  which,  without  having  previously  beeu  under  fire,  charged 
up  the  hill  on  which  the  enemy  was  posted,  and  drove  him  from 
his  position.  Exasperated  at  their  discomfiture  the  rebels  now 
massed  their  forces  on  the  right  and  left  of  the  brigade,  and  for 
an  hour  poured  upon  the  devoted  men  a  furious  fire  of  shrapnel. 
Stubbornly,  heroically  they  breasted  the  storm  till  Barrets'  2d 
Illinois  battery  was  brought  into  position  when  the  rebels  were 
three  times  driven  from  their  guns,  which  at  length  were  perma 
nently  silenced.  The  125th  Illinois  had  in  the  meanwhile  been 
ordered  up  to  support  the  battery  and  so  efficiently  was  the  task 
performed  that  the  rebels  retired  leaving  the  federals  in  posses 
sion  of  the  field  which  they  had  so  heroically  won. 

In  the  meantime  Jackson's  and  Rousseau's  divisions,  A.  M. 
McCook's  corps,  the  former  containing  the  34th,  80th,  89th  and  123d 
Illinois  and  the  latter  the  19th,  24th  and  39th  111.,  were  brought  up 
and  formed  on  Gilbert's  left.  Bragg  fearing  the  arrival  of  Critten- 
deu,  determined  to  take  advantage  of  his  absence  by  an  immediate 
assault  with  his  entire  force.  Accordingly  about  11  o'clock  his 
batteries  opened  from  6  different  positions,  and  were  answered  by 
the  federal  artillery,  but  no  eifect  being  produced  on  either  side, 
the  firing  ceased.  The  lull,  however,  only  presaged  the  coming 
storm.  Again  the  rebel  guns  opened  with  redoubled  fury  and 
presently  the  dark  masses  of  the  enemy  were  seen  emerging  from 
the  woods.  Bragg  had  concentrated  the  flower  of  his  army  against 
the  left  center  of  the  Union  line,  while  Buckner  massing  another 
force,  moved  against  Jockson's  division  further  to  the  left.  The 
latter  gave  way  and  Eousseau  next  becoming  involved,  for  half 
an  hour  the  fighting  was  terriffic  and  the  carnage  fearful.  In  the 
heat  of  the  conflict  the  24th  Illinois  was  ordered  up  for  the  de 
fense  of  a  vulnerable  point  in  the  line,  and  although  frequently 
assailed  by  overwhelming  numbers,  they  tenaciously  maintained 
their  position.  While  the  battle  was  thus  raging  on  the  left 
Gens.  Mitchell  and  Sheridan  attacked  the  enemy  on  the  right  and 
driving  him  from  the  field,  ended  the  contest. 

During  the  afternoon  Mitchell's  division,  in  which  were  the  21st, 
25th,  35th,  38th,  42d,  58th,  59th,  74th  and  75th  Illinois,  had  been 
moved  up  to  the  support  of  Gen.  Sheridan,  who  was  hard  pressed 
by  the  enemy.  Col.  Carlin  of  the  38th  Illinois,  with  a  brigade, 
pushed  forward  on  the  right  and  upon  ascending  a  hill,  dis 
covered  a  strong  force  of  the  enemy  ready  to  hurl  themselves 
against  Sheridan's  overtasked  men.  Ordering  a  charge  his  men 
met  the  advancing  rebels  with  such  irresistable  momentum  as  to 
completely  pierce  their  centre  and  put  them  to  flight.  He  then  pur 
sued  the  fugitives  a  distance  of  two  miles,  when  finding  in  the 
ardor  of  pursuit  he  had  isolated  himself  from  the  other  forces,  he 
returned  before  the  confused  enemy  could  take  advantage  of  his 
situation.  While  in  this  advanced  position  his  own  regiment,  the 
38 th  Illinois,  captured  an  ammunition  train  of  the  enemy,  and  its 
guard,  numbering  140  men.*  As  an  evidence  of  the  heroism  with 
which  the  59th  and  75th  exposed  themselves  and  the  deadly 
ordeal  through  which  they  passed,  the  former  lost  153  out  of 
325,  and  the  latter  221  out  of  700.  In  another  part  of  the  field 
the  80th  and  123d  behaved  with  great  gallantry,  the  first  having 
11  killed,  32  wounded,  and  13  missing  and  the  2d  35  killed,  119 
wounded  and  35  missing. 

~*~Mitchell's  Report. 


788  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

Other  regiments,  though  not  specially  mentioned  in  the  reports 
of  the  battle,  fought  as  bravely,  loved  the  cause  as  devotedly  and 
are  as  much  entitled  to  our  respect  and  gratitude  as  those  who 
have  a  more  pretentious  record.  That  none  could  have  shunned 
danger  is  evident  from  the  fatal  effects  of  the  battle,  which  Mc- 
Oook  says,  for  the  number  engaged,  was  the  bloodiest  conflict  of 
modern  times.  According  to  BuelPs  report,  the  entire  federal  loss 
iii  killed,  wounded  and  missing  was  4,000;  that  of  the  enemy 
being  about  the  same.  Had  Crittenden's  corps,  which  did  not 
arrive  till  after  the  fighting  was  over,  been  present,  the  result 
might  have  been  different. 

As  Bragg  retreated  it  was  supposed  he  would  make  a  stand  on 
Dick  river,  and  Buell  accordingly  sent  Crittenden  forward  to  en 
gage  him  in  front  while  McCook  and  Gilbert  were  to  turn  his 
flank  and  compel  hinTto  fight  or  surrender.  The  sagacious  Con 
federate,  however,  suspecting  the  design  of  his  adversary,  evacu 
ated  his  position  and  resumed  his  march.  Possessing  an  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  country  and  skilfully  using  the  advantages 
which  it  afforded,  he  managed  to  elude  the  Union  troops.  The 
pursuit  was  continued  as  far  as  London,  when  its  farther  prose 
cution  was  deemed  inexpedient.  Bragg  thus  escaped  laden  with 
the  rich  spoils  gathered  in  Kentucky ;  and  Buell  falling  back  to 
Nashville,  was  superseded  by  Eosecrans. 

The  Richmond  authorities  evidently  supposed  that  the  people 
of  Kentucky  were  ready  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the  confederacy  if 
they  could  have  some  assurance  of  protection  when  the  decisive 
step  was  taken.  One  object  of  the  invasion  was,  therefore,  to  in 
spire  the  necessary  confidence,  and  much  disappointment  was  felt 
at  the  apathy  with  which  these  overtures  were  received,  and, 
therefore,  except  a  large  amount  of  supplies  Bragg  carried 
with  him  to  Tennessee,  he  derived  no  advantage  from  the  expe 
dition. 

Battle  of  Bolivar. — After  the  reduction  of  Corinth  Grant's  army 
occupied  Northern  Alabama.  His  forces  having  been  seriously 
weakened  by  detailing  a  portion  of  them  for  the  defense  of  Lou 
isville,  a  strong  rebel  force  of  cavalry,  under  the  command  of 
Armstrong,  undertook  the  capture  of  Bolivar,  for  the  purpose  of 
severing  the  railroad  at  that  point  and  thus  interrupting  the  fed 
eral  lines  of  communication..  Col.  Crocker  with  a  small  Union 
force  was  in  command  of  the  town,  and  as  soon  as  he  learned  the 
intentions  of  Armstrong,  he  dispatched,  on  the  30th  of  August, 
1802,  two  companies  of  the  llth  and  four  of  the  2d  111.  cavalry, 
Cols.  Puterbaugh  and  Hogg,  and  the  20th  and  78th  Ohio  infantry, 
to  give  him  battle.  About  noon  Col.  Leggett,  who  had  charge  of 
the  force,  met  a  large  body  of  rebels,  who  immediately  endeavored 
by  a  flank  movement  on  the  Middleburg  road,  to  get  in  his  rear. 
Here  with  the  two  companies  of  the  llth  111.  cavalry  and  some 
mounted  infantry  he  engaged  the  enemy,  and  after  an  hour's  fight 
ing,  drove  him  back.  After  the  first  struggle  was  over  a  portion 
of  the  Ohio  infantry  arrived,  and  Leggett,  leaving  a  sufficient 
force  for  the  protection  of  his  left,  massed  the  remainder  of  his 
troops  on  the  road  where  it  was  evident  the  enemy  was  making 
preparations  for  a  second  attack,  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  his 
rear.  Hardly  had  this  disposition  of  the  forces  been  made,  when 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  789 

the  enemy  charged  with  great  impetuosity  down  the  road,  but 
was  twice  repulsed  by  the  deadly  fire  of  the  infantry.  Finding 
this  part  of  the  field  impregnable,  the  foe  next  turned  on  the  left, 
where  had  previously  been  posted  the  four  companies  of  the  2d 
111.  cavalry,  under  Col.  Hogg.  Col.  Leggett  soon  discovered  that 
a  full  regiment  of  rebel  cavalry  was  preparing  to  swoop  down  upon, 
and  gobble  up  his  small  force,  and  sent  him  word  to  fall  back  if 
he  had  any  doubt  as  to  his  ability  to  resist  the  intended  charge, 
"  For  God's  sake  don't  order  me  back,"  were  the  memorable  words 
of  the  daring  cavalryman.  "  Then  meet  them,"  replied  Leggett, 
"  and  may  God  bless  your  effort."  Immediately  giving  the  com 
mand  "  Forward"  to  his  men,  and  putting  spurs  to  his  steed,  with, 
a  daring  that  heeded  not  the  dangers  to  which  he  exposed  himself, 
dashed  forward  in  advance  of  his  force.  Thus  isolated,  he  became 
a  conspicuous  mark  for  rebel  sharpshooters,  and  fell  pierced  by 
nine  bullets.  The  next  moment  the  two  lines  came  together  with, 
a  crash,  from  the  effects  of  which  both  recoiled.  In  the  meantime 
reinforcements  of  infantry  came,  and  a  battery  opening  upon  the 
hostile  force,  drove  them  from  the  field.  The  victory  was  com 
plete,  but  dearly  bought  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  heroic  Colonel. 
Chivalrous,  generous  and  daring,  in  his*  death  Illinois  lost  one  of 
her  noblest  sons,  liberty  an  admiring  votary  and  the  profession, 
of  arms  a  hero  of  more  than  ordinary  courage.  Says  Col.  Leggett 
in  his  official  report:  "The  2d  111.  cavalry  was  on  the  field  so 
short  a  time,  I  can  only  particularize  their  commander,  the  la 
mented  Col.  Hogg.  A  braver,  truer  man  never  lifted  his  sword 
in  defense  of  his  country.  He  wras  brave  to  a  fault,  and  fell 
while  leading  one  of  the  most  gallant  cavalry  charges  of  the 
war.' 

Battle  of  Brittoii's  Lane. — Armstrong  next  attacked  a  force  of 
800  men  under  command  of  Col.  Dennis,  while  on  his  way  from 
Estiuaula,  Aug.  30,  1862,  to  Jackson,  Tenu.  Having  been  ordered 
to  the  latter  place  with  his  force,  consisting  of  the  20th  and  30th 
Illinois,  two  pieces  of  artillery  and  two  companies  of  cavalry,  on. 
the  1st  of  September  his  vanguard  encountered  at  Britton's  Lane 
a  rebel  cavalry  force  of  5,000  men.  A  battle  immediately  com 
menced,  in  which  he  lost  his  trains,  yet  after  fighting  heroically 
for  four  hours  he  remained  master  of  the  field,  and  inflicted  a  loss 
on  the  enemy  of  400,  while  that  of  his  own  was  only  5.  The  great 
disparity  in  numbers  engaged  in  this  contest  and  the  results  which 
followed  fully  refutes  the  rebel  idea  that  one  Southron  was  equal 
to  five  Xortheru  men.* 

Battle  of  luka. — After  the  reduction  of  Corinth,  Grant's  line 
of  communication  with  Buell  was  threatened  by  the  rebels 
under  Price,  who,  after  their  destruction,  proposed  to  cross 
the  Tennessee  and  co-operate  with  Bragg  in  his  invasion  of 
Kentucky.  With  these  designs  in  view  he  had  already  taken  pos 
session  of  luka,  a  small  town  on  the  Memphis  and  Charleston 
railroad,  about  20  miles  southeast  of  Corinth.  To  dislodge  him 
from  this  position  Grant  directed  Gen.  Ord,  with  18,000  men,  to 
move  forward  by  way  of  Brown  ville,  and  to  make  a  direct  attack, 
while  Gen.  Ilosecrans  with  another  force  was  to  proceed  by  way 

Vltoss'  Report. 


790  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


of  Jacinto,  to  operate  on  the  flank  of  the  enemy  and  cut  off  his 
retreat  in  case  be  should  make  his  escape  southward.  At  10 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  19th  of  September,  1802,  Hamilton's 
division  of  Kosecrans'  force  encountered  the  rebel  pickets,  ami 
drove  them  back  a  distance  of  six  miles.  The  pursuit  was  then 
discontinued,  and  Ebsecrans  waited,  according  to  previous  under 
standing,  to  hear  the  sound  of  Ord's  artillery  as  a  signal  to  move 
forward.  About  noon  a  dispatch  was  received  from  Grant  revers 
ing  the  previous  order  of  battle,  and  Kosecrans  now  becoming 
the  attacking  party,  pushed  forward  till  he  discovered  the  enemy 
posted  on  a  commanding  ridge  about  two  miles  from  the  village. 
Skirmishers  were  immediately  thrown  out,  under  cover  of  which 
Hamilton's  division  moved  up  and  commenced  an  attack.  The 
engagement  soon  became  general ;  the  rebels  in  overwhelming 
numbers  fighting  with  great  determination  till  night  put  an  end 
to  the  contest.  The  llth  Missouri,  composed  of  Illinois  soldiers, 
distinguished  itself  in  the  battle  by  the  terrible  blows  which  it  in 
flicted  on  the  enemy.  At  the  time  the  brave  men  of  this  regiment 
offered  their  services  to  the  government,  the  quota  of  Illinois  was 
complete,  and  they  went  to  Missouri  where  they  sought  and  ob 
tained  admission  into  the  Service. 

During  the  night  the  troops  lay  on  their  arms  expecting  to  re 
new  the  fight  the  next  morning, but  when  the  time  arrived  they 
found  the  enemy  had  fled.  Kosecrans  immediately  sent  his  cavalry 
and  the  47th  Illinois  after  them,  but  not  being  sufficiently  strong 
to  effect  any  important  result,  after  a  pursuit  of  25  miles,  the 
force  returned.  Owing  to  some  unfortunate  mistake,  the  force 
under  Ord  did  not  arrive  at  luka  till  the  next  day,  and  the  enemy 
thus  doubtless  escaped  an  overwhelming  defeat. 

Battle  of  Corinth. — Gen.  Grant  with  a  portion  of  the  forces  re 
tired  to  Jackson,  Gen.  Ord  to  Bolivar,  and  on  the  20th  Kosecrans  fell 
back  to  Corinth,  where  he  soon  learned  that  the  enemy  was  col 
lecting  his  forces  to  again  offer  him  battle.  Price,  YanDorn  and 
Lovell  were  concentrating  their  forces,  amounting  in  the  aggregate 
to  over  40,000  men,  for  the  purpose  of  crushing  the  comparatively 
small  Union  force  before  it  could  be  reinforced.  Kosecrans,  in 
in  his  preparations  for  an.  attack,  so  arranged  his  defenses  that  if 
he  could  draw  the  rebel  forces  under  them,  they  might  be  defeated, 
notwithstanding  their  superior  numbers.  For  this  purpose  as 
they  approached,  Davis'  division,  containing  the  7th,  9th,  12th, 
50th,  52d  and  57th  Illinois,  was  thrown  out  to  meet  them,  and  after 
some  heavy  skirmishing  and  considerable  loss,  retired  in  the  desired 
direction,  followed  by  the  enemy.  The  next  day  Price  moved  his 
forces  up,  as  contemplated  by  the  strategy,  directly  toward  the 
point  covered  by  the  heavy  artillery.  When  within  range  they 
were  met  by  a  destructive  fire,  but  despite  the  frightful  rents 
which  were  opened  in  their  ranks,  they  steadily  moved  on  till  they 
reached  the  crest  of  the  hill  where  Davis'  division  was  now  posted. 
Under  the  heavy  pressure  the  division  gave  way  and  the  assailing 
force,  seeing  the  advantage  gained,  rushed  forward  with  redoubled 
speed,  Kosecran's  headquarters  being  entirely  engulfed  by  the 
inflowing  tide.  Hamilton's  division,  containing  the  56th  Illinois, 
was  next  compelled  to  retire,  and  instantly  the  rebels  made  for  Fort 
Stevenson,  the  key  of  the  position.  Here  their  first  onset  was 


THE  WAR   OF  THE  REBELLION.  791 

repulsed,  but  quickly  rallying,  they  again  came  forward  with  in 
creased  determination  and  commenced  leaping  over  the  bulwarks 
into  the  fort.  At  this  juncture  the  56th  Illinois,  which  had  been 
concealed  in  a  ravine,  rushed  forth  as  if  rising  from  the  earth, 
and,  charging  into  the  fort,  drove  the  astonished  rebels  out  as 
rapidly  as  they  had  entered.  This  onslaught  was  immediately 
seconded  by  Hamilton's  whole  division  which  swept  forward  with 
such  resistless  might  that  the  rebel  host  broke  wildly  for  the 
woods  throwing  away  their  arms  as  a  useless  encumbrance  in  their 
flight, 

While  Price  was  thus  foiled  on  the  right,  VanDorn's  men  came 
up  on  the  left  in  front  of  Stanley's  division,  and,  facing  the  heavy 
guns  of  batterries  Willaims  and  Robinette,  Col.  Eogers  leading 
the  charge  with  a  body  of  Mississippi  and  Texas  troops  with  a 
heroism  worthy  of  a  better  cause,  colors  in  hand,  leaped  to  the 
top  of  the  breastworks,  when  he  was  pierced  with  bullets  and  fell 
back  lifeless  into  the  ditch.  A  concealed  Ohio  regiment  next  rose 
up  and  pouring  into  the  ranks  of  his  followers  a  continuous  mus 
ketry  tire  at  short  range,  put  them  to  flight. 

A  supporting  brigade,  maddened  by  the  terrible  fate  of  Eogers, 
Avith  wild  shouts  dashed  upon  the  llth  Missouri,  composed  of  Il 
linois  men,  and  some  Ohio  regiments,  and  instantly,  friend  and 
foe  were  locked  in  a  hand  to  hand  death  struggle.  When  bayo 
nets,  pistols  and  sabres  failed,  the  fist  was  used  as  a  substitute, 
while  the  yells  and  imprecations  which  were  uttered,  sounded  as 
if  wrung  from  the  throats  of  demons.  Northern  brawn  proved  too 
much  for  the  impetuosity  of  the  Southrons  and  the  latter  gave  way. 
As  they  tied  the  batteries  double-shotted,  played  upon  and  decima 
ted  their  ranks  j  arms  were  thrown  away  to  expedite  their  flight, 
which  soon  become  a  rout,  and  terminated  the  battle.  The  federal 
loss  was  estimated  at  315  killed,  1,812  wounded  ;  and  that  of  the 
enemy  1,423  killed,  and  from  5,000  to  6.000  wounded.  Among  the 
wounded  Union  officers  were  Gens.  Oglesby  and  McArthur,  both 
of  whom  exhibited  undaunted  bravery  and  great  skill  in  the  man 
agement  of  their  commands.  Yates'  sharp-shooters  went  into  the 
tight  on  the  morning  of  the  4th,  and  came  out  with  a  loss  of  73 
men  killed,  showing  that  ragardless  of  consequences  they  had 
braved  the  battle's  fiercest  storm,  adding  new  laurels  to  the 
military  renown  which  the  troops  of  the  State  had  previously  ac 
quired.  The  magnificent  charge  of  the  56th  has  already  been 
mentioned.  The  7th,  50th  and  57th,  for  a  longtime  sustained  the 
pressure  of  a  greatly  superior  force  of  the  enemy,  drove  them 
back  and  recaptured  several  guns  previously  taken  by  the  enemy. 

The  rebels  left  closely  pursued  by  a  fresh  brigade  under  the  com 
mand  of  McPherson,  who  captured  a  large  number  of  prisoners 
and  valuable  materials  of  war.  To  ensure  the  safety  of  the  fugi 
tive  army  it  was  necessary  for  it  to  detail  a  force  to  occupy  the 
Hatchie  river  bridge  over  which  it  must  pass  to  prevent  its  fall 
ing  into  the  hands  of  the  federals.  This  movement  was,  however, 
too  late.  Gens.  Hurlbut  and  Orel,  aware  of  this  necessity,  had 
sent  a  force  in  advance,  and  when  the  rebels  came  up  and  made  a 
stand  on  the  north  bank  of  the  river,  they  were  immediately 
charged  by  the  Union  troops  and  driven  across  the  river,  losing  2 
batteries  and  several  hundred  prisoners.  In  this  onset  the  28th, 
32d,  41st,  and  53d  Illinois,  bore  a  conspicuous  part  and  Gen,  Lau- 


792  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

man,  who  commanded  the  brigade,  in  his  official  report  highly 
compliments  his  subordinate  Illinois  officers  for  their  great  skill 
and  bravery  in  leading  the  men  in  the  charge. 

Stone  River  or  Murfreesboro. — As  previously  stated  Eosecrans 
superceded  Buell,  and  on  the  27th  of  October  commenced  reorgan 
izing  the  army.  His  command  was  the  remnant  of  the  brave  men 
who,  under  Anderson,  Mitchell,  and  Buell  had  repelled  the  inva 
sion  of  Kentucky  and  carried  the  national  banners  almost  to  the 
centre  of  the  confederacy  through  Middle  Tennessee.  A  new  mil 
itary  district  styled  the  Department  of  the  Cumberland  was  crea 
ted  in  which  it  was  to  operate,  comprising  Middle  and  East 
Tennessee  and  such  portions  of  Northern  Alabama  and  Georgia, 
as  might  be  wrested  from  the  power  of  the  rebels.  With  his  army 
augmented  and  strengthened  by  new  recruits  he  left  Louisville, 
his  base  of  supplies,  and  proceeding  by  way  of  Bowling  Green, 
reached  Nashville  on  the  10th  of  November  and  took  a  position 
near  the  city.  From  this  time  till  Christmas  he  improved  in  dis 
ciplining  the  army  and  furnishing  it  with  clothing  and  other  in- 
dispensible  supplies. 

The  rebels*  on  the  other  hand,  were  not  idle,  and  before  the  close 
of  November  had  massed  at  Murfreesboro'  an  army  of  about 
50,000  men  under  Bragg.  The  rebel  commander,  under  the  im 
pression  that  Eosecrans  wras  going  into  winter  quarters,  sent  a 
large  cavalry  force  into  Kentucky  under  Morgan  and  another 
under  Forrest,  into  West  Tennessee,  for  the  purpose  of  destroying 
the  railroads  and  cutting  off  the  communications  of  the  advanced 
Union  forces  from  their  respective  bases  of  supplies.  Bragg's 
army  being  weakened  by  these  detachments,  Eosecrans  judged  it 
an  opportune  time  to  give  him  battle,  and  accordingly  on  Christ 
mas  eve,  18G2,  a  consultation  was  held  to  concert  measures  for  an 
aggressive  movement.  Arrangements  being  perfected  the  next 
morning,  in  torrents  of  rain  the  army  started  for  Murfreesboro', 
Thomas'  corps  moving  in  the  centre,  McCook's  on  the  right  and 
Crittenden's  on  the  left.  As  the  day  wore  away  the  tedium  of  the 
march  was  relieved  by  the  occasional  rattle  of  musketry  or  the 
explosions  of  cannon,  heralding  encounters  with  advanced 
squads  of  rebel  pickets.  Heavy  rains  prevailed  and  the  army 
was  compelled  to  feel  its  way  over  the  muddy  roads  through  a 
foggy  atmosphere  in  opposition  to  skirmishing  parties  of  the 
enemy.  Sunday  December  28th  the  army  rested,  Eosecrans  being 
averse  to  active  operations  on  the  Sabbath  unless  the  exigency  of 
his  situation  urgently  demanded  it.  In  the  afternoon  of  Monday, 
Gen.  Palmer  leading  the  advance  of  Crittenden's  corps  moved  up 
in  sight  of  Murfreesboro'  and  sent  a  dispatch  back  that  the 
enemy  was  retreating,Crittenden,  thereupon  was  ordered  to  occupy 
the  town  but  advancing  and  finding  the  rebels  still  in  possession, 
he  fell  back  having  exposed  himself  to  great  danger  in  conse 
quence  of  the  misapprehension. 

A  stormy  night  supervened  which  so  saturated  the  ground 
that  the  following  day  the  artillery  carriages  in  passing  over  the 
fields  sank  up  to  their  axels  in  mud.  Eosecrans  rose  at  an  early 
hour  and  carefully  pushed  his  columns  forward  over  the  miry 
ground  through  cedar  brakes  in  front  of  the  enemy.  By 
noon  the  army  was  in  position,  stretching  from  Stone  Eiver  across 


THE   WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  793 

the  country  in  a  southerly  direction  as  far  as  the  Franklin  pike,  a 
distance  of  3  miles,  Critteiiden  on  the  left  with  3  divisions,  Van- 
cleve,  Wood,  and  Palmer,  Thomas  iu  the  centre  with  two  divis 
ions,  ^Negley  and  Eousseau,  and  McCook  on  the  right  with  3 
divisions,  Sheridan,  Davis'  and  Johnson's.  Outstretched  between 
the  Union  army  and  Murfreesboro'  and  parallel  with  the  former 
Avas  the  rebel  line.  Breckenridge's  division  lay  across  the  river 
on  the  extreme  right,  under  Polk  in  the  centre  were  2  divis 
ions,  Wither's  and  Cheatham's,  and  under  Hardee  on  the  extreme 
left  were  2  divisions,  Cleburne  and  McCown.  The  rebel  centre 
was  masked  in  dense  cedar  forests,  while  the  river  was  in  the 
rear,  which  being  fordable,  could  in  case  of  necessity  readily  be 
crossed  and  made  available  as  a  means  of  defense.  During  the 
night  the  rebels  massed  their  forces  on  the  right  of  Eosecraus, 
who  inferring  their  intention,  met  with  his  corps  commanders  and 
planned  the  battle  of  Murfreesboro.  It  was  decided  to  hold  the 
right  stationery,  while  the  left  under  Wood  and  Yancleve  cross 
ing  Stone  river,  were  to  drive  Breckenridge  from  his  position, 
occupy  Murfreesboro  and  finally  get  in  the  rear  of  the  enemy. 
Bragg  had  also  decided  to  act  on  the  offensive,,  his  plan  being 
similar  to  that  of  his  adversary.  Both  intended  to  strike  with  the 
left  of  their  respective  lines,  and  had  accordingly  massed  their 
forces  to  suit  their  plan  of  operations. 

At  early  dawn  on  the  last  day  of  the  year,  while  Eosecrans'  left 
was  crossing  the  river,  McCown's  division  emerging  from  the  fog 
which  had  settled  on  the  battle-field  and  striking  our  right  under 
Johnson,  hurled  it  back  at  a  single  blow  and  captured  two  of  the 
batteries  before  a  gun  could  be  tired.  The  next  division  under  Davis 
in  which  were  the  35th,  59th,  73d  and  75th  Illinois,  after  a  deter 
mined  resistance,  met  with  a  similar  fate.  It  was  only  when  the 
exultant  foe  came  in  contact  with  Sheridan's,  containing  the  36th, 
44th,  51st  and  88th  Illinois  that  its  terrific  onset  was  stayed. 
Directly  in  front  of  a  battery  vomiting  forth  death,  and  exposed 
to  a  cross  fire  from  two  others,  the  hostile  columns  moved  till 
within  close  range  when  a  musketry  fire  poured  into  the  faces  of  the 
men  sent  them  staggering  back.  Eallyiug  again  and  strengthened 
by  the  victorious  divisions  which  had  crumbled  Johnson's  and 
Davis7  command  to  fragments,  they  again  bore  down  on  Sheridan 
with  the  determination  to  overwhelm  him.  Hastily  attaching  his 
right  to  the  rear  of  Negly's  division,  and  placing  his  artillery  in 
the  angle  formed  by  the  two  lines,  lanes  were  plowed  through  the 
advancing  masses.  Eepulsed  they  three  times  renewed  the 
assault  but  with  such  appaling  slaughter  that  Vaughn's  brigade 
of  Polk's  division  lost  one  third  of  its  men  and  all  the  horses  of 
its  brigade  and  staff  officers  except  one  were  killed.  Sheridan 
was  seriously  damaged,  having  all  his  brigade  commanders  killed 
and  losing  1,630  men.  With  his  ammunition  exhausted  he  also  was 
compelled  to  retire,  losing  9  guns,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  getting 
them  through  the  dense  cedar  thickets  which  covered  his  rear. 
]STegly,  exposed  by  the  movement,  was  soon  outflanked  and  com 
pelled  to  cut  his  way  out  of  overwhelming  numbti's.  A  magnifi 
cent  charge  by  the  19th  Illinois,  llth  Michigan  and  21st  Ohio, 
forced  the  enemy  back  in  confusion  and  the  environed  divisions 
passed  out,  removing  their  guns  in  safety.  The  force  of  the  rebel 


794  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

onset  next  falling1  on  the  division  of  Palmer,  his  two  right  brigades 
were  soon  pushed  back  with  the  others,  leaving  Hazen  alone  to 
cope  with  the  hostile  surging  masses. 

By  the  sudden  and  terrific  assault  of  the  enemy,  Bosecrans'  of 
fensive  movement  on  the  left  was  paralyzed,  and  he  commenced 
massing  his  artillery  on  a  knoll  in  the  plain  whither  his  shattered 
divisions  had  retreated.  He  also  commenced  forming  a  new  line, 
on  the  completion  of  which  entirely  depended  the  ability  of  Palmer 
to  maintain  his  position  till  the  broken  forces  could  be  restored 
to  order  and  placed  in  position.  He  saw  at  a  glance  the  danger 
which  threatened  the  entire  army,  and  with  a  determination  com 
mensurate  with  the  stupendous  interests  involved,  determined  to 
maintain  his  position  or  perish  in  its  defense.  The  rebels  on  the 
other  hand,  aware  that  he  was  the  only  obstacle  between  them  and 
victory,  rushed  on  him  with  tenfold  fury,  only  to  be  swept  back  by 
the  terrific  fire  which  met  them. 

Time  was  thus  gained  and  the  new  line  sufficiently  perfected  to 
receive  the  enemy,  and  presently  the  gray  costumed  confederates 
emerged  from  the  cedars,  their  long  lines  of  burnished  weapons  like 
a  forest  of  glittering  steel  flashing  in  the  sunlight,  as  they  swept  for 
ward  over  the  plain.  With  fearful  grandeur  the  pageant  moved  up 
within  range,  when  the  federal  batteries,  which  had  been  previously 
posted  on  the  eminence,  opened  upon  them  with  merciless  volleys, 
gashing  and  distorting  their  compact  ranks.  Kosecrans  observing 
the  effect  of  the  fire  on  the  enemy,  dashed  up  to  the  line  where  hos 
tile  shot  were  falling  like  a  hail-storm,  and  ordered  a  charge.  The 
men  catching  the  inspiration  of  their  leader,  sprang  to  their  feet 
and  with  a  shout  swept  them  back  to  their  cedar  coverts.  Four  times 
they  rallied  and  returned  to  the  conflict,  but  the  tempest  which  as 
sailed  them,  more  fatal  than  the  blasts  of  the  simoon,  piled  up  the 
plain  with  heaps  of  their  mangled  carcasses.  Finding  at  length  that 
neither  numbers  nor  desperate  daring  could  prevail  against  Kose 
crans'  front,  they  determined  to  make  a  final  attempt  on  his  left. 
Breckenridge's  division  of  7,000  fresh  troops  was  brought  into  the 
contest.  Advancing  in  an  imposing  manner  till  they  encountered 
the  fire  of  the  Union  artillery,  when  they  turned  and  disappeared 
from  the  field.  The  day's  fighting  was  over;  many  a  dying  sol 
dier  looked  for  the  last  time  on  the  azure  sunset,  and  soon  the 
ghastly  field  was  enshrouded  in  the  pall  of  night. 

A  council  of  war  was  held  during  the  night  to  consider  tjie  pro 
priety  of  continuing  the  contest.  There  was  a  scarcity  of  ammu 
nition,  seven  generals  and  20  colonels  had  been  killed,  and  7,000 
men  or  about  one-seventh  of  the  entire  army  were  either  killed, 
wounded  or  missing.  It  was  found,  however,  that  there  was  am 
munition  sufficient  for  another  day's  battle,  and  after  making 
slight  changes  in  the  disposition  of  his  forces,  liosecrans  waited 
till  morning  for  a  renewal  of  the  conflict.  Morning  came,  but  the 
enemy  had  been  too  severely  punished  to  make  another  aggressive 
movement,  and  New  Year's  day  was  mostly  spent  by  both  armies 
in  recruiting  their  exhausted  energies  for  another  death  struggle 
on  the  morrow.  At  3  o  clock  Jan.  2d,  a  double  line  of  skirmishers 
was  seen  advancing  from  Breckenridge's  position  across  the  river, 
with  heavy  columns  of  infantry  a  short  distance  in  the  rear.  Soon 
the  moving  mass  burst  like  a  swollen  torrent  on  YanCleve's  divis 
ion,  and  partially  forced  it  back  into  the  stream.  Prior  to  the 


THE   WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  795 

assault,  Rosecrans  was  making  preparations  to  execute  the  orig 
inal  plan  of  swinging  bis  left  round  against  Breckinridge,  and 
securing  the  higlit  on  which  his  division  was  posted.  For  this 
purpose  he  had  mounted  58  guns  on  an  eminence  enfilading  the 
attacking  force,  and  so  destructive  was  the  cannonade,  that  in  less 
than  half  an  hour  Bragg  lost  2,000  men.  « 

Bleeding  and  torn,  the  enemy  turned  and  fled  as  if  from  the 
crater  of  an  exploding  volcano,  closely  pressed  by  the  Union 
troops.  A  violent  storm  prevented  the  renewal  of  hostilities  on  the 
3d,  and  the  succeeding  night  Bragg  retired  to  Tullahoma,  leaving 
his  antagonists  in  the  possession  of  the  field.  The  Union  army  was 
again  victorious,  but  another  such  a  victory  would  have  ruined 
it.  It  had  lost  one-third  of  its  artillery  and  one-fourth  of  its  men, 
neariy  2,000  of  them  being  killed.  The  loss  of  the  Confederates 
was  equally  severe,  being  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing  14,700. 
Just  prior  to  the  battle  they  had  celebrated  the  festivities  of 
Christmas  by  dancing  in  halls  carpeted  with  American  flags 5  now 
defeated  and  humiliated,  they  were  compelled  to  depart,  leaving 
the  national  emblem  which  they  had  insulted  proudly  floating  over 
the  city  of  their  giddy  revels. 

The  battle  of  Stone  River,  Avith  its  fearful  perils,  persistent 
fighting  and  deeds  of  desperate  daring,  furnished  a  rare  opportuni 
ties  for  the  troops  of  Illinois  to  further  distinguish  themselves. 
Nor  was  it  misiinproved,  as  the  proud  record  of  their  skill  and 
bravery  in  the  midst  of  the  most  appalling  dangers  abundantly 
prove.  Many  of  the  Illinois  regiments  were,  however,  placed  in 
situations  where  overpowering  rebel  assaults  in  greatly  superior 
numbers  rendered  success  frequently  impossible.  Yet  there  is  as 
sociated  with  the  stern  resistance  which  was  offered  a  moral  sub 
limity  that  almost  surpasses  the  glory  of  victory  itself,  especially 
when  we  remember  the  patriotism  which  prompted  and  the  adverse 
circumstances  attending  it. 

No  regiment  in  the  battle  evinced  more  intrepid  courage  or  reu 
dered  greater  service  than  the  old  regiment  of  Gen.  Kirk,  the  34th 
Illinois.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  first  day's  conflict,  when 
the  rebels,  in  overwhelming  numbers  assaulted  the  right  of  the 
Union  line,  Kirk's  brigade  became  exposed  and  the  34th  Illinois, 
stationed  in  front,  soon  became  engaged.  Although  exposed  to  a 
terrific  fire,  they  stood  as  if  rooted  to  the  earth,  and  by  their  well 
directed  volleys  kept  the  rebel  host  at  bay  till  reinforcements 
could  come  to  their  support.  A  flank  movement  of  the  enemy  at 
length  rendered  Kirk's  position  untenable,  and  brought  the  34th 
into  a  hand  to  hand  contest.  In  the  bloody  strife  which  ensued  five 
color  bearers  heroically  laid  down  their  lives  to  prevent  the  stand 
ards  of  their  regiments  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
But  neither  courage  nor  skilful  generalship  could  cope  with  supe 
rior  numbers,  and  the  old  flag  wras  at  last  seized  by  traitors,  and 
Kirk  compelled  to  fall  back.  In  directing  his  troops  he  had  two 
horses  shot  under  him,  when,  alter  receiving  a  severe  wound  and 
faint  from  loss  of  blood  he  was  carried  to  the  rear.  Col.  Dodge 
took  command,  and  with  a  portion  of  the  men  fell  back  to  the 
Nashville  Pike.  The  remainder  joined  the  29th.  30th  and  34th 
Indiana,  supported  by  the  79th  Illinois,  and  hurriedly  prepared  to 
again  meet  the  advancing  rebels.  The  latter  coming  up  and  hurl 
ing  themselves  with  great  violence  on  the  Union  flank,  the  79th 


796  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


receiving- the  principal  shock,  was  compelled  to  fa.ll  Lack,  followed 
by  the  rest  of  the  force.  Another  stand  was  immediately  made, 
and  again  the  79th  was  exposed  to  a  destructive  artillery  tire,  and 
withdrew  to  the  Nashville  Pike,  where  Rosecrans  was  forming  a 
new  line.  Among  the  fallen  heroes,  with  which  the  track  was 
strewA  was  the  mortal  remains  of  its  Colonel,  the  brave  Sheridan 
P.  Head.  While  gallantly  leading  his  men  regardless  of  menacing 
dangers,  he  was  shot  and  instantly  expired. 

When  on  the  morning  of  the  first  day's  battle  Gen.  Kirk's  brig 
ade  was  broken  to  pieces  by  the  fierce  onset  of  the  enemy,  the 
fragments  fell  back  through  the  89th  Illinois,  which  brought  that 
regiment  into  action.  The  men  lay  down  on  their  faces  till  all  the 
fugitives  had  passed  from  their  front,  when  they  arose  and  deliv 
ered  a  well  directed  fire  into  the  ranks  of  the  foe  only  50  yards 
distant.  Before  this  volley  the  colors  of  the  rebel  advance  were 
lowered,  but  the  other  regiments  were  falling  back  and  the  89th 
was  ordered  to  follow. 

From  this  time  till  night-fall,  at  every  available  point  they  in 
flicted  heavy  blows  on  the  enemy,  and  suffered  terribly  from  the 
incessant  fire  of  rebel  musketry  and  artillery.  As  an  evidence  of 
the  fiery  ordeal  to  which  they  were  exposed,  they  came  out  of  the 
conflict  with  a  loss  of  149.  Though  warring  against  fate  itself 
and  success  impossible,  the  regiment  seriously  damaged  the  enemy 
and  won  a  proud  name  by  its  heroic  and  determined  resistance. 

But  to  no  regiment  from  the  prairie  State  nor  to  any  engaged 
in  the  battle  does  the  country  owe  a  greater  debt  of  gratitude  for 
what  it  accomplished,  than  the  19th  Illinois.  Reference  has  al 
ready  been  made  to  its  magnificant  charge  on  the  morning  of  the 
first  day's  battle.  A  more  daring  feat  was,  however,  executed  in 
the  afternoon  of  the  second  day.  Vancleve's  division  having  been 
thrown  across  the  river  to  operate  against  Breckenridge,  the  lat 
ter  at  the  head  of  his  own  and  two  other  divisions  hurled  them  with 
irresistible  force  against  his  antagonist.  Two  of  theUnion  brigades 
were  instantly  shivered  by  the  concussion,  and  the  other  pushed 
back  into  the  river,  when  Negley,  riding  to  the  front  and  compre 
hending  the  situation  shouted,  "  Who  will  save  the  left  ?"  "  The 
19th  Illinois,"  was  the  immediate  response  of  Scott,  the  com 
mander  of  the  regiment.  Then  giving  the  command,  "forward," 
his  men  sprang  to  their  feet  and  pouring  a  destructive  fire  into  the 
face  of  the  foe,  leaped  forward  with  fixed  bayonets.  Plunging 
into  the  river  they  scaled  the  opposite  banks  despite  the  volleys 
and  bristling  bayonets  of  a  whole  rebel  division  posted  on  the 
stream  to  dispute  their  advance.  On  gaining  the  summit  of  the 
shore,  the  rebels,  astounded  at  the  audacity  of  the  charge,  turned 
and  fled  for  the  protection  of  their  batteries.  The  19th  Illinois, 
llth  Michigan  and  78th  Pennsylvania  in  close  pursuit.  In  vain 
the  Confederates  endeavored  to  rally  at  every  available  point,  or 
sought  to  secure  themselves  by  intervening  timber,  but  deter 
mined  men  were  after  them,  and  not  even  an  army  of  devils  could 
have  interposed  an  obstacle  to  their  progress.  With  accelerated 
velocity  charging  up  to  the  muzzles  of  the  enemy's  guns,  and  leap 
ing  the  parapets,  the  battery  was  captured.  The  victory  was  com 
plete,  but  more  than  a  third  of  the  men  had  fallen  or  disappeared 
along  the  highway  of  death  which  they  so  gallantly  trod. 


THE  AVAR  OF   THE  REBELLION.  797 

Another  'charge  splendid  in  execution  and  important  in  results, 
was  made  by  the  88th  and  36th  Illinois.  A  heavy  rebel  column 
was  advancing  across  an  open  field,  on  the  border  of  which  these 
regiments  were  drawn  up  to  receive  them.  The  88th  lay  down 
till  the  enemy  approached  within  40  yards,  when  they  arose  and 
after  firing  two  rounds,  both  regiments  bounded  forward  and 
swept  their  adversary  from  the  field. 

Gen.  Woodruff,  who  was  on  the  right  of  the  Union  line,  highly 
complimented  the  officers  and  men  of  the  25th  and  35th  Illinois. 
Three  of  their  companies  under  Major  Mcllvaiii  as  skirmishers  in 
front  of  the  brigade,  behaved  with  great  gallantry,  and  both  regi 
ments  during  the  entire  battle  inflicted  heavy  blows  on  the  enemy. 
He  says  :  "I  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  the  commanding  offi 
cer  to  the  gallant  conduct  of  Lt.  Col.  Chandler,  commanding  the 
35th  Illinois,  whose  cool,  steady  courage,  admirable  deportment 
and  skillful  management,  evinced  the  soldier  true  and  tried; 
and  who,  at  all  times,  proved  himself  worthy  of  the  trust  he  holds. 
Major  Mcllvain,  of  the  same  regiment,  who  had  the  supervision  of 
skirmishers,  I  cannot  praise  too  much.  His  good  judgment  and 
skillful  handling  elicited  encomiums  of  well  merited  compliments 
at  all  times.  He  was  cool,  determined  and  persevering,  Capt. 
W.  Taggart,  who  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the  25th  Illinois, 
behaved  as  a  soldier  should,  efficient  and  ever  ready  to  execute 
orders." 

"While  we  remember  the  noble  dead  let  us  pay  a  tribute  of  re 
spect  to  the  gallant  Col.  L.  L>.  Williams,  of  the  25th  Illinois,  who 
died  in  the  performance  of  his  duty.  He  fell  with  his  regimental 
colors  in  his  hands,  exclaiming:  "We  will  plant  it  here,  boys,  and 
rally  the  old  25th  around  it,  and  here  will  we  die!77  The  25th 
lost  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing  142  men,  the  35th,  81  men. 

The  74th  Illinois,  Col.  Marsh,  while  on  its  way  to  Murfreesboro, 
inflicted  serious  damage  on  a,  greatly  superior  force  of  the  enemy, 
and  in  the  subesequent  battle  it  established  a  reputation  for 
bravery  and  other  soldierly  qualities.  The  100th  and  110th  in  con 
junction  with  the  41st  Ohio,  kept  back  the  heavy  masses  of  the 
enemy  in  his  efforts  to  overwhelm  the  brigade  of  Gen.Hazen.  The 
amunition  of  the  110th  becoming  exhausted,  the  men  clubbed  their 
muskets  and  fought  with  the  coolness  of  veterans,  although  they 
had  never  before  been  under  fire.  The  21st,  22d  and  84th,  in  com 
mon  with  other  Illinois  regiments,  passed  through  the  battle's 
carnage  and  came  out  reduced  in  numbers  but  with  increased 
reputation.  Where  the  shafts  of  the  enemy  fell  thickest,  or  valor 
most  needed,  they  were  found  with  strong  arms  to  battle  for  the 
nation's  life. 

The  moral  prestige  attending  the  battle  of  Murfreesboro  was 
greater  than  the  resulting  material  benefit.  The  rebel  authorities 
during  the  early  part  of  the  summer  had  pushed  forward  their 
aggressive  movement  with  comparative  immunity  beyond  the 
bounds  of  the  Confederacy.  Expectation  raised  by  the  brilliant 
spring  campaign  in  the  West  had  become  disappointed  at  the  results 
of  the  army  in  the  East.  The  public  mind  was  brooding  over  the 
repulse  and  frightful  slaughter  of  Fredericksburg.  When  there 
fore  the  tidings  of  Murfreesboro  were  read  in  the  cities  and  hamlets 
of  the  North,  the  people  became  more  hopeful,  and  with  increased 
determination,  resolved  that  the  nation's  honor  and  integrity 


798  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

should  be  maintained.  If  the  Union  army  had  received  a  blow  it 
was  evident  it  had  dealt  a  counter-stroke  which  sent  its  reeling' 
and  disabled  en  em  y  from  the  Held  and  its  sacrifice  was  not  in 
vain.  Moreover  the  skillful  generalship  and  determined  fighting 
which  had  triumphed  when  the  first  onset  of  the  battle  had  placed 
success  almost  in  the  grasp  of  the  foe  gave  additional  lustre  to  the 
victory.  But  while  its  moral  effect  gave  confidence  to  the  fed 
erals  it  correspondingly  depressed  the  confederates.  In  the  shock 
of  Stone  Eiver  the  spirit  of  Bragg's  army  was  broken  and  subse 
quent  efforts  were  feeble,  compared  with  the  dash  and  vigor  of  its 
first  campaign.  As  a  remote  sequence  Eosecrans  next  planted 
his  standards  within  the  rocky  bulwarks  of  Chattanoooga  from 
which  the  enemy  was  unable  afterward  to  dislodge  him.  The 
Union  army  thus  entrenched  in  the  heart  of  the  confederacy  won 
new  triumphs  under  Grant,  and  subsequently  Sherman  sent  its 
veteran  columns  to  Atlanta  and  thence  to  the  sea. 


CHAPTER  LX 
ILLINOIS  IN  THE  YICKSBUEG  CAMPAIGNS. 

1862-1863 — Movements  on  the  Mississippi — Battle  of  Coffeeville, 
Holly  Springs,  Parker's  Cross  Roads,  Chickasaio  Bayou  and 
Arkansas  Post. 


Topographically  considered  North  America  must  ever  be  the 
home  of  one  people.  The  destiny  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  the 
repository  of  the  vast  resources  which  past  ages  have  accumulated 
for  the  benefit  of  man,  will  be  the  destiny  of  the  continent.  The 
immense  river  system  by  which  it  is  drained,  having  its  source  in 
the  regions  of  the  remote  north,  and  its  outlet  in  the  distant  south 
will,  through  the  agency  of  commercial  intercourse,  neutralize  the 
diversity  of  race,  caused  by  climatic  differences  and  thus  prevent 
the  rise  of  separate  nationalities.  Further  more  the  wide  area 
thus  bound  by  commercial  ties,  is  not  only  inseparable  but  will  so 
dominate  in  population  and  power  over  the  continental  borders  which 
surround  it  as  to  extend  over  them  the  same  institutions  and  a 
common  government.  Should  an  attempt  be  made  to  close  the 
gateways  to  the  Pacific  through  the  Rocky  Mountains,  there  are 
not  elements  of  power  in  the  region  beyond  to  cope  with  the  force 
that  would  be  arrayed  against  it.  The  St.  Lawrence,  the  principal 
outlet  to  the  Atlantic,  although  now  subject  to  foreign  jurisdic 
tion,  must  ultimately  become  wholly  subservient  to  the  great  val 
ley.  Nor  is  access  to  the  sea  through  the  Mississippi  any  more 
likely  to  be  permanently  disturbed  by  a  rival  power  on  the  south 
than  are  its  resistless  floods  to  be  held  by  artificial  barriers.  The 
great  heart  of  the  continent  with  its  exhaustless  resources  must 
through  the  vast  river  systems  with  which  its  surface  is  furrowed, 
send  life  sustaining  supplies  to  its  most  distant  extremities. 

At  least  so  thought  the  hardy  race  of  freemen  who  dwell  on  the 
Mississippi  and  its  hundred  tributaries,  when  the  rebels  attempted 
to  obstruct  its  navigation,  and  in  their  might  resolved  that  its 
commerce,  in  common  with  its  waters,  should  flow  undisturbed  to 
the  sea.  Measures  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  object  were 
first  projected  by  Fremont,  and  commenced  by  the  formation  of  the 
fleet  and  army  under  Foote  and  Grant  at  Cairo.  Subsequently  it 
gave  character  to  the  military  operations  of  the  West  and  ended 
with  some  of  the  most  brilliant  victories  of  the  war. 

In  erecting  defences  for  the  Mississippi  the  confederate  authori 
ties  had  to  make  them  sufficiently  formidable  to  withstand  the 
attacks  of  the  Union  fleet  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  operations  of 
the  land  forces  on  the  other.  In  the  first  particular  they  were  far 
more  successful  than  in  the  second,  as  the  fate  of  nearly  all  their 
fortified  forts  was  determined  by  contests  between  armies  on  the 
field.  Columbus,  the  first  position  taken  by  the  rebels,  although 

799 


800  HIST  OK  Y   OF  ILLINOIS. 

in  vincible  in  a  naval  assault,  when  uncovered  by  the  capture  of 
Donelson,  its  guns  and  garrison  were  transferred  to  Island  No. 
10.  Foote  with  the  navy,  followed  to  the  same  place,  but  after  a 
bombardment  of  three  weeks,  he  was  unable  to  prevail  against  it. 
Pope's  victory  on  the  Kentucky  shore,  in  the  meantime,  however, 
rendered  it  untenable  and  its  munitions  were  sent  to  Fort  Pillow, 
situated  on  Chicasaw  bluff,  75  miles  above  Memphis.  This  strong 
hold  withstood  a  bombardment  of  six  weeks  without  sustaining 
serious  injury,  but  at  length  becoming  entangled  in  the  evil  for 
tunes  attending  the  Confederate  army  at  Corinth,  it  was  like  the 
other  places  unavoidably  abandoned. 

Commodore  Foote,  suffering  severely  in  the  meantime  from 
a  wound  received  at  Doiielson,  was  relieved  of  his  com 
mand  and  Capt.  Davis  appointed  in  his  place.  The  latter 
immediately  started  in  pursuit  of  the  rebels  who  next  fled  to 
Memphis,  and  on  the  5th  of  June  anchored  his  squadron 
above  the  city  and  prepared  for  an  engagement  the  next  day. 
Five  boats  and  two  rams  constituted  his  naval  force,  while  the 
rebels  had  7  boats,  which  in  addition  to  their  armament  of  guns 
were  so  constructed  as  to  act  as  rams.  The  following  morning,  as 
the  lofty  spires  of  the  city  were  glittering  in  the  rising  sun,  the 
federal  fleet  slowly  drifted  down  the  river  till  that  of  the  enemy 
was  discovered  near  the  western  shore.  Davis  then  ordered  his 
boats  to  steam  up  the  stream  to  give  the  men  an  opportunity  to 
breakfast  before  going  into  the  fight.  The  rebels  regarding  this 
as  a  retreat  and  elated  with  the  hope  of  an  easy  victory,  imme 
diately  started  in  pursuit,  firing  round  after  round  as  they  ad 
vanced.  '  The  contest  now  commenced  with  terrible  earnestness, 
and  in  an  hour  and  twenty  minutes  the  entire  rebel  fleet,  except 
one  boat,  was  either  captured  or  destroyed.  Van  Dorn,  the  rebel 
leader,  who  sat  upon  his  horse  a  spectator  of  the  fight,  exclaimed: 
"  It  is  all  over  with  us,"  and  galloped  away.  The  federal  tars, 
none  of  whom  had  been  killed,  were  now  ready  for  breakfast.  On 
the  4th  of  June,  1802,  the  fleet  proceeded  southward  to  the  mouth 
of  White  river,  which  it  ascended  for  the  purpose  of  removing 
rebel  obstructions  and  opening  communications  with  northwest 
ern  Arkansas. 

The  first  movement  for  opening  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi 
was  the  occupation  of  Sliip  Island  in  December,  1861.  The  fol 
lowing  winter  Gen.  Butler  took  charge  of  the  land  forces,  number 
ing  8,000  men,  and  prepared  to  co-operate  with  the  fleet  under 
Commodore  Farragut.  The  latter  arrived  at  the  Island  on  the 
20th  of  February,  1862,  and  by  great  labor  got  his  heavy  ships 
over  the  bars  into  the  river  and  commenced  ascending  its  turbid 
currents.  At  3  o'clock  on  the  24th  of  April  he  came  within  range 
of  Forts  Jackson  and  St.  Philip  and  the  rebel  navy,  when  500 
cannon  opened  with  deafening  roar  their  ponderous  missiles, 
weaving  a  fiery  net  work  on  the  face  of  the  sky,  and  falling  with 
a  thunderous  crash  into  the  midst  of  the  opposing  forts  and  fleets. 
Breasting  the  furious  battle  storm  the  federal  squadron  con  tin  ued  on 
its  way  toward  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  whither  it  arrived  on  the 
25th  to  the  great  astonishment  of  its  rebellious  inhabitants.  Gen. 
Butler  took  immediate  possession  and  a  portion  of  the  fleet  was 
sent  up  the  river  under  Commodore  Lee.  It  was  not  known 
what  obstructions  the  enemy  had  interposed  in  the  long 


THE   WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  801 


stretch  of  miles  tli rough  the  confederacy,  and  the  expedition 
moved  slowly  and  cautiously.  Taking  possession  of  Baton  Rouge, 
Natchez  and  other  places,  on  the  loth  of  May  arrived  at  Yicks- 
bnrg  and  the  city  at  once  became  famous  in  the  annals  of  the 
rebellion. 

Only  three  days  before  the  arrival  of  Lee,  Beauregard  had  com 
menced  the  erection  of  batteries  on  the  high  bluff's  overlooking 
the  river.  Had  he  come  three  da3~s  sooner  the  vast  expenditure 
of  treasure  and  blood  which  the  subsequent  reduction  of  the 
place  cost  the  country,  might  have  been  saved.  The  work  of  for 
tifying  was  prosecuted  with  such  energy  that  when  Lee  demanded 
the  surrender  the  rebels  were  ready  to  defend  it  and  refused  to 
comply.  Concluding  that  his  force  was  insufficient  for  the  reduction 
of  the  works  he  wated  till  the  28th,  when  having  received  addi 
tional  boats  from  New  Orleans,  he  commenced  the  bombardment. 
Still  the  force  proved  inadequate  for  the  enemy  meanwhile  had 
proportionally  increased  the  strength  of  the  fortifications.  The 
seige,  nevertheless,  was  continued  till  Farragut  with  the  entire 
fleet  of  gun  and  mortar  boats,  about  the  middle  of  June,  anchored 
in  the  river  below  the  city.  Four  regiments  of  infantry  under 
Gen.  Williams,  also  came  up  up  and  commenced  cutting  a  canal 
across  the  narrow  peninsula  west  of  the  city  that  the  boats  in 
passing  might  avoid  the  batteries  located  on  the  channel  of  the 
river.  The  fleet  of  Commodore  Davis  next  came  down  the  river, 
and  it  was  determined  with  the  combined  force  to  again  attempt 
the  reduction.  Accordingly  the  bombardment  was  renewed  at 
close  range  and  broadside  after  broadside  was  fired  into  the  bat 
teries  without  apparent  effect.  Although  the  gunboats  were 
unable  to  silence  them,  several  succeeded  in  running  by  them  and 
joining  the  fleet  above. 

July  the  15th  the  monotony  of  naval  warfare  was  broken  by  the 
appearance  of  the  powerful  iron  plated  rani  Arkansas,  which 
steamed  down  the  Yazoo,  and  after  disabling  two  of  the  federal 
gunboats,  sought  safety  under  the  fortifications.  It  was  now 
feared  the  ram  might  destroy  the  morter  fleet  below,  and  the  boats 
which  had  passed  up  the  river  were  ordered  to  return,  and  finally 
on  the  27th,  the  entire  squadron  withdrew  from  the  city.  Farra 
gut  fell  down  the  river  to  New  Orleans,  while  Davis  in  connection 
with  Curtis,  made  a  successful  expedition  up  the  Yazoo.  The 
canal  also  proved  a  failure,  and  Williams  retired  with  his  force  to 
Baton  Rouge  and  the  70  days  of  the  Vicksburg  seige  were  at  an  end. 
During  its  continuance  some  25,000  shot  and  shell  were  thrown 
into  the  town  by  the  fleet  when  it  became  evident  that  like  the 
other  strongholds  on  the  river  above,  it  would  require  the  co-oper 
ation  of  the  land  forces  to  effect  its  reduction.  Let  us  now  see 
how  this  was  to  be  effected. 

We  have  seen  that  after  the  second  battle  of  Corinth,  Ken 
tucky  and  Middle  Tennessee  became  the  principal  theatres  of 
western  military  movements,  and  a  large  portion  of  Grant's  force 
was  sent  to  augment  the  army  of  Buell  and  that  of  his  successor. 
Kosecrans,  and  hence  he  found  it  impossible  to  co-operate  with  the 
naval  operations  for  the  opening  of  the  Mississippi.  When,  how 
ever,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1862,  he  could  command  the 
requisite  number  of  men,  a  movement  against  Yicksbnrg.  the 
great  stronghold  of  the  river,  again  became  the  principal  military 
51 


802  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

enterprise  of  the  west.  The  line  held  at  this  time  by  the  Union  army 
was  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  railroad,  the  right  wing  resting 
on  Memphis  and  the  left  on  Corinth.  In  front  and  occupy  ing  the 
line  of  the  Yazoo  and  Tallahatchie  its  principal  tributary,  were  the 
forces  of  VanDorn  and  Price,  which,  during  the  month  of  Novem 
ber,  were  concentrated  under  Gen.  Pemberton.  To  eliminate  this 
force  the  real  defense  of  Yicksburg  from  the  numberless  bayous 
and  swamps  peculiar  to  the  country  occupied,  was  now  the  prob 
lem  which  Grant  had  to  solve. 

He  accordingly  ordered  Sherman,  commanding  the  right  wing 
of  the  army  at  Memphis,  to  fall  down  the  river  and  operate  against 
the  rebel  linenearVicksburg,  a  cavalry  force  from  the  trans-Missis 
sippi  army  to  cross  the  river  and  menace  the  railroad  connections 
in  Pemberton's  rear,  while  he  proposed  to  press  him  in  front.  The 
cavalry  force  under  Gens.  Hovey  and  Washburne,  as  arranged, 
crossed  the  river  at  Helena  and  destroying  the  railroad,  Pem 
berton  was  forced  to  fall  back  to  Grenada  100  miles  further 
south.  Grant  immediately  followed  and  on  the  3d  of  December, 
established  his  headquarters  at  Oxford,  making  Holly  Springs 
through  which  he  passed,  his  principal  depot  of  supplies.  As  the 
result  of  these  movements  3  engagements  occurred  with  the  ene 
my,  in  rapid  succession. 

Battle  of  Coffeeville. — After  the  occupation  of  Oxford  Colonels 
Dickey  and  Lee,  with  the  4th  and  7th  Illinois,  and  three  other 
regiments  of  cavalry,  on  the  6th  day  of  December,  1862,  advanced 
from  Watervalley  for  the  purpose  of  capturing  Coffeeville,  sit 
uated  11  miles  north  of  Grenada.  A  short  distance  from  the  town 
they  encountered  the  enemy,  and  after  vainly  endeavoring  to  dis 
lodge  him  from  his  position,  Col.  Lee  pushed  forward  a  10-pounder 
and  opened  upon  them.  A  full  rebel  battery  immediately  replied 
and  soon  after  a  large  force  of  infantry  rose  up  from  the  ground 
where  they  had  been  concealed  and  poured  volley  after  volley  into 
the  ranks  of  the  federal  skirmishers,  compelling  them  to  retire 
with  severe  loss.  The  Union  officers,  seeingtheir  inability  to  cope 
with  such  a  large  force  prepared  to  fall  back,  leaving  part  of  the 
4th  Illinois  to  cover  their  retreat.  This  small  protecting  force, 
however,  was  immediately  driven  by  five  regiments  of  rebel  in 
fantry  who  soon  overtook  the  principal  force  and  a  retreating  fight 
commenced.  For  a  distance  of  three  miles  the  contest  was  stub 
bornly  maintained,  the  retiring  force  halting  at  different  points, 
sufficiently  long  to  pour  a  volley  into  the  ranks  of  their  pursuers 
and  then  resume  their  inarch.  Night  at  length  terminated  the 
work  of  death  and  the  federals  retired  without  further  molestation 
to  their  camping  ground.  The  loss  of  the  4th  Illinois  in  killed, 
wounded  and  missing  was  17 ;  that  of  the  7th,  34,  and  that  of 
the  entire  force  99.  Among  the  killed  was  the  veteran  McCulloch, 
Lieut.  Col.  commanding  the  4th,  who  fell  at  the  head  of  his  regi 
ment. 

Battle  of  Holly  Spring**. — Among  a  number  of  other  important 
cavalry  expeditions  thrown  out  in  different  directions,  that  of  Col. 
Dickey  was  sent  to  destroy  a  portion  of  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  rail 
road.  He  left  camp  with  the  7th  and  a  portion  of  the  4th  Illinois 
cavalry  and  subsequently  joined  by  some  troopers  from  Iowa,  on 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  803 

the  16th  and  17th  they  destroyed  the  railroad  from  Okalona  to 
Saltillo,  a  distance  of  34  miles.  The  force  was  now  ready  to  re 
turn  but  hearing;  that  there  was  a  large  body  of  rebel  cavalry  at 
Pontotoc,  Dickey  determined  to  move  in  that  direction  and  take 
observations.  In  the  reconnoisance  some  22  regiments  were  dis 
covered  which  subsequently  proved  to  be  the  cavalry  of  Van  Dorn 
who  was  on  his  way  to  capture  Holly  Springs.  The  next  day  the 
force  hastened  to  return,  and  without  further  detention  arrived  at 
Oxford  and  reported  the  movement  of  the  rebel  cavalry  to  Gen. 
Grant.  The  latter  immediately  divined  VanDorn's  object  and 
telegraphed  Col.  Murphy,  the  commandant  of  Holly  Springs  that 
he  would  be  attacked  the  next  day,  and  that  reinforcements  would 
be  sent  to  him. 

As  intimated,  on  the  20th  of  December  the  rebel  cavalry  dashed 
into  town  and  the  infantry  guarding  the  government  stores,  only 
100  in  number,  were  soon  overwhelmed  and  forced  to  submit.  The 
remaining  infantry  dispersed  in  different  parts  of  the  town  on 
picket  duty,  unable  to  act  in  concert,  were  captured  in  small  de 
tachments.  The  cavalry,  6  companies  of  the2d  Illinois,  were  com 
pelled  to  cut  their  way  through  thousands  to  avoid  a  similar 
fate.  The  rebels  had  come  prepared  with  canteens  tilled 
with  turpentine  and  immediately  used  it  in  firing  the  rail 
road  trains,  one  of  which  was  laden  with  cotton.  Soon  all  the 
railroad  buildings,  some  30  dwellings,  1,800  bales  of  cotton,  and 
the  great  arsenal  which  the  rebels  themselves  had  built,  and  in 
wliich  Grant  had  deposited  immense  quantities  of  army  supplies, 
were  wrapped  in  flames.  By  degrees  the  conflagration  spread  to  the 
square  where  large  quantities  of  powder  had  been  stored,  and  sud 
denly  an  explosion  occurred  which  shook  the  earth  and  tore  all  the 
adjoining  buildings  to  fragments.  Whiskey  was  found  among  the 
spoils  and  the  rebel  soldiery  previously  intoxicated  by  victory 
and  now  maddened  by  the  effects  of  spirits,  shouted  and  yelled 
in  unison  with  the  raging  elements.  It  was  known  to  Van  Dorn 
that  a  number  of  cotton  buyers  were  in  town  and  squads  of  cav 
alry  were  detailed  to  go  round  and  conduct  them  to  his  head 
quarters.  Each  was  closely  questioned  as  to  his  business,  then 
searched,  and  his  money  handed  over  to  a  receiver.  In  this  man 
ner  more  than  $100.000  were  taken  from  private  individuals.* 

As  Murphy's  force  of  1,800  men  was  sufficiently  large  to  defend 
the  place  till  the  arrival  of  aid,  he  was  severely  and  justly  censured 
for  his  culpability.  In  pleasant  contrast  with  his  cowardice  was  the 
conduct  of  the  Illinois  cavalry,  wliich  was  thus  complimented  by  the 
correspondent  of  the  Missouri  Democrat:  ik  Six  companies  of  the 
2d  Illinois  cavalry  were  completely  surrounded  in  the  town  by  at 
least  as  many  thousands,  and  were  called  on  to  surrender, 
to  which  demand  they  made  reply  by  dashing  on  the 
enemy's  forces  and  nobly  cutting  their  way  out.  Not  a  more  gal 
lant  deed  has  been  done  during  the  war.  Six  hundred  against 
8.000,  and  still  they  hewed  their  way  through  them  and  escaped." 

*  Some  of  the  speculators  managed  to  save  their  funds  by  placing1  them  in  the  cus 
tody  of  the  ladies  with  whom  they  were  hoarding-  One  gentleman  who  had  arrived  in 
town  only  the  day  before,  entrusted  some  §40.000  to  his  landlady  who,  although  a  strong 
secessionist,  faithfully  returned  it.  It  is  said  a  number  of  ladies  wore  belts  during1 
the  rebel  occupation  of  the  town,  containing- northern  funds  amounting  in  some  in 
stances  to  $oO,000,  anfj  in  no  instance  was  the  trust  reposed  in  them  betrayed. 


804  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS, 

Battle  of  Parlterjs  Cross  Roads. — Grant's  communications  were 
also  threatened  by  the  operations  of  Forrest.  On  the  18th  of 
December,  Gen.  Sullivan  in  command  of  Jackson,  learning  that 
Forrest  in  charge  of  a  baud  of  rebel  cavalry,  had  crossed  the  Ten 
nessee  to  capture  the  town,  commenced  preparations  to  prevent 
the  consummation  of  his  design.  Having  been  reinforced  by  two 
brigades  under  Gens.  Fuller  and  Brayman,  the  next  day  he  sent 
out  the  43d  Illinois  to  oppose  the  advance  of  the  enemy.  The 
regiment  having  concealed  itself,  awaited  the  appearance  of 
Forest,  when  it  tired  a  destructive  volley  into  the  midst  of  his 
men.  Not  being  sufficiently  strong  to  check  the  rebels  it  slowly 
retired  till  Gen.  Brayman's  brigade  was  thrown  out  and  drove  them 
back.  Having  heard  on  the  21st  that  detachments  of  Forrest's 
men  had  destroyed  a  portion  of  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  Railroad, 
and  captured  Humboldt,  Trenton  and  a  number  of  other  sta 
tions,  Gen.  Haynie  was  ordered  to  repair  the  damages.  With  the 
106th,  the  110th  Illinois,  1  company  of  the  18th  and  90  men  of  the 
llth  Illinois  cavalry,  and  a  brigade  of  Iowa  troops,  he  proceeded 
on  the  railroad  to  the  first  break  and  commenced  repairing  it. 
Having  put  the  road  in  running  order  he  moved  to  Humboldt, 
where  he  was  reinforced  by  the  126th  and  the  122d  Illinois  and 
the  7th  Tennessee.  Thence  moving  to  Trenton  he  learned  the 
situation  of  Forest  and  communicated  the  information  by  tele 
graph  to  Gen.  Sullivan,  who  immediately  joined  him  with  all  his 
available  force.  Forrest  was  advancing  toward  the  Teunesse  which 
he  desired  to  cross  and  Gen.  Sullivan  at  once  seized  the  bridges 
on  the  most  available  routes,  and  the  enemy,  as  the  only  alterna 
tive,  moved  southwest  and  got  on  the  Lexington  road.  The  fed 
eral  commander  soon  became  apprised  of  this  movement  and  sent 
Col.  Dunham  of  the  oth  Indiana,  with  a  brigade,  to  intercept  him. 
On  the  morning  of  the  31st  of  December,  1862,  the  force  reached 
Parker's  Cross  Eoads,  a  short  distance  south  of  Clarksburg,  and 
Col.  Dunham  was  surprised  to  find  himself  confronted  by  several 
thousand  rebels,  commanded  by  the  redoubtable  Forrest,  and  the 
road  through  which  he  must  pass  nearly  encircled  by  rebel  cav 
alry.  Escape  being  impossible,  Col.  Dunham  formed  his  men  in 
solid  column  and  soon  they  were  enveloped  in  a  storm  of  shot  and 
shell. 

Although  outnumbered  two  to  one  they  returned  the  fire  with 
such  well  directed  aim  and  invincible  determination,  that  the  en 
emy  was  kept  back  till  their  amunition  became  exhausted  when, 
by  a  sudden  flank  movement,  they  were  completely  surrounded, 
Bayonets  were  now  substituted  for  powder  and  bullets,  and  still 
they  persisted  infighting.  Forrest,  believing  their  position  hope 
less  and  not  knowing  whether  it  was  possible  lor  a  Yankee  gen- 
geral  ever  to  consider  himself  whipped,  ordered  a  cessation  of 
hostilities  and  sent  a  flag  of  truce  to  demand  a  surrender.  Dun 
ham  replied,  "Give  my  compliments  to  the  general  and  tell  him  I 
never  surrender.  If  lie  thinks  he  can  take  me  let  him  try."  Some 
of  this  pluck  and  independence  was  doubtless  based  on  an  expec 
tation  of  reinforcements.  ]Sor  was  this  anticipation  unfounded. 
"While  the  rebel  general  was  considering  what  course  to  pursue, 
Gens.  Sullivan  and  Haynie  came  up  with  their  forces  and  pre 
pared  for  action.  Stricken  with  amazement  at  their  sudden  ap 
pearance  the  rebels  fled,  despite  the  almost  frantic  exertions  of 


THE   WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  805 

their  officers  to  hold  them  in  position.  The  loss  of  the  enemy  in 
killed,  wounded  and  prisoners,  as  reported  by  Forest  himself, 
to  a  captured  federal  officer,  was  fully  a  thousand.  The  national 
loss  was  one  hundred,  mostly  sustained  by  the  122d  Illinois.  This 
gallant  regiment  and  a  portion  of  the  18th  Illinois,  constituted 
part  of  Ool.  Dunham's  brigade  and  were  thus  complimented  in 
his  report :  wThe  122d  111.  deserves  especial  notice.  It  is  compara 
tively  a  new  regiment  and  part  of  it  was  at  one  time  more  exposed 
to  the  enemy's  fire  than  any  other ;  at  any  rate  it  suffered  more  in 
killed  and  wounded.  Its  gallant  colonel  fell  severely  wounded, 
yet  its  courage  never  flagged  and  it  met  every  duty  and  danger 
with  unwavering  resolution.  The  detachment  of  the  18th  Illi 
nois  acted  for  the  most  part  with  it  and  deserves  the  same  com 
mendation." 

The  frequent  raids  on  Grant's  communications  and  the  destruc 
tion  of  his  stores  at  length  compelled  him  to  fall  back  to  Holly 
Springs  and  abandon  his  original  plan  of  forming  a  junction  with 
Sherman  on  the  Yazoo. 

Battle  of  Chicasaw  Bayou. — The  latter  in  the  meantime  had  em 
barked  his  division  in  transports  at  Memphis,  steamed  down  the 
Mississippi,  formed  a  junction  with  the  fleet  of  gun-boats  under 
Admiral  Porter,  ascended  the  Yazoo  and  at  Chicasaw  bayou  made 
tin  assault  on  the  enemy.  This  bayou  is  the  northern  portion  of 
an  old  channel  of  the  Yazoo  extending  from  the  present  river  to 
the  Mississippi  near  Vicksburg  and  with  the  exception  of  one  or 
two  places  was  still  filled  with  water.  Immediately  east  are  the 
Walnut  Hills,  a  high  range  of  land  trending  northeasterly  from 
Vicksburg  to  Haines'  bluff  where  they  impinge  against  the  Yazoo. 
From  the  Mississippi,  a  distance  of  15  miles,  the  sides  and  sum 
mits  of  the  highlands  frowned  with  rebel  rifle  pits  and  batteries, 
while,  at  their  base,  ran  the  Vicksburg  and  Yazoo  City  road 
along  which  the  enemy  could  push  his  artilley  and  infantry  if  any 
attempt  should  be  made  to  cross  the  bayou. 

It  was  this  exterior  line  of  the  Vicksburg  defenses  that  Sher 
man  intended  to  pierce  when,  on  the  26th  of  December  1862,  he 
debarked  his  army  of  some  40,000  men.  The  bayou  could  only  be 
crossed  at  3  points,  where  the  torrents  from  the  hills  had  washed 
sufficient  quantity  of  material  to  form  a  natural  causeway  for  the 
passage  of  troops.  On.  the  morning  of  the  27th  Steele's  division 
on  the  right,  passing  around  the  north  end  of  the  bayou,  endeavor 
ed  to  move  along  the  west  side  to  silence  a  battery  commanding 
one  of  the  passages,  Morgan's  division,  containing  the  118th  Il 
linois,  proceeded  around  the  south  end,  while  Morgan  L.  Smith's, 
and  A.  J.  Smith's,  the  former  containing  the  55th  and  113th  Illi 
nois,  and  the  latter  the  77th  and  108th,  further  southward  ad 
vanced  toward  the  lagoons  connecting  the  bayou  and  the  Missis 
sippi.  Before,  however,  the  engagement  properly  commenced, 
Steele  found  it  impossible  to  reach  the  hostile  battery,  and  was 
ordered  to  return  and  reinforce  Morgan  L.  Smith,  the  united  force 
moved  rapidly  forward  and  soon  commenced  skirmishing  with 
the  enemy  who,  during  the  entire  day,  stubbornly  resisted  but 
were  slowly  driven  back.  Blair's  brigade  of  Steele's,  and  Decour- 
cey's.  of  Morgan's  division,  while  feeling  the  enemy,  unmasked  a 
battery  which  immediately  opened  on  them.  The  battery  was 


806  HISTOKY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

soon  silenced  and  the  13th  and  IGth  Illinois  made  a  gallant  charge 
on  the  rebels,  and  when  nightfall  ended  the  contest  they  were 
driven  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  their  original  line. 

During  the  night  the  enemy  received  reinforcements,  and  at 
dawn  on  the  28th,  heavy  cannonading  was  commenced  on  Blair's 
brigade  and  Morgan's  division.  The  latter  also  brought  forward 
artillery,  and  after  a  sharp  exchange  of  shot  and  shrapnel,  prepa 
rations  were  made  for  a  charge.  Blair's  brigade  and  Gen.  Wyinan 
with  the  13th  and  IGth  Illinois,  were  drawn  up  for  the  assault. 
The  order  was  given  to  advance  and  Gen.  Wyman  placing  him 
self  at  the  head  of  the  13th,  arrived  within  80  yards  of  the  rebel 
batteries  and  succeeded  in  unmanning  2  of  the  guns.  Here  rais 
ing  his  sword  in  the  air,  as  he  wTas  about  giving  the  command  to 
charge,  he  was  pierced  through  the  body  by  a  minnie  rifle  ball. 
Col.  Gorgas  immediately  ran  to  his  assistance,  when  he  raised 
himself  up  and  seeing  his  regiment  in  confusion,  exclaimed,  ."For 
God's  sake  Colonel,  leave  me  and  attend  to  these  men."  As 
directed  Col.  Gorgas  at  once  rallied  the  men,  took  the  battery  and 
in  conjunction  Avith  Gen.  Blair  drove  the  enemy  from  the  Held. 
Wy man's  wound  proved  to  be  mortal  and  he  died  in  the  arms  of 
an  attendant  on  the  battle  ground  immortalized  by  his  valor.  He 
had  entered  the  service  as  Colonel  of  the  13th  Illinois,  and  for 
his  bravery  on  the  field,  was  commissioned  brigadier-general  by 
the  president  and  was  highly  esteemed  for  his  many  virtiies  by 
all  who  knew  him. 

On  the  29th  it  was  proposed  to  make  a  concerted  attack  with  a 
view  of  crossing  the  bayou  and  carrying  the  heights  beyond. 
Morgan's  division  reinforced  by  the  brigades  of  Blair  and  Thayer 
moved  forward  as  a  storming  column  under  a  furious  cannonade. 
Blair's  nien  succeeded  in  crossing  the  bayou  and  capturing  two 
lines  of  rifle  pits,  and  while  he  returned  to  get  reinforcements, 
fought  with  desperate  energy  to  reach  the  summit  of  the  hills. 
The  rebel  riflemen  AY  horn  they  had  driven  back,  retired  into  a 
growth  of  willows  higher  up  the  hill.  Into  this  covert  the  the  13th 
Illinois  fearlessly  charged,  and  in  a  hand  to  hand  contestquiukly 
dislodged  them.  Thayer's  brigade  also  gained  the  rifle  pits,  but 
being  unable  to  get  supports,  both  brigades  were  compelled  to 
retire.  An  assault  by  M.  L.  Smith's  division  was  likewise  unsuc- 
sessful.  One  regiment,  the  Cth  Missouri,  crossed  the  bayou  but 
the  opposite  bank  was  too  abrupt  to  be  ascended  and  the  suceed- 
iiig  night  it  was  ordered  back.  A.  J.  Smith's  division  bridged  the 
bayou  within  two  miles  of  Vicksburg,  but  the  enemy  was  so  strong 
in  his  front  an  assault  was  not  deemed  advisable.  The  day  thus 
ended  with  defeat,  although  the  national  troops  fought  and  ex 
posed  themselves  with  almost  reckless  daring.  The  13th  Illinois 
especially  exhibited  a  bravery  which  neither  overwhelming  num 
bers  nor  the  terrific  fire  to  which  they  were  exposed  during  most 
of  the  battle  could  effect.  The  loss  of  the  federal  troops  was, 
killed,  191 ;  wounded,  982  ;  missing,  756. 

The  position  of  the  enemy  naturally  strong,  was  rendered  almost 
impregnable  by  every  appliance  of  military  art.  Signals  were 
established  on  the  highest  peaks  and  batteries  planted  on  every 
available  bluff  and  their  guns  wherever  an  assault  was  attempted, 
could  be  turned  with  destructive  effect,  Sherman,  therefore  con 
cluding  it  impossible  to  force  the  confederate  line  of  defences 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  807 

determined  to  throw  a  large  force  in  transports  up  the  Yazoo  to 
pass  round  them.  It  was  proposed  to  effect  a  lauding- at  Haines' 
Bluff  during  the  night,  and  Steele's  division  was  embarked  for  this 
purpose,  but  a  heavy  fog  settled  on  the  river  and  the  enterprise 
was  abandoned. 

The  entire  army  now  got  aboard  transports  and  sailed  down  the 
Yazoo  to  the  Mississippi  where  Gen.  Me'Clernaud  awaited  in  the 
steamer  Tigress  to  assume  command.  The  conception  and  organ 
ization  of  the  expedition  was  in  a  great  measure  the  result  of  his 
sagacity  and  labors  and  he  was  now  regarded  as  a  suitable  person 
to  conduct  its  future  operations.  As  early  as  the  28th  of  Septem 
ber,  while  on  a  visit  to  Washington  he  submitted  an  elaborate 
plan  for  the  opening  of  the  Mississippi.  It  not  only  contempla 
ted  the  reduction  of  Yicksburg  by  moving  a  column  of  some 
00,000  men  by  way  of  the  Mississippi  and  Yazoo,  but  proposed  to 
follow  up  the  advantages  of  victory  by  siezing  important  cities, 
railroad  centers  and  other  points  of  military  value,  east  of  the 
river.  Its  author,  as  the  subsequent  events  of  the  war  in  the 
Southwest  abundantly  y>rove,  had  grasped  the  full  significance  of 
the  enterprise  and  the  best  method  of  conducting  it  to  a  success 
ful  completion.  He  sums  up  its  importance  in  a  military  view  as 
follows: 

1st.  Because  it  would  afford  the  means  of  cheap  and  easy  communica 
tion  between  our  troops  dispersed  at  different  points  on  the  Mississippi 
river  and  its  navigable  tributaries,  and  because  it  would  facilitate  their 
concentration  at  any  one  or  more  of  those  points. 

2d.  Because  it  would  cheapen  the  cost  of  supplying  our  men  and  ani 
mals  at  or  near  New  Orleans,  with  provision  and  forage.  It  would  do 
that  by  substituting  the  overflowing  granaries  of  the  Northwest  for  the 
remoter  sources  of  such  supplies  in  the  East. 

3d.  Because  in  securing  to  us  the  command  of  the  Mississippi,  it  would 
enable  us  to  stop  the  communication  between  the  revolted  States  and 
their  armies  east  and  west  of  Red  river,  thus  isolating  each  section  as  to 
the  other,  destroying  the  unity  of  their  plans  and  combinations  and  cut 
ting  off  the  rebel  forces  east  of  that  river  from  their  wonted  source  of 
supplies  in  Texas. 

The  president  and  secretary  of  war  having  approved  his  plans 
as  early  as  October,  he  received  the  following  dispatch  from  the 
latter,  urging  him  to  hasten  forward  the  expedition.  Mr.  Lincoln 
in  the  order  which  conferred  upon  him  the  authority  for  this  pur 
pose,  thus  speaks  of  this  enterprise:  "I  feel  a  deep  interest  in 
the  success  of  the  expedition  and  desire  it  to  be  pushed  forward 
with  all  possible  despatch,  consistent  with  other  parts  of  the  mili 
tary  service.7' 

In  accordance  with  these  instructions,  Gen.  McClernand  for 
warded  from  Illinois,  Indiana  and  Ohio,  some  40,000  men  for  this 
purpose,  and  on  the  18th  of  December  the  following  despatch 
was  sent  from  the  AYar  Department  to  Gen.  Grant  at  Oxford, 
Miss.  "The  troops  of  your  department  including  those  from 
Gen.  Curtis'  command,  which  join  the  down  river  expedition  will 
l>e  divided  into  4  corps.  It  is  the  wish  of  the  president  that  Gen. 
McClernand's  corps  shall  constitute  a  part  of  the  river  expedi 
tion  and  that  he  shall  have  the  immediate  command  under  your 
direction."  Gen.  McClernand  left  Springfield  on  the  25th  of  De 
cember  for  Memphis  where  he  received  communications  from 
Grant  in  relation  to  his  new  command.  Thence  descending  the 
Mississippi  to  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo,  he  assumed  command  as 
previously  stated. 


808  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 


He  now  styled  his  forces  the  Army  of  the  Mississippi,  and  desiring 
to  devote  liis  undivided  attention  to  the  general  interests  of  the 
expedition,  retained  Gen.  Sherman  in  command  of  the  15th  army 
corps,  and  assigned  the  13th  to  Gen.  Morgan.  The  former  con 
sisted  of  two  divisions  commanded  by  Steele  and  Stuart,  the  tirst 
containing  the  13th  Illinois  infantry,  the  3d  and  a  company  of  the 
loth  Illinois  cavalry;  and  the  2d  the  113th  and  116th  Illinois  in 
fantry,  Willard's  and  Taylor's  batteries  and  two  companies  of 
Thielman's  battalion  of  Illinois  cavalry.  The  latter  corps  also 
consisted  of  two  divisions,  the  1st  commanded  by  A.  J.  Smith, 
containing  the  77th,  97th,  108th,  131st  Illinois  infantry,  and  the 
Chicago  Mercantile  battery  ;  the  2d  commanded  by  P.  J.  Oster 
haus,  of  the  118th  Illinois. 

Capture  of  Arkansas  Post — The  same  day  he  assumed  command 
he  started  with  the  army  for  Arkansas  Post,  or  Fort  Ilindman, 
situated  on  a  bend  of  the  Arkansas  river  about  iifty  miles  from 
its  niouth.  It  was  a  strong  bastioned  fortification  surrounded  by 
a  deep  moat  and  furnished  with  ten  guns.  Two  of  them  were 
Columbians  surrounded  by  immense  casements,  one  on  the  river 
side  and  the  other  in  the  northeastern  bastion.  On*  the  bank  of 
the  river  below  was  a  line  of  rifle  pits  and  a  number  of  embra 
sures  made  in  the  levee  for  the  use  of  cannon.  This  rebel  strong 
hold  formed  the  key  to  Little  Kock,  117  miles  above  and  was 
the  source  whence  a  number  of  rebel  detachments  had  proceed 
ed  for  the  purpose  destroying  the  supplies  destined  for  the  forces 
operating  on  the  Mississippi.  Only  a  few  days  before  the  Blue 
Wing  a  government  transport  ladeu  with  valuable  stores  had 
been  destroyed  by  a  predatory  party  of  this  kind  and  Gen.  MeCler- 
nand  HQW  proposed  to  end  these  annoyances  by  the  capture  of 
the  fort. 

The  expedition  ascended  the  Mississippi  to  the  mouth  of  White 
Kiver  and  after  a  short  pause  entered  its  narrow  channel  which 
wound  serpent  like  through  dense  forests  centuries  old  and  grey 
bearded  with  Spanish  moss,  whose  dim  aisles  strangely  rever 
berated  with  the  whistles  of  the  struggling  engines  and  sent 
back  in  weird  echoes  the  voices  of  men  on  board  the  fleet.  Af 
ter  threading  this  mere  ribbon  of  waters  the  boats  turned  into 
the  Arkansas  where  the  channels  of  the  two  rivers  unite  and  con 
tinued  to  ascend  the  latter  stream.  On  arriving  within  three 
miles  of  the  fort  they  drew  near  a  great  plantation  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  stream  for  debarkation.  Xight  came  on  be 
fore  this  could  be  effected  and  a  strong  picket  force  was  thrown 
out  between  the  fleet  and  the  rebels  Avho  could  be  heard  busily 
engaged  in  felling  trees  in  the  woods  beyond  to  strengthen  their 
defense. 

At  early  dawn  the  work  of  landing  commenced,  each  boat  ap 
proaching  the  shore  and  pouring  forth  its  crowds  of  soldiers.  Iveg- 
iments,  brigades  and  divisions  soon  collected  and  commenced 
stretching  out  in  line  to  the  right  for  the  purpose  of  investing  the 
works.  After  toiling  for  several  hours  in  this  direction,  impassa 
ble  bayous  and  swamps  were  encountered  and  the  right  and  cen 
tre  of  the  line  were  compelled  to  return.  When  night  came  on 
they  entered  a  more  practicable  route  near  the  enemy's  works 
and  by  5  o'clock  the  next  morning  reached  the  opposite  side  of 


THE   WAR  OF   THE  REBELLION.  809 

the  bend  and  were  able  to  command  the  river  above  and  be 
low  the  fort.  When  the  investing1  line  was  thus  made  complete, 
Steele's  divison  occupied  the  right,  and  those  of  Stuart,  Smith, 
and  Osterhaus  extended  toward  the  left  in  in  the  order  mentioned. 

Admiral  Porter  with  three  iron  clads  and  a  fleet  of  light  draft 
gunboats  had  accompanied  the  expedition  to  co-operate  with  the 
land  forces.  While  the  latter  was  making  the  necessary  detour  to 
surround  the  fort,  Porter  pushed  forward  the  fleet  to  ascertain 
the  range  and  strength  of  the  enemy's  guns.  Opening  within  400 
yards  of  the  works  he  soon  demonstrated  the  superiority  of  his 
tire  by  partially  silencing  the  hostile  batteries.  During  the  en 
gagement  the  Ratler,  one  of  the  light  draft  boats,  ran  by  the  fort 
and  commenced  an  enfilading  fire,  but  becoming  entangled  among 
snags  was  compelled  to  return.  The  attack  was  made  late  in  the 
afternoon  of  Saturday,  and  night  soon  coming  on  ended  the  con 
test.  Sunday  morning,  the  llth  of  January  1803,  the  enemy, 
finding  himself  greatly  outnumbered,  had  retired  to  his  inner 
defenses,  where,  owing  to  their  great  strength  he  hoped  to  make 
a  successful  resistance.  All  the  federal  batteries  having  been 
placed  in  position  at  1  o'clock,  a  simiultaneous  assault  commenced 
by  both  navy  and  army.  The  fire  was  terrific,  the  rebel  batteries 
sweeping  the  plain  in  front  of  the  Avorks  withcannister  while  they 
hurled  at  the  gunboats  their  own  shot  recently  taken  from  the 
Blue  Wing.  Twice  charges  were  made  by  different  commands, 
but  so  destructive  was  the  fire  they  were  compelled  to  return 
without  reaching  the  coveted  goal.  Meanwhile  a  tremendous  con 
centrated  fire  from  the  surrounding  federal  batteries  on  laud  and 
water  was  rapidly  silencing  those  of  the  fort.  Their  huge  shells, 
after  continual  pounding  at  the  great  casemates  at  length  affected 
an  entrance,  and,  exploding  within,  tore  the  rebel  artillerists  into 
fragments.  As  the  afternoon  wore  away  the  fire  was  increased 
till  the  bomb-proofs  were  battered  to  pieces  and  all  the  heavy 
guns  were  either  broken  or  dismounted.  The  infantry  had,  in  the 
meantime,  fought  its  way  foward  and  just  as  it  was  about  to 
charge  into  the  fort  a  white  flag  was  run  up  and  the  battle  ceased. 
At  4£  o'clock  the  national  troops  took  possession  of  the  works. 
Seven  stand  of  colors,  17  cannon,  5,000  prisoners,  besides  large 
numbers  of  other  munitions  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  conquerors. 
The  loss  of  the  latter  was  129  killed,  831  wounded,  and  17  missing. 

This  signal  triumph  coming  after  the  reverses  of  Grant  and 
Sherman,  greatly  encouraged  the  army  and  thus  prepared  for  the 
arduous  labors  yet  to  be  performed  in  the  reduction  of  Vicksburg, 
the  primary  object  of  the  campaign.  The  government  became 
more  hopeful,  and  its  chief  magistrate  returned  thanks  to  Gen. 
McClernand  and  his  brave  army  for  the  important  services  which 
they  had  rendered  the  country.  One  fourth  of  the  troops  who 
fought  in  the  battle  and  shared  in  the  glory  of  victory  were  from 
Illinois.  The  commanding  general,  John  Alexander  McClernand, 
was  born  in  Kentucky  of  Scotch  parents,  who  while  he  was  young, 
removed  to  Shawneetown,  Illinois.  Here  he  studied  law  and  soon 
rose  to  distinction  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  His  first  mil 
itary  experience  was  acquired  in  the*  Black  Hawk  war,  during  which 
in  the  performance  of  a  number  of  gallant  actions,  he  evinced 
superior  address  and  daring.  In  1836  he  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  legislature,  in  which  he  was  made  commissioner  and  treas- 


810  HISTORY  OF   ILLINOIS. 


nrer  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal.  In  1838  he  was  ten 
dered  the  office  of  lieutenant-governor,  which  he  declined,  not 
having  attained  the  constitutional  age  of  30  years.  He  served  two 
additional  terms  in  the  legislature,  and  while  still  a  member  in 
1843,  was  elected  a  representative  to  the  28th  congress.  During 
the  session,  as  one  of  the  committee  on  public  lands,  he  brought 
forward  a  bill  donating  land  to  aid  in  the  completion  of  the  Illi 
nois  and  Michigan  Canal.  He  was  four  times  re-elected  to  con 
gress.  During  the  summer  of  1850  he  prepared  and  introduced 
the  first  draft  of  the  famous  compromise  measures  and  the  same 
year  drafted  a  bill,  granting  land  to  aid  in  the  construction  of 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad.  While  still  a  member  of  congress, 
in  18G1,  at  the  instance  of  Gov.  Yates,  he  took  command  of  a 
volunteer  force  at  Cairo  and  assisted  in  suppressing  the  contra 
band  trade  then  carried  on  by  means  of  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio 
rivers.  We  have  already  spoken  of  his  operations  at  Donaldson 
and  Shiloh.  As  a  soldier  he  was  vigilant,  sagacious  and  brave. 
As  a  memorial  of  Illinois  valor,  one  of  the  broken  guns  of  the 
fort  was  sent  to  Gov.  Yates,  and  is  still  preserved  as  a  State 
relic.* 

1*  The  following-  correspondence  occurred  in  connection  with  its  presentation  : 
"His  Excellency  Richard  Yates,  Governor  of  Illinois: 

"I  have  the  honor  tosend  you  a  broken  Parrott  piece,  captured  by  the  force  under  my 
command  at  Arkansas  Post.  The  piece  was  broken  by  a  shot  from  one  of  the  guns  of 
my  batteries.  Please  accept  it  on  behalf  of  the  noble  State  you  so  worthily  represent, 
as  an  humble  testimonial  of  the  esteem  and  admiration  of  the  brave  men  whose  valor 
wrested  it  as  a  trophy  from  the  enemy.  J.  A.  McCLERNAND, 

"Major-General  Commanding." 

"Maj.  Gen.  J.  A.  McClemand,  Vichstnirg,  Miss. 

"DEAR  SIK  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the  broken  Parrot  gun 
captured  by  the  army  under  your  command  at  Arkansas  Post,  and  to  express  my  ac 
knowledgement  in  the  name  of  the  people  therefor.  It  also  gives  me  great  pride 
and  satisfaction  to  do  so,  from  the  fact  that  I  regard  the  victory  at  Arkansas  Post, 
gained  under  able  and  energetic  generalship  of  a  distinguished  officer  and  citizen  of 
Illinois,  as  second  in  importance  and  consequence  only  to  Fort  Donelson,  in  which  that 
officer  also  prominently  participated.  Fort  Donelson  and  Arkansas  Post,  dear  general, 
I  regard  as  the  two  great  and  positive  victories  of  the  war  in  the  West.  May  your  par 
ticipation  in  the  third  be  equally  prominent  and  attended  by  as  substantial  advanta 
ges  and  glorious  results. 

"With  sentiments  of  respect  and  esteem,  I  am  your  most  obedient  servant. 

KICHARD  YATES,  Governor." 


CHAPTER  LXI. 
1863— ILLINOIS  IN  THE  VICKSBUKG  CAMPAIGNS. 

Battles  of  Port  Gibson,  Raymond,   Jackson,  Champion  Hills  and 
Black  River,  Griersori's  Raid — Siege  and  Capture  of  Vicksburg 


Mc'Clernand  next  proposed  to  strike  a  blow  at  Little  Rock,  bat 
Gen.  Grant  arriving  at  the  fort  a  few  days  after  the  battle,  or 
dered  the  army  to  Young's  Point  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo 
whither  he  arrived  on  the  29th  of  January,  1863.  His  forces, 
greatly  strengthened  by  the  addition  of  McPherson's  corps  from 
the  river  above,  and  the  fleet  under  Commodore  Porter,  he  was 
ready  to  resume  more  immediate  operations  for  the  reduction  of 
Vicksburg.  For  this  purpose  it  was  necessary  to  get  his  army  on 
the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi  and  in  the  rear  of  the  city,  a  feat 
which  he  found  extremely  difficult  to  perform.  Five  different  ex 
pedients  were  tried,  three  of  which  were  to  get  around  the  bat 
teries  on  the  Mississippi  at  Vicksburg,  and  two  round  those  of  the 
Yazoo  at  Haines'  Bluff.  The  first  was  an  attempt  to  complete  the 
canal  commenced  by  Gen.  Williams,  but  unfortunately  when  nearly 
finished  a  flood  in  the  Mississippi  rendered  it  impracticable.  The 
second  was  a  canal  from  Millikin's  Bend  through  a  number  of 
bayous  communicating  with  the  Tensas  river,  and  thence  to  the  Mis 
sissippi  at  New  Carthage.  The  third  was  an  inland  passage  by 
way  of  Lake  Providence,  the  Tensas,  Washita,  Black  and  lied 
rivers.  The  4th  and  most  promising  plan  was  to  get  from  the 
Mississippi  into  the  Yazoo  above  the  batteries  at  Haines'  Bluff 
through  Moon  Lake  and  the  Coldwater  and  Tallahatchie  rivers. 
The  5th  was  to  effect  a  circuit  of  the  Haines'  Bluff'  batteries  by 
way  of  Steel's  bayou,  connecting  with  the  Yazoo  7  miles  above  its 
mouth  thence  by  Black  bayou,  Dear  Creek  and  Sunflower 
river  to  the  Yazoo,  some  60  miles  above  its  mouth. 

Such  is  the  remarkable  hydrographical  character  of  the  region 
in  which  the  army  was  operating,  that  by  cutting  the  levees  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  removing  obstructions  from  the  channels  of 
bayous,  passages  could  be  opened  for  the  advance  of  the  gun 
boats  and  transports  along  the  several  routes  mentioned.  Vast 
labors  were  expended  and  the  whole  of  February  and  March 
consumed  in  attempts  to  avoid  the  hostile  batteries  by  these  routes, 
and  when  in  two  or  three  instances  success  was  almost  attained, 
some  unexpected  or  unavoidable  obstacle  intervened  and  they 
were  all  finally  abandoned.  A  man  of  less  determined  fibre  than 
Grant  would  "have  been  overwhelmed  by  the  repeated  failures. 
Defeat,  however,  only  nerved  him  for  renewed  exertions.  When 
one  expedient  failed  another  was  quickly  substituted,  and  at 
length  the  city  which  had  so  long  defied  the  approach  of  his  army 
was  laid  under  seige  and  compelled  to  surrender.  811 


812  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


The  number  of  probable  operations  for  its  reduction  was  now 
reduced  to  one,  that  of  moving-  the  army  on  the  west  side  of  the 
river,  crossing  below  the  rebel  fortifications  and  ascending  on  the 
Vicksburg  side.  The  conception  of  this  plan  was  easy,  but  its 
execution  appalling.  As  a  requisit  gunboats  and  transports  must 
descend  the  Mississippi  in  opposition  to  the  hostile  batteries  to 
furnish  facilities  for  crossing,  and  the  army,  when  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  river,  must  cut  itself  off  from  its  base  of  supplies  and 
depend  upon  the  contingency  of  beating  the  enemy  in  the  field 
before  another  could  be  established.  The  commanding  general 
unmoved  by  these  perils,  determined  to  hazard  a  trial.  Accord 
ingly  the  13th  army  corps,  commanded  by  Modern  and,  consisting 
of  4  divisions  in  charge  of  Gens.  Osterhaus,  A.  J.  Smith,  Oarrand 
Hovey,  and  containing  the  33d,  77th.  97th,  99th,  108th  and  120th 
Illinois  infantry,  portions  of  the2d  and  3d  Illinois  cavalry  and  the 
Peoria  and  Chicago  Mercantile  batteries,  on  the  29th  of  March  left 
Milliken's  Bend  above  Vicksburg  for  New  Carthage  below. 
McPherson  with  the  17th  corps,  followed  as  fast  as  the  imperfect 
roads  would  permit.  Vast  bogs  intersected  with  bayous  were 
encountered,  and  it  became  necessary  to  construct  causeways  over 
the  one  and  bridges  over  the  other.  Arriving  at  New  Carthage  it 
was  found  to  be  an  island,  the  rebels  having  flooded  the  entire 
region  round  by  cutting  the  adjacent  levees  of  the  Mississippi. 
Under  these  circumstances  the  march  was  continued  to  Grand 
Gulf  farther  down  the  river,  where  the  lowest  of  the  Vieksburg 
works  was  located. 

In  the  meantime  Porter  was  making  preparations  to  execute  the 
fearless  enterprise  of  descending  the  river  with  a  portion  of  the 
fleet.  It  being  deemed  best  not  to  compel  the  crews  of  the  boats 
designated  for  this  purpose  to  accompany  them,  volunteers  to  man 
them  were  called  for.  Soon  more  men  offered  their  services  than 
could  be  accepted.  Logan's  division  of  the  17th  corps,  alone 
furnishing  the  number  required.  Of  the  05  men  furnished  by 
the  Illinois  troops  for  this  daring  feat  the  81st  furnished  10,  the 
5th  14,  the  45th  13,  the  31st  9,  the  20th  8,  the  30th  4,  and  the  llth 
1.  It  was  arranged  that  8  gunboats  should  proceed  in  sin 
gle  file  down  the  river  and  engage  the  batteries,  while  3  accom 
panying  transports  should  pass  unnoticed  near  the  western  shore. 
A  little  before  midnight  the  boats  with  their  lights  concealed, 
moved  like  huge  phantoms  down  the  stream.  Despite  the  at 
tempt  at  concealment  they  wrere  discovered  and  suddenly  a  sheet 
of  flame,  keeping  pace  with  the  advancing  boats,  flashed  along 
the  8  mile  of  rebel  batteries  which  lined  the  bank  of  the  river. 
Simultaneously  the  fleet  replied,  and  for  miles  distant  the  tor 
tuous  windings  of  the  Mississippi  echoed  with  the  thunders  of 
artillery.  It  was  hoped  in  the  general  commotion  the  frail  trans 
ports  might  escape  unobserved,  but  suddenly  a  huge  bonfire  threw 
a  glare  over  the  waters  with  such  brilliancy  that  the  most  minute  ob 
jects  could  be  seen,  and  they  soon  became  targets  for  the  enemy's 
guns.  From  the  effects  of  shot  one  of  them  wras  set  on  fire  and  soon 
became  a  mass  of  flame,  while  another  was  rendered  unnianagable, 
but  fortunately  a  gunboat  towed  it  beyond  the  range  of  the  bat 
teries  without  further  injury.  The  rest  of  the  fleet,  although  ex 
posed  for  an  hour  to  an  incessant  tire,  passed  through  in  safety, 
and  with  the  exception  of  one  killed  and  two  wounded,  the  crews 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  813 

were  favored  with  like  immunity.  This  unexpected  success  in 
duced  Grant  to  order  (j  more  transports  and  V2  barges  to  run  the 
blockade,  and  from  the  list  of  eager  applicants  who  at  once  volun 
teered  to  man  them  in  the  dangerous  experiment,  the  requisite  num 
ber  was  chosen  by  lot.*  With  the  completion  of  the  preparations  the 
boats  started  down  the  river,  and  with  strange  good  fortune  most 
of  them  got  below  without  injury.  Having  now  a  sufficient  num 
ber  of  transports  and  gunboats  to  afford  the  necessary  protection 
it  was  determined  to  effect  a  passage  of  the  river  at  Grand  Gulf. 
The  rebels  in  the  meantime,  had  erected  batteries  on  the  adjacent 
heights  and  a  combined  land  and  naval  attack  was  planned  for 
their  reduction.  Porter  commenced  the  assault  but  a  bombard 
ment  of  5  hours  failing  to  make  any  serious  impression,  and  Grant 
being  unwilling  to  expose  his  men  in  an  attack  by  land,  ordered  a 
continuance  of  the  march  to  Bruinsburg,  farther  down  the  river. 
When  night  came  on  the  gunboats  again  opened  on  the  batteries, 
and  undercover  of  the  fire  the  transports,  safely  passed  below  while 
the  land  forces  passed  unobserved  through  the  forest  to  the  place 
selected  for  crossing.  The  next  day,  without  farther  disturbance, 
the  army  was  ferried  to  the  opposite  shore,  and  Grant  as  the  re 
ward  of  unparalled  perseverance,  at  length  had  the  satisfaction 
of  seeing  it  in  a  situation  where  he  could  effectually  operate 
against  the  enemy.  This  result  was  partly  due  to  the  vigor  with 
which  it  had  been  executed,  and  partly  to  the  success  with  which 
the  attention  of  the  enemy  had  been  drawn  in  a  different  direc 
tion..  Sherman,  with  Blair's  division,  had  steamed  up  the  Yazoo, 
and  feigning  an  attack,  successfully  diverted  the  attention  of  the 
rebel  commander  from  the  real  object  which  Grant  sought  to 
accomplish  at  Bruinsburg. 

After  the  passage  of  the  river,  McClernand  with  the  13th  corps 
pushed  forward  in  the  direction  of  Port  Gibson,  and  on  the  18th 
of  May  encountered  the  enemy  four  miles  from  the  town.  The 
force  proved  to  be  11,000  men  under  Gen.  Bo  wen  whohad  marched 
from  Grand  Gulf,  when  it  became  known  that  Grant  had  suc 
ceeded  in  crossing  the  river.  Carr's  division  in  advance  was  met 
by  a  light  tire  of  artillery  and  musketry  which  it  soon  silenced. 
The  troops  rested  on  their  arms  the  short  remainder  of  the  night, 
where  at  dawn  the  enemy  was  found  strongly  posted  on  a  narrow 
ridge  with  impassable  ravines  on  either  side.  McClernand  having 
made  a  reconnoisance  of  the  situation  at  an  early  hour,  a  portion 
of  the  3uth  Illinois  was  moved  to  the  rear  of  the  position  signal 
ized  by  the  night  attack  with  orders  to  hold  it  till  relieved  by 
Gen.  Osterhaus.  In  a  few  minutes  their  skirmishers  were  at  the 
outposts  of  the  enemy  and  a  sharp  fire  of  artillery  and  musketry 
ensued.  Osterhaus  soon  marched  to  their  relief  and  in  a  fierce 
struggle  of  an  hour's  duration  succeeded  in  driving  the  enemy 
from  this  position.  While  he  was  thus  engaged  on  the  right  Gen. 
Carr  made  an  assault  on  the  left  which,  after  several  hours'  furi 
ous  lighting,  terminated  in  a  magnificent  charge  by  the  division 
of  Gen  Hovey.  As  the  result,  the  enemy  was  driven  back  several 
miles  and  lost  one  stand  of  colors,  two  guns  and  400  prisoners. 

*  One  incident  will  illustrate  the  spirit  which  animated  the  troops.  A  small  boy 
whom  the  fates  had  favored  with  a  successful  number,  was  offered  $100  for  his  privi 
lege  which  he  refused  to  accept  and  afterwards  lived  to  tell  of  the  part  he  performed 
in  the  dangerous  I'eat. 


814  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


A  second  position  was  taken  by  the  retreating  army  in  the  bot 
tom  of  a  creek  where  it  was  sheltered  by  timber  and  had  the  ad  van 
tage  of  an  open  field  in  front.  The  commands  of  Carr  and  Hovey 
followed  till  they  arrived  at  the  slope  overlooking  the  creek  when 
the  battle  again  commenced.  The  rebels  massed  a  large  force  for 
the  purpose  of  turning  the  federal  right  but  their  exposed  flank  was 
promptly  supported  by  Smith's  division  till  Hovey  got  his  artillery 
in  position  and  drove  them  back.  A  second  time  they  concentrated 
their  forces  for  a  similar  purpose  but  Carr's  division  with  detach 
ments  from  Hovey's  and  Smith's,  and  after  an  obstinate 
struggle  again  beat  them  back,  when  night  ended  the 
contest.  The  confederates  hastily  retreating  under  cover  of  dark 
ness  across  Bayou  Pierre,  burnt  the  bridges  ^in  their  rear, 
while  the  Union  army  the  next  day  occupied  Fort 'Gibson. 

The  loss  of  the  latter  in  killed  and  wounded  was  some  000,  but 
the  victory  was  wTorth  the  cost.  Five  gnus  and  4,000  prisoners 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  victors.  Furthermore,  Grant  had  now 
secured  a  firm  lodgement  on  thehigh  plateau  east  of  the  river  upon 
which,  as  exigency  might  demand,  he  could  move  against  any 
point  of  the  rebel  line.  Also  with  the  retreat  of  the  vanquished 
army  the  garrison  withdrew  from  Grand  Gulf  and  it  became  the 
base  of  supplies  for  the  Union  army. 

Illinois  was  largely  represented  in  the  battle,  and  its  auspicious 
termination  was  largely  owing  to  the  sturdy  blows  dealt  by  her  hardy 
sons.  As  Logan's  division  of  McPherson's  corps  came  up  in  time 
to  participate  in  the  action,  the  Illinois  troops  engaged  were  de 
tachments  of  the  lid  and  3d  cavalry,  thePeoria  light  artillery  and 
Chicago  Mercantile  battery,  and  the  8th,  llth,  _!0th,  30th,  *  31st, 
33d,  45th,  77th,  81st,  97th  99th,  108th,  and  118th  regiments 
of  infantry.  Of  the  latter  the  33d,  99th  andll8th,  are  men- 
tioned  in  the  official  reports  of  the  battle  as  having  fought  with 
great  success  and  daring. 

Bowen,  after  his  defeat  at  Port  Gibson,  crossed  Big  Black 
river  and  was  ordered  thence  by  Pemberton  to  the  vicinity  of 
Vicksburg.  As  the  result  of  the  victory  Grand  Gulf  was  evacu 
ated  and  Grant  changed  his  base  of  supplies  from  Bruinsbnrg  to 
that  place,  and  followed  the  retreating  rebels  as  far  as  Hankin- 
son's  ferry,  where  they  crossed  the  river.  Here,  while  awaiting  the 
arrival  of  Sherman's  corps,  he  made  a  feint  in  the  direction  of  Vicks 
burg  to  conceal  his  contemplated  operations  eastward.  General 
Johnson,  who  at  this  time  had  supreme  command  of  the  confed 
erate  forces  of  the  West,  was  with  Bragg  in  Tennessee,  but  in  con 
stant  communication  with  Pemberton.  Grant  was  therefore  afraid 
to  move  directly  on  Vicksburg  lest  Johnson  with  a  force  from  the 
East  should  assail  him  in  the  rear.  To  avoid  a  contingency  of 
this  kind  he  directed  McClernand  and  Sherman  to  move  along  the 
eastern  side  of  Black  river  so  as  to  strike  the  Vicksburg  railroad 
at  Edward's  station,  while  McPherson  was  to  make  a  detour  far 
ther  eastward  and  destroy  the  rebel  stores  and  lines  of  communi 
cation. 


Battle  of  Raymond. — On  the  morning  of  May  12th  McPherson's 
advanced  cavalry  met  near  Itaymond  a  strong  body  of  rebel  infantry. 
A  severe  engagement  ensued'in  which  the  2d  Illinois  cavalry  be 
haved  with  great  gallantry  and  lost  several  men.  Owing  to  the 


THE  WAR  OF   THE  REBELLION.  815 


situation  of  the  foe  in  the  woods,  it  was  found  impossible  for 
mounted  men  to  dislodge  him,  and  Logan's  division  was  ordered 
forward  to  make  an  attack.  The  column  advanced  "toward  the 
wood, and  fought  with  great  determination  although  exposed  to 
the  murderous  fire  of  an  almost  concealed  enemy.  Shortly  after 
the  fighting  commenced  a  battery  was  pushed  forward  to  assist 
in  dislodging  him  and  made  such  havoc  that  after  an  attempt  to 
charge  and  take  it,  he  was  compelled  to  fall  back  to  a  new  posi 
tion.  Here  he  was  again  assailed  by  the  same  troops  strength 
ened  by  additional  forces.  In  resisting  an  attempt  to  turn  our 
left,  flank  the  20th  Illinois  fought  with  Spartan  courage.  Having 
lost  their  colonel,  Stevenson's  brigade  containing  the  8th  Illinois, 
with  fixed  bayonets  bounded  forward  to  the  rescue  and  the  rebels 
were  driven  in  wild  disorder  from  the  field. 

Battle  of  Jackson. — Retreating  to  Jackson  they  were  followed 
by  the  3d  corps  of  the  Union  army.  Sherman  and  McClernand 
had  been  ordered  to  Edward's  station  but  Grant  in  the  mean 
time  learning  that  fresh  accessions  of  rebel  troops  were  daily  ar 
riving  at  Jackson,  and  fearing  that  McPherson's  force  might  not 
be  adequate  to  cope  with  them,  countermanded  the  order.  On  the 
morning  of  the  14th,  McPherson's  advanced  divisons.  closely  fol 
lowed  by  Sherman's,  came  up  with  the  main  force  of  the  enemy 
about  three  miles  from  the  city.  Artillery  was  opened  on  both 
sides  and  after  firing  for  sometime  without  any  decisive  results,  the 
infantry  were  led  into  action.  With  measured  tread  and  colors 
flying  the  Union  columns  slowly  ascended  the  hill  on  which  the 
rebel  force  was  posted,  suffering  terribly  from  the  tremendous 
volleys  hurled  at  them  from  the  summit.  When  within  300  paces 
they  delivered  their  first  fire  and  with  a  shout  that  rose  above 
the  report  of  artillery  rushed  upon  the  astonished  confederates 
who  broke  and  fled  in  the  wildest  terror,  throwing  away  their 
knapsacks,  blankets  and  muskets,  to  accelerate  their  flight. 

This  was  one  of  the  most  spirited  charges  of  the  campaign  and 
no  regiment  engaged  in  it  fought  with  more  bravery  and  success 
than  the  56th  Illinois.  The  30th.  33d,  48th,  114th  and  118th  also 
participated  in  and  largely  contributed  to  the  successful  issue  of 
the  battle.  Among  the  generals  of  this  and  the  two  preceding 
engagements,  Gen.  Logan  was  conspicuous  for  the  indomitable 
energy  and  skill  with  which  he  handled  his  men. 

The  rebels  retreated  northward  on  the  Canton  road  and  the  re 
bellious  capital  of  Mississippi  became  the  prize  of  the  conquerors. 
The  governor  and  others  holding  official  relations  with  the  local 
and  confederate  governments  left  the  day  before  with  the  funds 
and  archives  of  the  State. 

Battle  of  Champion  Hills. — Grant  leaving  Sherman-  to  destroy 
the  railroads,  bridges,  arsenals  and  other  public  property,  turned 
the  remainder  of  the  army  westward  to  pay  his  respects  to  Pem- 
berton.  The  latter  illy  conceiving  the  military  necessities  of  his 
situation,  now  rapidly  became  entangled  in  toils  from  which  at 
length  extrication  was  impossible.  Johnson  in  the  meantime  had 
arrived  and  beheld  with  regret  the  confederate  army  separated  in 
detachments  with  that  of  Grant  between  them.  He  saw  that  with 
his  interior  communications  now  cut  off  by  the  destruction  of  the 


816  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

railroad  to  Jackson,  that  Vicksburg  might  become  the  grave  of 
an  army  but  could  be  of  no  possible  use  to  the  confederacy.  He 
therefore  ordered  Pemberton  to  make  a  detour  northward  round 
the  federal  army  and  form  a  junction  with  the  forces  which  had 
been  expelled  from  Jackson.  Pemberton,  however,  had  a  plan 
of  his  own  which  was  to  move  in  the  opposite  direction  and 
cut  off' Grant's  supplies.  With  this  intent  he  set  his  columns  in 
motion  in  the  afternoon  of  the  loth,  moving  from  Edward's  sta 
tion  in  the  direction  of  Kaymond.  But  Grant,  now  had  no  base 
of  supplies,  having  cut  himself  loose  from  Grand  Gulf  as  early 
as  the  llth,  and  was  no\y  pushing  forward  with  the  intention  of 
overpowering  all  opposition  and  opening  a  new  base  on  the  Mis 
sissippi  by  way  of  the  Yazoo.  Little  recked  he  of  communicat 
ing  with  Grand  Gulf,  and  the  luckless  Pemberton  was  sallying  forth 
on  a  bootless  errand.  Kor  had  he  gone  far  before  the  advancing 
Union  pickets  convinced  him  that  his  movements  instead  of  harm 
ing  his  adversary,  was  only  compromising  his  own  safety.  He 
therefore  resolved  to  return  to  the  station  and  then  move  north 
ward  in  the  direction  of  Brownsville  in  conformity  with  the  pre 
vious  ad  vice  of  his  superior  officer.  This  was  a  good  resolution  but  it 
came  too  late,  for  while  he  was  dallying,  the  Union  army  had  moved 
up  to  the  same  place  and  was  ready  with  its  heavy  guns  to  dis 
pute  his  advance.  As  the  only  alternative  the  confederate  force 
was  hastily  drawn  up  for  action,  the  left  division  under  Steven 
son  occupying  a  thickly  wooded  height  of  Champion  Hills,  while 
the  centre  and  right  divisions  under  Bowen  and  Loriiig  extended 
across  Baker's  creek  to  a  number  of  abrupt  elevations  and  yawning 
ravines.  Logan's  and  Crocker's  divisions  of  McPherson's  corps, 
were  thrown  round  the  above  mentioned  height  so  as  to  flank  the 
confederate  left.  Hovey's  division  of  McClernand's  corps  ad 
vanced  against  Stevenson  leaving  the  other  division  of  the  corps 
to  engage  Bowen  and  Loring. 

A  courier  was  sent  to  Jackson  with  orders  for  Sherman  to  has 
ten  forward  with  his  command,  and  in  less  than  an  hour  he  was 
on  the  road  to  the  scene  of  conflict.  Hovey's  division  which 
first  engaged  the  enemy  was  in  deadly  grapple  with  him  before 
the  others,  owing  to  the  unfavorable  nature  of  the  ground,  could 
come  in  striking  distance.  The  situation  in  which  he  operated 
compelled  him  to  contract  his  lines  and  expose  his  men  to  the 
fierce  fire  of  the  rebels  who,  under  cover  of  heavy  timber,  suffer 
ed  little.  After  facing,  with  heroic  tenacity  for  an  hour,  the  re 
lentless  fire  of  an  enemy  greatly  exceeding  him  innumbers,  and  hav 
ing  every  advantage  of  position,  he  was  compelled  to  give  way. 
He,  however,  retired  only  a  short  distance  when  two  brigades  of 
Crocker's  division  were  sent  to  his  aid  and  he  reformed  and 
again  went  into  action.  Logan  in  the  meantime  had  turned  the 
enemy's  left  and  commenced  operating  in  his  rear  which  partially 
relieved  the  pressure  in  front.  Seeing  the  advantages  of  the  position 
he  had  gained  he  rode  up  to  Grant  and  informed  him  if  Hovey  could 
mak  e  another  dash  at  the  en  emy,  it  would  enable  him  to  come  up  and 
capture  the  greater  part  of  the  confederate  forces.  Preparations 
for  this  purpose  were  made,  but  before  it  was  executed  Pember 
ton,  seeing  his  position  was  compromised,  commenced  drawing 
off'.  Simultaneously  the  national  troops  pressed  forward  and  the 
rebel  host  breaking,  fled  in  a  panic  and  rout  from  the  field.  Al- 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  817 

though  the  brunt  of  the  battle  fell  on  Logan  and  Hovey,  there 
was  severe  fighting  on  the  enemy's  right  by  Carr  and  Osterhaus. 
The  impassable  character  of  the  ground  on  which  they  fought 
prevented  them  from  getting  into  action  as  soon  as  the  others, 
but  when  at  length  this  difficulty  was  overcome  they  greatly  as 
sisted  in  turning  the  tide  of  battle  in  our  favor. 

A  great  many  instances  of  heroism  are  mentioned  in  the  reports 
of  the  battle.  Logan's  division,  composed  largely  of  Illinois 
troops,  engaged  the  enemy  on  his  left  and  succeeded  in  capturing 
more  than  1,000  prisoners  and  12  pieces  of  artillery.  An  officer 
was  sent  to  inquire  how  the  contest  was  going  on  in  his  front. 
"  Tell  Gen.  Grant,77  he  replied,  "  my  division  can't  be  whipped  by 
all  the  rebels  this  side  of  hell.  We  are  going  ahead  and  won't 
stop  till  we  get  orders."*  Gen.  Leggett  commanding  his  second 
brigade,  containing  the  30th  Illinois,  was  ordered  up  to  protect  the 
right  of  Hovey's  division,  seriously  threatened  by  the  enemy. 
The  rebels  suddenly  emerged  from  the  woods  and  prepared  for  an 
attack,  when  the  30th  Illinois  charged  upon  them  and  drove  them 
back  in  confusion.  In  the  afternoon,  on  the  extreme  right,  the 
8th  Illinois  and  32d  Ohio  charged  upon  and  repulsed  one  of  the 
enemy's  most  effective  batteries.  A  section  of  Co.  D,  Illinois 
artillery  is  also  favorably  mentioned  in  the  reports. 

Besides  the  regiments  mentioned,  the  17th,  31st,  55th,  58th,  72d, 
75th,  77th,  79th,  81st,  93d,  97th,  108th,  113th,  118th  and  124th 
were  a  part  of  the  troops  engaged  in  the  battle^  and  with  the  aid 
of  their  comrades  from  other  States  added  another  victory  to  the 
list  of  Union  triumphs. 

Pemberton's  force  was  estimated  at  30,000,  somewhat  exceeding 
the  Union  troops  engaged,  as  all  of  Grant's  divisions  did  not 
arrive  in  time  to  participate  in  the  battle.  The  victory  cost  us  in 
killed,  wounded  and  missing,  2,500  men,  but  gave  in  exchange  200 
pieces  of  artillery  and  1,500  prisoners,  besides  inflicting  a  serious 
loss  of  killed,  wounded  and  missing  on  the  enemy. 

Battle  of  Black  River  Bridge. — So  quickly  was  the  retreating 
army  followed  that  Loriug's  division  became  completely  detached 
and  was  compelled  to  make  a  circuit  in  a  southwesterly  direction 
round  the  federal  army  and  report  to  Johnson.  The  main  force 
retreated  to  Black  Eiver,  and  with  the  exception  of  two  brigades, 
crossed  the  stream.  The  latter  to  dispute  the  advance  of  the  pur 
suing  army  took  a  position  within  a  bayou  which  leaves  the  river 
above  and  sweeping  round  in  the  form  of  a  semi-circle,  unites  with 
it  below.  In  addition  to  the  natural  defences  offered  by  the  miry 
channel  of  the  bayou,  breastworks  were  thrown  up,  and  cannon 
placed  within  the  enclosure  swept  the  plain  beyond  and  com 
manded  the  bridge  across  the  river.  On  the  morning  of  the  17th 
of  May,  McCleruand's  and  McPherson's  corps  moved  directly 
against  the  position  of  the  enemy,  while  that  of  Sherman  ad 
vanced  in  the  direction  of  Bridgeport,  higher  up  the  river  for  the 
purpose  of  crossing  at  that  point.  The  rebel  pickets  were  soon 
encountered  and  McClernand,  who  was  in  advance,  hastily  deploy 
ing  his  division,  on  each  side  of  the  road  brought  on  a  hot  engage 
ment  in  the  forest  which  skirts  the  banks  of  the  river.  Artillery 
was  placed  in  position  and  served  with  such  effectiveness,  that 

*  Cincinnati  Commercial 


818  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

the  enemy  soon  fled  behind  his  works  to  escape  its  fury.  MeCler- 
nand  now  resolved  to  carry  the  works  by  storm  and  Ge«.  Lawler's 
brigade  of  Carr's  division  immediately  signified  their  readiness  for 
the  charge.  By  moving  round  on  the  right  under  cover  of  the 
river  bank,  he  had  gained  a  position  from  which  the  rebel  defences 
might  be  easily  assaulted.  The  order  forward  was  given,  and  the 
eager  men  plunging  across  the  bayou  and  scaling  the  breastworks, 
regardless  of  the  fatal  fire  that  covered  their  track  with  fallen 
comrades,  with  fixed  bayonets,  drove  the  rebels  from  their  guns. 
The  victory  was  complete.  To  Carr,  one  of  Illinois  bravest  officers, 
and  his  gallant  division  more  than  any  other,  its  honors  are  due. 
Constituting  the  advance  of  McClernaud's  corps,  they  not  only 
commenced  the  engagement,  but  ended  it  in  the  splendid  charge 
which  placed  them  in  possession  of  the  skillfully  constructed 
works.  Prominent  among  the  regiments  which  distinguished  them 
selves  were  the  33d,  48th  and  77th  Illinois.  The  fruits  of  the  vic 
tory  were  1,500  prisoners  and  18  pieces  of  artillery. 

The  army  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  witnessing  the  de 
feat,  set  fire  to  the  bridge  and  hastily  retreated  in  the  direction 
of  Vicksburg.  The  afternoon  of  the  same  day  the  inhabitants  of 
the  city  were  startled  by  the  influx  of  the  fugitives,  who,  exhaust 
ed  by  privations  and  hardships,  tumbled  almost  helplessly 
into  the  surrounding  entrenchments.  The  night  after  the  battle 
bridges  were  thrown  across  Black  river,  and  Sherman,  still 
holding  the  right,  took  possession  of  Haines'  Bluff,  as  the  demor 
alized  confederates  departed,  while  McClernand  and  McPherson, 
moving  farther  southward,  closed  in  on  the  doomed  city. 

In  the  daring  and  successful  passage  of  the  Vicksburg  and 
Grand  Gulf  batteries,  in  the  audacity  which  abandoned  one  base 
of  supplies,  with  the  necessity  of  crushing  an  enemy  of  unkuoAvn 
strength  before  another  could  be  established,  and  in  the  deter 
mined  courage  and  endurance  which  wrung  success  from  the 
most  untoward  circumstances  in  five  consecutive  victories,  the 
campaign  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  brilliant  furnished 
by  the  annals  of  the  war.  The  celerity  of  movement  and 
strategy  by  which  the  enemy  was  separated  and  beaten  in  detail, 
rank  it  with  Napoleon's  celebrated  Italian  campaign.  Port  Gib 
son,  Raymond,  Jackson,  Champion  Hills,  and  Black  river,  will 
always  occupy  a  proud  place  in  the  history  of  the  nation,  endure 
as  a  monument  of  Illinois  valor,  and  perpetuate  the  names  and 
generalship  of  Grant,  McClernand,  Carr,  McArthur,  and  other 
brave  men  of  Illinois  who  so  gallantly  maintained  the  reputation 
of  the  State. 

It  was  now  evident,  if  the  siege  was  successfully  maintained  that 
famine  would  ultimately  bring  the  garrison  to  terms.  Johnson, 
however,  was  making  great  efforts  to  collect  a  relieving  force,  and 
Grant,  therefore,  to  avoid  all  possible  contingencies,  determined 
to  make  an  attempt  to  carry  the  place  by  storm.  The  demoralized 
condition  of  the  force  within  favored  immediate  action,  and 
accordingly  an  assault  was  made  in  the  afternoon  of  the  17th. 
No  permanent  advantage  was  gained,  although  the  127th  Illinois 
and  83d  Indiana,  succeeded  in  planting  their  colors  on  the  exte 
rior  slope  of  the  enemy's  entrenchments.  Notwithstanding  the 
want  of  success,  it  was  beleved  under  more  favorable  circum 
stances,  a  second  attempt  might  be  attended  with  better  results, 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  819 

and  the  two  succeeding  days  were  spent  in  making-  the  necessary 
preparations.  At  10  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  22d  the  3d 
corps,  Sherman's  on  the  right,  McPherson's  in  the  centre,  and 
McClernand's  on  the  left,  moved  forward,  but  such  was  the  nature 
of  the  ground  that  only  narrow  fronts  could  be  brought  into  ac 
tion.  The  garrison  reserved  its  fire  till  the  storming  force  were  in 
close  range,  when  they  opened  with  the  most  deadly  effect.  Many 
turned  back  as  if  from  instant  destruction,  but  others,  disdaining 
to  retire,  pushed  on,  and  portions  of  each  corps  succeeded  in  reach 
ing  the  breastworks.  Conspicuous  in  McPherson's  corps,  was 
the  brigade  of  Gen.  Eausom,  containing  the  llth,  72d,  95th  and 
110th  Illinois.  The  brigade  sprang  forward  with  a  shout  when 
the  order  was  given  to  advance.  At  the  distance  of  a  few  paces 
a  storm  of  grape  and  cannister  tore  through  the  different  regiments 
disabling  Col.  Humphrey  of  the  95th,  killing  Col.  Kevins  of  the 
llth,  and  for  a  short  time  checking  the  advance.  At  this  juncture 
Gen.  Eansoni  rushed  forward  to  the  head  of  the  brigade  and, 
seizing  the  colors  of  the  95th,  and  waving  them  overhead,  shout 
ed,  "Forward  men,  we  must  and  will  get  into  the  fort.  Who  will  fol 
low?"  The  column  again  moved  forward  directly  in  the  face  of  the 
wasting  volleys,  and,  on  reaching  the  works,  fought  for  half  an  hour 
to  effect  an  entrance.  Finding  at  length  this  was  impossible,  the 
regiments  were  reformed  and  marched  back  without  the  slightest 
confusion  or  the  appearance  of  a  single  struggle.  Within  15  min 
utes  after  the  charge  was  ordered,  Gens.  Lawler's  and  Landrum's 
brigades,  the  latter  containing  the  97th, 108th  and  131st  Illinois, 
were  at  the  works.  Twelve  men  entered  a  bastion,  11  of  whom 
were  killed,  while  the  survivor,  aided  by  sharp -shooters  on  the 
parapet,  captured  and  brought  out  12  rebels.  It  being  instant 
death  to  the  force  within  to  expose  themselves  above  the  works, 
they  lit  the  fuse  of  shells  and  threw  them  among  the  federals  who 
coolly  picked  them  up  and  threw  them  back  in  time  to  explode. 
Tne  Mercantile  battery  of  Chicago,  approached  within  a  few  feet 
and  fired  into  an  embrasure,  and  as  a  reward  for  their  bravery 
Gen.  McClernand  presented  them,  with  two  Napoleon  guns  cap 
tured  at  Black  river.  Xo  permanent  entrance  could  be  effected 
and  at  night  the  forces  were  recalled. 

Grant,  now  concluding  that  the  position  of  the  enemy  was  too 
strong,  both  by  nature  and  art,  to  be  carried  by  storm,  sat  down 
before  it  in  regular  siege. 

Grierson's  Raid. — Leaving  the  beleagured  stronghold  to  the 
care  of  the  investing  army,  we  will  now  relate  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  episodes  of  the  war,  the  raid  of  Gen.  B.  H.  Grierson. 
While  Grant  was  closing  round  Vicksburg  with  his  gallant  troop 
ers,  he  was  dashing  through  Mississippi  to  destroy  the  railroads 
and  prevent  the  enemy  from  sending  forward  supplies  and  rein 
forcements. 

On  the  17th  of  April  with  3  regiments  of  cavalry,  the  6th  and 
7th  Illinois,  and* the  2d  Iowa,  he  left  Lagrange  Tennessee.  Arriv 
ing  at  Houston  on  the  20th,  Col.  Hatch  with  the  2nd  Iowa  was 
sent  to  Columbus  to  destroy  a  portion  of  the  Mobile  &  Ohio  Kail- 
road,  and  if  able  to  capture  the  town.  On  the  way  he  was  attacked 
by  800  rebel  cavalry,  which  he  repulsed,  and  at  night  reached 
the  railroad  at  Okalona.  Having  burnt  the  depot,  barracks 


820  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

and  hospital,  he  started  on  his  homeward  march.  Before  going 
far,  a  force  of  cavalry  made  a  dash  at  bis  rear,  and  again  he  over 
threw  them,  inflicting  on.  them  a  loss  of  20  men  while  his  own  sus 
tained  little  injury.  The  remainder  of  the  march  was  without 
opposition  and  the  regiments  arrived  in  Lagrauge  with  20  priso 
ners,  50  negroes  and  500  horses  and  mules. 

Col.  Grierson  was  now  left  with  only  the  Illinois  regiments  to 
cope  with  the  numerous  forces  of  rebel  cavalry  which  were  scour 
ing  the  country  in  every  direction  to  intercept  him.  Tbeir  oppo 
sition  and  the  attending  dangers,  however,  instead  of  discourag 
ing  him  and  his  brave  followers,  only  gave  zest  to  the  enterprise 
which  they  now  proposed  to  finish  by  a  headlong  dash  to  Baton 
Rouge,  through  the  heart  of  Mississippi.  To  divert  attention 
from  their  principal  movements  and  damage  the  enemy,  Capt. 
Forbes,  with  35  men,  were  sent  on  a  detour  eastward  to  destroy 
the  telegraph  and  another  portion  of  the  M.  and  O.  It.  It.  at 
Macon.  They  left  their  comrades  with  stout  hearts  but  little 
hope  of  seeing  them  again,  as  they  would  have  to  pass  through  a 
country  swarming  with  enemies  and  march  at  least  50  miles 
farther  than  the  main  force.  Capt.  Graham,  with  a  battalion  was 
also  sent  to  burn  a  shoe  factory  iu  the  neighborhood,  and  suc 
ceeded  in  destroying  a  large  amount  of  leather  and  several 
thousand  boots,  shoes,  hats  and  caps,  besides  capturing  a  quar 
termaster,  who  had  come  to  get  supplies  for  the  rebel  army  at 
Port  Hudson. 

With  these  preliminary  arrangements,  Col.  Griersou  pushed 
forward  for  Pearl  river  bridge,  the  reaching  of  which  was  now~an 
object  of  vital  importance.  Hostile  bands  of  cavalry  were  on  the 
alert,  and  should  their  scouts  who  preceeded  him  destroy  it,  the 
result  would  be  fatal.  With  an  earnestness,  therefore,  commen 
surate  with  the  risk  involved,  they  urged  their  way  forward. 
Grierson  with  his  kindling  eye  and  thoughtful  face,  leading  the 
van.  bearing  the  bridge  and  hearing  the  sound  of  persons  en 
gaged  in  its  destruction,  they  drove  spurs  into  their  foaming 
chargers  to  increase  their  speed,  and  swooping  down  on  the  de 
stroyers  as  an  eagle  in  pursuit  of  his  prey,  quickly  dispersed 
them.  The  entire  party  reaching  the  opposite  shore  in  safety, 
again  dashed  forward,  and  on  the  24th  reached  Newton  Station 
on  M.  &  O.  E..  K.  Here  they  captured  75  rebels,  tore  up  the 
railroad  track,  burnt  4  car  loads  of  ammunition  and  2  ware 
houses  filled  with  commissary  stores,  and  destroyed  the  bridges 
on  the  west  side  of  the  station.  Tarrying  only  long  enough  to 
complete  the  work  of  destruction,  they  were  again  on  the  wing, 
and  after  an  exhausting  ride  by  way  of  Garlandville,  Ealeigh  and 
Westville,  were  ready  to  recross  the  river  at  ^Georgetown  ferry. 
Gaining  the  ferry,  as  in  case  of  the  bridge,  was  a  matter  of  life  or 
death;  for  although  they  moved  with  great  rapidity,  the  news  of 
their  exploits  usualy  preceded  them,  and  it  was  believed  that  the 
citizens  were  now  arming  to  stop  their  progress.  Arriving  at  the 
river  the  proprietor  of  the  ferry  made  his  appearance,  and  in  a 
careless  way,  asked  if  they  wanted  to  cross,  supposing  them  to  be 
a  force  of  Alabama  cavalry  which  was  expected  in  the  neigh 
borhood.  Col.  Prince  of  the  7th,  imitating  his  provincial  vernacu 
lar,  replied  in  the  affirmative,  and  added  that  "  it  took  more  time 
to  wake  up  his  negro  ferryman  than  to  catch  the  d — d  conscripts.7' 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  821 

Thoroughly  deceived  by  his  Yankee  interlocutor,  and  apologizing 
for  their  detention,  he  awoke  his  negroes,  who  ferried  them  over, 
and  then  with  true  southern  hospitality,  invited  them  to  breakfast, 
believing  he  was  entertaining  the  1st  regiment  of  Alabama  cavalry. 
As  soon  as  the  repast  was  over  the  party  resumed  their  march 
and  shortly  afterward  captured  a  courier,  flying  with  the  startling 
intelligence  that  the  Yankees  were  coming  and  that  the  ferry  must 
be  destroyed.  At  Hazlehurst  on  the  New  Orleans  and  Jackson, 
railroad,  the  next  place  visited,  a  large  number  of  cars  were 
destroyed,  containing  powder,  shell  and  other  supplies  for  the  con 
federate  army. 

At  this  point  Capt.  Forbes  sent  to  destroy  the  railroad  at  Ma- 
con  rejoined  them.  In  his  return  he  unwittingly  became  the  hero  of 
a  daring  adventure.  Entering  Xewton  station  where  he  expected 
to  meet  with  the  men  under  Grierson  he  was  astonished  to  find 
himself  in  the  midst  of  3000  rebels  in  the  act  of  debarking  from 
the  cars.  With  remarkable  presence  of  mind  he  hoisted  a  flag  of 
truce,  and,  boldly  riding  up,  demanded  the  surrender  of  the  force, 
in  the  name  of  Col.  Grierson.  The  rebel  officer  in  command,  sup 
posing  Grierson's  whole  force  which  rumor  had  magnified  to  a 
mighthy  host,  was  close  at  hand,  asked  an  hour  to  consider  the 
demand.  Forbes  granted  the  request  with  feigned  reluctance, 
and  started  for  the  pretended  troops  in  reserve  to  whom  the  con 
federate  was  to  send  his  reply  at  the  expiration  of  the  time.  The 
raiders,  amused  at  the  sell,  dashed  away,  giving  the  enemy  a  long 
time  to  consult  in  regard  to  terms  of  the  capitulation,  and  a 
long  distance  to  travel  before  they  could  make  them  known.  The 
entire  command  left  Hazlehurst  on  the  27th and,  pushing  alongthe 
X.  O.  &  J.  R.  R.,  through  the  stations  of  Bahala,  Brookhaven  and 
Summit,  tore  up  the  railroad  destroyed  its  rolling  stock,  and 
immense  quantities  of  commissary's  stores  and  munitions  on 
the  way  to  Vicksburg,  Port  Hudson  and  Grand  Gulf.  On  leaving 
the  railroad  they  reached  Baton  Rouge  on  the  2d  of  May,  the  ob 
jective  point  of  the  expedition.  Within  the  last  30  hours  with 
out  eating  or  sleeping,  they  had  ridden  80  miles,  destroyed  a  num 
ber  of  bridges  and  large  quantities  of  military  stores,  swam  one 
river,  had  three  skirmishes  with  the  enemy,  and  took  42  prisoners. 
So  exhausted  were  the  men  that  they  slept  on  their  horses  till  the 
report  of  carbines  roused  them  to  action,  and  when  the  fray  was 
over  again  relapse  into  slumber. 

A  resume  of  their  operations  shows  that  in  the  brief  interval 
of  16  days  they  had  ridden  from  the  northern  to  the  southern 
part  of  Mississippi,  and,  although  operating  between  two  great 
rebel  lines  of  communication,  theMobile&  Ohio  audXew  Orleans 
and  Jackson  railroads,  by  skillful  manoBuvers,  usually  succeeded  in 
eluding  the  enemy.  In  their  inarch  of  800  miles  they  took  500 
prisoners,  destroyed  from 50  to  GO  miles  of  railroad,  2  locomotives, 
200  cars  and  military  stores,  and  other  property  valued  at  $40, 000  ; 
while  they  crossed  into  the  Union  lines  with  1,200  horses  and  mules 
and  500  negroes. 

The  most  determined  efforts  were  made  to  capture  them. 
A  thousand  cavalrymen  from  south  of  Port  Hudson,  1,300  from 
Mobile,  and  2,000  from  the  vicinity  of  Columbia,  were  sent  for 
this  purpose,  but  Grierson's  strategy  rendered  their  efforts  abor 
tive.  Their  safe  arrival  in  Baton  Rouge,  whither  the  story  of 


822  HIST  OUT   OF   ILLINOIS. 

their  adventure -had  preceded  them,  created  the  greatest  enthusi 
asm  and  rejoicing.  Many  refused  to  believe  what  they  had  heard 
till  they  saw  the  men  and  listened  toarecitalof  their  feats.  So  im- 
irient  were  the  dangers  and  so  complete  the  success, it  seems  more 
like  a  feat  of  romance  than  an  occurrence  of  actual  life.  The  reb 
els  were  taught,  notwithstanding  the  efficiency  of  their  cavalry, 
they  could  be  "outrode,  outwitted  and  out  fought,77  and  hence  the 
moral  results  achieved  were  no  less  important  than  the  physical. 

Siege  and  Surrender  of  Yicksbury. — From  the  investment  of  the 
city  till  the  surrender,  little  occurred  to  diversify  the  routine  of 
duty  performed  by  the  investing  army.  On  the  22d  of  June,  the 
rebels  in  a  sortie  drove  the  14th  Illinois  from  their  trenches  which, 
as  a  working  party,  they  were  engaged  in  excavating  round  the 
city.  The  succeeding  night  the  41st Illinois  and  some  other  forces, 
were  ordered  to  the  same  trenches  and  the  rebels  again  sallied 
forth  and  demanded  their  surrender.  The  colonel  of  the  41st  in 
stantly  ordered  the  artillery  to  open  and  in  a  severe  fight  the  reb 
els  were  driven  back  to  their  works. 

On  the  25th  the  miners  of  McPherson7s  corps  blew  up 
the  rebel  Fort  Hill.  Having  deposited  a  ton  o'f  powder  in  an  ex 
cavation  under  the  fort,  and' selected  the  45th  Illinois  to  occupy 
the  breach,  the  mine  was  sprung.  Almost  noiselessly  the  ground 
was  lifted  up  as  if  some  subterranean  monster  had  suddenly  risen 
from  his  lair  and  tossed  aside  his  covering  of  earth.  A  yawning  cra 
ter  some  20  feet  in  width  was  opened,  and  hardly  had  the  cloud 
of  white  smoke  which  issued  from  it  cleared  away,  before  the  bat 
tle-scarred  veterans  of  the  45th  were  at  their  post.  The  rebels 
crowded  up  to  the  breach  with  great  rapidity,  and  the  light  on  both 
sides  was  one  of  desperation.  For  want  of  room  the  federal  regi 
ments  subsequently  engaged,  went  in  one  at  a  time,  and  as  each 
exhausted  its  amunition  another  took  its  place.  In  this  manner 
the  23d,  25th,  39th,  31st,  4Gth,  56th  and  124th,  Illinois,  success 
ively  entered  the  vortex  of  fire  and  struggled  like  deini-gods  to 
quench  its  flames. 

The  object  of  these  mining  operations  was  to  possess  important 
points  in  the  enemy7s  line  of  defenses  and  thereby  press  him  back 
toward  the  river.  When,  however,  it  became  evident  that  the 
garrison  was  short  of  provisions,  the  excavations  of  parrallels 
and  mines  was  discontinued.  The  supply  of  food,  though  it 
had  been  carefully  husbanded,  and  the  flesh  of  mules  extensively 
used,  was  now  nearly  exhausted.  A  failure  of  amunition  also  en 
sued,  the  ardor  of  the  garrison  was  dampened  by  protracted  pri 
vations,  and  the  citizens  living  in  caves  to  avoid  danger,  found 
their  suffering  too  great  to  longer  continue  the  siege. 

Induced  by  these  stringent  necessities,  Pemberton,  on  the  2d  of 
July,  displayed  a  white  flag  on  the  ramparts  in  view  of  the  invest 
ing  army,  and  an  officer  being  sent  to  ascertain  its  meaning 
learned  that  he  wished  to  confer  in  regard  to  terms  of  capitula 
tion.  Correspondence  was  interchanged,  resulting  in  a  personal 
interview  between  the  two  chiefs  of  the  contending  forces,  and 
finally  in  the  unconditional  surrender  of  the  city  and  confederate 
army.  So  great  was  the  number  of  prisoners  to  avoid  the  expense  of 
their  maintainanceandtransportation  to  northern  prisons,  they  were 
parolled.  It  was  also  believed  that  the  demoralization  consequent 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  823 

upon  their  return  home  after  defeat,  would  more  than  counter 
balance  the  efforts  of  those  who  might  be  again  induced  to  take 
up  arms.  The  stars  and  stripes  were  hoisted  over  the  conquered 
stronghold,  thus  symbolizing  the  nation's  majesty  in  the  presence 
of  her  erring  and  rebellious  children. 

Only  three  days  after  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  as  the  immediate 
result  of  the  victory,  Port  Hudson  surrendered  to  the  besieging 
force  under  Banks.  The  campaigns  for  the  opening  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  were  now  at  an  end.  To  Illinois  far  more  than  to  any 
other  State,  the  nation  is  indebted  for  this  successful  termination. 
Her  representatives  in  the  long  list  of  bloody  battles  and  brilliant 
victories  were  the  8th,llth,  13th,  14th,  17th,20th,23d,25th,28th,29th, 
30th,  31st,  32d.  33d,  35th,  38th,  41st,  45th,  46th,  47th,  48th,  51st, 
53d,  55th, 57th, 63d,  72d,  75th,  76th,  77th,  81st,  93d,  95th,  97th,  99th, 
108th,  113th,  114th,  116th,  118th,  120th,  124th,  126th,  127th  and 
131st  regiments  of  infantry,  Willard's  Peoria  and  the  Chicago  and 
Mercantile  battery,  the  6th,  7th  and  portions  of  the  23d,  15th  and 
Thiel mail's  cavalry. 

Step  by  step  they  had  hewed  their  way  toward  the  gulf,  strong 
hold  after  stronghold  had  fallen  beneath  their  stalwart  blows,  and 
now  the  last  fetter  which  treason  had  forged  to  bind  the  Father  of 
Waters,  was  riven  asunder.  No  victory  of  the  war  was  so  decisive 
in  its  results  as  the  capture  of  Vicksburg.  It  has  been  truthfully 
said  that  the  possession  of  the  Mississippi  valley  is  the  possession 
of  America.  Had  the  Richmond  government  been  able  to  maintain 
the  power  it  set  up  in  the  lower  part  of  the  great  valley,  the  upper 
portion  would  have  gravitated  into  the  confederacy  as  naturally  as 
its  waters  fall  into  the  gulf.  Furthermore  the  river  not  only  served 
as  a  means  of  defense  but  was  the  dividing  line  between  two  great 
sections  of  the  revolted  territory.  That  lying  on  the  west,  although 
less  important  than  th'e  Atlantic  region,  was  nevertheless  the 
vast  storehouse  whence  supplies  had  been  drawn  for  the  support 
of  the  armies  in  Virginia  and  Tennessee.  Now  isolated  Texas 
could  no  longer  contribute  her  vast  herds  of  cattle,  Arkansas 
her  serials  and  Louisiana  her  sugar.  With  a  fleet  of  federal  gun 
boats  patrolling  the  river,  concert  in  the  military  operations  of  the 
severed  States  was  impossible,  and  in  those  of  the  west  the  war 
was  virtually  at  an  end. 

To  the  material  effects  of  the  blow  the  moral  must  be  added  to 
fully  appreciate  the  extent  of  the  damage  sustained  by  the  con 
federacy.  The  surprise  and  consternation  consequent  upon  the 
Mississippi  disaster  fell  like  a  thunderbolt  from  a  clear  sky  on  the 
people  of  the  south.  The  spirit  of  their  high  vaulting  chivalry 
was  broken,  and  gloomy  doubts  brooded  in  the  minds  of  many  as 
to  the  possibility  of  ever  realizing  the  success  of  their  cause.  The 
confederate  authorities  were  early  convinced  of  the  importance  of 
the  Mississippi.  At  the  time  Grant  commenced  his  descent  against 
Vicksburg,  Jefferson  Davis  harangued  the  people  of  Jackson  on 
the  necessity  of  preserving  the  Mississippi,  as  the  great  artery  of 
the  country  and  the  only  means  of  securing  the  perpetuity  of  the 
new  government.  Pollard  in  referring  to  its  loss,  says:  < 'It  com 
pelled  as  its  necessary  consequence,  the  surrender  of  other  posts 
on  the  Mississippi  and  cut  the  confederacy  in  twain.  Its  defense 
had  worked  exposure  and  weakness  in  other  quarters.  It  had 
about  stripped  Charleston  of  troops  j  it  had  taken  many  thousand 


824  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

of  men  from  Bragg's  army,  and  it  had  made  such,  requisition  on 
his  force  for  the  newly  organized  lines  in  Mississippi  that  he  was 
compelled  or  induced,  wisely  or  unwisely,  to  fall  back  from  Talla 
hassee,  Tullalioma  to  give  up  the  country  on  the  Memphis  and 
Charleston  railroad  and  probably  to  abandon  the  defences  of  Mid 
dle  Tennessee." 

Brigadier-General  John  A.  Logan,  whose  deeds  and  fame 
are  so  inseparable  blended  with  the  opening  of  the  Mississippi, 
was  born  at  Mnrfreesboro,  Jackson  county,  February  9th, 
1826.  In  common  with  others,  at  that  early  day  in  Illinois, 
his  educational  privileges  were  limited.  Natural  ability,  however, 
triumphed  over  all  obstacles,  and  he  early  become  noted  for  the 
proficiency  of  his  attainments.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Mexican 
war  he  entered  as  a  lieutenant  in  the  1st  regiment  of  Illinois  vol 
unteers,  and  vali en tly  fought  with  his  comrades  till  they  returned 
home.  Resuming  the  duties  of  civil  life,  he  commenced  the  study 
of  law  in  the  office  of  his  uncle  A.  M.  Jenkins,  formerly  lieuten 
ant-governor  of  the  State.  On  the  completion  of  his  studies  he 
rapidly  rose  in  his  profession  and  obtained  a  wide-spread  popularity. 
In  1852  he  was  elected  prosecuting  attorney  of  the  3d  judicial  dis 
trict.  In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  he  was  chosen  to  represent  the 
counties  of  Franklin  and  Jackson  in  the  legislature,  and  was  re- 
elected  in  1856.  After  the  expiration  of  his  last  term  in  the  legis 
lature  he  was  twice  elected  to  congress,  and  while  still  a  member 
in  1861,  he  returned  home,  and  upon  the  organization,  of  the  31st 
Illinois,  was  chosen  its  colonel.  Of  his  subsequent  operations  in 
the  war  we  have  already  spoken.  From  the  iron  fibre  of  his  com 
position  and  his  deeds  of  fiery  valor,  he  has  been  styled  the  Murat 
of  Illinois  bravery 


CHAPTER  LXIL 
1863— ILLINOIS  IX  THE  CHATTANOOGA  CAMPAIGN. 

Battles  ofChicama  uya —  WauhacMe — Lookout    Mountain   and    Mis 
sion  Ridye — Relief  of  Knoxville. 


After  the  battle  of  Murfreesboro  several  months  were  spent  by 
Kosecrans  in  recruiting  his  army,  procuring  supplies  and  opening 
up  lines  of  communication  to  again  advance  on  Bragg.  Rigid 
discipline  was  enjoined  and  no  effort  spared  to  create  in  the 
minds  of  his  men  a  proper  appreciation  of  the  work  before 
them. 

While  these  preparations  were  going  on  a  number  of  minor  en 
gagements  occurred  in  Middle  Tennessee,  in  which  Illinois  troops 
were  prominent  actors.  On  the  3d  of  February,  1863,  Forrest 
made  a  determined  attack  to  recapture  Fort  Douelson,  garrisoned 
by  the  83d  Illinois,  but  was  repulsed.  March  20th  the  8th,  80th 
and  123d  Illinois  and  some  other  troops  under  Col.  Hall  had  a  se 
vere  encounter  with  Morgan's  cavalry  near  Milton,  and  the  latter 
were  forced  to  retreat.  Again  on  the  20th  of  April  the  24th,  80th, 
98th  and  123d  Illinois,  assisted  by  a  force  of  cavalry,  overtook  a 
body  of  rebels  at  Woodbury  and  drove  them  from  the  town. 

At  length,  the  Washington  authorities,  believing  that  Bragg's 
army  had  been  weakened  to  strengthen  that  of  Lee's,  insisted  ou 
a  forward  movement.  The  rebel  commander,  after  his  defeat,  re 
tired  to  Tullahoma  and  Shelbyville,  making  Duck  Eiver  his  line 
of  defense.  His  position  in  the  towns  was  strongly  fortilied,  while 
the  occupation  of  the  roads  leading  south,  as  well  as  the  natural 
features  of  the  country  gave  him  additional  security  in  case  of 
an  attack.  Eosecrans  determined  to  neutralize  these  advantages 
by  a  flank  movement  on  the  left  and  compel  him  either  to  retreat 
or  light  outside  of  his  fortifications.  Accordingly  on  the  24th  of 
June  the  Union  army  set  out  from  Murfreesboro,  Thomas'  corps 
in  the  centre,  McCook's  on  the  right  and  Crittendeii's  on  the  left. 
By  a  feint  on  Shelbyville  with  a  portion  of  his  army,  he  deceived 
the  enemy,  causing  him  to  uncover  Liberty,  Hoover's  and  other 
principal  gaps  in  the  Cumberland  Mountains  through  which  the 
main  advance  was  to  be  made.  After  hard  fighting  these  were 
possessed  by  the  national  troops,  the  enemy's  position  at  Shelby 
ville  flanked  and  Bragg  compelled  to  evacuate  his  works  and  es 
cape  to  Tullahoma.  Dispositions  were  immediately  made  to  get 
in  his  rear  and  destroy  his  communications  at  the  latter  place,  but 
he  immediately  abandoned  it  and  retired  in  the  direction  of  Chat 
tanooga,  pressed  as  far  as  practicable  by  the  Union  troops.  Thus  in 
a  campaign  of  nine  days,  during  which  the  roads  were  rendered 

825 


826  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

nearly  impassable  by  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  ram  storms 
ever  kiiown  in  the  country,  the  enemy  was  driven  from  his  en 
trenched  position  and  Middle  Tennessee  relieved  from,  rebel  domi 
nation.  Also  in  the  various  reneountres  which  occurred,  there 
were  captured  1,634  prisoners,  six  pieces  of  artillery  and  a  large 
amount  of  stores. 

The  next  step  in  following  up  the  enemy  was  Chattanooga,  the 
approaches  to  Avhich  were  strong  by  nature  and  rendered  more  so 
by  art.  Eosecrans  having  put  the  railroad  in  operation  to  Ste 
venson  for  the  transportation  of  supplies,  commenced  crossing  the 
Cumberland  Mountains,  whose  towering  masses  of  rock  lay  be 
tween  him  and  the  stronghold  he  wished  to  subdue.  Availing 
himself  of  the  mountain  passes  previously  captured,  he  reached 
the  Tennessee  and,  descending  it,  prepared  to  cross  in  the  vicinity 
of  Chattanooga.  The  city  being  impregnable  to  a  direct  attack, 
Eoseerans  decided  to  flank  it  on  the  west  and  south,  and  either 
force  Bragg  to  evacuate  it  or  suffer  isolation  from  his  base  of  sup 
plies.  With  the  exception  of  Hazen's  division  the  enemy  crossed 
the  river  below  the  city  and  commenced  moving  into  Lookout  val 
ley.  This,  with  the  parallel  valleys  of  ChattaiioogaandChicamauga, 
extends  southward  from  the  Tennessee,  which,  at  this  point,  runs 
in  a  westerly  direction.  Creeks  bearing  the  names  and  coursing 
through  each  valley  fall  into  the  river,  the  two  most  western  be 
low  the  city  and  the  one  farthest  east  above  it.  Separating 
the  waters  of  the  creeks  are  Lookout  Mountain  and  Mission  Eidge, 
the  former  abutting  on  the  river  opposite  Chattanooga  and  the 
latter  a  short  distance  above. 

Hazen  was  instructed  to  watch  the  fords  and  make  Bragg  be 
lieve  that  the  main  body  of  the  national  troops  was  still  on  the 
north  Jbank  of  the  river.  His  force,  although  numbering  only  7,000 
men,  was  accordingly  so  dispersed;  the  heads  of  columns  and 
camp-fires  could  be  seen  simultaneously  at  the  fords  along  the 
river  a  distance  of  70  miles.  So  adroitly  was  the  ruse  managed 
that  McCook's  corps  had  advanced  up  the  valley  45  miles,  and 
Thomas'  13,  while  Crittenden  was  on  the  river  only  8  miles  from 
Chattanooga  before  it  was  discovered  by  Bragg.  He  was  now  in 
a  quandary.  He  could  easily  maintain  himself  against  any  as 
sault  of  his  adversary  within  his  fortifications,  but  how  long  could 
he  defy  starvation  when  the  investing  army  had  cut  off  his  sup 
plies.  If  he  attempted  to  defend  both  Chattanooga  and  his  com 
munications  his  army  would  be  divided  and  easily  beaten  in 
detail,  and,  it'  he  abandoned  the  city,  it  would  provoke  a  clamor, 
amon  g  th e  peopl e  of  th e  South  eagerly  watchi n  g  his  movements.  The 
last  expedient  was,  however,  chosen  as  the  least  of  three  evils,  and 
abandoning  the  city  and  its  well  constructed  fortifications,  he 
moved  his  army  up  Chicamauga  valley  in  the  direction  of  Lafa 
yette. 

Crittenden  having  taken  possession  of  the  town  without  oppo 
sition,  was  ordered  to  leave  a  brigade  as  a  garrison,  and  with  the 
remainder  of  his  corps  pursue  the  retiring  army  up  the  valley. 
Eosecrans,  believing  that  Bragg  was  in  full  retreat,  and  that  his 
chief  object  should  be  to  intercept  him,  McCook  and  Thomas  were 
ordered  through  the  passes  of  Lookout  and  Mission  mountains  to 
get  in  advance  of  him  on  the  south.  In  making  this  disposition 
of  his  forces,  like  many  other  good  generals  before  him,  he  was 


THE  WAR  OF   THE  REBELLION.  827 

deceived.  Bragg*  was  not  retreating,  but  concentrating,  in  the  vi 
cinity  of  Lafayette,  the  most  numerous  army  that  had  ever  fought 
under  rebel  standards  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  Buckner  had 
been  summoned  from  Knoxville,  Johnson  had  been  drawn  upon 
for  one  of  his  strongest  divisions,  and  Lee,  satisfied  that  Kich- 
mond  Avas  not  in  danger,  dispatched  Long-street's  heavy  corps  of 
veterans  from  the  Kapidan.  Ere  this  was  known  Crittenden, 
deflecting  easterly,  had  collided  with  a  portion  of  his  force  in  the 
vicinity  of  Ringgold.  Thomas  had  developed  it  near  Lafayette, 
and  MeCook  had  completely  turned  his  position  on  the  south. 

In  this  ^detached  condition  of  the  Union  corps  a  rare  opportu 
nity  was  offered  Bragg  to  crush  them  in  detail.  All  it  required 
was  to  fall  on  Thomas  with  such  a  force  as  to  overwhelm  him, 
then  turn  down  Chicainauga  valley,  and  throwing  himself  between 
the  city  and  Crittenden  crush  him,  and  finally,  turning  up  Lookout 
valley,  intercept  and  capture  McCook.  Failing  to  immediately 
avail  himself  of  his  advantages  our  generals  discovered  their  mis 
take  and  rapidly  commenced  concentrating  to  avoid  its  conse 
quences.  Thomas  at  once  pushed  down  the  valley  to  within  sup 
porting  distance  of  Crittenden,  while  McCook,  whose  isolation 
was  greater,  marched  back  into  Lookout  Yalley  and  descending 
it.  recrossed  the  mountains  at  Stephen's  Gap.  By  this  zig-zag 
course  he  effected  a  junction  wiih  the  other  corps  and  eluded 
Bragg,  who  had  posted  a  heavy  force  to  intercept  him  in  the 
direct  route  down  the  Chicainauga.  In  the  meantime  affairs  on 
the  Chicainauga  had  assumed  an  alarming  aspect.  Bragg  had  re 
ceived  reinforcements,  and,  endeavoring  to  get  bet  ween  his  antago 
nists,  and  Chatanooga,  a  race  commenced  between  their  respective 
armies  on  opposite  sides  of  the  creek  in  thedirection  of  the  city.  This 
movement  evinced  a  determination  on  the  part  of  Bragg  to  turn  our 
left,  and  Thomas  was  ordered  to  that  end  of  the  line,  leaving 
Crittenden's  and  McCook's  on  the  right.  Its  7  divisions,  Wood's 
Tan  Cleves',  Palmer's,  Reynold's,  Johnson's,  Baird's  and  Bran- 
nan's,  now  concentrated,  extended  down  the  west  bank  of  the 
Chicainauga  in  the  order  mentioned,  some  12  miles  southward  of 
Chattanooga.  Xegley's,  Davis'  and  Sheridan's  were  yet  several 
miles  south  of  the  main  force,  and  Granger's  at  Rossville,  but 
after  the  commencement  of  the  battle,  they  came  up  and  partici 
pated,  swelling  the  entire  force  to  some  55,000. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  19th  of  September,  1863,  clouds  of 
dust  were  seen  hanging  over  the  road  beyond  the  creek,  caused  by 
the  heavy  columns  of  the  enemy  moving  in  the  direction  of  Chatta 
nooga.  At  10  o'clock  the  loud  explosion  of  artillery  on  the  ex 
treme  left  signalled  the  commencement  of  battle,  and  Thomas, 
riding  forward  to  ascertain  the  nature  of  the  attack,  found  Bran- 
uan's  division  hard  pressed.  To  his  surprise,  also,  the  enemy  had 
crossed  the  creek,  and  all  the  advantages  which  it  afforded  as  a 
means  of  defense  was  lost.  The  impetuosity  of  the  assault  came 
near  sweeping  his  entire  corps  from  the  field  before  it  could  be 
rallied  and  reinforced.  When  at  length  this  was  effected,  its 
sturdy  regulars,  stung  by  the  disaster  they  had  sustained,  and 
catching  the  resolution  of  their  commander,  threw  themselves 
with  irresistable  force  against  their  assailants.  Even  Long-street's 
veterans  strove  in  vain  to  check  the  advance,  and  were  swept  back 
the  distance  of  a  mile,  and  all  the  lost  ground  recovered — the 


828  IIISTOTir    OF    ILLINOIS. 


charge  which  struck  the  left,  extended  toward  the  right,  causing 
that  end  of  the  line  to  sway  backward  and  forward  according  to 
the  varying  success  of  the  combatants.  At  the  centre  such  was 
the  violence  of  the  assault  that  Davis,  who  had  come  into  the 
fight,  was  thrown  to  the  right  and  Van  Cleve  to  the  left, 
and  the  rebels  pouring  into  the  gap  the  battle  seemed  to  be 
lost.  At  this  juncture  Hazen  massed  some  20  pieces  of 
artillery  at  the  threatened  point  and  discharging  a  cross 
fire  of  grape  and  canister  into  the  charging  columns, 
forced  them  back.  On  the  extreme  right  no  very  serious  demon 
strations  were  made  till  the  afternoon,  when  several  rebel  brig 
ades  charged  on  one  of  our  batteries  and  captured  3  of  its  guns. 
These  were  afterward  retaken  and  the  assault  at  this  end  of  the 
line  in  the  end  proved  a  failure.  At  different  times  during  the 
day  victory  was  almost  within  the  grasp  of  the  enemy,  but  when 
night  ended  the  conflict,  the  two  armies  stood  face  to  face  on 
ground  that  offered  little  advantage  to  either. 

During  the  night,  Longstreet  with  additional  veterans  from  the 
army  of  Virginia,  reinforced  Bragg,  swelling  his  army  to  70.000, 
and  giving  him  an  excess  over  Kosecrans,  of  15,000.  The  latter 
made  some  slight  changes  in  the  disposition  of  his  divisions  to 
strenghten  the  left,  against  which  it  was  expected  the  rebels  would 
next  hurl  their  greatly  preponderating  forces.  With  these  prepa 
rations  the  troops  rested  in  the  bleak  September  air  of  the  moun 
tain  region  on  the  ground  where  they  had  so  persistently  fought. 

At  daybreak  the  armies  were  drawn  np  for  battle,  but  a  dense 
fog  filling  the  valley  and  rendering  objects  invisible,  it  did  not 
commence  till  near  8  o'clock.  The  time  was  improved  by  further 
strengtening  Thomas,  Avhose  force  now  constituted  about  half  of 
the  entire  army.  Rude  breastworks  were  also  thrown  up  on  his 
front,  which  afforded  great  protection  in  the  subsequent  battle. 
As  soon  as  the  fog  disappeared  the  rebel  squadrons  moved  up  in 
an  overwhelming  charge.  Thomas  received  the  brunt  of  the  on- 
slnught.  Bragg  was  again  endeavoring  to  interpose  his  army 
between  that  of  Rosecrans  and  Chattanooga,  which  the  preceding 
day  he  had  failed  to  effect.  For  a  time  the  battle  raged  with 
frightful  carnage  and  varying  success.  The  rebels,  however,  when 
repulsed,  continued  to  swarm  up  with  fresh  troops  and  augmented 
numbers,  and  at  length  threw  themselves  with  such  momentum  on 
Thomas  as  to  force  him  back.  A  new  position  was,  however, 
taken  and  all  further  attempts  to  turn  his  flank  and  get  into  Chatta 
nooga  proved  abortive. 

The  right,  in  the  meantime,  had  suffered  irreparable  disaster. 
Negley's  and  Van  Cleves'  divisions,  having  been  ordered  to  the 
support  of  Thomas,  opened  a  gap  which  the  division  commanders 
on  the  right  were  ordered  to  close,  but  owing  to  a  misunderstand 
ing  in  regard  to  the  movement  and  the  consequent  delay,  Long- 
street  threw  Hood's  command  into  the  breach.  The  result  was 
fatal.  Davis'  division  moving  up  for  the  same  purpose,  was  struck 
and  severed  by  the  blow  which  smote  it.  Palmer  and  Van  Cleve 
on  the  opposite  side,  shared  a  similar  fate,  and  soon  the  whole 
right  wing  crumbled  into  fragments,  was  sent  in  impotent  dis 
order  in  the  direction  of  Chattanooga.  llosecrans,with  other  promi 
nent  officers  was  swept  along  by  the  tide,  juid  on  arriving  in  the  city 
he  commenced  preparations  to  defend  the  place  and  save  thu  1'rng- 


THE   WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  829 

ments  of  the  army,  for  it  seemed  to  be  utterly  routed  and  at  the 
mercy  of  the  enemy.  The  result,  though  sufficiently  bad,  did  not 
prove  in  the  end  so  disastrous  as  was  supposed. 

Thomas,  subsequently  styled  the  rock  of  Chicamauga,  gathering 
his  bleeding  forces  and  massing  his  guns  in  a  semi-circle  on  the 
side  of  Mission  liidge,  stood  like  a  wall  of  adamant  between  the 
routed  divisions  and  the  enemy.  Squadron  after  squadron  at 
tempted  to  breast  the  terrific  fire  of  his  artillery  but  were  melted 
away  like  frost  work  in  the  blaze  of  the  morning  sun.  Four  of 
the  9  divisions  of  the  army  had  been  swept  entirely  away,  and 
with  the  remnants  of  the  remainder  he  kept  the  entire  rebel  army 
at  bay.  About  4  o'clock  a  new  peril  threatened  him.  The  enemy 
pressing  him  in  front  and  on  both  flanks,  discovered  a  gorge  on 
the  right  crossing  the  ridge  on  which  he  was  posted,  and  com 
menced  streaming  through  it  to  get  in  his  rear.  The  danger  was 
seen,  but  he  could  not  spare  a  single  man  to  avert  it.  In  a  few 
minutes  he  would  be  surrounded  by  a  shouting  foe  and  com 
pelled  either  to  surrender  or  be  cut  to  pieces.  Fortunately,  at  the 
very  moment  on  which  hung  the  fate  of  his  army,  Granger  came 
up  and  offered  the  necessary  assistance. 

Posted  at  Kossville,  and  hearing  the  continuous  thunder  of  bat 
tle  in  the  direction  of  Thomas,  he  waited  impatiently — anxiously  for 
orders  to  join  the  conflict.  As  the  tumult  swelled  and  deepened, 
though  contrary  to  orders,  he  was  unable  to  resist  its  loud  appeal 
for  help,  and  started  where  his  intuitions  told  him  assistance  was 
needed.  On  arriving  he  reported  himself  to  Thomas,  and  was  at 
once  ordered  to  the  point  of  danger.  His  troops,  in  which  was  the 
115th  Illinoi8,al though  new  recruits,  comprehending  the  momentous 
issues  at  stake,  were  soon  breast  to  breast  with  the  veterans  of 
Elindmau,  now  pouring  through  the  gap  and  triumphantly 
shouting.  In  20  minutes  the  gorge  was  carried  and  Thomas  was 
saved,  but  1,000  of  our  brave  men  had  been  killed  and  wounded 
in  the  charge.  Long-street,  the  rebel  Achilles  of  the  battle,  deter 
mined  to  retake  it,  and  repeatedly  charged  up  to  the  very  muzzles 
of  our  guns,  double-shotted  with  grape  and  canister.  '  Finding 
at  length  this  point  impregnable,  Bragg  determined  to  improve 
the  remainder  of  the  day  in  a  final  assault  on  the  front  and  left. 
The  national  troops,  having  exhausted  their  ammunition,  waited 
iii  the  gathering  gloom  of  twilight  with  fixed  bayonets,  to  receive 
them.  When  within  striking  distance,  they  precipitated  them 
selves  on  the  enemy  with  such  vigor  as  not  only  to  rout  him  but 
capture  some  200  prisoners. 

Kosecrans,  having  informed  Thomas  to  use  his  own  judgement 
as  to  the  propriety  of  longer  holding  his  position,  he  concluded  to 
fall  back  to  Kossville — the  want  of  ammunition,  food,  and  water 
being  the  principal  inducements  for  the  change.  After  reaching 
this  place  a  new  line  Avas  formed  and  the  advance  of  the  enemy 
awaited.  Although  hovering  near,  he  had  been  too  severely  pun 
ished  to  renew  the  attack,  and  on  the  night  of  the  21st  Thomas 
fell  back  to  Chattanooga.  Eosecrans  estimated  his  losses  in 
the  bloody  conflict  at  3(>  pieces  of  artillery  and  16,000  men  and 
claimed  the  capture  of  2,000  prisoners.  Bragg  admitted  a  loss  of 
18,000  men  and  claimed  the  capture  of  51  guns  and  8,000  prison 
ers.  He  also  vauntingly  announced  a  great  victory,  yet  he  evi 
dently  either  lacked  the  ability  or  the  courage  to  improve  it. 


830  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

Thomas  offered  him  battle  the  next  day,  and  although  outnum 
bering  the  federals  two  to  one,  he  declined  it.  Furthermore,  if 
Bragg  had  gained  a  victory  its  fruits  were  confined  to  the  battle 
field,  while  Bosecrans  had  secured  Chattanooga,  the  strategic 
object  of  the  campaign.  The  key  to  the  mountain  system 
extending  to  the  heart  of  the  confederacy,  it  also  served  as  an 
impregnable  bastion  to  command  the  rebel  lines  of  communica 
tion  which  traversed  its  rugged  passes. 

Says  Pollard :  "  Eosecrans  still  held  the  prize  of  Chattanooga 
and  with  it  the  possession  of  East  Tennessee.  Two-thirds  of  our 
nitre  beds  were  in  that  region  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  coal 
which  supplied  our  founderies.  It  abounded  in  the  necessaries  of 
lite.  It  was  one  of  the  strongest  countries  in  the  world,  so  full  of 
lofty  mountains  that  it  has  been  called,  not  inaptly,  the  Switzer 
land  of  America.  As  the  possession  of  Switzerland  opened  the 
door  for  the  invasion  of  Italy,  Germany  and  France,  so  the  pos 
session  of  East  Tennessee  gave  easy  access  to  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  Georgia  and  Alabama." 

The  representatives  of  Illinois  in  the  bloody  conflict  were  the 
10th,  16th,  19th,  21st,  22d,  24th,  25th,  27th,  34th,  35th,  36th,  38th, 
42d,  44th,  51st,  73d,  74th,  75th.  78th,  79th,  80th,  84th,  85th,  86th, 
88th,  89th,  92d,  98th,  100th,  104th.  110th,  115th,  123d,  125th  and 
127th.  Cols.  Chandler  and  Mihalotzy  and  a  long  list  of  others, 
were  among  the  slain.  The  21st  lost  238,  22d  235,  35th  152.  38th 
18,  51st  90,  and  79th  121. 

The  battle  of  Chicamauga  was  made  the  subject  of  remark  both 
among  rebels  and  Unionists.  Bragg,  by  failing  to  take  advan 
tage  of  the  victory  which  he  so  pompously  claimed,  completed  the 
overthrow  of  his  reputation,  which  had  been  tottering  since  the 
battle  of  Stone  Eiver.  Bosecrans,  suffering  greatly  in  fame,  was 
finally  relieved  of  his  command,  and  Thomas,  whose  superior 
fighting  qualities  had  saved  the  army  from  destruction,  was 
placed  in  his  stead. 

To  secure  greater  unity  of  design  and  co-operation,  and  thereby 
greater  efficiency,  the  separate  armies  operating  in  the  region  of 
Chattanooga  were  placed  under  the  command  of  Grant.  He  im 
mediately  telegraphed  Thomas  to  hold  Chattanooga  at  all  haz 
ards,  and  received  in  reply  assurances  that  starvation  was  the 
only  contingency  that  could  lead  to  its  abandonment.  Had  he 
been  forced  to  relinquish  it,  a  11  its  possession  had  cost  would  have 
been  thrown  away,  and  the  struggle  for  ascendancy  in  the  valley 
of  the  Mississippi  again  to  re-enact.  To  prevent  such  a  disaster 
Grant  immediately  commenced  preparations  to  forward  supplies 
and  reinforcements.  On  the  22d  day  of  September,  Sherman, 
then  on  Big  Black  river,  was  notified  by  a  dispatch  to  send  over 
one  of  his  divisions,  and  the  next  day  Osterhaus  was  steaming  up 
the  Mississippi  on  the  way  to  Chattanooga.  Four  days  after,  in 
accordance  with  further  instructions,  Sherman  and  his  entire  corps 
embarked  in  steamboats  and  started  for  the  same  place.  At  Mem 
phis  he  commenced  the  repair  of  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  E. 
B.,  with  the  design  of  using  it  for  the  conveyance  of  his  supplies 
as  he  advanced.  While  vigorously  engaged  in  pushing  forward 
this  enterprise  directly  in  the  face  of  the  enemy,  he  was  ordered 
to  abandon  it  and  proceed  directly  forward  to  effect  a  junction 
with  the  other  forces  at  Chattanooga. 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  831 

The  partial  reverse  at  Ohieamanga  also  induced  Halleck  to  de 
tach  two  divisions  from  the  army  of  the  Potomac  and  send  them 
under  Hooker  to  operate  in  the  same  field.  Grant  himself  arrived 
on  tire  23d  of  October,  and  seeing-  the  precarious  condition  of 
supplies,  instituted  measures  to  place  them  beyond  the  reach  of 
future  contingencies.  Both  troops  and  animals  were  already 
suffering"  for  the  want  of  provisions  which  had  been  brought  in 
wagons  over  the  numerous  mountain  ridges  separating  Chatta 
nooga  fro  in  Middle  Tennessee.  Bragg,  aware  that  he  could  neither 
flank  nor  carry  by  storm  the  stronghold  which  he  had  so  recently 
lost,  was  eudeavoriu  g  to  get  possession  of  the  river  and  the  railroads 
leading  to  it  with  the  intention  of  starving  our  army  out  of  it. 

For  the  two-fold  purpose  of  obtaining  relief  and  facilitating  the 
operations  of  Hooker,  who  was  approaching  the  city  by  way  of 
Lookout  valley,  Grant  determined  to  seize  the  heights  on  the 
west  side  where  it  connects  with  the  Tennessee.  Alter  a  recon- 
noisance,  1,500  picked  troops  under  Hazen  were  sent  in  pontoons 
down  the  river  to  Brown's  ferry  adjacent  the  heights,  while  a  co 
operating  force  of  2.500  secretely  followed  on  the  north  bank  of 
the  river.  The  pontoons  carrying  the  advance  party  noiselessly 
floated  down  the  stream  to  the  point  chosen  for  debarkation. 
Here  a  picket  alarm  aroused  the  neighboring  camps  of  the  enemy 
and  Hazen's  men  jumped  quickly  ashore  and  formed  to  repel  an 
attack.  The  former,  wholly  taken  by  surprise,  after  a  feeble  re 
sistance  retreated  up  the  valley,  and  the  spurs  on  the  east  side  of 
it  were  seized  and  fortified.  The  pontoons  Avere  next  employed 
to  pass  over  the  force  on  the  opposite  side,  and  at  daylight  the 
heights,  which  gave  Grant  the  key  to  Bragg's  position,  were  made 
impregnable.  Daring  the  day  Hooker  came  down  the  valley, 
and  having  dispersed  the  rebel  forces  on  the  river  below,  it  was 
opened  to  navigation  and  all  fears  of  starvation  removed.  A 
bridge  was  thrown  across  the  river  opposite,  and  should  Bragg 
mass  his  forces  either  against  Hooker  or  Chattanooga,  we  now 
had  the  shorter  line  of  concentration. 

Battle  of  Wauliatcliie. — The  rebels,  alarmed  at  the  demonstra 
tions  in  Lookout  valley,  determined,  on  the  night  of  the  28th  of 
October,  to  interpose  a  counteracting  movement.  Bragg,  unable 
to  cope  with  Hooker's  entire  corps,  made  an  assault  on  Geary's 
division  encamped  at  Wauhatchie,  the  point  where  he  had  effect 
ed  an  entrance  into  Lookout  valley.  About  midnight  they  rushed 
forward  with  loud  yells  and  great  impetuosity,  but  found  their 
antagonists  wide  awake  and  ready  to  receive  them  with  a  fire 
tierce  and  deadlier  than  their  own.  Hooker,  hearing  the  report 
of  guns,  and  anxious  for  the  safety  of  Geary,  immediately  sent 
forward  Schurz's  division  of  Howard's  corps  to  his  aid.  As  the 
force  rapidly  marched  forward  in  the  moonlight  they  were  sud 
denly  and  unexpectedly  fired  upon  by  2,000  rebels  posted  on  an 
adjoining  hill.  One  of  brigades  moved  on  to  the  assistance  of 
Geary  while  the  other  halted  to  charge  the  heights.  The  latter, 
immediately  scaling  the  steep  acclivity  with  fixed  bayonets. clear 
ed  the  rifle  pits  on  its  summit.  In  the  meantime  the  wild  hills 
which  girt  Geary  about  were  ablaze  with  flashes  of  musketry  and 
exploding  shells.  Although  several  times  nearly  overwhelmed, 


832  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

he  clung  to  his  position  and  at  length  forced  his  assailants  back 
and  compelled  them  to  seek  refuge  in  their  works  on  Lookout 
Mountain. 

The  101st  Illinois  was  among  the  heroes  of  the  battle,  and  ma 
terially  aided  in  the  enemy's  overthrow. 

Battle  of  Lookout  Mountain. — Bragg,  weakened  by  detaching 
Long-street's  corps  to  operate  against  Burnside  at  Kuoxville,  now 
concluded  to  remain  in  his  trenches  and  act  on  the  defensive.  His 
position  stretched  across  the  valley  of  Chattanooga,  and  high  on 
the  western  and  northern  slopes  of  Lookout  and  Mission  fiidge 
was  one  of  great  natural  strength.  The  valley  here  is  narrow  and 
was  so  enfiladed  by  batteries  planted  on  the  sides  of  the  ad 
jacent  mountains  as  to  render  it  wholly  impregnable  to  a  direct 
assault.  Hooker,  holding  the  valley  of  Lookout,  confronted  the 
enemy  on  the  adjacent  mountain.  Thomas  occupied  a  central  po 
sition  in  the  valley  of  Chattanooga  in  the  front  of  the  city,  and 
Sherman  was  ordered  to  seize  the  northern  extremity  of  Mission 
Ridge.  With  the  15th  army  corps  he  moved  from  Bridgeport  and 
on  entering  Lookout  valley,  dispatched  E wing's  division  up  it  to 
threaten  Bragg's  extreme  left  and  thus  divert  attention  from 
his  right,  where  he  was  ordered  to  operate.  With  the  remainder  of 
his  force  he  crossed  the  bridge  at  Brawn's  ferry,  and,  proceeding 
unobserved  along  the  north  bank  of  the  river,  he  recrossed  it 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Chicainauga  and  seized  the  position  assign 
ed  him  before  the  rebels  had  time  to  interpose  any  serious  oppo 
sition.  Ewing's  division  was  now  ordered  back  to  rejoin  Slier- 
man,  but  the  bridge  having  given  away,  he  returned  and  fought 
under  Hooker. 

The*latter  in  the  meantime  climbing  the  precipitous  steeps  of 
Lookout,  had  planted  his  veteran  standards  high  on  its  cloud- 
capped  summit.  To  favor  Sherman's  movement  he  had  been  di 
rected  to  threaten  the  enemy.  With  this  object  in  view,  on  the 
morning  of  the  24th  his  forces  were  in  motion,  but  the  rain  of  the 
previous  days  had  swollen  Lookout  creek  and  swept  away  the 
pontoons  prepared  for  crossing  it.  While  rebuilding  the  bridge 
Geary  was  ordered  to  move  up  the  valley  and  cross  at  a  more 
available  point.  Favored  by  a  heavy  mist  the  force  unobserved 
crossed  the  creek  and  secured  a  lodgment  on  its  western  bank. 
By  11  o'clock  the  bridge  was  completed,  and  the  force  augmented 
to  some  9,000  men,  swept  down  between  the  creek  and  the  moun 
tain,  carried  the  rifle-pits  at  its  base  and  captured  a  large  number 
of  prisoners.  Next  commenced  the  fearful  ascent  of  the  moun 
tain,  our  men  enthusiastically  climbing  over  splintered  crests  and 
yawning  chasms,  directly  under  the  muzzles  of  the  enemy's  bat 
teries.  Soon  the  flashes  and  thunderpeals  resembling  the  crash 
of  heaven's  artillery,  announced  the  storm  of  war  raging  in  the 
clouds  above.  When  the  dense  masses  of  fog  that  had  become 
banked  against  the  side  of  the  mountain  rolled  away,  and  the  splen 
did  pageantry  of  battle  burst  on  the  vision  of  the  thousands  who  had 
been  shrouded  in  the  mist-clouded  valleys  below,  charging 
squadrons,  shouting  multitudes  and  clashing  arms  appeared  high 
above  them,  as  if  the  gods,  ha\7ing  espoused  the  cause  of  the  con 
tending  armies  were  warring  to  decide  their  fate.  Our  columns, 
flushed  by  success,  in  the  face  of  a  plunging  fire  of  heavy  ordnance, 


THE  ^AB  OF  THE  REBELLION.  833 


rushed  on  the  foe  capturing  many  prisoners  and  hurling  the  re 
mainder  of  his  forces  down  the  pricipitous  eastern  declivity  of 
the  mountain.  The  entire  army  with  almost  painful  excitement 
having  witnessed  the  sublime  scene,  responded  with  loud  acclaim 
to  the  shout  which  rose  from  the  conquering  columns,  till  the  wild 
mountain  gorges  became  vocal  with  the  echoes  and  seemed  to  par 
take  of  the  rejoicing. 

The  Illinois  regiments  in  and  otherwise  connected  with  the  bat 
tle  were  the  12th,  34th,  35th,  59th,  60th,  73d,  75th,  101st  and  115th. 

Battle  of  Mission  Ridge. — Sherman,  after  having  gained  a  foot 
hold  on  Mission  Eidge,  improved  the  succeeding  night  in  fortify 
ing  his  position,  and  was  ready  on  the  morning  of  the  25th  to  move 
against  the  enemy.  The  ridge  he  occupied  was  not  continuous 
but  a  succession  of  eminences.  A  deep  gap  lay  between  him  and 
the  elevation  on  which  the  enemy  was  posted,  and  should  he  get 
possession  of  this,  there  was  still  a  second  higher  and  farther 
back  whose  guns  commanded  it.  At  early  dawn  Gen.  M.  L.  Smith 
was  directed  to  move  along  the  east  base  of  the  ridge,  Col.  Loomis 
the  west  base  and  Gen.  Corse  with  the  40th  Illinois,  supported  by 
the  20th  and  40th  Ohio,  along  the  crest.  The  latter  advanced  to 
within  80  yards  of  the  enemy's  works  where  he  gained  a  second 
ary  crest  and  commenced  an  assault,  but  was  unable  to 
carry  the  works  of  the  rebels,  and  they  unable  to  drive  him 
from  his  position.  Smith  and  Loomis  were  however  gaining 
on  each  flank,  and  Bragg  massing  his  forces  to  protect  the 
most  vulnerable  points  of  his  position,  the  battle  raged  with  con 
stantly  increasing  fury.  From  every  salient  point  and  projecting 
spur,  batteries  flamed  and  thundered,  wrapping  the  combatants  in  a 
cloud  of  smoke.  As  the  day  wore  away  this  fearful  pounding  was 
continued  without  intermission  and  without  eitherbelligerant  gain 
ing  any  decided  advantage.  Grant  meanwhile  had  been  listening  to 
the  stern  work  in  which  his  favorite  lieutenant  was  engaged,  and 
anxiously  waiting  for  the  time  to  come  when  he  could  relieve  him 
by  a  move  on  the  centre.  At  length,  when  Bragg  had  weakened 
this  part  of  his  line  to  support  his  right,  and  Hooker  had  come 
down  from  the  heights  of  Lookout  without  a  co-operating  force, 
Thomas  was  ordered  to  advance. 

That  portion  of  Bragg's  position  which  he  was  now  to  assail  lay 
on  a  bald  rugged  height  of  Mission  Ridge,  800  feet  above  Chatta 
nooga.  A  line  of  rifle  pits  protected  its  base,  while  on  its  summit 
were  batteries  which  had  achieved  fame  in  previous  battles  support 
ed  by  veteran  regiments.  As  soon  as  the  command  was  given 
Wood's,  Baird's  and  Johnson's  divisions  under  Granger,  immedi- 
dkttely  started  rapidly  forward.  So  openly  and  deliberately  was 
the  movement  that  the  enemy  regarded  it  as  a  reviewr,  and  those 
in  the  rifle  pits,  surprised,  fled  precipitately  up  the  mountain  as 
the  assaulting  columns  approached.  The  rebels  greatly  astonished 
at  the  attack  made  at  the  base  of  the  mountain  were  more  so  when 
theybeheld  the  national  troops  climbing  its  precipitous  sides  to  assail 
them  on  its  summit.  Nearly  30  pieces  of  artillery  commenced  hurling 
at  them  grape  and  canister  to  dispute  the  ascentyet  the  works  were 
carried  simultaneously  at  six  different  points.  A  shout  made  known 
the  result,  and  soldiers  clinging  to  steeps  and  spurs  and  deep  in 
the  valley  below,  answered  with  a  loud  response.  Bragg,  seeing 
53 


834  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

all  was  lost,  commenced  withdrawing1,  closely  followed  till  night 
fall,  which  put  an  end  to  further  movements.  The  next  day  the 
pursuit  was  continued  and  the  enemy  overtaken  in  a  gap  of  the 
mountains  near  Ringgold.  Here  he  made  a  stubborn  resistance 
but  was  finally  forced  from  his  strong  position,  the  13th  Illinois 
bearing  an  honorable  part  in  the  fight. 

The  Illinois  regiments  in  the  magnificent  charges  of  Mission 
Ridge  and  the  co-operative  struggles,  were  the  12th,  the  19th,  22d, 
2Gth,  27th,  35th,  42d,  44th,  48th,^olst,  50th,  63d,  73d,  79th,  80th, 
84th,  86th,  88th,  89th,  93d,  104th  and  115th.  The  26th  lost  101 
men,  the42d,  45  and  the  51st,  30.  They  were  first  in  Sherman's 
and  first  in  Thomas7  advance,  and  first  to  surmount  the  battery 
crowned  crests  of  the  ridge. 

Considering  Bragg's  almost  impregnable  position  on  the  sum 
mits  of  the  mountains  and  the  daring  and  skillful  generalship  used 
in  wresting  it  from  his  grasp,  the  battles  in  the  vicinity  of  Chatta 
nooga  must  be  regarded  among  the  most  remarkable  on  record. 
Though  outnumbered  toward  the  close  of  the  campaign,  the  lofty 
eyry  in  which  he  had  perched  his  forces  gave  him  decidedly  the 
advantage.  Failing  to  hold  it  the  passes  which  it  overlooked  and 
commanded  now  became  salient  points  for  the  farther  advance 
of  the  national  armies,  and  Chattanooga  became  henceforth  as  ser 
viceable  in  the  cause  of  the  Union  as  it  had  hitherto  been  defiant 
to  loyalty.  The  Union  loss  in  the  series  of  engagements,  termi 
nating  in  this  auspicious  result,  was  reported  5,600 ;  that  of  the 
enemy  in  killed  and  wounded  at  2,500  ;  prisoners  6,000  j  artillery 
40  guns. 

Siege  and  Eelief  of  Knoxville. — The  sequence  of  the  campaign 
was  the  relief  of  Burnside  at  Knoxville.  While  in  command  of 
the  department  of  the  Ohio  before  it  had  been  merged  into  that  of 
the  Mississippi  and  Grant  assumed  command,  Burn  side  under 
took  an  expedition  into  East  Tennessee  to  relieve  the  loyal  inhabi 
tants.  The  people  of  this  region  had  been  devotedly  attached  to  the 
Union  and  as  a  consequence  had  suffered  terribly  from  conscription 
persecution  and  spoliation.  The  dungeon,  bullet  and  halter,  used  to 
crush  out  their  loyalty,had  only  served  to  intensify  it,  and  Burnside 
was  welcomed  among  them  with  every  expression  of  de 
light.  He  immediately  took  possession  of  Knoxville,  and  shortly 
after  the  battle  of  Chicamauga  Longstreet  was  sent  with  an  army 
of  20,000  to  crush  him  before  he  could  be  reinforced. 

After  severe  fighting  the  city  was  closely  environed  and  prepa 
rations  made  to  carry  it  by  storm.  The  garrison,  consisting  in 
part  of  the  65th  and  112th  Illinois,  entertained  no  doubt  of  their 
ability  to  defend  themselves,  but  their  supplies  were  nearly  ex 
hausted  and  the  danger  of  starvation  compelling  a  surrender  was 
iminent.  Messengers  had  informed  Grant  of  their  destitution 
and  as  soon  as  the  fate  of  Chattanooga  was  decided  Granger  was 
ordered  to  Knoxville  with  a  relieving  force.  Grant,  however, 
on  finding  his  command  inadequate,  substituted  Sherman's, 
containing  the  27th,  44th,  48th,  60th  and  80th  Illinois,  although  it 
was  imposing  a  severe  task  on  his  brave  but  exhausted  men. 
Leaving  their  surplus  clothing  behind  to  augment  their  speed, 
they  had  marched  by  laud  from  Memphis,  fought  their  way 
through  the  battles  of  Chattanooga,  and  now,  without  a  moment's 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  835 

respite,  and  without  suitable  apparal  for  the  altered  tem 
perature  of  the  advanced  season — without  a  word  of  complaint 
they  cheerfully  set  out  the  night  after  the  order  was  issued,  and  by 
morning  they  had  made  15  miles,  and  at  night  of  the  succeeding  day 
26  more,  though  the  rebels  had  delayed  their  advance  by  burning 
bridges  and  otherwise  interposing  obstacles. 

Longstreet  had  entertained  hopes  that  starvation  would  induce 
Burnside  to  surrender,  but  after  hearing  of  Bragg's  defeat  and 
that  a  relieving  force  was  coming,  determined,  on  the  29th  of  Ko- 
vember,  to  carry  the  place  by  storm.  A  storming  column  accord 
ingly  made  its  appearance,  and  for  hours  a  deadly  struggle  ensued. 
More  than  1,000  in  killed  and  wounded  was  the  cost  of  the  assault, 
but  the  fort  was  not  taken.  Sherman,  fearing  the  garrison  might 
despair  of  success,  when  his  army  was  within  40  miles  of  the  be- 
leagured  place,  sent  forward  a  brigade  of  his  fleetest  cavalry  to 
announce  his  coining.  The  clatter  of  their  hoofs  were  heard  on 
the  night  of  the  3d  of  December,  and  the  beseiged  army  with  in 
expressible  delight  received  the  welcome  intelligence.  The  march 
was  continued  till  the  night  of  the  5th,  when  news  was  received 
that  Lougstreet  had  raised  the  seige  and  retreated  into  Virginia. 
Sherman  immediately  halted  the  army,  and  after  personally  visit 
ing  Knoxville  and  having  an  interview  with  Burnside,  returned 
with  it  to  Chattanooga. 


CHAPTER  LXIII. 

1864— ILLINOIS    IN    THE    ATLANTA    AND    NASHVILLE 

CAMPAIGNS. 

Battles  of  Rocky  Face  Mountain,  Resaca,  Neiv  Hope  Church,  Peach 
Tree  Creek,  Atlanta,  Jonesboro\  Alatoona,  Spring  Hill,  Franklin 
and  Nashville. 


Grant,  the  former  colonel  of  the  21st  Illinois,  had  now  fully 
won  the  confidence  of  the  people,  and  congress  reviving  the  grade 
of  lieutenant-general  on  the  2d  of  March,  18G4,  he  was  commis 
sioned  as  the  generalissimo  of  the  nation's  armies.  For  a  long 
time  there  had  existed  a  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  in  regard  to  the 
want  of  concert  in  the  movements  of  the  armies  in  the  east  and 
west.  It  was  too  frequently  the  case  when  a  success  occurred  in 
one  part  of  the  field  the  enemy  was  permitted  to  send  a  relieving 
force  from  another,  and  thus  neutralize  the  effect  of  victory. 
Whether  this  was  the  fault  of  Halleck  or  not,  public  opinion  re 
quired  a  new  head  for  the  army,  and  Grant  whose  fitness  was 
wisely  estimated  by  his  past  successes,  was  raised  to  the  high  po 
sition  which  only  Washington  before  him  had  filled. 

If  the  task  before  him  was  not  more  difficult  than  that  of  his 
predecessor,  the  field  of  his  operations  was  far  more  extensive. 
"Never  before  had  one  commander  surveyed  such  a  vast  field  of 
operations  and  looked  over  such  a  mighty  array  subject  to  his  sin 
gle  control.  From  the  Potomac  to  the  liio  Grande,  for  5,000  nrNes 
arose  the  smoke  of  camp  fires,  and  the  shouts  of  embattled  hosts, 
evoking  his  leadership.  To  aid  him  in  the  gigantic  task  before  him 
600  vessels  lined  the  rivers  and  darkened  coasts  for  2,500  miles, 
while  4,000  guns  lay  ready  to  send  their  stern  summons  into  rebel 
defenses.* 

As  a  consequence  of  Grant's  promotion,  Sherman  was 
placed  in  command  of  the  department  of  the  Mississippi,  com 
prising  the  armies  of  the  Cumberland,  Tennessee  and  Ohio.  The 
army  of  the  Cumberland,  consisting  of  the  4th,  14th  and  20th 
corps,  was  commanded  by  Thomas;  the  4th  corps  by  Howard;  and 
its  divisions  by  Stanley,  Newton  and  Wood,  the  14th  by  Palmer, 
and  its  divisions  by  Davis,  Johnson  and  Baired;  the  20th  corps 
by  Hooker,  and  its  divisions  by  Williams  and  Butterlield. 
The  army  of  the  Tennessee,  consisting  of  the  15th  corps  and  por 
tions  of  the  16th  and  17th,  was  under  McPherson ;  the  15th  corps 
was  under  Logan  audits  division  sunder  M.  L.  Smith,  J.  E.  Smith, 

•*  Headle  . 

836 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  837 

Osterhaus  and  Harrow ;  the  16th  corps  under  Dodge  and  its  divis 
ions  under  liansom,  Corse  and  Sweeney;  the  17th  corps  under 
Blair,  and  its  divisions  under  C.  R.  Woods  and  Legget.  The  army 
of  the  Ohio  was  under  the  leadership  of  Schofield. 

The  cavalry  consisted  of  Kilpatrick's  and  Garrards7  divisions  of 
the  army  of  the  Cumberland,  E.  McCook's  brigade  of  the  army  of 
the  Tennessee  and  McCook's  division  of  the  army  of  the  Ohio. 

Sherman,  the  central  figure  of  the  drama  now  about  to  be 
enacted  in  Georgia,  had  by  great  energy  and  skillful  generalship 
acquired  a  prestige  of  great  value  and  assistance  in  playing  the 
difficult  role  that  fell  to  his  lot.  He  had  won  high  scholastic  hon 
ors  in  the  military  curriculum  of  West  Point.  As  the  commander 
of  a  brigade  at  Bull  Euii  he  exhibited  noticeable  soldierly  skill  j 
at  Shiloh,  as  the  head  of  a  raw  division,  both  Grant  and  Halleck 
declared  that  they  were  indebted  to  him  for  the  success  of  the 
battle;  and  finally,  in  the  well  earned  plaudits  as  the  commander 
of  a  corps  in  the  recent  battle  of  Chattanooga,  other  laurels 
were  won  and  his  present  promotion  secured.  His  principal  sub 
ordinate  officers  were  men  of  repute,  generals  whom  the  stern 
ordeal  of  war  had  tried  and  proved  tc  possess  a  high  order  of  mil 
itary  talent. 

Grant,  before  repairing  to  his  new  field  of  labor,  had  a  long  in 
terview  with  Sherman,  in  whicli  the  plans  of  the  campaigns  it  was 
proposed  to  institute  against  Kichniond  and  Atlanta  were  fully 
discussed.  It  was  decfded  to  simultaneously  move  from  the  Kapi- 
dan  and  Tennessee,  with  two  great  armies  southward,  and  so  vig 
orously  press  the  confederate  forces  both  east  and  west  that  re 
lieving  parties  could  not  be  sent  from  one  department  to  another. 
It  was  also  settled  that  the  campaigns  should  commence  about 
the  first  of  May,  and  Sherman  accordingly  set  out  from  his  winter 
quarters  around  Chattanooga,  with  an  army  of  near  100,000  men 
and  254  guns. 

Johnson,  who  assumed  command  after  Bragg's  ill-starred  cam 
paign,  confronted  him  with  an  army  of  some  60,000  men,  consist 
ing  of  3  corps  under  Polk,  Hardee,  and  Hood.  To  compensate 
for  his  want  of  numbers  he  had  selected  and  fortified  his  position, 
and  the  national  army,  as  it  folio wed^  him  into  Georgia,  was  forced 
to  keep  open  a  long  line  of  communications,  whicli  greatly  re 
duced  the  number  of  men  available  for  the  field.  His  army  lay 
at  Dalton,  so  strongly  fortified  that  an  attack  in  front  was  impos 
sible.  Barring  his  approaches  in  this  direction  was  Eocky  Face 
Mountain,  here  cloven  by  Mill  Creek,  on  the  banks  of  which  the 
railroad  found  a  passage  to  the  town.  This  narrow  defile,  the  only 
gateway  to  the  rebel  position,  was  artificially  flooded  and  swept  by 
artillery  placed  on  its  rocky  apaulments,  while  inaccessible  spurs, 
frowning  with  batteries  protected  his  flanks. 

Battle  of  Rocky  Face  Mountain. — Sherman  now  commenced  that 
series  of  movements  which  won  for  him  the  appellation  of  the  "Great 
thinker,"  and  by  which  lie  proposed  to  turn  Johnson's  craggy  cita 
del  andcornpef  him  to  fight  outside  of  its  impregnable  fastnesses. 
Resaca  is  situated  18  miles  farther  southward  on  the  railroad,  and 
for  this  purpose  McPherson  was  sent  on  a  westward  detour 
through  Shi})  and  Snake  Gaps  to  cut  off  the  confederate  commu 
nications  at  that  point.  To  cover  this  movement  Thomas  entered 


838  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

the  Mill  Creek  Gap,  and  on  the  8th  and  9th  of  May,  1864,  made  a 
bold  push  for  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  the  42d,  44th,  51st, 
59th,  79th,  88th,  89th  and  107th  Illinois,  fighting  with  great  deter- 
mination,  but  without  dislodging  the  enemy.  His  attention  was, 
however,  diverted  from  McPherson,  who  unmolested  arrived  within 
a  few  miles  of  Resaca. 

Battle  of  Eesaca. — A  reconnoisance,  however,  showed  that  the 
town  was  too  strong  to  be  carried,  Johnson  having  provided  for 
such  contingency  by  sending  thither  troops  at  the  first  intimation 
of  danger.  It  was  designed  not  only  to  make  the  enemy  retreat 
southward  by  getting  on  his  base  of  supplies,  but  to  have  Mc 
Pherson  strike  him  on  the  flank  and  the  rest  of  the  army  in  the 
rear  after  he  had  been  dislodged  from  his  position.  McPherson 
being  unable  to  accomplish  his  part  of  the  programme,  all  the  re 
maining  forces,  with  the  exception  of  Howard's  corps,  which  was 
left  to  watch  Dalton,  were  sent  to  his  aid,  and  Johnson,  seeing  his 
position  was  no  longer  tenable,  suddenly  evacuated  it  and  fell 
back  to  liesaca.  Sherman  finding*  him  strongly  fortified,  deter 
mined  to  institute  another  flank  movement,  and  turn  him  out  of  it. 
For  this  purpose  on  the  14th  he  pontoon ed  the  Ostenaula,  which 
crosses  the  railroad  south  of  Eesaca,  and  on  the  15th  Sweeney's 
division  and  a  force  of  cavalry  were  sent  to  break  the  railroad  be 
hind  Calhoun  and  Kingston.  Simultaneously,  McPherson's, 
Thomas'  and  SchofiekFs  forces  assaulted  the  right  and  centre  of 
the  rebel  line.  The  former  driving  Polk  from  his  position,  planted 
his  artillery  on  commanding  heights,  and  swept  the  confederate 
bridge  over  the  river,  while  Sweeney,  unmolested,  crossed  farther 
down  the  stream.  The  crossing  of  the  stream,^as  is  usually  the 
case  in  exposed  situations,  was  attended  with  a  number  of  bril 
liant  incidents.  As  Dodge's  corps  moved  up  to  Lay's  ferry  a 
heavy  fire  was  opened  upon  them  from  the  opposite  bank  to  pre 
vent  its  crossing.  Six  companies  of  the  60th  Illinois  and  81st 
Ohio  were  sent  across  in  pontoons  to  dislodge  them,  during  which 
a  storm  of  bullets  was  encountered,  toppling  many  of  them  over 
into  the  water,  and  ruefully  singing  their  requiems  as  they  disap 
peared  beneath  the  waves.  Undaunted  by  the  loss  of  their  com 
rades,  they  gained  the  shore,  and  charging  up  the  bank,  soon 
drove  the  enemy  from  his  position.  The  next  day  and  succeeding 
night  the  fight  was  renewed.  Hooker,  driving  the  enemy  from 
several  points,  captured  4  of  his  guns  and  a  large  number  of  pris 
oners.  A  short  time  after  midnight  the  enemy  gave  way  and  re 
treated  across  the  Ostenaula,  leaving  Resaca  the  prize  of  the  in 
vading  army.  In  the  several  engagements  our  loss  amounted  to 
some  5,600,  that  of  the  confederates  being  much  less,  as  they 
fought  behind  breastworks. 

The  Illinois  regiments  present  were  the  27th,  42d,  44th,  48th, 
51st,  52d,  59th,  60th,  64th,  75th,  80th,  84th,  86th,  88th,  89th,  92d, 
98th,  101st,  102d,  104th,  105th,'  107th,  lllth,  112th,  115th  and 
127th.  Outnumbering  the  troops  of  any  other  single  State,  the 
victory  was  largely  an  Illinois  triumph.  On  one  occasion  our  men 
had  been  ordered  back,  which  evoked  exultant  shouts  from  the 
enemy,  wlio  supposed  we  were  repulsed.  The  color-bearer  of  the 
127th  Illinois,  becoming  exasperated,  and,  regardless  of  danger, 
returned  to  an  embrasure  and  defiantly  flaunted  his  standard  in 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  839 

the  face  of  the  astonished  enemy.  His  life  was  the  foreit  of  his  te 
merity,  for  he  and  others  after  him  who  attempted  to  take  up  the 
colors  were  shot. 

Battle  of  New  Hope  Church. — The  main  body  of  the  army  now 
moved  after  the  retreating  enemy,  while  Davis'  division,  following' 
the  Osteuaula  to  Koine,  captured  8  heavy  pieces  of  artillery  and 
destroyed  rolling  mills  and  foundries  of  great  value  to  the  enemy. 
At  Adairsville  and  Kingston,  Johnson  held  strong  positions,  but, 
after  a  sharp  brush  with  the  pursuing  army,  in  which  the  42d, 
44th.  59th,  SOth,  84th  and  88th  Illinois  became  engaged,  he  aban 
doned  them  and  occupied  Altoona,  a  place  strong  by  nature  and 
more  so  by  art.  By  Johnson's  last  movement,  the  valley  of  the 
Etowah  was  abandoned  to  Sherman,  who  now  began  to  think  it 
was  the  intention  of  his  adversary  to  draw  the  Union  army  far 
into  the  interior  before  risking  a  general  engagement.  He  never 
theless  accepted  the  issue,  and  determined  to  make  another  at 
tempt  to  draw  him  out  of  his  entrenchments  for  the  purpose  of 
fighting  him  on  open  ground.  Accordingly,  with  supplies  for  20 
days,  on  the  20th  of  May,  he  set  out  with  the  army  on  a  westward 
detour  to  Dallas,  intending,  after  arriving  thither,  to  seize  and  de 
stroy  the  railroad  west  of  the  town.  Johnson  quickly  divined 
the  object  of  the  movement,  and  Hooker,  in  our  van,  encountered 
a  stubborn  resistance  at  New  Hope  church,  in  the  vicinity  of  Dal 
las.  Altoona  had  been  evacuated  and  the  rebel  army  was  stretch 
ed  from  Dallas  to  Marietta  on  the  railroad,  the  rugged  character 
of  the  ground  occupied  giving  it  every  facility  for  opposition  and  de 
fensive  operations.  Sherman,  pushing  up  his  forces  toward  the 
enemy's  entrenchments,  brought  on  heavy  skirmishing,  which,  on 
the 29th,  culminated  in  a  fierce  assault  on  Johnson's  position,  the 
assailants  suffering  heavy  loss  and  gaining  no  permanent  advan 
tage, 

The  next  day  the  rebels  made  an  assault  on  McPhersou,  occu 
pying  the  Union  right.  Our  men  were  sheltered  by  earthworks, 
up  to  which  the  rebels  advanced  in  one  of  those  overwhelming 
charges  for  which  they  were  distinguished,  and,  with  a  shout 
which  rose  above  their  crashing  volleys.  The  federals  reserved 
their  fire  till  the  surging  masses  came  within  deadly  range,  when 
they  opened  with  such  destructive  effect  that  the  storming  party 
was  compelled  to  retire.  Again  and  again  they  rallied  and  march 
ed  up  almost  to  the  muzzles  of  our  guns,  refusing  to  desist  till  the 
ground  on  which  they  fought  was  covered  with  heaps  of  dead 
and  dying.  In  the  terrible  onslaught  the  former  colonel  of  the 
52d  Illinois,  now  styled  Bull  Dog  Sweeney,  on  account  of  his  stub 
born  fighting  qualities,  with  his  division  twice  received  the  rebels 
and  sent  them  in  disorderly  masses  from  the  field.  The  Illinois 
regiments  engaged  at  New  Hope  church  and  its  vicinity.  Mere  the 
42d,  44th.  48th,  51st,  52d,  59th,  60th,  64th,  79th,  80th,  84th, 
86th,  88th,  101st,  104th,  105th  and  lllth. 

Battle  of  Kennesaw  Mountain. — After  this  death  grapple,  sev 
eral  days  were  spent  in  skirmishing,  when  Sherman  again  deter 
mined  to  turn  the  position  of  the  enemy.  He  therefore  gradually 
moved  his  forces  in  the  direction  of  the  railroad  and  Johnson, 
closely  watching  him,  led  his  troops  to  Marietta,  whence  he  fell 


840  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

back  to  Kennesaw  mountain.  This  towering  height,  and  its  al 
most  equally  formidable  neighbors,  Pine  and  Lost  mountains,  now 
loomed  up  before  the  pursuing  army,  dark  with  panoplied  hosts 
and  their  inaccessible  spurs  frowning  with  batteries.  Sherman, 
after  reconnoitering  the  new  situation  of  the  enemy,  commenced 
forcing  a  passage  between  Pine  and  Kennesaw,  which  caused  him 
to  concentrate  on  the  latter  so  as  to  cover  Marietta  and  the  rail 
road.  In  effecting  these  changes,  the  fighting  was  desultory,  but 
severe,  the  rebels  from  their  high  position  being  able  to  minute 
ly  scrutinize  the  movements  of  our  men  and  pour  down  upon  their 
heads  a  pelting  rain  of  iron.* 

Johnson,  seeing  the  Union  army  gradually  approaching  his  posi 
tion,  on  the  22d  of  June,  ordered  Hood  to  make  an  assault  on 
Hooker's  corps,  which  had  moved  to  an  advanced  position.  The 
onset  was  fierce  and  determined  but  repulsed  with  heavy  loss  to 
the  enemy  in  killed,  wounded  and  prisoners.  Sherman  now  de 
termined  to  deal  a  counter  blow,  and,  on  the  27th,  after  a  heavy 
cannonade,  Thomas  and  McPherson,  at  different  points,  moved 
simultaneously  up  to  the  rebel  works.  Soon  the  mountain,  volca 
no-like,  became  wrapped  in  fire  and  shook  from  base  to  summit 
under  the  incessant  peals  of  heavy  guns.  Our  men  fought  with 
unparalleled  devotion,  and  portions  of  Newton's  and  Wood's  divi 
sions  succeeded  in  capturing  the  first  line  of  rebel  works,  but 
the  side  of  the  mountain  above  them  was  abrupt  and  inaccessi 
ble,  and  they  were  compelled  to  return. 

The  entire  loss  of  the  army  in  the  fatal  charge  was  3,000.  A 
large  part  of  this  fell  on  the  Illinois  troops,  as  might  be  expected 
from  the  long  list  of  regiments.  The  12th,  27th,  31st,  32d,  35th, 
38th,  42d,  44th,  48th,  5ist,  52d,  55th,  59th,  6()th,  C4th,  C5th,  79th, 
80th,  84th}  8Gth,  88th,  89th,  101st,  104th,  107th  and  lllth,  were 
in  the  hottest  part  of  the  engagement  and  correspondingly  suf 
fered. 

This  was  Sherman's  first  defeat  and  perhaps  the  greatest  mis 
take  of  the  campaign.  He  had  so  frequently  outflanked  the  ene 
my  that  an  idea  prevailed,  both  among  his  own  and  the  rebel 
officers,  that  he  would  not  make  an  assault,  and  he  says  lie  or 
dered  the  attack  partly  for  the  moral  effect.  The  best  method  of 
procedure  in  every  case  is  to  secure  victory  with  the  least  expen 
diture  of  life,  and,  therefore,  his  pretext  hardly  seems  satisfactory. 
Besides,  in  this  instance,  the  chances  of  success  Avere  in  favor  of 
the  enemy,  and  the  assault  proving  unsuccessful,  the  moral  effect 
was  in  his  favor  also. 

After  the  bloody  repulse  he  buried  his  dead  and  again  resorted 
to  flanking,  which,  as  the  result  shows,  should  have  been  tried  in 
the  first  place.  McPherson  was  sent  on  the  right  toward  the 
Ohattahoochie,  and  Johnson,  as  soon  as  he  became  aware  of  the 
movement,  departed  from  his  fortified  heights,  and  also  hurried  to 
the  river.  Sherman  pushed  after  him  with  the  hope  of  striking  a 

*While  thus  making1  observations,  Gen.  Polk,  the  Episcopal  bishop  of  Louisiana,  was 
struck  by  a3-inchball  from  our  g-uns,  and  instantly  killed.  In  company  with  John 
son  and  Hardee,  the  group  was  discovered  on  its  lofty  lookout,  and,  at  the  in 
stance  of  Sherman,  a  gun  was  turned  upon  it  and  fired.  The  missile  passed  directly 
over  the  party,  which  caused  them  to  dismount  and  retire  to  a  place  of  safety.  Polk, 
however,  refusing1  to  remain  under  cover,  returned,  and  a  second  shot  directed  with 
unerring- aim,  struck  and  tore  his  body  into  fragments.  Our-  men  having  discovered 
the  meaning  of  the  signals  employed  by  the  enemy  by  reading  the  dispatches  sent 
along  his  lines,  learned  soon  afterwards  that  he  had  been  killed. 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  841 

fatal  blow  when  he  attempted  to  cross,  but  the  wary  confederate 
had  provided  for  this  contingency  by  seizing  and  fortifying-  a  po 
sition  on  its  banks.  This  was  held  till  the  passage  of  the  men  was 
effected  when  he  retired  into  his  works  around  Atlanta,  where  he 
was  destined  to  meet  his  final  overthrow. 

Battle  of  Peach  Tree  Creek. — The  Chatahoochie  here  is  a  large 
stream  running  in  a  southwesterly  direction  and  near  where  the 
railroad  crosses  it,  receives  the  waters  of  Peach  Tree  creek,  a  deep 
tributary  falling  into  it  from  the  west.  Within  the  angle  formed 
by  the  streams  and  8  miles  distant  from  each,  Atlanta,  the  prin 
cipal  objective  point,  is  situated.  The  rebels,  taking  advantage 
of  the  peculiar  conformation  of  the  streams,  had  arranged  their 
lines  of  defense  with  a  view  of  disputing  the  passage  of  these  nat 
ural  barriers  whicli  lay  between  them  and  the  national  army.  To 
surmount  this  difficulty  was  the  problem  which  Sherman  had  to 
solve.  With  his  army  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  below  the 
mouth  of  Peach  Tree  creek,  he  could  easily  approach  the  city  on 
the  south  and  west  where  it  was  comparatively  defenseless,  but 
to  cross  it  in  the  face  of  a  powerful  foe,  and  risk  a  battle  with 
it  in  his  immediate  rear,  was  a  dangerous  undertaking.  Another 
plan  was  to  cross  the  river  above  the  mouth  of  Peach  Tree  creek, 
where  little  opposition  would  be  encountered,  and  then  turning 
southward,  risk  the  contingencies  of  crossing  the  smaller  stream. 
The  latter  alternative  was  adopted  as  the  least  difficult,  but,  du 
ring  its  execution,  Johnson  was  relieved  of  his  command. 

This  was  only  one  of  the  many  acts  of  stupendous  folly  which 
characterized  the  Richmond  authorities  during  the  latter  days  of 
the  confederacy  and  materially  hastened  its  downfall.  He  had 
skillfully  used  the  advantages  of  defense  offered  by  the  rugged 
mountain  passes  through  which  he  had  been  driven ;  yet,  because 
he  had  failed  to  annihilate  his  adversary,  who  exceeded  him  in 
numbers,  the  rebel  president  was  displeased  and  superseded  him. 
Says  Pollard :  "  He  lost  10,000  men  in  killed  and  wounded,  and 
4,700  more  from  other  causes,  a  fact  which  proves  his  men  never 
failed  to  meet  the  invading  army  whenever  an  opportunity  offered 
to  strike  a  damaging  blow."  The  fiery  and  impetuous  Hood  was 
placed  in -his  stead,  and,  commencing  a  furious  offensive  warfare, 
and  remorselessly  slaughtered  his  men  when  there  was  little  pros 
pect  of  success.  Hood,  in  taking  command  of  the  rebel  army,  found 
it,  inconsequence  of  reinforcements,  some  5,000  stronger  than  at 
the  commencement  of  the  campaign,  while  that  of  his  adversary 
had  also  been  kept  up  to  the  original  standard,  and,  flushed  with 
triumph,  was  better  prepared  than  at  first  to  grapple  with  the 
foe. 

As  the  army  was  developing  a  line  along  Peach  Tree  creek, 
Thomas  on  the  right,  Scbofield  in  the  centre,  and  McPherson  on 
the  left,  Hood,  on  the  20th,  massed  his  forces  and  endeavored  to 
penetrate  a  gap  between  Thomas  and  Schofield  which  Sherman 
was  trying  to  fill.  The  assault,  although  as  sudden  as  a  thunder 
clap,  was  received  by  Palmer's,  Hooker's  and  Howard's  corps, 
with  such  determined  resistance  that  defeat  was  impossible.  ."Mus 
ketry  and  artillery  mowed  them  down  by  hundreds,  yet,  with  a  de 
votion  worthy  of  a  better  cause,  they  continued  to  crowd  up  in  the 
wasting  fire  which  no  amount  of  blood  was  able  to  quench.  The 


842  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

great  sacrifice  did  riot  avail,  for,  after  a  five-hours'  battle  and  tlie 
loss  of  5,000  men,  they  were  driven  back  to  their  entrenchments. 

Battles  of  Atlanta. — The  main  army  now  closed  in  on  the  fated 
city,  in  the  form  of  a  semi-circle  of  two  miles  radius,  and  Hood  de 
termined  to  strike  another  offensive  blow  to  extricate  himself 
from  its  toils.  Moving  up  on  the  extreme  left,  the  most  vulnera 
ble  part  of  our  line,  he  massed  his  forces  for  an  assault.  McPher- 
son,  in  command  of  this  wing,  had  made  a  wide  circuit  byway  of 
Deca  tur,  and  it  was  Hood's  intention  to  fall  on  and  crush  him  be 
fore  he  could  properly  get  in  position.  Accordingly,  on  the  22d 
the  latter  was  impetuously  assaulted,  the  charging  squadrons 
sweeping  along  the  whole  line,  for  a  time  it  seemed  almost  irresist- 
able.  The  first  blow  fell  on  Blair's  corps,  but  soon  that  of  Dodge, 
which,  moving  around  him  in  the  rear  to  form  on  his  left,  became 
involved.  Dodge,  finding  his  right  about  to  be  turned,  ordered  a 
charge  on  the  enemy's  flank  by  the  12th  Illinois  and  81st  Ohio, 
which,  sweeping  up  to  the  foe,  capture*!  two  stand  of  colors  and 
left  the  ground  covered  with  his  dead.  Hardee  had  entered  a 
gap  between  the  two  corps,  when  Sweeney's  division  met  him,  and 
by  stubborn  fighting,  in  which  the  9th  Illinois  bore  a  distinguish 
ed  part,  kept  him  at  bay  till  other  forces  could  arrive  and  assist 
him.  While  Dodge  roughly  handled  the  rebels  and  took  many  of 
them  prisoners,  their  assaults  on  Blair  were  more  successful. 
With  their  customary  daring  they  rushed  up  and  both  armies 
fought  on  opposite  sides  of  the  same  breastworks  on  which  were 
planted  their  respective  standards.  The  orders  of  officers  were 
unheard,  and  each  combatant  rallying  round  his  colors  struck 
such  blows  as  seemed  likely  to  do  the  greatest  execution. 

In  the  meantime  a  heavy  force  of  the  enemy  got  in  our  rear  and 
captured  12  guns.  Sherman  sent  word  to  Logan,  whose  corps  was 
on  Blair's  right,  that  he  must  charge  and  retake  them.  Two  bat 
teries  placed  on  commanding  hills,  were  now  ordered  to  open  upon 
the  enemy,  and  under  cover  of  their  converging  fire,  he  massed 
and  pushed  irresistibly  forward  his  charging  columns.  All  the 
guns  were  retaken  except  two,  which  had  been  carried  from  the 
field,  and  when  night  put  an  end  to  the  contest,  Hood  found  him 
self  again  foiled,  and  his  forces  exhausted. 

The  Illinois  regiments  in  the  two  preceding  battles  were  the 
16th,  26th,  27th,  30th,  31st,  35th,  38th,  42d,  44th,  48th,  51st,  52d, 
53d,  55th,  59th,  60th,  64th,  73d,  74th,  75th,  80th,  84th,  86th,  88th, 
89th.  92d,  101st,  102d,  104th,  105th,  107th,  lllth,  112th,  115th  and 
129th.  In  the  heavy  charging  and  counter  charging  of  the  opposing 
forces  in  the  battle  they  frequently  became  intermingled  in  hand 
to  hand  contests.  On  one  occasion,  Col.  Flyun,  of  the 
129th  Illinois,  met  a  rebel  colonel,  and  while  their  regiments  were 
engaged  in  a  death  grapple  they  had  a  combat  from  behind  trees, 
with  guus,<each  dodging  round  his  covert  so  as  to  give  and  avoid 
shots.  One  of  our  batteries  planted  on  the  Atlanta  road  did  such 
terrible  execution  upon  the  enemy,  a  heavy  column  was  sent  up  to 
capture  it.  The  74th  Illinois,  stationed  on  the  right  of  the  road, 
and  the  88th  on  the  left,  poured  into  the  assaulting  force  such  a 
destructive  fire,  it  was  compelled  to  forego  the  prize,  and  pay 
dearly  for  the  attempt  to  get  it.  One  stand  of  colors  was  cap 
tured  by  the  129th,  two  by  the  105th.  The  104th  distinguished 


THE  WAR  OF  THE   REBELLION.  843 

itself  by  the  determined  stand  it  made  in  an  advanced  position, 
where  the  enemy  first  came  thundering1  down  on  our  lines.  In 
this  stubbornly  contested  battle,  the  rebel  loss  was  18  stand  of 
colors  and  8,000  men.  of  whom  3,000  were  killed  and  1,000  taken 
prisoners.  Our  own  loss  amounted  to  3,000,  of  whom  1,000  were 
made  prisoners. 

Among  the  dead  was  Gen.  McPherson,  who,  at  the  time  he  lost 
his  life,  was  riding  unprotected  in  the  rear.  While  proceeding  in 
fancied  security  he  came  unexpectedly  upon  a  detachment  of 
rebels  who  shot  him,  and  his  steed  escaping  wounded  and  rider 
less  out  of  the  forest,  gave  the  first  intimation  of  his  fate.  He 
was  a  young  man  of  fine  personal  appearance,  of  rare  ability  as 
an  officer,  and  possessed  a  heart  abounding  in  kindness  and  win 
ning  for  him  the  esteem  and  affection  of  all  who  came  near  him. 
It  is  said  Sherman  burst  into  tears  when  he  heard  of  his  death, 
and  the  whole  army  expressed  the  most  intense  sorrow.  By  order 
of  the  president,  Gen.  Howard  assumed  command  of  the  Arm y  of 
the  Tennessee.  Gens.  Hooker  and  Palmer  resigned,  and  their 
respective  places  were  filled  by  Gens.  Stanley  and  Davis. 

With  this  assault  the  direct  operations  on  the  north  and  east 
terminated.  Sherman  determined  to  try  a  flank  movement 
on  the  south  and  west.  To  assist  in  this  movement  Stone- 
man,  with  5,000  cavalry,  was  ordered  to  move  round  the  city  on 
the  left,  and  McCook,  with  4,000  on  the  right,  to  destroy  Hood's 
communications.  The  latter  moved  along  the  west  bank  of  the 
Chattaliooehie,  and  crossing  the  West  Point  railroad,  tore  up  a 
portion  of  the  track,  and  proceeding  thence  to  Fayetteville,  cap 
tured  250  prisoners,  500  wagons  and  800  mules.  Next  Lovejoy,  on 
the  Macon  railroad,  was  visited,  to  form  a  junction  with  Stonenian, 
who  had  arranged  to  meet  him  at  that  place.  The  latter  failing  to 
come,  he  destroyed  part  of  the  road,  after  which,  being  confronted 
by  a  force  of  Mississippi  infantry  on  their  way  to  join  Hood,  he 
was  forced  to  return  with  a  loss  of  500  men.  Stoneman  had 
started  with  the  magnificent  project  of  sweeping  down  the  Macon 
road,  capturing  the  city,  and  then  turning  on  Andersonville  and 
releasing  our  suffering  soldiers  confined  in  its  prison.  Sherman 
gave  his  assent  to  it,  with  the  understanding  that  he  should  meet 
McCook  at  Lovejoy,  and  with  the  united  forces  proceed  to  Ander 
sonville.  Stoneman,  however,  failed  to  comply  with  his  part  of 
the  engagement,  and  as  the  result  he  made  his  appearance  be  fore 
Macon  with  an  inadequate  force,  and  in  attempting  to  retire  he  and 
1,000  of  his  men  were  captured  by  the  cavalry  of  the  enemy. 

The  army  of  the  Tennessee  now  moved  round  the  city  on  the 
riji'ht,  and  Hood,  detecting  the  movement,  prepared  to  risk  another 
offensive  battle.  On  the  28th  his  infantry  poured  in  dense  masses 
from  the  west  side  of  the  city,  and  moved  in  magnificent  style  up 
to  Logan's  corps  on  the  Bell  Ferry  road.  Our  troops  having 
learned  from  experience  Hood's  method  of  warfare,  hurriedly 
made  breastworks,  and  with  comparative  immunity,  as  the  rebels 
came  within  range,  slaughtered  them  by  hundreds,  forcing  them, 
to  retire.  Six  different  times,  however,  they  were  reformed  and 
pushed  up  to  our  works  by  their  infuriated  officers,  and  it  was 
only  when  their  loss  reached  some  5,000  men,  and  the  survivors 
could  no  longer  be  driven  to  the  slaughter,  that  the  battle  ceased. 


844  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Sherman  now  continued  the  movement  of  his  force  on  the  rig-lit, 
with  the  view  of  disabling  the  railroad  on  which  the  city  depended 
for  supplies.  Hood  also  determines  to  make  a  similar  attempt 
against  the  communications  of  the  Union  army.  Wheeler,  in  com 
mand  of  his  cavalry,  was  therefore  sent  northward  and  succeeded 
in  breaking'  the  Chattanooga  railroad  and  capturing  900  beeves,  a 
part  of  our  supplies.  Sherman,  however,  foreseeing  emergencies, 
of  this  kind  had  built  and  garrisoned  blockhouses  for  the  protection 
of  his  bridges.  In  these  he  had  stored  vast  quantities  of  provisions, 
whereby  he  could  subsist  his  army  till  any  ordinary  breakage  in 
his  line  of  communication  could  be  restored.  The  withdrawal  of 
Wheeler,  therefore,  while  it  would  not  be  of  any  serious  conse 
quence  to  Sherman's  supplies,  was  on  the  whole  an  advantage. 
Without  any  effective  opposition,  he  now  sent  his  own  cavalry  to 
operate  on  the  roads  in  Hood's  rear,  while  he  followed  with  the 
rest  of  the  army  to  complete  the  work  of  destruction,  compel  his 
adversary  to  abandon  the  city. 

Battle  ofJonesboro. — Sending  the  sick,  wounded  and  surplus 
stores  to  his  entrenched  position  on  the  Chatahoochie,  and  leaving 
Slocum  with  the  20th  corps  to  guard  them,  the  advance  of  the  re 
mainder  of  the  army  was  continued  in  a  southwesterly  direction. 
Before  Hood  was  apprised  of  the  movement,  the  West  Point  road 
was  destroyed  and  the  army  approached  Jonesboro  to  tear  up  the 
Macon  road.  For  the  want  of  cavalry  Hood  had  sent  one-half  of 
his  army  under  Hardee  to  the  same  place  to  guard  his  communi 
cations,  and  on  the  morning  of  August  31st,  each  army  learning 
the  position  of  the  other,  prepared  for  battle.  Howard  was  on  the 
right,  Schofield  in  the  centre  and  Thomas  on  the  left,  or  nearest 
Atlanta..  Hood  attacked  the  former  with  great  vigor  hoping  to 
overwhelm  him  before  the  others  could  come  to  his  assistance. 
Our  men,  expecting  an  assault,  had  hurriedly  thrown  up  breast 
works,  and,  with  cornpartively  slight  losses,  frightfully  slaughter 
ed  the  charging  columns.  After  two  hours  of  carnage  the  assail 
ants  retired,  having  lost  in  the  attack  2,500  men,  of  whom  400 
were  killed.  Sherman,  hearing  the  din  of  battle  on  his  right, 
pushed  forward  Thomas  and  Schofield  in  the  direction  of  the  con 
flict.  At  4  o'clock  Davis'  corps  came  up  and  at  once  charging  on 
the  enemy's  position,  captured  8  guns  and  inflicted  on  him  a  loss 
of  5.000  men.  Almost  one  en  tire  brigade  was  captured. 

The  Illinois  regiments  in  the  battle  were  the  38th,  42d,  44th, 
48th,  51st,  52d,  55th,  60th,  65th,  79th,  80th,  84th,  86th,  88th,  89th, 
92d.  104th  and  lllth.  Side  by  side  with  their  equally  brave  com 
rades  of  other  States  t<hey  fought  for  the  Union  which,  in  stead  of 
being  disrupted  by  treason,  is  destined  to  expand  by  the  acces 
sion  of  new  States  till  one  language,  the  same  institutions  and  a 
common  government  extend  over  the  whole  continent. 

The  succeeding  night  ominous  sounds  were  heard  in  the  direc 
tion  of  Atlanta,  20  miles  distant,  which  proved  to  be  the  rebel 
magazines  which  Hood  was  blowing  up  preparatory  to  leaving  the 
city.  After  destroying  a  large  amount  of  other  property  by  the 
light  of  1,000  bales  of  cotton  to  which  he  had  applied  the  torch,  he 
led  the  bleeding  remnant  of  his  army  from  the  scenes  of  his  bloody 
a nd  bootless  assaults.  He  was  pursued  the  next  day  a  distance 
of  35  miles,  when  our  army,  greatly  fatigued,  returned  and  occu 
pied  the  stronghold  which  they  had  so  valorously  won. 


THE   WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  845 

The  effect  produced  ou  the  despondent  public  mind  by  the  cam 
paign  now  closed,  was  almost  magical.  When  the  two  great  Union 
armies  started  southward  in  the  early  spring,  it  was  believed  by 
many  the  succeeding  summer  would  witness  the  end  of  the  rebel 
lion. 

But  how  often  are  the  fondest  anticipations  dispelled  by  the 
stern  logic  of  events.  Midsummer  came  and  Virginia,  the  great 
charnel  liouse  of  the  nation's  defenders,  was  again  dug  over  to 
make  graves  for  the  army  which  had  crossed  her  borders.  Before 
summer  was  ended  more  Union  troops  had  perished  than  m  all  the 
previous  campaigns  of  the  war  on  the  same  ill-fated  field. 

As  the  months  wore  away  hope  was  succeeded  by  sober  reflec 
tion  and  finally  by  despair,  when  it  beanie  known  thaf  Lee  had 
destroyed  a  force  equal  to  his  own  army,  and  was  still  defiant. 
In  the  midst  of  this  gloom  and  national  humiliation,  Sherman's 
series  of  victories  was  crowned  by  the  fall  of  Atlanta,  and  the 
shout  which  rose  from  the  sturdy  sons  of  the  West  was  taken  up 
and  prolonged  by  pealing  bells,  booming  cannon  and  the  loud  re 
sponses  of  millions  throughout  the  [North.  A  joy  as  hopeful  as  the 
preceding  despair  had  been  gloomy,  succeeded,  and  never,  after 
the  autumn  of  1864,  was  a  reasonable  doubt  entertained  that  the 
republic  would  not  only  live,  but  maintain  intact  the  integrity  of 
her  wide  domain. 

But  the  material  advantages  must  not  beoverlooked.  Atlanta 
\vas  one  of  the  principal  manufacturing  cities  of  the  South,  from 
whose  rolling  mills,  foundries  and  other  labratories,  had  proceed 
ed  large  supplies  of  munitions  for  the  rebel  armies.  It  was  the 
centre  of  the  great  railway  system,  commencing  in  the  eastern 
and  western  portions  of  the  confederacy,  and  the  heart  of  the 
rich  grain-growing  region  of  Georgia  which  had  contributed  large 
quantities  of  serials  for  the  sustenance  of  Lee's  army.  All  these 
sources  of  supply,  after  the  capture  of  the  city, became  tributary 
to  Sherman's  army.  A  rebel  newspaper,  in  expatiating  upon  the 
consequences,  declared  that  the  fall  of  Richmond  in  a  material 
point  of  view  conld  not  have  been  half  so  disastrous. 

NASHVILLE  CAMPAIGN. — As  the  result  of  Sherman's  inroad  into 
Georgia  and  the  downfall  of  Atlanta,  the  southwest  suddenly  be 
came  the  principle  focus  of  confederate  alarm.  As  soon  as  its 
significance  become  fully  known,  the  Richmond  president  hur 
riedly  made  his  appearance  at  the  scene  of  danger  and  found  the 
defiles  of  the  Alleghanies,  which  he  had  claimed  would  furnish 
citadels  for  a  century's  warfare,  pierced  in  a  single  campaign,  and 
the  stalwart  invader  ready,  by  another  advance,  to  bisect  the  re 
mainder  of  his  domain.  By  frantic  appeals  to  the  desponding  Geor 
gians  he  succeeded  in  reinforcing  Hood,  but  still  being  unable  to 
cope  with  the  federal  army  in  open  field,  he  proposed  to  draw  it 
out  of  Georgia  by  operating  on  its  long  line  of  communications. 
With  this  intent  he  left  his  camp  at  Palmetto,  and  re-crossing  the 
Chatahoochie  on  the  5th  of  October,  18G4,  made  an  assault  on 
Allatoona  for  the  purpose  of  breaking  the  railroad  and  capturing 
Sherman's  supplies.  The  latter,  sending  Thomas  to  guard  against 
demonstrations  north  of  the  Tennessee,  and  leaving  Slocuin  in 
possession  of  Atlanta,  started  after  Hood,  and  came  up  in  time 
to  save  his  supplies. 


846  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

A  fierce  battle  had  been  raging,  in  which  the  little  garrison  lost 
700  men  or  near  a  third  of  its  entire  number.  From  the  Spartan 
valor  with  which  the  39th  Iowa  and  the  7th  and  93d  Illinois  met 
the  enemy,  Gen.  Corse,  their  commander,  was  styled  the  Leonidas 
and  Allatoona  pass  the  Thermopylae  of  the  campaign. 

Hood  next  appeared  before  Resaca,  but  remembering  his  bloody 
reception  at  Allatoona,  he  was  content  after  disabling  the  railroad 
to  leave  without  molesting  the  town.  Sherman,  endeavoring  to 
bring  on  a  general  engagement,  followed  him  as  far  as  Gaylesville 
on  the  Coosa,  when  it  became  evident  that  the  object  of  the  re 
treat  was  to  transfer  £he  war  from  Georgia  to  Tennessee,  and  the 
pursuit  was  abandoned. 

The  national  commander,  accepting  the  issue,  ordered  the  4th 
and  23d  corps,  under  Stanley  and  Schofield,  and  all  the  cavalry, 
except  one  division,  under  Kilpatrick,  to  report  to  Thomas  at 
Nashville,  who  was  now  entrusted  with  the  department  of  the  Ten 
nessee,  with  discretionary  powers  as  to  the  use  of  all  its  available 
military  resources.  Not,  however,  intending  by  this  disposition 
of  his  forces  to  be  deprived  of  the  fruits  of  his  victories  in  the 
previous  campaigns,  he  lead  the  remainder  of  his  command  back 
to  Atlanta  preparatory  to  making  his  grand  march  to  the  sea. 

Hood  approached  the  Tennessee  at  Decatur  and  made  an 
attack  on  it  as  a  feint  to  cover  his  crossing  at  Florence,  farther 
westward.  Schofield  and  Stanley  were  ordered  to  keep  the  field 
and  check  his  advance  as  much  as  possible  till  Thomas  could  con 
centrate  his  forces,  scattered  at  widely  separated  points  of  his  de 
partment.  November  24th  they  encountered  Hood  at  Columbia, 
and  while  Schofield  remained  to  prevent  his  crossing  Duck  river, 
Stanley  followed  our  heavy  trains  to  Spring  Hill,  whither  he  arrived 
just  in  time  to  save  them  from  capture  by  the  rebel  cavalry.  The 
enemy,  in  the  meantime,  effected  a  passage  of  the  river  6  miles 
above  the  town,  and  when  night  fell,  Schofield  started  after  Stan 
ley  and  found  the  rebels  encamped  in  force  at  Spring  Hill,  only 
half  mile  from  his  line  of  retreat.  More  anxious  to  place  Harpeth 
river  between  them  and  our  long  trains  than  to  interfere  with  their 
nocturnal  repose,  he  pushed  on  with  all  possible  dispatch. 

Battle  of  Fraiiklin.— Marching  and  fighting  the  next  day  and 
night,  November  30,  he  halted  on  the  south  side  of  Franklin  for 
his  trains  to  cross  the  Harpeth,  and  get  fairly  on  their  way  to 
Nashville.  The  river  on  the  north  and  east  sides  of  the  village 
forms  a  right  angle,  and  slight  breastworks  thrown  up  on  the  south 
and  west  sides,  formed  a  rude  square,  which  inclosed  and  protected 
the  most  of  the  Union  army.  Works  were  also  thrown  up  on  Car 
ter's  Hill,  a  few  hundred  yards  in  advance  of  the  position  where 
it  is  crossed  by  the  Franklin  and  Columbia  pike.  Hood  in  close 
pursuit,  came  up  the  same  day  at  4  o'clock,  and  with  his  accus 
tomed  impetuosity,  commenced  an  attack.  Expecting  to  crush  our 
little  army  by  sheer  weight  of  numbers,  he  shouted  to  his  men: 
"Break  these,  and  there  is  nothing  to  withstand  you  on  this  side 
of  the  Ohio  river."  So  overwhelming  was  the  onset  that  Wagon 
er's  division,  occupying  Carter's  Hill,  was  swept  back  through  our 
general  line,  and  8  of  his  guns  captured  without  materially  check 
ing  its  progress.  The  exultant  victors  rapidly  formed  on  the  in 
side  of  the  Union  works  to  follow  up  the  advantages  of  their  tri- 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  847 

urapli,  when  Opdyke's  brigade,  of  Wood's  division,  suddenly  moved 
against  them,  their  bayonets  flashing  back  the  rays  of  the  setting 
sun  as  they  were  brought  down  for  a  charge.  A  struggle,  tierce 
and  bloody,  followed,  terminating  in  the  expulsion  of  the  enemy 
from  their  entrenchments,  the  recovery  of  all  our  guns,  the  cap 
ture  of  10  battle-flags  and  300  prisoners.  Hood,  more  exaspera 
ted  than  disconcerted  by  his  reverse,  moved  round  to  the  right  of 
our  line,  and  made  a  number  of  bloody  assaults  to  again  break  it, 
but  without  success.  At  10  o'clock  the  battle  ceased.  Hood 
having  sustained  a  loss  of  702  prisoners,  3,800  wounded,  among 
whom  were  .7  generals,  and  1,750  privates,  and  6  generals  killed. 
The  Union  loss  was  officially  reported  at  189  killed  and  1,014 
wounded,  the  latter  including  Gen.  Stanley,  who  was  temporarilly 
superseded  by  T.  J.  Wood. 

The  severe  blow  inflicted  on  the  enemy  at  Franklin,  assured  his 
defeat  at  Nashville.  To  none,  more  than  the  troops  of  Illinois,  are 
we  indebted  for  this  desirable  result.  The  44th,  73d,  74th  and 
88th.  constituted  a  part  of  Opdyke's  brigade,  which  was  accorded 
the  honor  of  saving  the  battle.  Gen.  Wood,  to  whose  division  it 
"belonged,  accompanied  by  Gen.  Thomas,  sought  out  the  colonel  of 
the  88th  and  thus  addressed  him :  "Col.  Smith  I  desire  to  report  to 
you,  iu  the  presence  of  Gen.  Thomas,  that  which  Gen.  Stanley  said 
to  me  respecting  you  and  the  troops  you  command:  that  with  the 
exception  of  Col.  Opdyke,  commanding  the  brigade  with  whom 
you  share  the  honor,  to  your  special  gallantry  and  exertions,  more 
than  any  other  man,  is  owing  the  repulse  of  the  rebel  columns  and 
the  safety  of  the  army."  The  51st  lost  149  men,  and  the  72d  9 
officers  and  152  men.  The  72d,  having  lost  its  colors,  subsequently 
retook  them  and  captured  2  flags  belonging  to  the  rebels.  The 
other  Illinois  regiments  in  the  engagement  were  the  38th,  42d, 
49th,  59th,  65th,  84th,  89th  and  112th. 

Battle  of  Nashville. — Schofield,  having  saved  his  valuable 
trains  and  dealt  the  enemy  a  fatal  blow,  drew  out  of  his  defenses 
about  midnight,  and  by  noon  the  next  day  was  safe  in  the  shel 
tering  fortifications  of  Nashville.  Hitherto  Hood,  with  a  force 
of  some  40,000  infantry  and  12,000  cavalry,  had  only  to  con 
tend  with  20,000  Unionists,  but  when  he  arrived  at  Nashville  the 
respective  strength  of  the  two  armies  was  reversed.  The  original 
garrison  of  the  city  had  been  reinforced  by  a  portion  of  the  16th 
corps  under  A.  J.  Smith,  Steedman's  division  from  Chattanooga, 
and  now  by  the  accession  of  Schofield's  army,  so  that  when  he  ef 
fected  to  lay  the  place  under  siege,  it  was  evident  that  Thomas 
considerably  outnumbered  him  in  the  way  of  infantry.  The  latter 
was,  however,  greatly  inferior  in  cavalry,  and,  on  this  account, 
deferred  an  engagement  till  additional  forces  could  be  procured 
and  he  should  be  able  to  follow  up  his  advantages  when  he  put  his 
adversary  to  flight.  The  Secretary  of  War  was  immediately  ap 
prised  of  the  fact,  and  Gen.  Wilson,  chief  of  cavalry,  was  ordered 
to  impress  all  the  serviceable  horses  he  could  find  in  Tennessee 
and  Kentucky,  to  supply  the  defficieucy.  Grant,  becoming  ner 
vous  over  the  delay  and  the  displays  of  rebel  audacity  in  the  heart 
of  Tennessee,  left  his  camp  near  Richmond  arid  started  westward 
to  superintend  in  person  the  movements  of  the  national  troops. 
On  reaching  Washington  and  hearing  the  Nashville  reports,  he 


848  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

was  satisfied  that  bis  Tennessee  lieutenant  was  fully  equal  to  the 
emergency  of  his  situation,  and,  like  Sherman  of  Georgia,  did  not 
require  any  supervision. 

The  employes  of  the  commissary,  quartermaster  and  railroad  de 
partments  were  immediately  set  to  work  on  the  fortifications, 
and  soon  two  lines  of  defense,  furnished  with  forts,  redoubts  and 
rifle  pits,  encircled  the  southern  side  of  the  city.  On  the  north 
side  the  Cumberland  was  patrolled  by  a  fleet  of  gun-boats,  which 
served  as  a  defense  to  the  city,  and  to  prevent  Hood  from  throw 
ing  cavalry -across  the  river  to  operate  on  the  national  line  of  com 
munication.  Hood  occupied  a  range  of  hills  some  four  or  five 
miles  from  the  city,  and  evidently  wished  to  completely  invest  it, 
but  the  fleet  prevented  the  consummation  of  his  design.  By  the 
14th  of  December,  the  day  preceding  the  battle,  Thomas'  forces 
were  collected  and  placed  in  position,  Steedman  holding  the  ex 
treme  left,  Wood,  in  command  of  Stanley's  corps,  the  left  centre, 
Smith,  with  the  16th  corps,  the  right  centre,  and  Wilson's  cavalry 
the  right,  while  Schofield,  with  the  23d  corps,  was  held  as  #  re 
serve. 

The  plan  of  battle  ordered  for  the  next  day,  December  15th, 
was  to  make  a  feint  on  the  enemy's  right,  and  then,  falling  with 
an  overwhelming  force  on  the  left,  force  it  back  on  the  centre. 
The  morning  broke  auspiciously,  and  Steedman  pushed  forward  a 
heavy  force  of  skirmishers,  who  drove  back  the  enemy's  pickets  till 
the  movement  was  checked  by  a  deep  railroad  excavation  defended 
by  batteries.  Hood  at  an  early  hour  was  aroused  by  firing  on  his 
right  but  before  he  could  ascertain  the  cause,  Wood  and  Smith  struck 
his  left,  which  now  became  the  focus  of  solicitude.  Crumbling  to 
pieces  under  the  heavy  concussion  it  was  soon  hurled  back  in  con 
fusion  on  the  centre.  Wilson's  cavalry,  mean  while  hanging  like  a 
thunder  cloud  on  their  flank  and  rear,  captured  two  batteries  and, 
dismounting,  turned  them  on  their  late  owners.  The  centre  and 
principal  salient  of  the  rebel  army  rested  on  Montgomery  Hill,  to 
which  his  hurrying  squadrons  of  infantry  and  artillery  were  now 
sweeping  to  reverse  the  unpropitious  tide  of  battle.  At  10  o'clock 
Wood  moved  against  this  strong  position  and  carried  it,  Col. 
Post,  of  the  59th  Illinois,  leading  the  charge.  Efforts  in  other 
parts  of  the  field  were  attended  with  similar  success,  and 
Hood  was  compelled  to  abandon  his  entire  line  of  defense  and 
seek  a  new  position  at  the  foot  of  Harpeth  Hills,  two  miles  in  the 
rear  of  the  first. 

The  national  troops  fought  with  great  alacrity  and  success,  and 
their  day's  labor  was  rewarded  with  the  capture  of  several  battle 
flags,  a  large  number  of  small  arms,  16  pieces  of  artillery,  and 
1,200  prisoners.  The  disposition  of  the  Union  troops  for  the  next 
day's  battle  remained  the  same  as  on  the  first,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  Schofield's  army,  which,  during  the  day,  had  moved  into 
position  between  Wood's  corps  and  Wilson's  cavalry.  Hood,  con 
tracting  his  line  from  six  to  three  lines  in  length,  took  a  strong 
position  on  Overtoil's  Hill,  where  he  awaited  the  coining  battle. 

At  an  early  hour  the  next  day  Wilson  was  ordered  on  a  recon- 
noisance  round  the  enemy's  position,  and  if  practicable,  to  cut  off 
his  line  of  retreat  in  the  direction  of  Franklin.  Hood  was  supe 
rior  to  Thomas  in  the  strength  of  his  cavalry,  but  he  had  made 
the  mistake  of  sending  a  portion  of  his  force  down  the  Cumber- 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  849 


land  after  our  transports,  and  suffered  a  portion  to  dash  itself  to 
pieces  against  the  impregnable  defenses  of  Murfreesboro,  which 
left  Wilson  almost  without  opposition.  While  the  cavalry  was 
executing  this  movement,  the  entire  front  of  the  Union  army  ad 
vanced  to  within  600  yards  of  the  enemy's  line,  and  Wood  and 
Steed  man  made  an  assault  on  Overtoil's  Hill,  Post,  as  on  the  day 
before  leading  the  charge.  The  enemy,  anticipating  an  attack, 
had  covered  the  slopes  of  the  hill  with  abattis,  and,  opening  with 
grape,  canister  and  musket^ ,  repulsed  the  assailants  with  heavy 
loss. 

Meanwhile  Smith  and  Schofield,  farther  to  the  right,  with  level 
ed  beyonets  had  marched  straight  over  the  works  in  their  front, 
and  in  one  fell  swoop  completely  turned  the  enemy's  flank.  Hear 
ing  the  victorious  shouts,  Wood  and  Steedman  immediately  re 
formed  their  broken  line  and  a  second  time  moved  against  the 
key  of  the  rebel  position.  Scaling  the  hill  and  charging  over  the 
abattis  directly  in  the  face  of  a  terrible  fire,  they  captured  the  fort 
and  its  9  pieces  of  artillery,  which  had  so  fearfully  slaughtered 
their  comrades  in  the  first  assault.  The  charge  was  final ;  the 
discomfitted  rebels  hurriedly  fled  through  Brentwood  Pass  lead 
ing  to  Harpeth  river,  and  the  day  being  spent  the  Union  army 
rested  on  the  field  it  had  so  nobly  won. 

Wilson's  cavalry  started  in  pursuit  earl}'  the  next  day,  and  four 
miles  north  of  Franklin  captured  413  of  the  rear  guard.  Again 
attacking  them  at  the  village,  they  were  forced  to  decamp,  leaving 
1,800  of  their  wounded  in  the  hands  of  the  pursuers.  The  fugi 
tive  army  was  followed  till  it  crossed  the  Tennessee,  but,  as  it 
burned  the  bridges  after  it,  and  heavy  rains  rendered  the  roads 
almost  impassable,  it  was  not  again  overtaken. 

Among  the  batteries  which  achieved  distinction  at  the  battle  of 
Nashville,  none  thundered  louder  or  sent  its  bolts  with  more 
deadly  effect,  than  that  of  Lyruan  Bridges.  During  the  engage 
ment  it  was  commanded  by  Lieut.  White,  Capt.  Bridges  having 
become  chief  of  artillery.  The  72d  Illinois  had  a  number  of  severe 
encounters  with  the  enemy,  and  in  a  high  degree  exhibited  the 
soldierly  qualities  for  which  it  had  been  previously  distinguish 
ed.  The  47th,  48th,  114th  and  122d  were  in  A.  J.  Smith's  com 
mand,  which  on  the  morning  of  the  15th,  made  the  magnificent 
charge  on  the  enemy's  left,  crumbling  it  to  pieces  and  hurling  it 
back  on  the  centre.  The  59th  Illinois  lead  the  storming  columns 
against  the  rebel  works  on  Montgomery  Hill,  and  was  the  first  to 
plant  its  colors  within  the  entrenchments.  The  next  day  it  was 
in  the  famous  assault  on  Overton's  Hill,  in  which  it  lost  one-third 
of  its  number.  The  80th  captured  3  guns  and  100  prisoners ;  the 
122d  4  pieces  of  artillery  and  one  battle  flag.  The  other  Illinois 
regiments  in  the  battle  were  the  38th,  42d,  44th,  49th,  51st,  65th, 
73d,  79th,  84th,  88th,  89th,  107th,  112th,  114th,  115th,  117th  and 
119th. 

To  the  confederacy  the  results  of  the  Nashville  campaign  were 
overwhelming.  Thomas,  in  auditing  his  accounts  after  its  bril 
liant  actions,  found  he  had  captured  1,000  officers,  over  12,000 
men,  while  more  than  2,000  threw  down  their  arms  and  took  the 
oath  of  allegiance.  Among  the  spoils  were  3,000  small  arms,  72 
heavy  pieces  of  artillery  and  immense  quantities  of  military  stores. 
54 


850  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

But  the  crowning  stroke  was  the  destruction  of  the  confederate 
army  of  the  West.  With  the  elimination  of  the  invaders  from 
Tennessee,  it  only  remained  for  the  Union  army  to  resolve  itself  into 
separate  columns  and  proceed  to  other  fields.  Sherman,  with  his 
veterans  of  a  hundred  battle  fields,  was  now  enabled  to  reach  the 
Atlantic  almost  without  opposition.  Schofield,  with  a  heavy  body 
of  infantry,  proceeded  to  the  coast  of  North  Carolina  to  co-oper 
ate  with  him  and  converge  on  Richmond ;  and  Canby,  with  an 
other  large  force,  advanced  by  way  of  the  Mississippi  to  Mobile 
for  the  reduction  of  the  adjacent  forts,  while  Wilson,  without  a 
foe  to  confront  in  the  West,  dashed  in  a  raid  through  Alabama 
and  Georgia.  The  days  of  the  rebellion  were  numbered  and  the 
silver  tracery  of  the  dawn  of  peace  began  to  light  up  the  cloud  of 
war. 


CHAPTER  LXIY. 

1804— 1865— ILLINOIS  IN  THE  MERIDIAN  CAMPAIGN- 
RED  RIVER  EXPEDITION— REDUCTION  OF  MOBILE 
—SHERMAN'S  MARCH  TO  THE  SEA— REDUCTION 
OF  WILMINGTON— MARCH  THROUGH  THE  CAROLI- 
NAS— CLOSE  OF  THE  WAR. 


Consequent  upon  the  reduction  of  Vicksburg  and  the  opening 
of  rlie  Mississippi  some  military  movements  occurred  in  the  South 
west,  in  which  our  troops  were  honorably  engaged. 

Meridian  Campaign. — After  Sherman  marched  to  the  relief  of 
Knoxville,  he  returned  to  Vicksburg  and  organized  a  force  to  op 
erate  against  Bishop  Gen.  Polk,  in  command  of  an  army  at  Meri 
dian,  also  to  destroy  the  Southern  Mississippi  and  the  Ohio  and 
Mobile  railroads.  "For  this  purpose  Gen.  W.  S.  Smith,  with  a 
large  cavalry  force  was  ordered  to  proceed  from  Memphis  on  the 
1st  of  February,  1864,  while  Sherman,  with  2  divisions  of  the  16th 
army  corps  under  Hurlbut,  and  2  of  the  17th  under  McPherson, 
left  Vicksburg  on  the  4th.  Meeting  with  little  opposition  they 
entered  Morton  on  the  9th,  where  McPherson  was  halted  to  tear 
up  the  surrounding  railroads.  Hurlbut  moved  on  to  Meridian, 
but  Polk,  apprised  of  his  approach,  decamped,  covering  his  retreat 
with  a  cavalry  force  under  Lee. 

Smith  failing  to  arrive  with  his  cavalry,  pursuit  was  deemed 
useless.  Having  no  enemy  to  fight,  a  warfare  was  commenced  on 
the  railroads  entering  the'town — Hurlbut  on  the  north  and  east 
destroying  60  miles  of  track,  one  locomotive  and  eight  bridges, 
and  McPherson  on  the  south  and  west,  55  miles,  53  bridges,  19  lo 
comotives  and  28  cars.  The  Tombigbee  being  now  between  the  army 
and  Polk,  and  no  other  foe  in  striking  distance,  Sherman  headed 
his  columns  toward  the  Mississippi,  whither  he  arrived  without 
further  noticeable  incidents. 

His  losses  in  the  campaign  were  21  killed,  68  wounded  and  81 
missing.  The  Illinois  organizations  in  the  expedition  were  the 
8th,  15Lth,  30th,  31st,  49th,  58th,  76th,  112th,  117th,  119th,  124th 
the  5th  cavalry  and  PowelPs  battery.  Its  leader,  as  we  have  seen, 
next  repaired  to  Chattanooga  preparatory  to  entering  upon  his 
Georgia  campaign. 

Red  River  Expedition. — During  the  spring  of  1864  an  expedition 
was  projected  to  drive  Price  from  Arkansas,  Taylor  from  Louis 
iana,  and  Magruder  from  Texas.  This  was  to  be  effected  by  the 
joint  efforts  of  three  columns,  one  moving  under  Steele,  from  Lit- 

851 


852  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

tie  Bock,  another  under  Banks  from  Brownsville,  and  a  third  un 
der  A.  J.  Smith,  from  Vicksburg,  concentrating-  at  Shreveport. 
On  the  12th  of  March,  1864,  Admiral  Porter,  with  the  fleet,  and 
A.  J.  Smith  with  the  1st  and  3d  divisions  of  the  16th  army  corps, 
and  the  1st  and  4th  of  the  17th,  in  transports,  started  up  Bed 
Biver,  on  which  the  objective  point  is  situated.  At  Sennnesport 
Smith  debarked  his  forces  and  started  to  operate  against  FortDe 
Bussy,  a  strong  quadrangular  work  furnished  with  bastions  and 
covered  with  raih-oad  iron.  The  assailants  moving  upon  the  14th, 
Dick  Taylor,  in  command  of  the  fort,  inarched  out  to  meet  them, 
when  Smith,  by  a  skillful  movement,  threw  himself  between  the 
rebels  and  the  fort,  which,  after  a  sharp  fight,  he  forced  to 
surrender,  the  47th,  49th,  58th,  81st,  95th,  117th  and  119th  Illi 
nois  demeaning  themselves  with  great  gallantry  in  the  engage 
ment,  the  58th  being  the  first  to  plant  its  colors  on  the  works. 
As  the  expedition  again  moved  toward  Shreveport,  the  force 
under  Banks,  en  route  for  the  same  point,  encountered  a  rebel 
force  at  Pleasant  Hill,  and  Smith,  advised  of  the  situation,  marched 
to  his  assistance.  Gen.  Bobiuson,  commanding  the  advance  Union 
cavalry,  had  engaged  that  of  the  enemy  under  General 
Green,  after  which  the  latter  fell  back  to  Saline  Cross  Boads  where 
the  main  force  under  Taylor  lay  masked  in  the  forest.  Thither  he 
was  followed  on  the  8th  of  April  by  the  Union  cavalry,  now  rein 
forced  by  two  divisions  of  the  13th  army  corps  under  Gen.Bansom. 
The  latter  suspecting  danger,  proposed  to  await  the  arrival  of  the 
force  under  Smith,  before  renewing  the  attack.  Banks,  however, 
overruling  his  advice,  ordered  an  assault.  Taylor's  men  concealed 
in  the  woods  were  posted  in  the  form  of  the  letter  V,  into  the 
open  base  of  which  our  men  nn wittingly  advanced.  The  2  wings 
of  the  enemy  were  immediately  thrust  forward  and  like  huge  ten- 
tacula  closed  in  on  them  and  before  they  could  escape  lost  2,000 
men  and  16  guns,  6  of  which  belonged  to  Taylor's  Illinois  battery. 

Battle  of  Pleasant  Hill. — The  remainder  of  the  forces  returned 
to  Pleasant  Hill,  whither  had  arrived  Gen.  Franklin  with  the  19th 
corps  and  the  force  under  Smith.  The  troops  of  the  latter  were 
placed  in  position  behind  a  low  ridge  on  the  right  the  19th  corps 
on  the  left.  Bansom's  men  in  the  rear  as  a  reserve,  and  4  guns  of  Tay 
lor's  battery  on  an  eminence  commanding  the  approaches  of  the 
enemy.  On  the  9tli  he  advanced  and  made  an  assault  on  Emery's 
division  thrown  in  advance  of  Smith,  which,  according  to  pre 
vious  arrangement,  fell  back.  This  brought  the  assailants  directly 
up  to  the  crest  of  the  ridge  behind  which  were  concealed  the 
Vicksburg  veterans  of  Smith,  who,  to  the  number  of  7,000,  imme 
diately  rose  up,  and,  pouring  an  incessant  blaze  of  musketry  fire 
into  their  faces,  caused  them  to  stagger  back,  when  a  bayonet 
charge  was  ordered  which  swept  them  from  the  field. 

The  49th,  58th,  77th,  117th  and  119th  Illinois  bore  themselves 
honorably  in  the  contest  and  largely  contributed  to  the  result. 

The  Union  losses  in  the  two  battles  aggregated  the  enormous 
number  of  3,000  men,  21  pieces  of  artillery,  130  wagons,  and 
1,200  horses  and  mules.  Steele,  in  playing  his  part  of  the  pro 
gramme,  was  equally  unfortunate,  and  with  heavy  losses  and 
great  difficulty,  fought  his  way  back  to  Little  Bock,  whence  he 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  853 

had  started.  Thus  endes  in  irretrievable  disaster,  the  ill-starred 
expedition,  which, in  its  return,  came  near  being  entirely  cut  off  in 
consequence  of  a  low  stage  of  water  in  the  river. 

Brigadier-General  T.  E.  G.  Eansom,  who  at  Sabins'  Cross  Roads 
warned  his  superior  officer  of  danger,  and  made  such  heroic  efforts 
to  repair  the  disasters  caused  by  his  mistake,  was  born  at  Norwich, 
Vermont,  November  29,  1834.  Having  completed  his  education  in 
the  university  of  his  native  town,  in  1851  he  removed  to  Peru,  Illi 
nois,  and  engaged  in  the  practice  of  engineering.  At  the  organi 
zation  of  the  11  th  Illinois,  in  April,  1861,  he  was  elected  a  major. 
For  his  bravery  and  skill  in  the  battle  of  Donelson,  he  was  pro 
moted  to  the  colonelcy  of  his  regiment;  again,  as  the  reward  of 
distinguished  service  at  Shiloh  and  Corinth,  he  was  raised  to  the 
rank  of  major-general.  After  the  battle  of  Pleasant  Hill, in  which 
he  commanded  a  division  and  received  a  wound  from  which  he 
never  recovered,  he  temporarily  took  charge  of  the  17th  army 
corps  in  Georgia.  While  gathering  new  laurels  in  the  Atlanta 
campaign,  he  died  of  a  disease  contracted  by  previous  exposure. 
He  was  retiring,  modest,  and  unusually  brave.  Devotedly  at 
tached  to  his  men,  while  an  invalid  he  was  frequently  advised  by 
his  physician  to  quit  the  field,  but  replied,  "  I  ivill  stay  with  my 
command  till  I  am  carried  away  in  my  coffin." 

Reduction  of  Mobile. — After  the  disastrous  Bed  River  expedi 
tion,  the  department  of  the  Arkansas  and  Gulf,  including  Texas, 
and  Louisiana,  were  united  in  one,  styled  the  West  Mississippi, 
and  Major-Gen.  Canby  placed  iu  command.  In  the  spring  of  1864. 
all  the  rebel  posts  had  either  been  successfully  blockaded,  or  cap 
tured,  except  Wilmington  and  Mobile.  To  Can  by  was  now  as 
signed  the  task  of  reducing  the  latter,  while  the  former,  as  we 
shall  see  further  on,  fell  beneath  the  sturdy  blows  of  the  con 
querors  of  Nashville. 

The  entrance  to  Mobile  bay  is  by  two  inlets,  one  on  each  side  of 
Dauphin  Island.  They  were  guarded  by  Forts  Gaines  on  the 
island,  and  Morgan  and  Powell  on  the  mainland  opposite.  Hither 
Farragut  led  his  fleet  of  some  18  vessels,  and  as  a  co-operating 
land  force,  Canby  in  July,  ordered  5,000  men  under  Granger, 
from  New  Orleans.  The  latter  were  debarked  on  Dauphin  Island, 
on.  the  4th  of  August,  to  operate  against  the  adjacent  fort,  and  the 
following  morning  the  fleet  moved  up  the  principal  channel,  its 
gallant  commander  lashed  in  the  maintop  of  the  Hartford  to  over 
look  the  field  of  action.  Seeing  his  vessels  arrested  by  torpedoes, 
lie  dashed  ahead  under  the  tremendous  volleys  of  the  enemy's 
guns,  and  in  an  hour  and  a  quarter  was  above  the  forts.  The 
others,  animated  by  his  fearless  heroism,  followed,  emptying 
broadsides  after  broadsides  into  the  hostile  works,  and  partially 
checking  their  fire.  Next  commenced  the  capture  of  the  great 
iron-clad  ram  Tennessee,  which  Farragut  declares  was  one  of  the 
"  fiercest  naval  engagements  on  record."  During  the  month  the 
3  forts  surrendered,  and  the  door  was  opened  for  a  farther  advance 
toward  Mobile. 

This  was  not  effected  till  the  following  spring.  In  the  mean 
time  the  13th  corps,  under  Granger,  was  reinforced  by  A.  J. 
Smith  with  the  16th,  arriving  mostly  by  way  of  New  Orleans,  and 
a  force  in  command  of  Steel  from  Pensacola.  The  army  marched 


854  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


up  on  the  east  side  of  the  bay  in  the  direction  of  Forts  Spanish 
and  Blakely,  which  it  was  necessary  to  reduce  before  the  fleet 
could  reach  the  city.  The  first  being  more  accessible,  an  invest 
ing  force  containing  the  8th,  llth,  28th,  29th,  33d,  47th,  72d,  77th, 
81st,  91st,  95th,  99th,  108th,  117th,  119th  and  124th  Illinois,  was 
pushed  up,  the  artillery,  a  part  of  which  was  Coggs  well's  bar- 
tery,  placed  in  position,  and  on  the  4th  of  April  a  tremendous 
bombardment  opened  on  the  fort.  On  the  8th  the  assault  was 
renewed,  and  after  a  furious  cannonade,  at  3  o'clock,  2  brigades  of 
Carr's  division,  containing  the  72d,  81st  and  124th  Illinois,  moved 
forward  in  an  impetuous  charge,  and  mounting  the  ramparts,  car 
ried  300  yards  of  the  works.  The  advance  position  was  held  till 
the  next  day,  when  the  garrison  finding  that  further  opposition 
was  useless,  capitulated. 

The  same  day  Gen.  Steel  made  a  successful  assault  on  Fort 
Blakely.  Amidst  a  furious  battle  storm,  shells  exploding  over 
head,  and  torpedoes  underfoot,  Garrard's  division  made  its  way  up 
in  front,  and  Kinnaker's  and  Gilbert's  brigades  on  the  right,  and 
simultaneously  leaping  the  parapets,  the  stronghold  was  won. 
The  8th  Illinois  was  the  first  to  enter  and  hoist  its  colors  over  the 
works  ]  the  58th  and  117th  are  also  honorably  mentioned  in  con 
nection  with  the  charge.  The  other  Illinois  organizations  in  the 
engagement  were  the  llth,  29th,  33d,  72d,76th,77th.  81st,  91st,  99th, 
119th,  122d  infantry,  and  CoggswelPs  battery.  Our  loss  in  the 
assault  was  1,000  men,  while  the  fruits  of  the  victory  were  more 
than  3,000  prisoners,  4,000  stand  of  arms,  and  32  pieces  of  artil 
lery. 

Mobile  was  now  uncovered  and  the  national  columns  put  in 
motion  to  efiect  its  capture.  On  the  12th,  however,  news 
was  received  of  its  evacuation,  and  the  army  entered  with 
out  opposition.  Its  approaches  had  been  carried  with  un 
paralleled  gallantry,  caused  by  the  exciting  intelligence  of  the  fall 
of  liichmond  and  other  great  events,  marking  the  close  of  the 
war.  The  beginning  of  the  end  was  at  hand. 

Brigadier-General  Eugene  A.  Carr,  who  so  brilliantly  closed  his 
rebellion  record  in  the  assault  on  Fort  Blakely,  was  born  in  Erie 
county,  New  York,  March  30th,  1830.  In  1848  he  removed  with 
his  father  to  Galesburg,  Illinois,  which,  up  to  the  time  of  the  rebel 
lion,  was  his  recognized  home.  At  the  age  of  16  he  entered  the 
Military  Academy  of  West  Point.  After  his  graduation  he  was 
commissioned  2d  lieutenant  of  mounted  riflemen,  and  for  several 
years  was  engaged  in  suppressing  Indian  hostilities  on  the  west 
ern  plains.  Subsequently  he  was  assigned  as  aid  to  Gov.  Walker 
in  the  border  ruffian  war  of  Kansas.  As  a  captain  in  the  regular 
army,  he  took  an  active  part  in  the  battles  of  Springfield  and  Wil 
son's  Creek,  Missouri.  Next  we  find  him  at  the  head  of  the  3d 
Illinois  cavalry  and  a  division  commander  under  Curtis.  In  the 
latter  position  he  served  with  such  distinguished  success  that  on 
March  7th,  1862,  he  received  the  commission  of  brigadier  general 
of  volunteers. 

March  to  the  Sea. — Sherman,  after  sending  a  portion  of  his  forces 
to  co-operate  with  Thomas  in  Tennessee,  still  retained  under  his 
immediate  command  some  60,000  infantry  and  artillery,  and  5,000 
cavalry.  These  forces  were  organized  in  two  great  wings,  the  right 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  855 

under  Howard,  comprising  the  15th  corps,  Gen.  Osterhaus,  and 
the  17th,  Gen.  Blair ;  and  the  left  under  Slocum,  comprising'  the 
14th  corps,  Gen.  Davis,  and  the  20th,  Gen.  Williams.  The  cav 
alry  was  led  by  Gen.  Kilpatrick,  a  daring  trooper,  who  had  already 
won  distinction  by  his  tearless  encounters  with  the  enemy.  For 
the  results  of  the  campaign,  so  valuable  to  the  cause  of  the  Union 
and  so  fatal  to  that  of  the  rebellion,  the  nation  is  largely  indebted 
to  Illinois  organizations:  the  7th,  9th,  10th,  12th,  14th,  15th,  16th, 
20th,  20th,  30th,  31st,  32d,  34th,  40th,  41st,  45th,  48th,  50th,  52d, 
53d,  55th,  56th,  57th,  60th,  63d,  64th,  66th,  78th,  82d,  85th,  86th, 
90th,  92d,  93d,  101st,  102d,  103d,  104th,  105th,  110th,  lllth,  116th, 
125th,  127th,  129th  regiments  of  infantry,  companies  0  and  H  1st, 
and  company  I,  2d  artillery  and  llth  cavalry.  As  his  troops 
would  have  to  subsist  on  the  country  through  which  they  marched, 
Sherman  issued  stringent  regulations  to  prevent,  as  far  as  possible, 
the  excesses  incident  to  this  method  of  obtaining  supplies.  Brig 
ade  commanders  were  ordered  to  organize  foraging  parties,  under 
one  or  more  discreet  officers,  to  collect  provisions,  aiming  always 
to  keep  on  hand  10  days  supply  for  the  men  and  3  days  for  the 
horses.  Soldiers  were  not  to  enter  the  houses  of  the  inhabitants, 
and  were  to  leave  with  each  family  a  reasonable  amount  of  food 
for  its  maintenance.  The  cavalry  and  artillery  were  authorized 
to  press  horses  and  wagons  when  needed,  discriminating  between 
the  rich  and  the  poor.  Corps  commanders  were  empowered  to  ac 
cept  the  services  of  able-bodied  negroes,  and  to  burn  mills,  bridges, 
cotton  gins,  &c.,  whenever  local  hostilities  were  manifested ;  but 
no  such  devastations  were  to  be  suffered  if  the  inhabitants  re 
mained  quiet. 

Could  these  humane  regulations  have  been  properly  enforced, 
many  unpleasant  occurrences  connected  with  the  expedition  would 
have  been  avoided.  Says  an  officer  who  commanded  in  it:  u  In 
all  cases  where  the  foraging  parties  were  under  the  direction  of 
discreet  officers,  no  improprieties  were  committed,  and  only  neces 
sary  supplies  were  taken."  Following,  and  preceding  them,  how 
ever,  were  swarms  of  strangers  and  vagabonds,  such  as  always  hover 
about  large  armies,  to  indulge  their  propensities  for  violence  and 
plunder.  These,  with  impunity,  frequently  entered  the  houses  of 
the  planters  and  relieved  them  of  their  silks,  jewelry  and  other 
articles  of  value,  and  to  climax  their  depredations,  burnt  the 
houses  of  their  victims  and  committed  acts  of  violence  upon  their 
persons. 

Before  Sherman  put  his  columns  in  motion,  Koine  was  set  on  fire 
and  its  foundries,  machine  shops,  hotels  and  stores  were  burnt,  and 
everything  that  could  be  of  value  to  the  army  was  taken.  A  few 
days  afterwards  the  torch  was  also  applied  to  Atlanta  and  all  its 
public  buildings,  theatres  and  costly  mansions  were  consumed  in 
a  common  conflagration.  The  few  remaining  inhabitants  alarmed 
at  the  devouring  names,  rushed  through  the  streets  and  fled  from 
the  perishing  city.  The  railroads  in  the  rear  were  destroyed,  and 
aliout  the  middle  of  ^November  the  famous  march  was  commenced. 

Howard  witli  the  right  wing  moved  along  the  Georgia  Central 
Railroad,  and  Slocum  with  the  left  along  the  parallel  road  leading 
to  Augusta.  The  latter  tore  up  the  track  as  he  advanced,  reached 
Madison  without  opposition,  and  while  the  soldiers  were  engaged 
in  destroying  its  depot,  a  band  of  stragglers  becoming  drunk  on 


856  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

the  contents  of  wine  cellers,  sacked  the  stores  and  shops  of  the 
citizens.  The  ravages  were  continued  till  the  main  body  of  the 
army  came  up,  when  it  was  quickly  brought  to  a  close  and  guards 
stationed  to  protect  what  remained  of  the  town.  From  Madison 
Slocurn  moved  directly  on  Milledgeville,  and  the  legislature  then  in 
session,  hurriedly  tied,  carrying  with  them  the  funds,  archives  and 
other  valuables  belonging  to  the  State.  The  rebels  at  first  sup 
posed  that  Sherman  was  only  on  a  raiding  expedition,  but  now 
they  were  compelled  to  admit  that  a  powerful  invading  army  was 
moving  directly  through  the  heart  of  Georgia,  and  unless  it  could 
be  met  the  most  disastrous  circumstances  must  follow. 

Howard,  in  the  meanwhile,  had  advanced  and  destroyed  the  rail 
road  after  him  till  within  a  few  miles  of  Macon,  where  there  was 
a  large  force  protected  by  breastworks  well  mounted  with  cannon. 
The  rebels  supposed  of  course  the  city  would  be  laid  under  siege, 
but  Sherman  not  attaching  as  much  importance  to  it  as  its  de 
fendants,  concluded  to  pass  it  by  with  but  slight  recognition. 
Wishing,  however,  to  cross  without  opposition  the  Ocmulgee, 
which  runs  by  the  place,  Kilpatrick  was  sent  to  make  demonstra 
tions  against  it  and  thus  conceal  the  real  movement  intended. 
The  latter  charged  up  to  the  breastworks  of  the  town,  and  while 
the  alarmed  garrison  was  preparing  for  defense,  Howard  quietly 
slipped  across  the  stream  at  Griswoldville  below  the  city.  Leav 
ing  here  a  portion  of  the  ]  5th  corps  to  cover  his  rear,  he  pushed 
on  in  the  direction  of  Milledgeville,  Avhither  he  arrived  the  day 
after  its  occupation  by  Slocum. 

The  Macon  rebels,  exasperated  at  finding  themselves  out 
witted,  made  a  furious  assault  on  the  force  left  at  Griswoldville, 
but  were  repulsed  with  the  loss  of  1,000  men. 

The  army  having  now  consumed  a  week,  and  marched  a  dis 
tance  of  95  miles,  was  again  united  in  the  capital  of  Georgia.  At 
Millen,  located  on  the  Central  railroad,  some  80  miles  south,  was  a 
great  prison  pen  where  thousands  of  our  captured  soldiers  had  suf 
fered  unspeakable  privations,  and  Sherman's  next  object  was  to  lib 
erate  then).  With  this  design  in  view  Kilpatrick  was  directed  to  move 
in  the  direction  of  Augusta,  to  create  the  impression  that  that 
place,  rather  than  Savannah,  was  the  objective  point  of  the  expe 
dition.  Wheeler,  Avith  the  rebel  cavalry,  was  encountered  on  the 
way,  and,  after  some  severe  skirmishing  with  him,  Kilpatrick 
learned  that  the  enemy  had  removed  the  prisoners  from  Millen, 
and,  deeming  it  useless  to  persist  in  the  hazardous  march  after 
the  motive  which  prompted  it  had  ceased,  commenced  falling 
back.  Closely  pursued  he  retreated  and  fortified  a  strong  posi 
tion,  and  when  Wheeler  came  up,  although  he  fought  with  the 
greatest  determination,  he  was  repulsed  at  all  points  without  dif 
ficulty. 

After  the  attack  Kilpatrick  joined  the  left  wing  and  moved  on 
its  flank.  Though  the  prisoners  had  not  been  liberated,  the  cav 
alry  demonstrations  served  to  keep  the  enemy  in  doubt  as  to 
the  real  destination  of  the  expedition,  and  consequently  unable 
to  concentrate  his  forces  at  any  salient  point.  Sherman  meanwhile 
with  the  other  wing,  leaving  Macou  far  in  his  rear  was  advancing 
on  Millen,  whither  he  arrived  on  the  2d  of  December. 

The  railroad  and  other  public  property  behind  him  was  com 
pletely  destroyed,  while  the  country  traVersed  abounding  in  the 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  857 

necessaries  of  life,  was  despoiled  of  large  quantities  of  provisions. 
His  men  bad  fared  sumptuously  on  chickens  and  turkeys  and  a 
profusion  of  other  luxuries,  besides  collecting  large  quantities  for 
future  consumption.  This  was  a  necessary  precaution,  for  the  army 
was  now  about  to  enter  a  long  strip  of  country  covered  with  pine 
forests  comparatively  destitute  of  food.  Milieu  being  the  seat  of 
the  above  mentioned  bastiles  where  large  numbers  of  Union  pris 
oners  had  sickened,  starved  and  died,  it  required  great  efforts  to 
keep  our  indignant  men  from  laying  it  in  ashes.  The  prison  was 
a  stockade  inclosing  15  acres,  and  hard  by  was  the  burying  ground 
containing  650  graves  as  the  result  of  one  month's  mortality. 

From  Milieu  Sherman  next  swept  down  on  each  side  "of  the 
Ogeechee  in  the  direction  of  Savannah,  Kilpatrick  careering  in 
front  and  making  the  green  arches  of  the  pine  forests  echo  with 
the  tramp  of  his  squadrons  and  the  shrill  notes  of  his  bugles.  On 
the  9th  of  November.  Howard  struck  the  canal  connecting  the 
Ogeechee  and  Savannah,  10  miles  in  the  rear  and  west  of  the  city. 
The  thunder  of  signal  guns  could  now  be  heard  booming  over  the 
swamps  from  the  fleet,  awaiting  Sherman's  advent  upon  the  coast. 
Col.  Duncan  was  sent  down  the  Ogeechee,  and  three  days  after 
ward,  stepping  on  board  of  one  of  Dahlgren's  vessels,  once  more 
put  the  army  in  communication  with  the  outer  world.  The  next 
day  Sherman  advanced  to  within  5  miles  of  Savannah,  and  laid  the 
city  under  siege,  the  26th,  30th,  32d,  48th,  53d,  64th,  93d,  and 
102d  Illinois  constituting  a  part  of  the  investing  force.  Having, 
however,  onty  brought  field  pieces  in  the  long  marches  through 
Georgia,  it  was  necessary  to  get  siege  guns  from  the  fleet  before 
he  could  make  a  successful  assault.  These  could  only  be  brought 
up  the  Ogeechee,  hence  Fort  McAlister,  commanding  the  mouth, 
must  first  be  reduced. 

The  enemy,  in  guarding  against  the  fleet,  which  had  previously  as 
sailed  it,  failed  to  strengthen  its  landward  defenses,  and  Sherman 
ordered  a  bold  attack  on  this  point,  hoping  its  vulnerable  charac 
ter  might  facilitate  its  capture.  Hazen  with  his  well  tried  division 
and  a  detachment  of  the  17th  corps,  consisting  in  part  of  the  2Gth, 
48th,  90th,  lllth  and  116th  Illinois,  was  selected  for  this  purpose, 
but  having  to  throw  a  long  bridge  over  the  Ogeechee  in  the  place 
of  one  previously  burnt  by  the  rebels,  it  was  not  till  the  afternoon 
of  the  13th  of  December  that  the  fort  was  reached,  and  prepara 
tions  completed  for  the  assault.  The  fortress  stood  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  river  and  could  only  be  reached  over  a  level  plain 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  wide  swept  by  heavy  cannon.  Theseopened 
upon  the  charging  columns  as  soon  as  they  commenced  moving 
tip,  but  produced  little  damage  as  the  advance  was  made  in  a 
single  line.  The  plain,  however,  was  sown  with  torpedoes,  which, 
exploding,  threw  up  piles  of  dust  on  the  men  and  sent  many  of 
them  mangled  and  lifeless  into  the  air.  Pushing  on  regardless  of 
danger  they  tore  open  an  abatis,  forced  a  passage  over  a  ditch 
thickly  studded  with  pikes,  and,  with  a  bound,  made  for  the  par 
apets.  Hushing  in,  on  every  side  for  an  instant  was  heard  the  clash 
of  steel  and  the  whistling  of  bullets,  mingled  with  the  shouts  of 
the  combatants,  and  victory  was  complete. 

Sherman,  who  had  witnessed  the  charge  from  the  top  of  a  rice 
mill  across  the  Ogeechee,  when  he  saw  the  national  colors  run  up, 
called  for  a  boat,  and  being  rowed  over,  warmly  congratulated 


858  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


Hazen  and  his  brave  troops  for  having  captured  the  key  to  Savan 
nah.  Communication  was  opened  with  the  fleet,  and  Sherman 
visited  Admiral  Dahlgreii  and  made  arrangements  with  him  to 
send  some  heavy  siege  pieces  from  Hilton  Head  for  the  reduction 
of  Savannah.  The  guns  arrived  on  the  17th  and  Slocum 
was  ordered  to  place  them  in  position.  At  the  same  time 
Sherman  started  to  secure  the  co-operation  of  General  Fos 
ter,  commanding  the  department  of  the  South,  in  intercepting  the 
rebels,  should  they  attempt  to  make  an  exit  in  the  direction  of 
Charleston.  Encountering  high  adverse  winds  he  did  not  proceed 
far  before  he  was  overtaken  by  a  steam  vessel  and  informed  that 
Hardee,  in  command  of  the  garrison,  had  already  accomplished  that 
which  he  was  endeavoring  to  prevent.  The  movement  at  the  time 
was  unsuspected,  and  when  discovered  the  fugitives  were  beyond 
the  reach  of  pursuit.  Before  leaving  they  destroyed  the  navy 
yard,  two  iron  clads  and  a  large  number  of  smaller  vessels,  be 
sides  great  quantities  of  military  stores  and  provisions.  Gen. 
Geary  pushed  up  to  the  city  next  day  and  received  its  surrender 
from  the  mayor,  and  Sherman,  returning,  sent  the  following  dis 
patch  to  the  president :  "I  beg  to  present  you  as  a  Christmas 
gift  the  city  of  Savannah  with  150  heavy  guns  and  plenty  of  am 
munition,  and  also  about  25,000  bales  of  cotton." 

Thus  auspiciously  ended  the  campaign  which  the  European 
press  had  predicted  would  meet  with  toal  failure,  and  which  many 
of  our  own  journals  spoke  of  as  one  of  doubtful  issue.  Much  of 
its  success  was  due  to  the  skill  with  which  Sherman  had  deceived 
the  rebels  respecting  his  objective  point  Avhereby  the  large  forces 
stationed  at  Macon,  Augusta  and  Savannah,  which  might  have 
been  concentrated  to  oppose  his  advance,  were  rendered  ineffect- 
ive. 

Its  results  may  be  summed  up  as  follows  :  The  army  in  the 
brief  space  of  24  days  had  destroyed  320  miles  of  railroad  sub 
stantially  made,  a  conquest  of  Georgia  and  again  divided  the 
confederacy.  With  an  inconsiderable  loss  of  men,  1328  of  the 
enemy  had  been  made  prisoners,  there  had  been  captured  1G7  guns, 
25,000  bales  of  cotton,  and  foraged  from  the  country  1,300  beeves, 
10,000  bushels  of  corn  and  5,000  tons  of  fodder.  This  abundance 
had  been  gathered  in  the  region  where  the  Union  prisoners  of  An 
derson  ville  had  been  starved  to  death,  or  idiocy,  under  the  pre 
text  that  their  captors  were  unable  to  furnish  them  with  the 
necessaries  of  life.  Some  4,000  mules  and  5,000  horses  had  been  im 
pressed  into  the  service,  while  10,000  negroes,  abjuring  the  servi 
tude  of  their  masters,  followed  the  national  flag,  and  thousands 
more  would  have  been  added  to  the  number  had  not  some  of  the 
officers  driven  them  back.  Sherman  partially  atoned  for  this  cru 
elty  by  assigning  lands  on  the  sea  islands,  deserted  by  the  rebel 
owners,  to  those  who  were  so  fortunate  as  to  reach  the  coast. 

Sherman  remained  in  Savannah  over  a  month,  resting  his  army 
and  preparing  for  more  arduous  labors.  Correspondence  had  been 
interchanged  between  him  and  Grant,  respecting  his  future  move 
ments,  and  the  South  looked  with  alarm  at  his  anticipated  depar 
ture  from  the  city.  Some  thought  he  would  strike  at  Charleston, 
others  Augusta,  but  a  greater  object  was  to  be  accomplished  than 
either.  As  arranged  by  Grant,  he  was  to  lead  his  gallant  army 
through  the  heart  of  the  Carolinas,  and  after  destroying  the  rail- 


THE   WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  859 

roads  and  seizing  their  capitals,  lie  was  to  co-operate  with  the 
forces  operating  against  Richmond.  One  rebel  army  watched  him 
at  Augusta,  and  another  at  Charleston,  thus  affording  him  an  op 
portunity  to  pursue  his  favorite  strategy  of  threatening  both 
places  and  preventing  the  concentrating  of  a  force  against  his  real 
line  of  march.  Howard,  on  the  right,  was  ordered  to  Pocataligo, 
a  station  on  the  railroad  leading  to  Charleston,  to  menace  the  city, 
and  Slocum.  on  the  left  and  Kilpatrick  with  the  cavalry  to  threaten 
Augusta.  The  former  started  on  the  15th  of  January,  18G5,  the 
ITtii  corps  going  by  water,  and  the  15th  by  land.  At  Pocataligo, 
a  depot  of  supplies  was  established  and  demonstrations  made  in 
the  direction  of  Charleston,  causing  the  rebels  to  keep  all  their 
available  forces  ready  for  the  defense  of  the  city. 

Incessant  rains  prevailed,  and  Southern  South  Carolina  being  a 
region  of  swamps,  became  saturated  with  water  and  the  roads 
almost  impassable.  The  streams,  which  lay  in  front  of 
Sherman,  unable  to  carry  off  the  surplus  water,  the  country  for 
miles  on  each  side  of  them  was  submerged.  These  difficulties 
proved  far  more  formidable  than  those  offered  by  the  rebel  army, 
although  Gov.  McGrath  had  impressed  every  white  male  citizen 
of  the  State,  between  the  ages  of  16  and  60,  to  augment  its  num 
bers. 

The  next  point  aimed  at  by  Howard,  was  midway  oil  the  South 
Carolina  Railroad.  Before  this  could  be  reached  it  was  necessary 
to  cross  the  Salkahatchie,  behind  which,  at  River  Bridge,  was 
posted  a  rebel  force  and  artillery,  to  dispute  its  passage.  Mower's 
and  G.  A.  Smith's  divisions,  however,  affected  a  lodgment  on  the 
opposite  side  below  the  bridge,  by  wading  for  3  miles  through 
chilly  waters,  from  2  to  5  feet  in  depth.  The  rebels  fled  precipi- 
tantfy  beyond  the  Edisto,  while  the  Union  corps  pushed  rapidly 
for  the  railway  at  Midway,  which  it  reached  on  the  7th  and  com 
menced  tearing  up  the  track. 

The  extraordinary  freshet  in  the  Savannah  had  detained  Slocnrn 
in  the  city  till  the  2d  of  February,  when  the  flood  partially  sub 
siding,  he  succeeded  in  crossing  the  stream.  The  demonstrations 
of  Kiipatrick  kept  the  force  at  Augusta  shut  up  in  its  fortifica 
tions,  apprehending  an  attack,  while  Slocum,  encountering  little 
opposition,  moved  rapidly  forward,  and  also  struck  the  South 
Carolina  railroad  farther  westward,  and  assisted  in  its  destruction. 
Sherman's  army  now  lay  between  Augusta  and  Charleston,  and 
the  forces  stationed  at  the  two  places  hopelessly  divided  and  una 
ble  to  act  in  concert.  Leaving  the  left  wing  still  engaged  in. 
breaking  up  the  railroad,  the  right  started  northward  for  the 
Edisto,  where  they  found  the  bridge  partially  destroyed,  and  a 
force  on  the  opposite  side  to  prevent  their  crossing.  Forces' 
division  dropping  down  the  river,  landed  a  number  of  pontoons, 
and  passing  over,  pounced  upon  the  astonished  rebels  and  put 
them  to  flight.  The  bridge  was  soon  repaired,  and  the  national 
troops  on  the  south  side  of  the  river  rapidly  moved  on  Orange- 
burg,  again  waking  up  the  enemy.  After  a  slight  brush  with  him, 
in  which  the  30th,  31st  and  32d  Illinois  became  engaged,  they  tore 
up  the  railroad. 

Sweeping  on  through  the  heart  of  the  rebellious  State,  Howard 
on  the  16th  drew  up  on  the  banks  of  the  Saluda,  in  front  of  its 
capital.  Almost  simultaneously  Slocum.  appeared  on  the  same 


860  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


stream,  having  met  with  no  opposition,  except  from  Wilson's 
cavalry,  which  Kilpatrick  alone  was  sufficient  to  keep  at  a  prudent 
distance,  The  loth,  30th,  31st,  32d,  48th  and  03d  Illinois,  with 
other  advanced  forces,  drove  back  the  rebel  cavalry  and  the  river 
was  crossed  without  opposition.  The  mayor,  finding  the  city  at 
the  mercy  of  the  Union  guns,  surrendered  it.  Sherman,  before 
entering,  issued  an  order  for  burning  the  public  property,  its 
schools,  colleges,  asylums  and  other  buildings,  which  could  not  be 
made  available  in  war,  being  exempted.  The  main  body  of  the 
army  passed  west  of  the  city,  and  the  15th  corps  marching  through 
it,  encamped  on  the  Caniden  road  beyond. 

Col.  Wade  Hampton,  commanding  the  rear  guard  of  rebel 
cavalry,  ordered  all  cotton  belonging  to  the  inhabitants  to  be  col 
lected  and  burned.  Piles  of  the  inflammable  material  were  ignited 
in  the  heart  of  the  city,  and,  swept  by  the  wind,  soon  communica 
ted  fire  to  the  adjacent  buildings.  At  dark  the  flames  got  beyond 
the  control  of  the  brigade  on  duty  in  the  city,  and  Wood's  entire 
division  was  brought  in  to  assist  in  subduing  them.  Still  the 
devouring  element  raged  uucontrolable,  lighting  up  the  midnight 
sky  with  the  brightness  of  noonday,  and  filling  it  with  myriads  of 
brands,  which  drifting  in  eddying  circles  on  the  buildings,  ex 
tended  wider  and  wider  the  conflagration.  At  4  o'clock  in  the 
morning  the  wind  ceased  and  the  fire  was  checked,  but  the  princely 
abodes  of  many  who  had  been  prime  movers  in  the  rebellion, 
together  with  the  old  state-house,  which  4  years  before  had  rung 
with  acclamations  iat  the  passage  of  the  first  secession  ordinance, 
were  now  shapeless  masses  of  glowing  embers.  Says  Sherman : 
"I  disclaim,  on  the  part  of  my  army,  any  agency  in  the  fire,  but  on 
the  contrary,  claim  that  we  saved  what  of  Columbia  remains  un- 
consumed.  And  without  hesitation,  I  charge  Gen.  Wade  Hampton 
witlh having  burned  his  own  city  of  Columbia,  not  with  malicious 
intent,  or  as  the  manifestation  of  a  silly  Roman  stoicism,  but  from 
folly  and  the  want  of  sense,  in  filling  it  with  cotton  and  tinder. 
Our  officers  and  men  on  duty  worked  well  to  extinguish  the  flames, 
but  others,  not  on  duty,  including  the  officers  long  imprisoned 
there,  rescued  by  us,  may  have  assisted  in  spreading  the  fire  after 
it  had  once  begun,  and  may  have  indulged  in  unconcealed  joy  to 
see  the  ruin  of  the  capital  of  South  Carolina." 

The  fall  of  Columbia  involved  that  of  Charleston.  Hardee,  de 
clining  isolation  and  capture,  evacuated  the  city.  This  he  effected 
on  the  18th  of  February,  by  the  westerly  line  of  the  coast  railroad, 
the  only  avenue  of  escape  which  the  federal  blockaders  and  in 
vasion  had  left  intact.  Before  his  departure  he  fired  the  arsenal, 
commissary  stores  and  cotton  warehouse,  the  latter  containing 
4,000  bales,  which  perished  in  the  flames  From  the  burning  cot 
ton,  fire  was  communicated  to  a  large  quantity  of  powder  stored 
in  the  northwestern  depot,  causing  an  explosion  which  sent  the 
building  a  whirling  mass  of  ruins  through  the  air,  destroyed  200 
lives,  and  shook  the  city  to  its  foundations.  Spreading  "thence, 
the  flames  were  soon  leaping  and  crackling  among  the  adjoining 
buildings,  and  4  squares  were  consumed  before  they  could  be  ex 
tinguished.  The  city  was  formally  surrendered  to^Gen.  Gilmore 
and  the  national  flag  again  hoisted  over  the  ruins  of  its  public 
buildings,  where,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  republic,  it 
had  been  ruthlessly  assailed  by  those  who  owed  it  allegiance, 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  8G1 

Forts  Sum  tor  and  Ripley  and  Castle  Pinkney  submitted  gracefully 
to  a  similar  embellishment,  and  the  formidable  armaments  un 
harmed  passed  into  our  possession.  Gen,  Gilmore  reported  450 
pieces  found  in  all  the  defences,  many  of  them  8  and  10-inch 
columbiads,  and  7-inch  rifled  cannon  of  foreign  construction. 

History  furnishes  few  such  reverses  as  that  which  in  the  brief 
space  of  4  years  had  befallen  the  city.  Here  rebellion  had  been 
spawned  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  perpetual  the  servile  condi 
tion  of  the  black  man,  and  now  a  regiment  of  the  emancipated 
race,  wearing  the  national  uniform,  was  the  first  to  march  as  con 
querors  through  its  scarred  and  blackened  streets.  Everywhere 
ruin  had  been  wrought  by  the  long  and  continuous  bombardment 
of  the  fleet.  Many  of  the  once  palatial  buildings  were  now  the 
blackened  wrecks  of  conflagration,  some  yawning  and  tottering 
with  seams  caused  by  exploding  shells,  or  pounded  to  a  mass  of 
rubbish  and  strewn  in  the  adjacent  streets.  As  if  to  make  the 
desolation  more  complete,  a  large  part  of  the  city  which  had 
escaped  the  guns  of  the  besiegers  had  been  set  on  fire  by  its 
defenders  and  thus  met  a  common  doom. 

There  was  a  feeling  prevalent  in  the  army  that  South  Car 
olina,  the  cradle  of  secession  and  rebellion,  should  be  made  to  feel 
some  of  the  evils  which  she  had  been  so  active  in  bringing  on  her 
sister  States.  Hence  not  only  her  cities,  buther  rural  dwellings, 
rice  mills,  and  pine  forests  and  other  property,  were  fired  and 
served  as  a  bon-fire  to  signalize  the  advance  of  the  invading 
army.  In  Georgia  little  private  property  was  destroyed ;  here 
little  escaped.  The  devastation  was  forbidden,  but  could  'not  be 
prevented  where  so  many  of  the  army,  if  not  directly  connected 
with  it,  evidently  regarded  it  as  justifiable  retaliation. 

Let  no  one  imagine  that  he  can  see  in  the  deplorable  fate  of 
South  Carolina  the  special  displeasure  of  an  angered  God.  Let 
him  rather  regard  her  calamities  as  the  inevitable  penalty  which 
always  attends  the  infraction  of  moral  and  physical  law;  whether 
the  wrong  doer  be  an  individual,  State,  or  nation.  Our  forefathers 
wantonly  disregarded  the  rights  of  the  negro  when  they  kidnapped 
him  on  the  coast  of  Africa  and  introduced  him  a  slave  into  the 
American  colonies.  Again  they  were  guilty  of  a  moral  breach 
when  they  sought  to  make  his  degradation  perpetual  by  tolerating 
slavery  in  the  national  constitution.  From  this  abnormal  element 
in  our  political  and  social  fabric  sprang  sectional  discord,  treason, 
and  civil  war  with  its  rapine,  burnings  and  slaughters.  The  blood 
shed  by  the  sword  in  the  war  was  the  penalty  for  that  which  had 
been  drawn  by  the  lash  from  the  backs  of  the  bondsmen ;  the  deso 
lation  caused  by  the  destruction  of  cities,  was  the  price  paid  for 
the  wealth  which  had  been  piled  up  by  long  years  of  unre 
quited  toil;  and  the  wail  which  went  up  from  homes  all  over  the 
land  had  its  precurser  in  the  cry  wrung  from  the  families  of  the 
oppressed  when  ruthlessly  torn  asunder  by  the  dealers  in  human 
souls.  Crime  and  punishment  are  cause  and  effect  and  cannot  be 
separated.  No  one  can  trample  on  the  just  and  inevitable  laws  of 
God  without  suffering,  and  if  the  transgression  is  continued  he 
must  of  necessity  perish,  not  by  a  special  bolt  from  heaven,  but 
as  the  unavoidable  consequence  of  his  own  crime. 

Sherman,  leaving  at  Columbia  provisions  to  sustain  for  some 
time  its  destitute  and  houseless  population,  resumed  his  march, 


862  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

moving1  in  the  direction  of  Charlotte.  Hither  had  preceded  him 
under  Beauregard  the  garrison  of  the  devastated  capital,  and 
hither  Cheatham  had  lead  the  dilapidated  divisions  of  Hood's  old 
army  which  had  survived  the  blows  inflicted  on  it  in  Tennessee.  Not 
withstanding  the  heavy  storms  and  almost  impassable  roads,  he  con 
tinued  in  his  course  till  the  23d,  when  suddenly,  heading-  his  col 
umns  for  Fayetteville,  N.  C.,  Charlotte,  like  other  points  which 
had  been  threatened,  was  left  far  in  the  rear.  His  line  of  inarch 
now  lay  across  the  Catwba  and  Great  Pedee,  which,  100  years 
before,  had  enabled  Green  to  elude  the  pursuit  of  Lord  Cornwal- 
lis.  Kilpatrick,  while  manoeuvering  with  the  enemy,  to  enable  our 
army  to  cross  the  river  without  opposition,  was  surprised  by  a 
force  of  rebel  cavalry  and  driven  back  into  a  swamp,  losing  all 
his  guns  and  most  of  his  staff.  He,  however,  rallied  his  men, 
and,  charging  upon  the  rebels  while  they  were  plundering  his 
camp,  put  them  to  flight  and  retook  his  captured  guns. 

The  army  having  rapidly  crossed  Pedee,  bringing  the  30th  and 
31st  Illinois  into  action  and  capturing  25  guns,  the  opposing 
force,  the  ill-starred  garrisons  of  Mobile  and  Charleston,  under 
the  luckless  Hardee,  hurriedly  retreated  to  Fay.etteville.  Hither 
they  were  closely  followed,  and,  after  a  sharp  fray,  on  the 
llth  of  March,  with  the  loth,  30th  and  31st  Illinois,  retreated  up 
Cape  Fear  river. 

While  the  army  lay  in  Fayetteville,  the  steam  tug  Davidson, 
and  gun-boat  Eolus  steamed  up  from  Wilmington,  bringing  news 
of  the  capture  of  that  city  and  other  important  events,  which  had 
transpired  during  the  six  weeks  that  our  army  had  been  forcing 
its  way  through  the  interminable  swamps  and  over  the  swollen 
streams  of  the  Carolinas. 

Reduction  of  Wilmington.  —  The  capture  of  Wilmington,  in 
which  the  65th,  107th  and  112th  Illinois  participated,  was  inti 
mately  connected  with,  and  had  an  important  bearing  on  the  op 
erations  of  Sherman.  As  tending  to  facilitate  his  movements 
Grant,  on  the  14th  of  January,  ordered  Schofield  from  Tennessee 
to  the  seaboard  of  North  Carolina.  His  instructions  were  to  de 
bark  at  Wilmington  if  the  place  should  be  captured, but  if  not,  to 
land  at  Newbern.  In  accordance  with  this  arrangement  he  trans 
ported  his  corps  to  the  latter  place,  but  detached  Cox's  division  to 
co-operate  with  Porter  in  the  reduction  of  Wilmington,  still  in  pos 
session  of  the  enemy.  The  only  obstacle  which  now  remained  to 
prevent  the  advance  of  our  fleet  to  the  city,  was  Fort  Anderson, 
a  place  of  immense  strength  inclosing  about  4  square  miles.  To 
effect  its  overthrow,  a  movement  was  commenced  up  the  river  on 
the  llth  of  February,  and,  on  reaching  the  fort,  Cox's  division,  by 
wading  through  a  difficult  swamp,  took  a  position  in  the  rear.  On 
the  18th  the  gun-boats  opened  on  the  works,  while  Schofield  made 
arrangements  to  intercept  the  garrison  in  case  of  retreat.  Hoke, 
in  command,  finding  himself  likely  to  be  surrounded  by  a  formid 
able  force,  and  Sherman's  army  in  a  position  to  isolate  him  as  it 
had  done  Hardee  at  Charleston,  the  succeeding  night  evacuated 
the  place  and  pushed  northward  to  form  a  junction  with  Johnson. 
The  works  were  occupied,  and  TOO  prisoners  and  50  pieces  of  artil 
lery  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  victors. 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  863 

Sherman  now  directed  Schofield  to  meet  him  in  Goldsboro,  and, 
after  destroying  the  arsenals  of  Fayetteville,  and  costly  machinery 
which  had  been  brought  from  the  armory  of  Harper's  Ferry,  re 
sumed  his  march.  Hardee  having  tied  en  the  approach  of  our 
army,  moved  further  up  the  river  and  fortified  a  position  on  the 
left  bank  near  Areysboro.  Here  he  encountered  the  60th,  86th, 
101st,  102d  and  105th  Illinois,  under  Slocum,  who  was  moving  in 
the  same  direction  to  make  a  feint  on  Raleigh  and  thus  conceal  Sher 
man's  movement  on  Goldsboro.  The  enemy's  position  was  almost 
inaccessible  on  account  of  swamps,  yet  it  was  necessary  to  dis 
lodge  him,  and  Wood's  division  of  the  20th  corps  was  thrown  for 
ward  to  develop  his  lines.  Immediately  charging  upon  the  outer 
works  the  division  captured  three  guns  and  a  considerable  num 
ber  of  prisoners.  Kilpatrick,  farther  to  the  right,  was,  however, 
vigorously  attacked  and  driven  back,  gallantly  fighting.  Slocum 
in  the  meantime  had  ordered  up  three  additional  divisions,  which, 
falling  upon  the  enemy,  forced  him  to  retire  within  his  entrench 
ments,  where  he  was  held  during  the  remainder  of  the  day.  The 
succeeding  night  being  stormy,  under  cover  of  the  darkness  Har 
dee  abandoned  his  position  and  retreated  over  the  road  to  Smith- 
field. 

Hitherto  Sherman  had  succeeded  in  interposing  his  army  be 
tween  the  scattered  detachments  of  the  rebel  forces,  but  now  they 
were  rapidly  concentrating,  and  it  became  necessary  to  move  with 
more  caution.  There  were  gathering  about  him  Cheatham,  with 
Hood's  forces  from  Tennessee;  Hoke,  with  the  recent  garrison  of 
Fort  Anderson;  Hardee,  with  that  of  Charleston,  and  Wheeler's 
cavalry  reinforced  by  Wade  Hampton.  These  forces,  numbering 
40.000  veterans,  were  under  the  command  of  Johnson,  Sherman's 
old  ant  igonist,  rendering  it  necessary  for  the  latter  to  keep  his 
columns  within  supporting  distance.  Slocum,  after  making  the 
feint  on  Raleigh,  wheeled  to  the  right  and  took  the  road  to  Golds 
boro,  whither  Howard,  on  his  right,  with  his  forces  wasalso  march 
ing. 

Hopes  were  entertained  by  Sherman  that  the  army  might  reach 
its  destination  without  further  opposition.  Suddenly,  however, 
as  Slocum  on  the  18th  neared  Bentonville,  he  found  himself  con 
fronted  by  the  whole  of  Johnson's  army.  Before  dispositions  could 
be  made  to  receive  the  unexpected  enemy,  two  brigades  were 
driven  back  on  the  main  force  with  a  loss  of  three  guns.  Slocum, 
as  soon  as  possible,  deployed  four  divisions  behind  barricades  and 
stood  on  the  defensive.  Kilpatrick  hearing  the  roar  of  artillery, 
also  dashed  up  and  moved  his  forces  on  the  left.  Hardly  had 
these  preparations  been  made  when  Hoke,  Hardee  and  Cheatham 
swept  up  their  massive  columns,  hoping  by  sheer  weight  of  num 
bers  to  overwhelm  and  break  the  Union  line.  The  whole  fury  of 
the  assault  spent  itself  within  an  hour,  yet,  in  this  time  the  rebels 
made  six  successive  charges,  all  of  which  were  successfully  re 
pulsed.  The  rapid  volleys  of  our  batteries  did  immense  execution 
upon  the  foe,  who,  divesting  himself  of  artillery,  had  hurried  up 
expecting  to  crush  Slocum  before  he  could  be  supported.  How 
ard,  however,  in  obedience  to  orders  from  Sherman,  came  up  the 
next  day,  and  the  rebel  general  finding  himself  opposed  by  an 
army  of  60,000  strong,  decamped  the  succeeding  night,  and  re- 


8G4  HISTORY  OF   ILLINOIS. 


treated  in  the  direction  of  Kaleigh.'  The  following  day,  the  23d 
of  March,  the  army,  without  further  opposition,  entered  Golds- 
boro,  whither  Schofield  two  days  before  had  preceded  it. 

The  battle  of  Bentoirtille,  honored  by  the  presence  of  the  30th, 
53d,  56th,  60th,  63d,  64th,  86th,  92d,  101st,  104th  and  105th 
Illinois,  was  the  last  engagement  of  the  campaign.  It  is  needless 
to  say  they,  in  common  with  the  rest  of  their  comrades,  fought 
well.  The  results  speak  for  themselves.  A  track  of  country  from 
Savannah  to  Goldsboro,  40  miles  wide  and  nearly  500  long,  had 
been  successfully  overridden.  The  immediate  fruits  of  the  march 
were  Mobile,  Charleston  and  Wilmington,  Avhich,  hitherto,  had 
defied  some  of  the  most  destructive  naval  enginery  the  world  has 
ever  seen,  while  it  largely  contributed  to  the  downfall  of  the  con 
federate  capital.  Walled  in  on  one  side  by  the  army  of  Grant, 
with  Sherman  rapidly  approaching  on  the  other,  its  evacuation 
was  a  military  necessity. 

Close  of  the  War. — Sherman  temporarily  turned  over  his  army 
to  Schofield  and  hastened  to  City  Point,  where  he  had  an  inter 
view  with  Gen.  Grant  and  President  Lincoln.  The  object  of  the 
meeting  was  to  concert  measures  for  striking  the  death  blow  of 
the  rebellion.  An  important  part  in  the  closing  drama  was  as 
signed  to  the  army  of  the  West,  but  the  end  was  at  hand.  Before 
any  important  movement  could  be  effected,  Lee  surrendered,  and 
the  civil  war,  whose  throes  had  convulsed  the  continent  and  dis 
turbed  the  commerce  of  the  world,  existed  only  in  history. 

The  slave  power,  corrupt,  defiant  and  rebellious,  had  now  meas 
ured  its  strength  with  the  republic,  and  the  latter  had  triumphed. 
Not  a  stripe  was  erased  from  her  banners ;  every  star  still  revolves 
in  the  frame  work  of  the  constitution;  her  domain  is  unbroken. 
May  she  still  continue  to  prosper  till  her  expanding  dominion  is  only 
limited  by  the  billows  which  at  every  point  of  the  compass,  break 
upon  the  ocean's  shore;  till  her  proud  destiny  becomes  a  realiza 
tion  of  the  prophecies  written  in  her  coal-fields,  beds  of  iron  and 
seams  of  gold  j  till  all  nations,  taught  by  her  example,  are  released 
from  political  oppression,  and  man  attains  the  full  measure  of 
happiness  forshadowed  in  the  divinity  of  his  nature. 

How  much  the  nation  is  indebted  to  Illinois  for  the  auspicious  ter 
mination  of  the  war,  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  in  the  two 
great  movements  which  severed  the  insurgent  States,  and  so  greatly 
paralyzed  their  efforts,  her  soldiers  were  more  largely  represented 
than  those  of  any  other  member  of  the  Union.  Furthermore,  we 
must  place  on  the  credit  side  of  her  balance  sheet  a  large  amount 
of  legal  talent,  superior  generalship  and  executive  ability  j  for 
Trumbull  was  our  lawyer,  Grant  our  soldier,  and  Lincoln  our 
president. 

From  the  scene  of  its  dangers  and  triumphs,  Sherman's  army 
proceeded  to  the  national  capital  to  share  in  the  great  review, 
which  came  off  on  the  23d  and  24th  of  May,  as  a  fitting  close  of 
the  struggle  in  which  it  had  been  so  long  engaged.  At  the  ap 
pointed  time,  in  presence  of  the  president,  the  members  of  his  cabi 
net,  foreign  ministers,  and  other  eminent  personages,  the  united 
armies  of  the  East  and  West  moved  along  Pennsylvania  avenue. 
Never  had  more  gallant  legions  been  entrusted  with  the  destinies 
of  empire  than  those  which  received  the  congratulations  of  the 


THE   WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  865 

dense  masses  which  packed  the  spacious  streets.  The  pageant 
was  grand,  yet  grander  far  was  the  scene  when  the  mighty  host 
which  could  hare  overrun  a  hemisphere,  peacefully,  joyfully 
melted  away  into  regiments  and  returned  to  their  distant  homes. 

Again  the  cities  and  villages  of  Illinois  were  aglow  with  enthu 
siasm  when  the  lengthened  trains  and  crowded  steamboats  poured 
forth  the  thousands  who  had  gone  forth  to  battle.  E very wli ere 
they  were  met  with  expressions  of  welcome.  Ovations  were  pre 
pared  for  their  reception,  and  long  absent  friends  who  had  fol 
lowed  them  with  their  sympathies  through  weary  marches  and 
perilous  battles,  gave  them  a  happy  greeting.  The  greatest  re 
ward,  however,  was  the  proud  consciousness  of  having  served  and 
saved  their  country.  Laying  aside  their  military  costume,  they 
again  assumed  the  habiliments  and  duties  of  civil  life,  and  to-day 
the  State  is  bounding  forward  in  the  career  of  greatness  and 
power  as  the  result  of  their  thrift  and  enterprise. 

Many  who  had  been  instrumental  in  saving  the  nation,  never 
lived  to  see  the  consummation  of  their  labors.  On  the  Father  of 
Waters;  where  the  Tennessee  wanders;  by  the  southern  sea;  along 
the  track  of  the  great  contending  armies,  may  still  be  seen  their 
last  resting  places.  As  long  as  vernal  suns  shall  cause  the  earth 
to  bloom,  may  the  sons  and  daughters  of  freedom  strew  with  flow 
ers  their  graves  and  from  the  remembrance  of  their  deeds, 
gather  new  inspiration  to  direct  them  in  discharging  their  duties  to 
the  country  they  died  to  save. 


55 


CHAPTER  LXY. 

POLITICAL  AND    PARTY    AFFAIRS    DURING  THE   RE 
BELLION. 

Sentiments  of  the  Illinois  Democracy  in  the  Winter  of  1860-1861 — 
Patriotic  Feeling  on  the  breaking  out  of  Hostilities^  irrespective 
of  party,  as  inspired  ~by  Douglas — Revival  of  Partisan  Feeling — 
Constitutional  Convention  of  1862 — Its  high  pretensions — Conflict 
With  the  Governor— Some  Features  of  the  Instrument  framed;  it 
becomes  a  party  measure — The  vote  upon  it — Party  Convention  of 
18(32 — The  last  Democratic  Legislature — Frauds  in  passing  bills — 
Reaction  among  the  People  against  the  Peace  Movement — Mili 
tary  Arrests— Suppressing  the  Chicago  Times — Secret  Politico- 
Military  Societies — Democratic  Mass  Convention  of  June  Vlth, 
1863 — Republican  Mass  Convention,  September,  1863 — Peace  Meet 
ings  of  1864 — Note,  Chicago  Conspiracy. 


During  the  winter  proceeding  Mr.  Lincoln's  first  inauguration  as 
president,  when  State  after  State  was  shooting  madly  from  the 
orbit  of  the  Union  by  passing  secession  ordinances,  conservative 
men  generally,  to  avoid  the  horrors  of  impending  civil  war,  were 
anxious  to  conciliate  the  existing  misunderstanding  and  restore 
harmony  between  the  different  sections  of  our  country.  Several 
propositions  were  offered  in  congress  as  plans  for  compromise ; 
one  by  Mr.  Douglas ;  one  by  Mr.  Crittenden,  and  one  known  as 
the  "  Border  State  Proposition."  With  the  feeling  of  compromise 
the  democracy  of  Illinois  were  fully  imbued,  and  for  the  sake  of 
peace,  they  would  have  conceded  much. 

On  the  i6th  of  January,  1861,  a  Democratic  State  convention 
met  in  Springfield  to  give  expression  to  their  sentiments  upon  the 
state  of  the  Union.  Ninety-three  counties  were  represented  by 
over  500  delegates.  The  venerable  Zadock  Casey  presided.  More 
than  28  years  before  he  had  presided  over  the  Illinois  senate,  when 
the  legislature  declared  the  position  of  the  State  upon  the  nullifi 
cation  of  South  Carolina,  sustaining  President  Jackson  in  his 
proclamation,  and  instructing  our  senators  and  representatives  in 
Congress  "to  unite  in  the  most  speedy  and  vigorous  measures  on 
the  part  of  the  government  for  the  preservation  of  the  peace,  in 
tegrity  and  honor  of  the  Union;  and  we  do  most  solemnly  pledge 
the  faith  of  our  State  in  support  of  the  administration  of  the  laws 
and  constitution  of  our  beloved  country 5"  resolving  further  "That 


YATES    ADMINISTRATION.  867 

disunion  by  armed  force  is  treason,  and  should  be  treated  as  suck 
by  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  nation."  But  this  convention 
of  1801  adopted  a  preamble  and  set  of  resolutions,  counselling 
concession  and  compromise,  and  the  acceptance  of  any  of  the 
propositions  pending  in  congress  to  restore  harmony  between  the 
sections;  declared  that  an  effort  'to  coerce  the  seceding  States, 
would  plunge  the  country  in  civil  war,  and  denied  the  military 
power  of  the  government  to  enforce  its  laws  in  any  State,  except 
in  strict  subordination  to  the  civil  authorities  ;  believed  "that  the 
perilous  condition  of  the  country  had  been  produced  by  the  agita 
tion  of  the  slavery  question,  creating  discord  and  enmity  between 
the  different  sections,  which  had  been  aggravated  by  the  election, 
of  a  sectional  president;"  condemned  the  party  leaders,  madly 
bent  on  fraternal  strife;  did  not  recognize  anj-  conflict  in  the 
diversity  of  the  domestic  institutions  and  industries  of  the  coun 
try,  but  rather  discovered  grounds  for  a  more  lasting  and  perfect 
union  in  its  variety  of  soil  and  climate,  and  modes  of  thought  of 
the  people;  denied  the  right  of  secession;  commended  the  proposed 
Louisville  convention,  and  proposed  a  national  convention  to 
amend  the  constitution  so  as  to  produce  harmony  and  fraternity 
throughout  the  whole  Union.* 

In  the  proceedings  of  this  convention  may  be  found  the  names 
of  men,  who,  in  antagonism  to  the  high  national  ground  occupied 
by  Mr.  Douglas,  ever  sought  to  place  the  democrac}'  of  Illinois  in 
a  false  light  before  the  country  during  the  rebellion.  These  reso 
lutions  foreshadowed  the  views  which  two  years  later,  in  a  modi- 
nect*form.  re-appeared  in  the  Armistice  resolutions  of  the  23d  gen 
eral  assembly  ,and  again  in  the  enunciations  of  the  so-called  Demo 
cratic  mass  convention  of  the  17th  of  June.  1863.  But  the  full  force 
of  the  rebellion  was  not  yet,  in  January,  1861,  realized.  The  bluster 
of  extremists  was  so  great  in  those  days  that  much  of  it  was  dis 
regarded.  When  the  war  was  actually  upon  us,  many  other  names 
seen  there  as  participants,  by  their  patriotic  and  gallant  conduct, 
gave  the  lie  to  these  enunciations.  And  prior  to  this,  in  Decem 
ber,  1860,  the  Hon.  John  A.  McClernand,  a  leading  representative 
democrat  in  congress  from  this  State,  in  the  discussions  incident 
to  the  state  of  the  Union,  had  exclaimed  that 

"  The  sacred  obligations  of  patriotism  would  prompt  every  loyal  citi 
zen,  whether  in  the  North  or  in  the  South,  to  defend  and  maintain  the 
integrity  of  the  Union  and  the  authority  of  its  common  government 
against  the  inroads  of  violence.  *  *  Is  it  coercion  of  a  State  for 
us  to  do  what  we  are  sworn  to  do— to  support  the  constitution  and  the 
laws  and  treaties  as  the  supreme  law  of  the  land?  Is  it  coercion  for  us 
to  maintain  peaceably  if  we  can,  forcibly  if  we  must,  possession  of  the 
treasure  and  other  property  of  the  United  States?  Is  it  coercion  for  us 
to  stay  the  violent  and  lawless  hand  that  would  tear  down  the  noble 
structure  of  our  government  ?  Sir,  it  is  a  perversion  of  all  language  ;  a 
mockery  of  all  ideas, to  say  so." 

Mr.  Douglas,  devotedly  attached  to  the  Union,  and  anxiously 
laboring  for  conciliation  and  compromise,  exclaimed  to  the  South : 
';  What  are  you  afraid  of?  You  have  now,  and  will  have  when  Mr. 
Lincoln  becomes  president,  two-thirds  of  the  government,  the 
supreme  court,  and  both  branches  of  congress."  Unable  to  assign 
a  sufficient  reason,  it  was  answered  that  they  could  not  endure 

*   Illinois  State  Register,  Jan.  17,  1861. 


808  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


the  disgrace  of  a  man  in  the  White  House,  elected  president  by 
the  Bepublicans.  "Well,"  replied  Douglas,  "If  the  South  se 
cedes  and  takes  up  arms  against  the  government,  there  will  then 
be  an  end  of  compromise.  You  and  your  institutions  will  perish 
together." 

The  legislature  of  Virginia  had  adopted  resolutions,  extending 
invitations  to  the  other  States  of  the  Union,  to  appoint  commis 
sioners  to  meet  at  Washington,  February  4th,  1801,  with  similar 
commissioners  from  that  State,  to  consider  and  suggest  plans  for 
the  adjustment  of  the  unhappy  differences  between  the  North  and 
South.  The  basis  of  adjustment  suggested  by  Virginia  was  the 
"  Crittendeu  Compromise  f  or  to  so  amend  the  federal  constitu 
tion  that  "property  in  African  slaves  should  be  effectually  pro 
tected  in  all  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  now  held,  or  here 
after  to  be  acquired  south  of  the  parallel  of  30  deg.  30  min.,  dur 
ing  the  continuance  of  territorial  governments  therein."  The 
legislature  of  Illinois  (Republican)  authorized  the  governor  to  ap 
point  5  commissioners,  as  above,  to  be  at  all  times,  however,  sub 
ject  to  the  control  of  the  general  assembly,  but  disclaimed  any 
admission,  by  their  response  to  the  invitation  of  Virginia,  that  any 
amendment  of  the  federal  constitution  was  requisite  to  secure  the 
people  of  the  slaveholding  States  adequate  guarantees  for  their 
rights,  or  that  it  was  an  approval  of  the  basis  of  settlement  pro 
posed  by  Virginia  j  and  declared  it  simply  an  expression  of  their 
willingness  to  unite  in  an  earnest  effort  to  adjust  the  present  un 
happy  controversies.  The  resolutions  in  that  form  did  not  meet 
the  approval  of  the  democrats.  In  the  senate  every  democrat,  but 
one,  voted  against  them.  The  governor  appointed  the  folio  wing- 
gentlemen  as  commissioners :  Ex-Governor  John  Wood,  Ex-Gov 
ernor  Koerner,  (who  declined,  and  the  Hon.  John  M.  Palmer  was 
named  instead),  Judge  Stephen  T.  Logan,  Hon.  B.  0.  Cook 
and  Hon.  Thomas  J.  Turner,  all  republicans.  The  conference  of 
these  commissioners,  known  as  the  "Peace  Congress,'7  was  duly 
held  at  Washington,  but  their  labors  were  unsatisfactory  from  the 
fltart,  incurring  the  severest  criticism  from  every  direction  and 
their  recommendations  resulted  in  nothing. 

The  first  determined  expression  from  leading  republican  sources, 
and  supposed  to  reflect  the  views  of  the  new  administration  as  to 
the  course  to  be  pursued  with  the  rebels,  came,  also,  from 
an  Illiuoisan.  On  the  28th  of  March,  1801,  Mr.  Trumbull, 
in  the  senate  of  the  United  States,  offered  a  resolution  that  "  in 
the  opinion  of  the  senate  the  true  way  to  preserve  the  Union  [was] 
to  enforce  the  laws  of  the  Union;  that  resistance  to  their  enforce 
ment,  whether  under  the  name  of  anti-coercion  or  any  other  name, 
was  disunion ;  and  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  president  to  use  all 
the  means  in  his  power  to  hold  and  protect  the  public  property  of 
the  United  States,  and  to  enforce  the  laws  thereof,  as  well  in  the 
States  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Florida, 
Louisiana  and  Texas,  as  within  the  other  States  of  the  Union." 
It  was  not  acted  on ;  no  fixed  policy  was  settled  upon  or  seemed 
to  exist  at  the  time. 

When  the  news  of  the  rebels  opening  their  batteries  upon  Fort 
Sm nter  was  received  at  Washington,  Douglas,  the  great  champion 
of  popular  rights,  who  truly  represented  more  than  nine- tenths  of  the 
mass  of  the  Illinois  democracy,  freed  immediately  of  all  par  tizan  feel- 


YATES'  ADMINISTRATION.  8C9 

ing,  rose  at  once  to  the  duty  of  the  hour.  He  called  upon  President 
Lincoln  and  tendered  him  his  sympathy  and  support  in  his  efforts 
to  preserve  the  Union  and  maintain  the  government.  It  was  a 
touching  scene  to  see  these  old  political  antagonists  thus  meet  to 
bury  the  political  hatchet  and  address  themselves  only  to  the  pa 
triotic  work  before  them.  The  president  was  deeply  gratified  by 
the  interview.  To  the  west  Douglas  telegraphed,  "I  am  for  my 
country  and  against  all  its  assailants."  The  fire  of  his  patriotism 
spread  to  the  masses  of  the  north,  and  democrat  and  republican 
rallied  to  the  support  of  the  flag.  In  Illinois  the  democratic  and 
republican  presses  vied  with  each  other  in  the  utterance  of  patri 
otic  sentiments.  From  the  former  we  quote  a  few  sentences : 

"The  fratricidal  blow  has  been  struck!  Civil  war  is  upon  us.  The  rebels  have  opened 
batteries  on  Suinter,  and  the  prospect  of  a  long-  and  bloody  strife  is  before  us.  *  * 
The  government  has  been  resisted  in  the  performance  of  its  legal  functions.  Rebels 
to  the  national  authorities  have  fired  upon  the  flag  of  the  country  and  assaulted  one 
of  its  garrisons  when  effort  was  being  made  to  reinforce  and  provision  the  noble  An 
derson  and  his  gallant  little  band.  *  Whatever  maybe  men's  opinions  as  to 
the  causes  which  have  brought  war  upon  us,  there  is  but  one  feeling,  and  that  is  in 
behalf  of  the  national  grorernment  and  the  flag  of  the  Union.  This  is  as  it  should  be 
with  the  true  patriot.  Whatever  may  be  his  opinions  of  the  causes  of  the  war  with  his 
country's  enemies,  he  is  for  his  country  and  his  country's  flag,  and  his  hearty  support, 
morally  and  physically,  if  necessary,  should  be  rendered  to  the  country's  cause.  *  * 
Civil  war  is  our  present  condition,  and  the  patriot  can  only  sympathize  with  his  govern 
ment  and  with  the  flag,  beneath  the  folds  of  which  we  have  achieved  our  national 
eminence,  with  which  are  associated  so  many  glorious  memories,  and  with  which  are 
blended  all  our  hopes  of  future  greatness,  happiness  and  prosperity  of  civil  and  relig 
ious  liberty,  and  the  cause  of  democratic  republican  government."  "Whatever  may  be 
our  party  leanings,  our  party  principles,  our  likes  or  dislikes,  when  the  contest  opens 
between  the  country — between  the  Union  and  its  foes,  and  blows  are  struck,  the  pa 
triot's  duty  is  plain— take  sides  with  the  stars  and  stripes.  As  Illinoisans,  let  us  rally 
to  one  standard.  There  is  but  one  standard  for  good  men  and  true.  Let  us  be  there; 
through  good  and  through  evil  report,  let  us  be  there;  first,  last  and  all  the  time."* 

Large  and  numerously  attended  mass  meetings  met,  as  it  were  with 
one  accord,  irrespective  of  parties,  and  the  people  of  all  shades  of 
political  opinions  buried  their  party  hatchets.  Glowing  and  elo 
quent  orators  exhorted  the  people  to  ignore  political  differences  in 
the  present  crisis,  join  in  the  common  cause,  and  rally  to  the  flag 
of  the  Union  and  the  constitution.  It  was  a  noble  truce.  From 
the  many  resolutions  of  that  great  outpouring  of  patriotic  senti 
ment  which  ignored  all  previous  party  ties,  we  subjoin  the  follow 
ing: 

"•  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  all  patriotic  citizens  of  Illinois,  without  distinction  of 
party  or  sect,  to  sustain  the  government  through  the  peril  which  now  threatens  the 
existence  of  the  Union;  and  of  our  legislature  to  grant  such  aid  of  men  and  money  as 
the  exigency  of  the  hour  and  the  patriotism  of  our  people  shall  demand." 

Governor  Yates  promptly  issued  his  proclamation,  dated  the 
15th  of  April,  convening  the  legislature  for  the  23d  iust.  in  extra 
ordinary  session.  « 

That  body  remained  in  session  ten  days.  Their  labors  were 
chiefly  addressed  toward  placing  the  State  in  proper  position  for 
defense,  and  to  enable  it  to  respond  to  the  requisitions  of  the 
general  government.  In  addition  to  the  6  regiments  under  the  call  of 
the  president,  they  authorized  the  organization,  by  the  State,  of  ten 
regiments  of  infantry,  one  of  cavalry,  and  one  bntallion  of  light 
artillery,  to  repel  invasion,  suppress  insurrection,  £c.  The  entire 
militia  of  the  State,  including  all  able-bodied  men  between  the 
ages  of  18  and  45,  was  to  be  organized;  $3,500,000  were  appropri 
ated  for  war  purposes  :  $1,000,000  for  the  equipment  of  the  ten 
regiments  of  infantry ;  $500,000  for  the  purchase  of  arms  and  the 
establishment  of  an  arsenal,  and  $2,000,000  for  general  war  pur 
poses. 

*  Illinois  State  Register. 


870  HISTOKY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

The  opinion  of  the  Supreme  Court,  then  sitting  at  Ottawa,  was 
first  taken  as  to  the  power  of  the  legislature  to  transcend  the  con 
stitutional  limitation  of  $50,000.  The  extraordinary  emergency 
was  decided  to  be  sufficient. 

The  Executive  department  was  also  provided  with  a  fund  of 
$50,000  for  extraordinary  expenses.  An  act  was  also  passed  re 
quiring  war  claims  to  be  audited  by  three  commissioners.  Messrs. 
J.  H.  Wood  worth,  of  Chicago,  Win.  Thomas,  of  Jacksonville  and 
C.  H.  Lanphier,  Springfield,  (the  latter  a  democrat,)  were  by  the 
governor  appointed. 

Political  or  party  questions  were  not  obtruded  to  mar  the  har 
mony  of  the  special  session,  other  than  a  resolution  by  Aaron 
Shaw — "  That,  while  we  are  ever  ready  to  stand  by,  and  defend 
with  our  fortunes,  and  our  lives,  the  constitution,  the  honor  and 
flag  of  our  country,  we  will  frown  upon  and  condemn  any  effort, 
on  the  part  of  the  federal  government,  which  looks  to  the  subju 
gation  of  the  Southern  States."  Mr.  Burr,  democrat  of  Scott,  from 
the  committee  on  federal  relations,  reported  a  substitute,  which  was 
adopted  by  67  to  0,  disclaiming  a  purpose  to  subjugate  the  people 
of  any  State  to  any  other  duties  than  those  imposed  by  the  con 
stitution  and  laws  made  in  pursuance  thereof. 

On  the  evening  of  the  25th  of  April,  Mr.  Douglas,  who  had  ar 
rived  at  the  capital  the  day  before,  addressed  the  general  assem 
bly  aud  a  densely  packed  audience, in  the  hall  of  representatives, 
in  that  masterly  effort,  which  must  live  and  be  enshrined  in  the 
hearts  of  his  countrymen  so  long  as  our  government  shall  endure. 
Douglas  had  ever  delighted  in  the  mental  conflicts  of  party  strife  ; 
but  now,  when  his  country  was  assailed  by  the  red  hand  of  trea 
son,  he  was  instantly  divested  of  his  party  armor  and  stood  forth 
panoplied  only  in  the  pure  garb  of  a  true  patriot.  He  taught  his 
auditory — he  taught  his  country,  for  his  speeches  were  telegraph 
ed  all  over  it — the  duty  of  patriotism  at  that  perilous  hour  of  the 
nation's  life.  He  implored  both  democrats  and  republicans  to  lay 
aside  their  party  creeds  and  platforms;  to  dispense  with  party  or 
ganizations  and  party  appeals  5  to  forget  that  they  were  ever  di 
vided  until  they  had  first  rescued  the  government  from  its  assail 
ants.  His  arguments  were  clear,  convincing  and  unanswerable; 
his  appeals  for  the  salvation  of  his  country,  irresistible.  It  was 
the  last  speech,  but  one,  he  ever  made. 

Thus  everything  moved  in  accord,  as  it  should  at  such  a  time. 
The  demon  of  party  seemed  s  \iallo  wed.  up  in  the  awakened  patri 
otism.  Everything  was  harmony,  concord  and  unity,  actuated  by 
but  one  purpose,  to  uphold  the  flag  and  maintain  the  integrity  of 
the  Union. 

The  first  ripple  across  this  smooth  sea,  in  which  apparently  was 
engulphed  all  party  animosity,  arose  from  the  appointment  of  a 
successor  to  the  lamented  Douglas,  who  died  on  the  3d  of  June, 
1861.  Some  of  the  leading  republican  newspapers  of  the  State, 
actuated  by  sentiments  that  rose  above  party,  demanded  of  Gov. 
Yates  the  appointment  of  a  Democrat  to  fill  the  vacancy.  But 
the  lesser  though  more  numerous  republican  lights,  who,  so  long 
as  there  was  nothing  to  lose  or  gain,  had  been  loud  in  praise  of 
burying  the  party  hatchet  during  the  war  for  the  Un-ion,  now, 
however,  opposed  this  magnanimous  concession,  so  well  calcula 
ted  to  promote  harmony,  and  severely  denounced  this  step  and  the 


YATES'  ADMINISTRATION.  871 

indecent  haste  of  their  party  associates  to  guide  the  political  sen 
timents  of  the  State.  They  did  not  want  to  thus  buy  the  loyalty 
of  the  democracy,  they  said.  The  democracy  was  not  to  be 
trusted  in  the  emergency  which  threatened  the  perpetuity  of  the 
Union — citing  the  anti-coercion  resolutions  of  the  January  State 
democratic  convention,  that  the  government  had  no  constitution 
al  power  to  put  down  insurrection  by  military  force.  From  this 
domestic  warfare  the  democracy  stood  aloof  j  they  did  not  expect 
the  senatorship,  a  political  office,  as  a  gift,  at  the  hands  of  the  re 
publicans.  But  it  may  well  be  imagined  that  the  taunts  and 
flings  of  the  latter  were  not  promotive  of  the  amity  and  unit}*  of 
feeling  so  auspiciously  begun.  While  the  advocates  of  such  ap 
pointment  gave  thus  an  earnest  to  sink  the  partizan  out  of  view 
during  the  war,  they  ought  to  have  foreseen  the  inability  of  his  ex 
cellency  to  throw  off  party  shackles  and  rise  to  the  grandeur  and 
independence  of  such  an  act.  Their  good  intentions  resulted  only 
in  harm.  The  governor  appointed  a  republican,  the  Hon.  O.  H. 
Browning,  of  Quincy,  a  gentleman  who,  by  his  legal  attainments, 
occupied  a  front  rank  at  the  bar  of  Illinois,  and  who,  by  educa 
tion,  large  acquaintance  with  public  affairs,  natural  ability  and 
gifts  of  oratory,  was  in  every  way  qualified  to  adorn  the  senatorial 
office. 

In  the  meantime  the  national  administration  proceeded  with 
the  work  of  official  decapitation  fully  as  much  as  in  times  of  pro 
found  peace,  with  no  common  danger  threatening  and  no  other 
public  feeling  than  party  animosity,  and  a  scramble  fortheloaves 
and  fishes.  While  the  dominant  party  press  cried  "Union"  and 
"no  party"  during  the  war,  they  approbated  at  the  same  time  the 
course  of  the  administration,  and  said:  "The  democrats  belong  to 
that  political  tribe  which,  for  years,  have  been  giving  aid  and  com 
fort  to  Southern  traitors,  and  are  now  only  for  the  Union  by  the 
force  of  circumstances  and  not  inclination ;  that  the  republican 
party,  after  driving  the  disuniouists  out  of  office  at  Washington, 
should  not  allow  their  sympathizers  to  hold  office  anywhere  else 
in  the  country ;  that  the  people  expected  the  political  axe  to  be 
applied."* 

Democrats  and  republicans  had  alike  rallied  with  alacrity  to  the 
defense  of  the  nation.  The  former  voted  unlimited  supplies  of 
money,  men  and  credit,  to  an  administration  which,  in  its  civil  ap 
pointments,  drew  the  line  of  strict  party  separation — a  poor  re 
quital,  indeed,  for  the  generous  surrender  of  party  feeling  in  the 
moment  of  great  peril  to  a  common  government;  and  while  the  re 
publicans  were  thus  revelling  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  spoils 
of  party  victory,  it  could  hardly  be  expected  that  partizan  feeling 
should  be  entirely  sunk  out  of  view  by  the  democracy  thus  irrita 
ted. 

The  Constitutional  Convention  of  18G2. — In  November,  1861, 
quite  an  important  election  was  to  take  place  for  delegates  to  re 
vise  the  constitution.  This  convention  had  finally  been  author 
ized  by  a  vote  of  the  people,  after  several  previous  attempts  and 
failures.  The  legislature  at  its  winter  session  of  1861,  with  some 
reluctance,  owing  to  the  changed  condition  of  the  nation,  had 

'See  Republican  press  of  the  period, 


872  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

passed  the  act  for  the  election  aiid  meeting  of  this  important  body. 
When  the  convention  was  called  times  were  good  and  the  State 
in  a  prosperous  condition;  now  they  were  hard,  banks  daily 
breaking,  money  worthless,  and  produce  extremely  low. 

It  was  to  consist  of  75  members,  corresponding  to  the  number 
of  representatives  in  the  lower  house  of  the  general  assembly,  to 
be  elected  from  the  same  districts.  The  legislature  elected  in 
18GO  Avas  republican — the  house  by  five  majority  and  the  senate 
by  one.  Yet  the  election  of  delegates  to  the  constitutional  con 
vention,  but  one  year  later,  resulted  in  45  democrats,  21  republi 
cans,  7  fnsionists,  and  2  doubtful;  the  latter  9  acting  in  the  con 
vention  mostly  with  the  democrats.  From  this  result,  which  was 
entirely  unexpected  by  the  republicans,  it  may  well  be  inferred 
that  the  democrats,  like  their  opponents,  had  also  not,  when  the 
scramble  for  office  was  at  stake,  sunk  all  party  issues  out  of  view 
while  the  war  should  last.  Indeed,  for  party  organization  and 
alertness,  democratic  leaders  have  ever  out-maneuvered  their  op 
ponents,  probably  because  the  rank  and  file  of  their  party  have 
ever  been  tractable.  It  seems  that  the  democracy  in  some  repub 
lican  districts  readily  agreed  to  a  fusion  upon  an  equitable  or  satis 
factory  division  of  candidates,  but  in  districts  where  they  had  clear 
majorities,  this  cognate  rule  was  ignored,  a  straight  party  ticket 
brought  out,  and  elected. 

Among  the  delegates  were  many  well-known  politicians  of  the 
State.  In  the  list  of  names  may  be  recognized  ex-governors,  ex- 
congressmen,  ex-State  officials,  ex  legislators,  learned  jurists  who 
held  on  to  their  seats  upon  the  bench  while  they  were  remodeling 
the  organic  law,  distinguished  lawyers,  experienced  editors,  and 
able  civilians. 

The  convention  assembled  January  7th,  1862,  and  at  once  took 
the  high  position  that,  after  due  organization,  the  law  calling  it 
was  no  longer  binding,  and  {hat  it  had  supreme  power ;  that  it 
represented  a  virtual  assemblage  of  the  whole  people  of  the  State, 
and  was  sovereign  in  the  exercise  of  all  power  necessary  to  effect 
a  peaceable  revolution  of  the  State  government,  and  to  the  restab- 
lishment  of  one  for  the  "  happiness,  prosperity  and  freedom  of 
the  citizen,"  limited  only  by  the  federal  constitution.  Notwithstand 
ing  the  law  calling  the  convention  required  that,  before  entering 
upon  their  duties,  the  members  should  each  take  an  oath  to  sup 
port  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  of  this  State,  they 
utterly  refused  to  include  the  latter,  denying  the  right  of  the  leg 
islature  to  prescribe  their  oath  of  office,  and  holding  it  inconsistent 
for  them  to  swear  to  maintain  what  it  was  their  duty  to  tear  to 
pieces.* 

They  claimed  their  authority  from  the  vote  of  the  people  at  the 
election  of  1860,  and  not  from  the  subsequent  act  of  the  legisla 
ture,  which  had  exhausted  its  power  by  authorizing  their  election 
and  could  attach  no  condition  to  their  duties ;  that  if  the  legisla 
ture  could  bind  them  in  their  oath,  it  could  in  the  articles  to  be 
amended,  and  thus  in  advance  render  null  the  voice  of  the  peo 
ple  and  the  labors  of  the  convention. 

*See  remarks  of  Mr.  Anthony,  of  Cook,  a  republican,  who  first  called  attention  to 
this  view. 


YATES'  ADMINISTRATION.  873 

They  went  farther,  and  asserted  their  supremacy,  not  only  with 
reference  to  the  framing- of  a  constitution,  but  assumed  the  right 
to  control  the  executive  departments  of  the  State  govern 
ment — the  governor  and  subordinate  State  officials — the  courts 
and  all  cognate  matters ;  that  they  were  sovereign  with  regard 
to  both  existing  laws  and  the  constitution,  as  it  was  their  pleasure 
to  will.  This  was  high  and  extraordinary  ground  to  take,  though 
not  entirely  new.  Nor  did  the  convention  stop  with  the  mere 
claim  of  these  extraordinary  powers — it  essayed  to  exercise  them. 
This  led  directly  to  an  onslought  from  the  republican  press  of  the 
State,  which  grew  in  sharpness  as  its  sitting  progressed.  The  con 
vention  was  [denounced  as  an  illegally  organized  body — a  mere 
mob,  exercising  usurped  powers,  &c. 

The  legislature,  at  its  special  session  of  April,  1861,  had,  it  will 
be  remembered,  with  a  liberal  hand,  appropriated  $3,500,000  for 
war  purposes.  When  the  convention  met  it  speedily  ascertained 
that  the  governor  had  not  stopped  with  the  expenditure  of  the 
appropriation,  but,  without  authority  of  law,  had  greatly  exceeded 
its  limits — the  aggregate  claims  audited  by  the  military  auditing 
board  amounting  to  $4,885,886.  This  was  in  express  violation  of 
the  law.  But  these  liabilities  had  been  contracted  in  a  crisis  of 
extraordinary  peril  to  our  country,  to  feed,  clothe,  equip  and  or 
ganize  the  troops  of  Illinois  at  a  time  when  the  government  itself 
was  inexperienced  in  every  step  it  took,  and  should  certainly  not 
have  caused  the  arraignment  of  the  governor  as  being  false  to  his 
official  trust  and  obligations.  He  had  a  right  to  and  doubtless 
did  rely  upon  the  people  for  his  acquittance,  so  long  as  it  was 
shown  that  these  expenditures  were  necessary,  and  the  money 
was  rightfully  applied,  to  promote  the  comfort  and  efficiency  of 
our  troops.  Besides,  the  general  government  was  under  obliga 
tions — which  it  has  fully  discharged — to  reimburse  the  States  for 
necessary  expenditures  in  the  equipment  of  their  volunteers. 

But  in  the  fall  of  1861,  the  U.  S.  quartermaster's  department 
sent  its  agent  to  Springfield  to  take  charge  of  all  expenditures  in 
cident  to  the  supplies  and  equipment  of  Illinois  troops.* 

This  did  not  accord  with  the  wishes  of  his  excellency.  To  the 
agent's  request  to  relieve  the  State,  the  governor  replied  that  he 
availed  himself  of  the  right  conferred  by  act  of  Congress  upon 
each  State  to  furnish  supplies  for  its  troops.  Contracts  for  sup 
plies  were  still  given  out,  one  for  clothing  alone  amounting  to 
over  $800,000.* 

The  State  was  for  a  time  threatened  with  a  loss  of  $130- 
000,  on  account  of  inferior  clothing  purchased  by  the  gov 
ernor's  agent,  in  Philadelphia.  Finally,  but  not  till  in  January, 
1862,  upon  a  sharp  demand  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  the  ex 
penditures  and  rich  drippings  of  the  quartermaster's  department 
were  turned  over  to  the  general  government.  In  this  instance, 
however,  the  conduct  of  the  governor,  by  thus  fixing  a  liability  upon 
the  State  beyond  the  war  fund  provided,  in  the  face  of  the  demand 
of  the  war  department  to  relieve  the  State,  cannot  certainly  be  ex 
tenuated  upon  the  grounds  of  necessity. 

*See  Q.  M.  Gen.  Meigs'  letter  to  the  Governor  s'ept,  28, 1861. 
*See  correspondence  of  Q.  M.  Gen.  Meigs. 


874  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

The  convention  made  many  of  these  matters  the  subject  of  in 
quiry.  They  demanded  of  the  governor,  by  resolution,  to  know 
whether  the  general  government  had  notified  him  of  its  readiness 
to  relieve  the  State  of  the  further  expenditures  in  the  organiza 
tion,  equipment  and  maintenance  of  troops  enlisted  in  this  State 
for  the  service  of  the  U.  S.;  whether  the  general  government  had 
not  sent  its  agent  here  for  that  purpose,  and  if  so  why  the  arrange 
ment  had  not  been  made;  also  all  correspondence  with  the  gen 
eral  government  in  relation  thereto.  They  called  upon  him  (by 
resolution  of  Mr.  Wentworth,  republican)  to  furnish  the  conven 
tion  the  names  and  pay  of  all  persons  appointed  to  office  by  him 
since  the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  out  of  what  appropriations 
they  were  paid  ;  what  civil  officers  or  agents  he  was  empowered  to 
appoint  under  the  constitution ;  and  whether  the  militia  of  the  State 
called  into  service  had  been  permitted  to  elect  their  own  officers,  and 
if  not,  by  what  authority  he  had  exercised  those  functions,  &c.  The 
Illinois  Central  li.  11.  Company,  which,  in  its  grant  of  land  from 
Congress,  was  bound,  in  express  terms,  to  render  to  the  general 
government  transportation  for  troops  and  munitions  of  war,  free 
of  charge,  bad  brought  against  this  State  a  claim  for  military 
transportation  of  $110,719,  which  had  been  audited  and  approved 
by  a  majority  (Messrs.  Thomas  and  Woodward)  of  the  State  mili 
tary  auditing  board.  The  company  wanted  to  set  off  this  claim 
against  the  semi-annual  dividend  of  7  per  centum  of  its  gross 
earnings.  The  convention  instructed  the  new  board  of  army  au 
ditors  (the  auditor,  treasurer  and  governor,)  to  suspend  all  action 
in  relation  to  this  claim  until  further  notice  from  them.  His  excel 
lency,  iu  several  lengthy  communications,  complied  with  the  de 
mands  t)f  the  convention,  setting  forth  in  detail  all  his  transactions 
inquired  about  j  but  finally,  in  a  short  letter,  dated  February  5th, 
1862,  after  stating  that  he  had,  from  the  beginning,  maintained 
that  the  claims  of  the  Central  railroad  could  not  be  brought 
against  the  State  of  Illinois,  but  were  property  chargeable  against 
the  general  government,  he  sharply  defined  his  independence  by 
saying,  "he  did  not  acknowledge  the  right  of  the  convention  to 
instruct  him  in  the  performance  of  his  duty." 

The  convention  went  still  further.  Instead  of  revising  the  con 
stitution  simply,  it  also  assumed  legislative  powers  and  put  its 
finger  into  almost  every  conceivable  State  affair.  It  attempted 
to  crush  the  free  banks  by  instructing  the  auditor  not  to  issue  to 
any  more  bank  notes  to  circulate  as  money,  unless  the  bank  first 
showed,  by  the  affidavits  of  two  credible  witnesses  that  it  had 
on  hands,  always  previous  thereto,  a  cash  capital  of  not  less  than 
$50.000  •  that  it  had  never  refused  to  redeem  its  circulation  in 
specie  ;  and  that  at  the  time  of  application  for  further  issues,  it 
had  actually,  and  in  good  faith,  a  paid  in  capital  of  $50,000.  The 
requirements  of  these  impossibilities  from  the  banks  was,  per 
haps,  well  enough,  to  save  the  people  from  further  losses  by 
"  stump-tail "  currency. 

It  also  passed,  by  a  vote  of  39  to  23,  an  ordinance  ratifying  the 
amendment  to  the  constitution  of  the  U.  S.,  proposed  by  joint  res 
olution  of  Congress,  March  2,  1861:  Article  XIII— "No  amend 
ment  shall  be  made  to  the  constitution  which  will  give  to  Con 
gress  the  power  to  abolish  or  interfere  within  any  State  with  the  do 
mestic  relations  thereof,  including  that  of  persons  held  to  labor 


YATES'  ADMINISTRATION.  875 

or  service  by  the  laws  of  said  State."  The  convention  had  not 
been  called  for  the  purpose  of  ratifying  this  amendment,  and  Con 
gress,  which  has  the  selection  of  the  mode  of  ratification,  had  des 
ignated  the  legislatures.  Some  leading  democratic  members 
protested  against  this  step,  not  that  they  did  not  approve 
the  amendment,  but  because  the  convention  had  not  legislative 
power  to  act  in  the  premises. 

A  resolution  was  introduced  to  inquire  into  the  feasibility  of 
electing  a  TJ.  S.  senator  in  place  of  the  appointee  of  the  governor. 
And  this  step  was  encouraged  by  the  democratic  press,  as  it  en 
couraged  all  the  proceedings.  In  these  ways  the  bitter  hostility  of 
the  entire  republican  press  of  the  State  was  provoked,  and  it  did 
not  halt  or  hesitate,  but  came  to  the  charge  with  a  will.  The  cry 
of  usurpation  was  raised.  It  was  charged  that  the  convention 
went  out  of  its  legitimate  sphere  to  provoke  a  collision  with  the 
State  authorities ;  it  was  denounced  as  a  mob  of  political  dema 
gogues  who  sought  by  every  means  to  discredit  the  wrar  for  the 
Union,  destroy  the  government  and  build  up  secession  democracy 
on  its  ruins.  The  strictures  of  the  press  were  unparalleled  in  gross- 
ness  and  severity.* 

And  now,  February  18,  1862,  the  convention,  by  a  vote  of  50  to 
1C,  passed  an  ordinance  appropriating  $500,000  for  the  exclusive 
purpose  of  relieving  the  wants  and  sufferings  of  Illinois  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers  battling  for  the  Union  and  the  constitution. 
To  raise  the  necessary  funds,  10  per  cent,  bonds  were  to  be  imme 
diately  issued,  redeemable  at  the  pleasure  of  the  State.  The 
governor,  treasurer,  and  finance  committee  of  the  convention 
were  constituted  a  commission  to  properly  expend  this  fund.  But 
this  most  generous  action  was  characterized  by  Republicans  as  a 
Democratic  effort  to  make  political  capital  out  of  the  war.  The  con 
vention  was  ridiculed  as  having  gone  off  on  a  buncomb  ordinance, 
and  its  members  sneeringly  denounced  as  eleventh-hour  patriots* 
The  bonds  bearing  the  enormous  rate  of  10  per  cent,  interest,  it 
was  argued,  would  astonish  the  financial  centres  of  the  country; 
that  the  wrhole  scheme  was  meant  to  aim  a  blow  at  the  credit  of 
the  State,  to  give  aid  and  comfort  to  the  rebellion.  So  difficult  is 
it  for  one  party  to  please  another,  with  the  most  liberal  acts  even, 
in  favor  of  a  cause  espoused  by  both.  Notwithstanding  a  resolu 
tion  directing  the  preparation  of  the  bonds  and  their  sale,  the 
State  officials,  all  Republicans,  wholly  ignored  the  behests  of  the 
convention,  and  the  ordinance  became  a  dead  letter.  The  sick  and 
wounded  Illinois  soldiers  received  no  State  aid,  said  the  Demo 
crats,  because  it  was  not  the  act  of  the  dominant  party.  As  the 
convention  possessed  probably  no  legislative  power,  the  ordinance 
was  doubtless  a  nullity,  and  the  bonds  would  have  been  worthless 
in  market. 

Some  Features  of  the  Instrument  framed: 

SEC.  30.  Article  11,  provided  that  "  The  people  of  this  State  have  the 
exclusive  right  of -governing  themselves  as  a  free,  sovereign  and  inde 
pendent  State,  and  do  and  forever  shall  enjoy  and  exercise  every  power 

*A  correspondent  of  the  Chicago  Tribune  boldly  charged  that  31  members  of  the 
convention  belonged  to  the  Kniyhts  of  the  Golden  Circle  -commonly  reputed  to  be  a 
treasonable  political  organization  in  sympathy  with  the  rebellion.  This  foolish  and 
unsupported  charge  was  dignified  by  the  convention  with  the  consideration  of  a 
resolution  to  inquire  and  ferret  out  whether  any  member  did  belong  to  any  such  or 
der,  or  was  in  treasonable  correspondence  with  the  Confederacy;  the  resolution 
went  to  its  grave  by  reference.] 


876  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 


pertaining  thereto,  which  is  not  and  may  not  thereafter  be  by  them  ex 
pressly  delegated  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  of  America,  or  pro 
hibited  to  the  State  by  the  constitution  of  the  United  States." 

In  this  Bepublicaus  discovered  lurking  the  abominable  heresy 
of  State  sovereignty  and  the  right  of  secession,  which  set  a  State 
above  the  nation,  and  had  proven  the  bane  of  the  Union ;  which 
fostered  sectionalism  and  made  of  one's  own  countrymen  aliens. 
Long  before  the  labors  of  the  convention  were  concluded,  blind 
partisanism,  lashed  into  fury,  was  arrayed  against  whatever  might 
be  produced  by  it,  good  or  bad.  When  the  work  was  finally  com 
pleted  and  published,  it  was  at  once  ruthlessly  attacked  by  the 
.Republicans,  notwithstanding  its  many  excellencies  and  great  im 
provement  upon  the  old  constitution.  Its  provisions  were  such 
that  where  responsibility  could  be  attached  it  was  done ;  every 
thing  was  fixed,  determined  and  rigidly  enforced  upon  the  respec 
tive  departments  of  government,  with  nothing  left  to  chance  or 
mischievous  interpretation.  It  guarded  the  interests  of  the  people, 
lessened  taxation,  and  sought  to  compel  an  honest  administration 
of  public  affairs  generally.  It  relieved  from  the  useless  2  mill  tax 
of  the  old  constitution,  saving  to  the  people  $1,000,000  annually. 
It  abolished  the  grand  jury  system  in  all  cases  except  felony. 
This  inquisitorial  institution,  though  venerable  with  age,  is  a  cum 
brous  and  expensive  machinery  in  the  administration  of  justice 
illy  adapted  to  the  flexibility  of  our  day.  The  statistics  of  1861 
showed  that  out  of  4,682  indictments  found  in  this  State,  but  330 
convictions  were  had,  leaving  upon  the  residue  an  indelible  stain 
for  the  finger  of  scorn  to  point  at,  perhaps  to  the  second  genera 
tion.  The  constitution  placed  a  curb  upon  railroad  corporations, 
both  existing  and  prospective,  and  effectually  limited  all  monopo 
lies.  The  7  percent,  fund,  arising  from  the  gross  earn  ings  of  the 
Central  Railroad,  was  definitely  fixed  so  that  no  future  legislature 
might  be  tampered  with  for  its  removal.  Special  legislation  was 
prohibited,  cutting  up,  by  the  roots,  the  occupation  of  the  lobby 
cormorants.  All  of  which  provoked  the  ardent  hostility  of  the 
many  large  and  influential  interests  affected,  which  thus  reinforced 
the  partisan  opposition  to  it  with  a  powerful  auxiliary. 

But  upon  the  other  hand,  it  should  also  be  said  that  in  contradis 
tinction  of  the  ancient  theory,  that  the  State  is  the  fountain  of  jus 
tice  which  can  do  no  wrong,  it  contained  a  provision  for  bringing 
suits  against  the  State  prostrating  its  sovereignty  at  the  feet  of  every 
one,  and  opening  a  Pandora's  box  to  let  loose  all  manner  of  frauds 
upon  the  common  treasury.  Apportionments,  whether  fair  or 
otherwise,  always  give  partisan  offense,  and  it  was  so  with,  the 
work  of  the  convention.  A  revision  of  the  census  of  1860,  entitled 
Illinois  to  14  instead  13  congressmen,  the  State  having  been 
apportioned  for  13  by  the  legislature  in  1861.  The  convention 
plan  gave  to  each  political  party  7  members ;  but  as  the  Republi 
cans  felt  that  they  had  a  popular  majority  in  the  State,  they  pre 
ferred  a  congressman  at  large.  The  opponents  further  charged 
that  while  by  the  census  of  1860,  the  Republican  counties  con 
tained  a  population  of  942,005,  and  the  Democratic  769,748,  yet 
by  the  apportionment  for  members  of  the  legislature,  the  latter 
would  have  19  of  the  33  senators,  and  57  of  the  102  representa 
tives,  and  that  it  was  so  contrived  that  if  the  former  should  carry 
the  State  by  a  popular  majority  the  general  assembly  would  still 


YATES'  ADMINISTRATION.  877 

be  democratic.  In  making  State  officers  elective  biennially  instead 
of  quadrennially,  the  convention  committed  its  gravest  blunder  by 
dismissing  from  office  the  incumbents,  whose  terras  would  be  but 
half  expired,  and  ordering  a  new  election  in  November,  1802 ; 
while  the  circuit  and  county  clerks,  mostly  democratic,  were  re 
tained  till  the  expiration  of  their  full  terms.  This  was  an  unjust 
partisan  discrimination,  which  the  people  would  not  brook,  and 
they  defeated  the  instrument  in  June  following.  Six  different 
propositions  were  separately  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people. 
The  constitution  proper,  the  article  prohibiting  banks,  and  the 
congressional  apportionment,  were  all  defeated,  the  former  by  a 
majority  of  16.051.  But  the  article  prohibiting  negroes  and  mu- 
lattoes  from  settling  in  the  State,  was  carried  by  100,590  majority; 
that  prohibiting  their  voting,  by  176,271,  with  only  35,649  votes 
against  it;  and  the  requiring  these  provisions  to  be  carried  into 
effect  by  appropriate  legislation,  by  154,524  majority.  Such  was 
then  still  the  overwhelmingly  dominant  sentiment  of  the  people 
of  this  State  with  regard  to  the  political  status  of  the  black  man. 
Three  months  after  this  overwhelming  expression  of  the  people  of 
Illinois,  Mr.  Lincoln  issued  his  preliminary  proclamation  of  freedom, 
to  the  African  bondsmen  of  America;  and  in  November  following,the 
State,  which  in  June  cast  over  16,000  votes  majority  against  the 
constitution  as  a  party  measure,  went  largely  against  the  Repub 
licans,  the  Democrats  electing  9  out  of  the  14  congressmen,  in 
cluding  the  congressman  from  the  State  at  large  by  16,355;  the 
State  Treasurer  and  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  and 
carried  both  houses  of  the  general  assembly.  The  summer  of 
1862  had  witnessed  the  great  uprising  of  the  people  in  the  ready 
volunteering  of  600,000  men,  and  more,  until  the  government  re 
fused  them.  After  the  proclamation,  contrary  to  the  predictions 
of  Greeley,  Andrew  and  Yates,  such  patriotic  scenes  were  not 
again  witnessed.  The  conscript  laAV,  threatened  drafts  and  local 
bounties  afterward  supplied  the  demand.  Had  the  constitution 
been  adopted  in  June,  the  State,  by  the  election  of  a  governor  and 
State  officers  in  November,  would  have  wholly  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  democrats — whether  for  good  or  evil,  is  left  to  the 
conjecture  of  the  reader. 

Democratic  and  Republican  Conventions  of  1863. — On  the  16th 
of  September,  1862,  the  State  Democratic  Convention  was  held  at 
Springfield  in  Cook's  Hall.  The  attendance  was  not  full,  the  call 
being  for  529  and  the  attendance  381.  The  contest  for  congress 
man  at  large  lay  between  Col.  T.  Lyle  Dickey,  of  LaSalle,  a  war 
democrat,  himself  and  sons  having  enlisted  in  the  service  for  the 
Union,  and  James  C.  Allen,  of  Crawford.  The  latter  was  nomi 
nated  on  the  first  ballot,  by  17  majority,  which  was  regarded  as 
an  anti-war  triumph.  Alexander  Starne,  of  Pike,  was  chosen  as 
the  candidate  for  treasurer,  and  John  P.  Brooks,  of  Rock  Island, 
for  superintendent  of  public  instruction.  At  this  stage  of  the  pro 
ceedings  no  little  commotion  was  produced  by  W.  B.  Scates,  of 
Gen.  McClernand's  staff,  offering  a  series  of  resolutions,  favoring 
a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war,  "  whether  slavery  survived  or 
perished,"  adopting  the  language  of  Mr.  Lincoln;  and  using  the 
language  of  Mr.  Douglas — "  There  are  only  two  sides  to  the  ques 
tion — every  man  must  be  for  the  United  States  or  against  it. 


878  HISTOKY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

There  can  be  no  neutrals  in  this  war ;  only  patriots  and  traitors. 
The  more  stupendous  our  preparations,  the  less  blood  shed  and 
the  shorter  the  struggle ;"  that  it  was  the  duty  of  American  citi 
zens  to  rally  around  the  nag  of  their  country  ;  approving,  also,  of 
the  president's  call  for  600,000  volunteers.  The  resolutions  were 
immediately  tabled  by  a  large  majority. 

Of  the  resolutions  reported  by  the  committee  on  platform, 
through  the  Hon.  W.  A.  Richardson,  and  unanimously  adopted, 
we  give  the  first  and  second  in  full,  with  a  synopsis  of  the  re 
mainder: 

u Resofred,  That  the  constitution,  and  laws  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  are.  and  must 
remain  the  supreme  law  of  the  land;  and  as  such,  must  be  preserved  and  maintained 
in  their  proper  and  rightful  supremacy;  that  the  rebellion  now  in  arms  against  them 
must  be  suppressed;  and  it  is  the  duty  of  all  good  citizens  to  aid  the  general  govern 
ment  in  all  legal  and  constitutional  measures  necessary  and  proper  to  the  accomplish 
ment  of  this  end. 

'"Resolved,  That  the  doctrines  of  Southern  and  Northern  extremists  are  alike  incon 
sistent  with  the  federal  constitution,  and  Irreconcilable  with  the  union  and  harmony 
of  the  country.  The  first  have  already  involved  us  in  civil  war,  and  the  latter,  if  per 
mitted  to  retain  ascendency,  will  leave  the  nation  but  little  hope  of  the  restoration  of 
the  Union  in  peace.1' 

They  further  protested  against  congress  pledging  the  nation  to 
pay  for  all  slaves  that  should  be  emancipated  ;  condemned  as 
tyrannical,  the  recent  arbitrary  arrests  of  our  citizens  by  the  gen 
eral  government,  and  their  transportation  beyoud  the  State,  de 
manding  their  immediate  restoration  for  trial  at  home;  denounced 
the  military  interference  with  the  freedom  of  speech  and  the 
press;  viewed  with  alarm  the  reckless  extravagance  pervading 
every  department  of  government;  considered  the  new  excise  law 
as  unjust  and  oppressive  to  the  agricultural  States;  commended 
strict  economy  in  State  affairs,  and  the  payment  of  taxes  in  United 
States,  treasury  notes ;  sustained  the  president  in  his  recent  declar 
ation  to  "save  the  Union  the  shortest  way  under  the  constitution  ;" 
asked  from  the  authorities  of  Illinois  the  enforcement  of  the  negro- 
exclusion  clause,  recently  added  to  the  constitution;  and  ten 
dered  their  thanks  to  the  volunteers  of  Illinois,  for  their  gallant 
services  at  Belmont,  Donelson,  Shiloh,  Lexington  and  Frederick- 
town.  The  convention  was  held  about  a  week  prior  to  the  issu 
ance  of  the  proclamation  of  freedom.* 

The  Republican,  or  Union  State  Convention,  as  it  called  itself, 
met  September  24,  1862,  two  days  after  that  proclamation.  Out 
of  340  delegates  entitled  to,  328  attended.  For  congressman  at 
large  there  were  a  dozen  candidates,  but  the  Hon.  Eben  0.  Inger- 
soll,  of  Peoria,  a  strong  war  democrat,  who,  immediately  after  the 
adjournment  of  the  Democratic  Convention,  had  taken  occasion,  in 
a  published  letter,  to  denounce  its  secession  proclivities,  and  made 
a  strong  call  for  a  State  convention,  composed  of  true,  loyal 
democrats,  who  would  draw  a  line  between  union  and  disunion, 
without  an  "if"  or  a  "  but,'7  was  now  taken  up  by  the  Republi 
cans,  and  nominated  on  the  4th  ballot,  his  strongest  opponents 
being  such  original  republicans  as  H.  P.  H.  Bromwell  and  Jack 
son  Grimshaw.  William  Butler,  of  Sangamon,  was  nominated  for 
treasurer,  and  Newton  Bateman  for  superintendent  of  public  in 
struction. 

The  committee  on  platform,  through  Lawrence  Weldon,  made 
their  report,  which  was  adopted,  and  which  we  condense.  It  de 
nounced  the  rebellion  as  the  most  causeless  known  to  history ; 

.  See  Illinois  State  Register,  Sept.  17,  1862. 


YATES'  ADMINISTRATION.  879 

acknowledged  but  two  divisions  of  the  people — the  loyal,  ready  to 
make  any  sacrifice  for  the  integrity  of  the  Union  and  the  preser 
vation  of  liberty,  and  those  who  openly  or  covertly  endeavored  to 
sever  the  former  and  yield  tlie  latter;  called  upon  all  patriotic 
citizens  to  rally  for  an  undivided  country  and  one  flag,  and  the 
prosecution  of  the  war  to  any  extent  or  sacrifice;  cordially  ap 
proved  the  proclamation,  of  freedom  as  a  great  and  imperative  war 
measure  essential  to  the  salvation  of  the  Union,  pledging  all 
truly  loyal  citizens  to  the  support  of  the  president  in  its  enforce 
ment;  commended  the  patriotic  and  efficient  aid  of  loyal  demo 
crats,  but  deprecated  the  course  of  those  political  leaders,  who, 
while  studiously  avoiding  all  harshness  toward  the  conspirators  of 
the  south,  found  fault  with  the  administration  for  its  manner  of 
prosecuting  the  war ;  favored  a  system  of  direct  taxation  to  sup 
press  the  rebellion,  but  demanded  an  equitable  modification  of  the 
existing  excise  law;  commended,  as  a  work  of  great  national  im 
portance,  the  construction  of  a  ship  canal,  connecting  Lake  Michi 
gan  with  the  Mississippi  river;  expressed  gratitude  to  the  gover 
nor  for  his  labors  to  bring  into  the  field  the  Illinois  troops,  and 
his  efforts  to  care  for  them  in  sickness;  and  that  the  Illinois  vol 
unteers  were  entitled  to  our  lasting  gratitude  for  nobly  periling 
their  lives  in  battle,  from  Kansas  to  the  Potomac.*  We  have 
already  stated  that  the  election  in  November,  1862,  resulted  in  a 
complete  victory  for  the  democrats.  The  State  ticket  was  carried 
by  an  average  of  over  16,000  majority,  showing  a  change  of  32,000 
votes  since  June,  when  the  Republicans  defeated  the  new  consti 
tution  by  16,000  majority.  Democrats  attributed  this  remarkable 
change  in  the  sentiments  of  the  people  to  the  proclamation  of  free 
dom  of  September  22,  1862. 

The  Last  Democratic  Legislature  of  Illinois. — The  political  status 
of  the  23d  General  Assembly,  elected  November,  1862,  was  as 
follows:  Senate,  democrats  13,  republicans  12;  House,  democrats 
54,  republicans  32.  With  the  meeting  of  this  body  on  the  5th  of 
January,  1863,  flushed  with  the  democratic  triumph  at  the  polls, 
not  only  in  Illinois,  but  other  Northern  States,  a  large  outside 
force  of  well-known  politicians,  like  vultures  to  their  feast,  also 
collected  at  the  capital.  These,  joined  by  some  of  the  members, 
arranged  a  public  meeting  at  the  Hall  of  Representatives  for  the 
evening  of  the  first  day  of  the  session,  in  which  every  part  of  the 
State  was  represented.  V.  Hickox,  of  the  State  Democratic  Com 
mittee,  presided,  and  Capt.  Thos.  W.  McFall,  of  Q  nil  icy,  was  made 
secretary.  A  committee  of  16  on  resolutions,  one  from  each  con 
gressional  district,  and  three  from  the  State  at  large,  was  ap 
pointed,  embracing  the  following  prominent  names :  I.  N.  Morris, 
L.  W.  Ross,  John  T.  Lindsay,  E.  D.  Taylor,  S.  A.  Buckmaster, 
John  T.  Stuart,  John  Schofield,  O.  B.  Ficklin,  W.  A.  Hacker,  H. 
M.  Vandeveer,  A.  C.  Harrington,  M.  Y.  Johnson,  C.  H.  LanpJiier 
and  B.  L.  Oaulfield.  Messrs.  W.  A.  Richardson,  S.  S.  Marshall, 
Richard  L.  Merrick  and  W.  C.  Goudy  addressed  the  vast  audi 
ence,  denouncing  the  president  as  a  usurper,  criticising  the  con 
duct  of  the  war  in  unmeasured  terms  and  characterizing  it  as  bar 
barous  and  disgraceful. 

*  See  Illinois  State  Journal,  Sept.  2*.  1863 


880  HISTOKY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

The  committee  reported  the  following  resolution,  which  was 
vociferously  applauded  and  unanimously  adopted : 

Resolved,  That  the  emancipation  proclamation  of  the  President  of  the  U.S.  is  as 
unwarrantable  in  military  as  in  civil  laAv;  a  gigantic  usurpation,  at  once  converting 
the  war,  professedly  commenced  by  the  administration  for  the  vindication  ot  the  au 
thority  or'  the  constitution,  into  the  crusade  for  the  sudden,  unconditional  and  violent 
liberation  of  3,000,000  of  negro  slaves;  a  result  which  would  not  only  be  a  total  sub 
version  of  the  federal  Union,  but  a  revolution  in  the  social  organization  of  the  South 
ern  States,  the  immediate  and  remote,  the  present  and  the  far-reaching  consequences 
of  which  to  both  races  cannot  be  contemplated  without  the  most  dismal  forebodings 
of  horror  and  dismay.  The  proclamation  invites  servile  insurrection  as  an  element  in 
this  emancipation  crusade -a  means  of  warfare,  the  inhumanity  and  diabolism  of 
which  are  without  example  in  civilized  warfare,  and  which  we  denounce,  and  which 
the  civilized  world  will  denounce,  as  an  ineffaceable  disgrace  to  the  American  name." 

The  committee  were  instructed  to  report  further  on  the  evening 
of  January  8th,  to  which  time  the  meeting  adjourned — a  day  sa 
cred  from  its  patriotic  associations — when  this  scene  was  again 
rehearsed. 

At  that  time  the  Hon.  I.  N.  Morris,  of  the  committee,  reported 
a  set  of  11  resolutions,  condemning  the  administration  for  suspen 
ding  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  the  arrest  of  private  citizens,  and 
their  incarceration  in  political  bastiles  ;  the  dismemberment  of 
Virginia;  and  "That while  we  condemn  and  denounce  the  flagrant 
and  monstrous  usurpations  of  the  administration,  and  the  en 
croachments  of  abolitionism,  we  remain  equally  hostile  to  the 
Southern  rebellion."  They  further  commended  a  cessation  of  hos 
tilities  with  the  rebellious  foe,  to  allow,  as  they  said,  the  people 
of  the  North  and  the  South  to  express  their  wishes  for  peace, 
and  a  maintenance  of  "  the  Union  as  it  was  and  the  constitution 
as  it  is,"  through  a  national  convention  to  meet  at  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  to  which  the  legislature  was  invited  to  send  a  suita 
ble  number  of  discreet  commissioners  in  behalf  of  Illinois.  In 
these  resolutions  we  find  foreshadowed  and  prescribed  the  subse 
quently  notorious  armistice  or  peace  resolutions  of  the  legislature, 
which  were  attended  with  so  much  partizaii  strife  and  loss  of 
time. 

The  speeches  made  in  support  of  the  resolutions  were  of  the 
most  inflammable  anti-war  character.  The  speakers  on  this  oc 
casion  were  Judge  O'Melveny,  Hon.  O.  B.  Ficklin,  K.  L.  Merrick, 
B.  Caulfield  and  T.  Lyle  Dickey,  the  latter  the  only  one  who  coun 
selled  moderation,  saying  that  to  stir  up  a  counter-revolution  to 
oppose  revolution  could  only  result  in  the  destruction  of  our  whole 
political  fabric.  Detraction  of  the  president  for  issuing  the  pro 
clamation  of  freedom,  denunciation  of  the  policy  of  his  adminis 
tration,  criticism  of  the  conduct  of  the  war,  and  opposition  to  it, 
were  indulged  as  on  the  preceding  occasion,  with  added  force  and 
bitterness  of  expression.  They  charged  that  the  war  had  been 
perverted,  for  political  reasons,  from  a  war  for  the  restoration  of 
the  Union,  to  a  costly  struggle  of  blood  and  treasure,  purposely 
protracted  for  the  accomplishment  of  partizan  ends.  It  was  de 
manded  that  not  another  dollar  or  a  single  man  should  be  contri 
buted  to  carry  on  such  a  monstrous  contest.  The  people  of  the 
New  England  States  were  charged  with  causing  all  the  trouble 
leading  to  the  deplorable  war ;  and  a  reconstruction  of  the  Union 
by  joining  with  the  South,  leaving  them  out,  was  advocated.  Not 
a  word  was  uttered  in  denunciation  of  the  rebels.  The  inconsist 
ency  of  the  republican  party  was  shown  by  quoting  the  Chicago 
platform  of  1860:  "That  the  maintenance  inviolate  of  the 


YATES'   ADMINISTRATION.  881 

rights  of  the  States,  and  especially  the  rights  of  each  State  to 
order  and  control  its  own  domestic  institutions,  according  to  its 
own  judgment  exclusively,  was  essential  to  that  balance  of  power 
on  which  the  perfection  and  endurance  of  our  political  faith  de 
pends.'7  The  violation  of  the  president's  promise  to  the  country 
was  shown  by  quoting  from  the  inaugural  address  :  u  I  have  no 
purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere  with  the  institution  of 
slavery  in  the  States  where  it  exists;  I  believe  I  have  no  lawful 
right  to  do  so,  and  have  no  inclination  to  do  so. n  And  the  repub 
lican  congress,  after  the  Bull  Kun  disaster,  had  pledged  the  na 
tion  "  that  this  war  was  not  waged,  on  their  part,  in  any  spirit  of 
oppression,  or  for  any  purpose  of  conquest  or  subjugation,  or  pur 
pose  of  overthrowing  or  interfering  with  the  rights  or  established 
institutions  of  the  States,  but  to  defend  and  maintain  the  suprem 
acy  of  the  constitution,  and  to  preserve  the  Union,  with  all  the 
dignity,  equality  and  the  rights  of  the  several  States  unim 
paired."* 

But  the  numerous  military  arrests  for  treasonable  utterances 
which  the  general  government  had,  for  some  time,  caused  to  be 
made — some  of  the  sufferers  being  present — afforded  the  orators  the 
rarest  field  for  the  display  of  their  declamatory  powers,  and  K.  T. 
Merrick,  gifted  with  a  singular  power  of  eloquent  denunciation, 
shone  with  unwonted  brilliancy.  Forcible  resistence  to  these  un 
lawful  aggressions  upon  the  rights  of  the  citizen  was  freely  coun 
seled.  This  was  doubtless  a  political  blunder  on  the  part  of  the 
general  government  by  which  little  good  was  accomplished.  In 
many  instances  insignificant,  if  not  contemptible  treason-spouters 
were  arrested  and  imprisoned,  men  never  heard  of  before  beyond 
their  immediate  neighborhoods,  who,  upon  their  return  found 
themselves  notorious,  sympathized  with,  and,  often  by  many 
sanctified  into  martyrs  and  heroes. 

Thus  duly  impressed,  and  their  course  mapped  out  for  them  by 
the  democratic  leaders,  the  dominant  partizans  of  the  23d  Gen 
eral  Assembly  were  not  slow  to  follow  it.  They  refused,  for  a 
long  time,  to  print  the  usual  number  of  copies  of  the  governor's 
long  and  able  message.  In  the  House,  M.  W.  Fuller,  of  Cook, 
on  the  8th  of  January,  introduced  a  resolution  adroitly  quoting 
the  language  of  Gen.  Jackon's  farewell  address  :  "The  constitu 
tion  cannot  be  maintained,  nor  the  Union  preserved  in  opposition 
to  public  feeling,  by  the  mere  exertion  of  the  coercive  powers  of 
the  government."  Mr.  Wenger,  of  Tazewell,  one  to  the  effect  that 
after  an  unsuccessful  war  of  two  years7  duration  to  crush  the  re 
bellion,  hostilities  ought  to  be  immediately  suspended  and  a  na 
tional  convention  appointed  to  settle  the  difficulty.  In  the  Senate, 
Mr.  Yandeveer,  of  Christian,  on  the  21st  of  January,  offered  a  pre 
amble  and  set  of  resolutions,  to  the  effect  that  the  people  of  the 
loyal  States  had  acquiesced  in,  rather  than  approved  of  the  coer 
cive  policy  of  the  federal  administration ;  that  the  government 
was  impoverished,  the  people  weighed  down  with  an  onerous 
debt  and  the  laud  filled  with  cripples,  widows  and  orphans,  with 
out  restoring  the  Union ;  and  that  as  the  Union  was  brought  about 
by  concession  and  compromise,  they  should  memorialize  congress 
to  obtain  an  armistice  and  cessation  of  hostilities  for  a  national 

*Crittenden  resolution,  1861. 

56 


882  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

convention  to  assemble  at  Louisville  to  adjust  the  difficulties.  Mr. 
Underwood,  of  St.  Clair,  also,  with  a  like  view,  offered  a  preamble 
and  resolution  soliciting  congress  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the 
States  to  call  a  national  convention  to  amend  the  constitution  of 
the  U.  S. 

And  now  the  legislature  took  a  pleasure  trip  to  Joliet  and 
Chicago.  At  the  latter  place  a  large  democratic  mass  meeting 
for  the  occasion  gave  expression  to  the  popular  opposition  to  the 
Lincoln  misrule,  as  it  was  called.  Members  participated  in  the 
proceedings,  and,  by  resolution,  the  Springfield  meetings  of  the 
5th  and  8th  of  January  were  approved. 

On  the  4th  of  February,  Mr.  Wike,  of  Pike,  from  the  commit 
tee  on  federal  relations,  reported  to  the  House  the  notorious  ar 
mistice  resolutions : 

The  preamble  asserted  the  supremacy  of  the  constitution  in  time  of  war  as  well  as 
peace,  and  its  suspension,  whether  by  the  North  or  South,  to  be  alike  disunion;  that  it 
could  not  be  maintained  by  coercion,  but  by  appeal  to  the  people  peacefully  assem 
bled  through  their  representatives  ;  that  to  it  the  allegiance  of  the  citizen  was  alone 
due — not  to  any  man,  officer  or  administration;  that  the  act  of  the  federal  administra 
tion  in  suspending  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  the  arrest  of  citizens  not  subject  to  mili 
tary  law,  without  \yarrant  or  authority,  transporting  them  to  distant  States,  incarcer 
ating  them  in  political  prisons,  without  charge  or  accusation,  denying  them  the  right 
of  trial  by  jury,  witnesses  in  their  favor,  or  counsellor  their  defense;  withholding 
from  them  all  knoAvledge  of  their  accusers,  and  the  cause  of  their  arrest;  answering 
their  petitions  for  redress  by  repeated  injury  and  insult;  prescribing,  in  many  cases,  as 
a  condition  of  their  release,  test  oaths,  arbitrary  and  illegal;  in  the  abridgement  of 
freedom  of  speech,  and  of  the  press,  by  imprisoning  the  citizen  for  expressing  his  sen 
timents,  by  suppressing  newspapers  by  military  force,  and  establishing  a  censorship 
over  others,  wholly  incompatible  with  freedom  of  thought  and  expression  of  opinion, 
and  the  establishment  of  a  system  of  espionage,  by  a  secret  police,  to  invade  the  sacred 
privacy  of  unsuspecting  citizens;  in  declaring  martial  law  over  States  not  in  rebel 
lion,  and  when  the  courts  are  open  and  unobstructed  for  the  punishment  of  crime:  in 
declaring  the  slaves  of  loyal,  as  well  as  well  as  disloyal  citizens,  in  certain  States  and 
parts  ot  States,  free;  the  attempted  enforcement  of  compensated  emancipation;  the 
proposed  taxation  of  the  laboring  white  man  to  purchase  the  freedom  and  secure  the 
elevation  of  the  negro;  the  transportation  of  negroes  into  the  State  ot  Illinois,  in  defi 
ance  of  the  repeatedly  expressed  will  of  the  people;  the  arrest  and  imprisonment  of 
the  representatives  of  a  free  and  a  sovereign  State ;  the  dismemberment  ot  the  State 
of  Virginia,  erecting  within  her  boundaries  a  new  State,  without  the  consent  of  her  leg 
islature  are,eachand  all,  arbitrary  and  unconstitutional— a  usurpation  ot  the  legislative 
functions,  and  a  suspension  of  the  judicial  departments  of  the  State  and  federal  gov 
ernment—subverting  the  constitution— State  and  federal— invaoing  the  reserved 
rights  of  the  people,  and  the  sovereignty  of  the  States,  and,  if  sanctioned,  destructive 
of  the  Union— establishing,  upon  the  common  ruins  of  the  liberties  of  the  peo 
ple,  and  the  sovereignty  ot  the  States,  a  consolidated  military  despotism.  And  we 
hereby  solemnly  declare  that  no  American  citizen  can,  without  the  crime  of  inlidelity 
to  his  country's  constitutions,  and  the  allegiance  which  he  bears  to  each,  sanction  such 
usurpation.  Believing  that  our  silence  will  be  criminal,  and  may  be  construed  into 
consent,  in  deep  reverence  for  our  constitution  which  has  been  ruthlessly  violated,  we 
do  hereby  enter  our  most  solemn  protest  against  these  usurpations  f  power,  a  d  place 
the  same  before  the  world,  intending  therby  to  warn  our  public  servants  against  fur 
ther  usurpations .  Therefore, 

Resolved  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  the  Senate  concurring  herein,  That  the  army  was 
organized,  confiding  in  the  declaration  of  the  president,  in  his  inaugural  address,  to 
wit:  that  he  had  no  purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere  with  the  institution  of 
slavery  in  the  States  where  it  existed,  and  that  he  believed  he  had  no  lawful  right  to  do 
so  ;  and  upon  the  declaration  of  the  federal  congress,  to  wit:  that  this  war  is  not  waged 
in  any  spirit  of  oppression  or  subjugation,  or  any  purpose  of  overthrowing  any  of  the 
institutions  of  any  of  the  States;  and  that  inasmuch  as  the  whole  policy  of  the  adminis 
tration,  since  the  organization  of  the  army,  has  been  at  war  with  the  declaration  afore 
said,  culminating  in  the  emancipation  proclamation,  leaving  the  facts  patent  that  the 
war  has  been  diverted  from  its  firstovowed  object,  to  thatof  subjugation  and  the  abo- 
liiton  of  slavery,  a  fraud,  both  legal  and  moral,  has  been  perpetrated  upon  the  brave  sons 
of  Illinois,  who  have  so  nobly  gone  forth  to  battle  for  the  constitution  and  the  laws. 
And  while  we  protest  against  the  continuance  of  this  gross  fraud  upon  our  citizen  sol 
diery,  we  thank  them  for  that  heroic  conduct  on  the  battle  field  that  sheds  imperisha 
ble  glory  on  the  State  of  Illinois. 

Resolved,  That  we  believe  the  further  prosecution  of  the  present  war  cannot  result 
in  the  restoration  of  the  Union  and  the  preservation  of  the  constitution  as  our  fathers 
made  it,  unless  the  president's  emancipation  proclamation  is  withdrawn 

Rewli'cd.  That  while  we  condemn  and  denounce  the  flagrant  and  monstrous  usurpa 
tions  of  the  administration,  and  encroachments  of  abolitionism,  we  equally  condemn 
and  denounce  the  ruinous  heresy  of  secession,  as  unwarrantable  by  the  constitution, 
and  destructive  alike  of  the  security  and  perpetuity  of  our  government,  and  the  peace 
and  liberty  of  the  people ;  and  fearing,  as  we  do,  that  it  is  the  intention  of  the  present 
congress  and  administration,  at  no  distant  day,  to  acknowledge  the  independence  of 
the  Southern  Confederacy,  and  thereby  sever  the  Union,  we  hereby  solemnly  declare 
that  we  are  unalterably  opposed  to  any  such  severance  of  the  Union,  and  that  we  never 
can  consent  that  the  great  Northwest  shall  be  separated  from  the  Southern  States  com 
prising  the  Mississippi  valley.  That  river  shall  never  water  the  soil  of  two  nations, 
out,  from  its  source  to  its  confluence  with  the  Gulf,  shall  belong  to  one  great  and 
united  people. 


YATES'  ADMINISTRATION.  883 

The  fourth  resolution  recoinin ended  the  assembling  of  a  na 
tional  convention  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  to  adjust  our  difficulties,  re 
store  peace,  fraternity  and  political  fellowship  among  the  States. 

Resolved  further,  therefore.  That  to  attain  the  object  of  the  foregoing  resolution,  we 
hereby  memorialize  the  congress  of  the  U,  S.,  the  administration  at  Washington,  and 
the  executives  and  legislatures  of  the  several  States  to  take  such  immediate  action  as 
shall  secure  an  armistice,  in  which  the  rights  and  safety  of  the  government  shall  be 
fully  protected  for  such  length  of  time  as  ma3r  be  necessary  for  the  people  to  meet  in 
convention  as  aforesaid.  And  we  therefore  earnestly  recommend  to  our  fellow-citizens 
everywhere,  to  observe  and  keep  all  their  lawful  and  constitutional  obligations,  to  ab 
stain  from  violence,  and  to  meet  together  and  reason  each  with  the  other,  upon  the 
best  mode  toattain  the  great  blessings  of  peace,  unity  and  liberty. 

And  be  it  further  resolved,  That  to  secure  the  co  operation  of  the  States  and  the  gen 
eral  government,  Stephen  T.  Logan,  Samuel  S.  Marshall,  H.  K.  S.  O'Melveny,  William 
C.  Groudy,  Anthony  Thornton  and  John  D.  Caton,  are  hereby  appointed  commissioners 
to  confer  immediately  with  the  congress  and  the  president  of  the  IT.  S.,  and  urge  the 
necessity  of  prompt  action,  to  secure  said  armistice,  and  the  election  of  delegates  to, 
and  early  assembling  of  said  convention,  and  to  arrange  and  agree  with  the  general 
government  and  the  several  States  upon  the  time  and  place  of  holding  said  conven 
tion,  and  that  they  report,  their  action  in  the  premises  to  the  General  Assembly  of  this 
State." 

The  resolutions  elicited  a  long  and  acrimonious  debate  in  both 
houses,  to  the  delay  of  nearly  all  other  business.  Every  parlia 
mentary  expedient  to  retard  legislation,  centering  chiefly  upon 
the  appropriation  bills  as  usual,  was  resorted  to.  The  public  press 
took  sides,  the  republicans  against,  of  course,  and  the  democrats 
for.  But  among  the  latter  there  were  many  notable  exceptions 
who  deprecated  the  ^extremity  to  which  the  resolutions,  looked  ; 
who  appealed  to  the  magnanimity  of  the  democratic  majority  to 
cease  the  bitter  strife,  unlock  the  wheels  of  legislation  and  allow 
the  important  labors  of  the  session  to  go  on.  This  w^nt  unheeded ; 
and  finally,  two  days  before  the  recess,  the  resolutions  were 
adopted  in  the  House  by  a  vote  of  52  yeas  to  28  nays. 

Thus  did  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
a  body  fresh  from  a  loyal  people  whose  patriotism  never  flinched, 
after  being  first  systematically  debauched  in  their  sentiments  by 
the  political  meetings  at  the  opening  of  the  session,  commit  them 
selves  upon  the  record,  and  attempt  to  thrust  the  State  also  into 
the  erroneous  position  before  the  world,  that  the  war  for  the  Union 
was  a  failure,  that  secession  was  a  right  under  the  constitution 
which  could  not  be  met  or  defeated  by  the  sword,  and  that  a  ces 
sation  of  hostilities  with  an  armed  and  defiant  rebellion  was  ne 
cessary.  Nay,  if  we  construe  the  last  clause  of  the  3d  resolution 
with  the  repeated  utterances  of  their  speakers  and  leaders,  as  well 
as  the  entire  resolution,  wherein  a  man  of  straw  is  set  up  regard 
ing  their  fears  of  recognition  of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  we  see 
a  quasi  declaration  for  a  union  of  the  Northwest  with  the  South 
as  more  desirable  than  the  connection  with  the  hateful  abolition 
ists  of  the  East, 

These  legislators  were  not  elected  for  the  purpose  which  mainly 
engrossed  their  attention;  they  assumed  unauthorized  power  and 
proved  themselves  recreant  to  their  trust,  No  peace  could  have 
been  made  with  the  defiant  rebels  at  that  time,  nor  for  a  long  time 
afterwards.  It  was  folly  to  talk  of  peace  at  that  stage  of  the  war. 
The  Indiana  legislature  at  the  time  passed  similar  resolutions.* 

*  It  was  a  curious  conjuncture  that  on  the  2*ith  of  January,  1863,  a  preamble  and  set 
of  8  resolutions  were  introdu  ed  into  the  Confederate  Congress  at  Richmond  by  Henry 
S  Foote,  of  Tennessee,  the  fifth  of  which  reads  as  follows: 

"The  government  of  the  Confederate  States,  in  consideration  of  the  change  in  the 
public  sentiment,  which  has  occurred  in  several  Northern  States,  wherein  political 
elections  have  been  recently  held— sympathizing  most  kindly  with  those  by  whose 
manly  exertions  that  change  has  been  brought  about— would  be  willing  to  conclude  a 


884  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Part  of  the  programme  in  connection  with  the  passage  of  the 
peace  resolutions  was  the  joint  resolution  of  Senator  Underwood, 
providing-  for  a  legislative  recess  from  the  14th  of  February  till 
the  2d  of  June,  by  which  time  the  peace  commissioners  might  re 
port  progress  of  their  negotiation  for  an  armistice.  This  resolu 
tion  was  violently  fought  in  the  senate,  and  when  a  vote  could  be 
staved  off  no  longer,  the  republican  members  bolted  the  chamber, 
leaving  the  senate  without  a  quorum;  but  enough  were  finally 
brought  in  and  the  resolution  passed.  When  it  was  brought  up 
in  the  house  a  similar  attempt  was  there  made,  which  failed  like 
wise,  and  the  resolution  was  adopted. 

But  the  armistice  resolutions  shared  a  different  fate  in  the  senate. 
They  had  been  the  subject  of  acrimonious  debate  in  that  body, 
the  same  as  in  the  house,  for  a  longtime,  having  been  deferred 
from  time  to  time,  and  now,  early  in  the  week  (the  recess  having 
been  fixed  for  the  following  Saturday,)  to  avoid  a  vote,  the  repub 
lican  members  absented  themselves,  breaking  the  quorum  for 
business.  The  further  consideration  of  the  distasteful  resolutions 
was  deferred  till  Friday  night.  The  republicans  came  in  and 
business  progressed.  In  the  meantime 4he democrats  lost  a  mem 
ber  by  sudden  death,  in  the  person  of  Senator  Eogers,  of  Clinton. 
This  left  the  senate  a  tie,  with  the  presiding  officer,  Lieut.-Gov. 
Hoffman,  who  had  the  casting  vote  in  such  contingency,  against 
the  democrats.  And  thus  the  armistice  resolutions  failed  of  adop 
tion  in  the  seftate  and  went  over  to  the  June  session ;  Avhereat  a 
portion  of  the  democratic  press  sent  up  its  waitings  and  lamenta 
tions  about  the  great  disappointment  which  the  people  would  feel 
at  this  result;  and  the  democratic  members  of  the  senate,  who  had 
consented  to  the  staving  off  of  a  vote  upon  the  resolutions  to  the 
evening  before  the  close  of  the  session,  were  handled  without 
gloves. 

As  a  fitting  commentary  upon  this  wasted  session,  and  also  to 
indicate  the  violence  of  party  feeling,  we  will  reproduce  the  nota 
ble  speech  of  Jacob  Funk,  a  senator  from  McLean,  made  a  day  or 
two  before  the  close  of  the  session,  the  occasion  being  the  intro 
duction  of  some  trifling  resolutions  to  stave  off  a  vote  upon  the 
general  appropriation  bill.  It  also  deserves  to  be  preserved  for  its 
uniqueness,  and  as  offering  a  fair  but  now  curious  oratorical  type 
of  the  early  settler  of  the  West,  and  his  manner  of  settling  dis 
putes;  true,  brave,  and  patriotic,  though  devoid  of  the  breadth  of 
diction  imparted  by  education.  It  created  a  great  sensation  at 
the  time,  and  was  republished  all  over  the  Northern  States.  It 
was  delivered  in  a  stentorian  tone,  gathering  in  the  people  from 
around  the  capital  square,  till  the  hall  was  densely  packed.  The 
speaker's  great  fervor  and  pathos,  born  of  conviction,  wrought 
the  audience  to  the  highest  pitch  of  excitement,  and  upon  its  con 
clusion,  both  members  and  spectators  thronged  about  him  with 
congratulations : 

just  and  honorable  peace  with  any  one  or  more  of  said  States,  who  (renouncing  all 
political  connection  with  New  England)  may  be  found  willing  to  stipulate  for  desisting 
at  once  from  the  further  prosecution  of  the  war  against  the  South,  and  in  such  case, 
the  government  of  the  Confederate  States  would  be  willing  to  enter  into  a  league, 
offensive  and  defensive,  with  the  States  thus  desisting,  of  a  permanent  and  enduring 
character."  But  in  the 4th  resolution,  the  confederates  declared  their  unalterable  op 
position,  in  the  event  of  peace,  to  form  any  commercial  treaty  with  the  New  England 
States,  -'with  whose  people,  and  in  whose  ignoble  love  of  gold  and  brutifying?  fanati 
cism,  this  disgraceful  war  has  mainly  originated." 


YATES*  ADMINISTRATION.  885 

"Mr.  Speaker — I  can  set  in  my  seat  no  longer  and  see  so  much  by- 
playing  going  on.  These  men  are  trifling  with  the  best  interests  of  the 
country.  They  should  have  asses'  ears  to  set  off  their  heads,  or  they  are 
traitors  and  secessionists  at  heart.  I  say  there  are  traitors  and  secession 
ists  at  heart  in  this  senate.  Their  actions  prove  it.  Their  speeches  prove 
it.  Their  gibes  and  laughter  and  cheers  here  nightly,  when  their  speak 
ers  get  up  to  deuouuce  the  war  and  the  administration,  prove  it.  I  can 
set  here  no  longer  and  not  tell  these  traitors  what  I  think  of  them  ;  and 
while  so  telling  them,  I  am  responsible,  myself,  for  what  I  say.  I  stand 
upon  my  own  bottom.  I  am  ready  to  meet  any  man  on  this  floor  iu  any 
manner,  from  a  pin's  point  to  the  mouth  of  a  cannon,  upon  this  charge 
against  these  traHors.  [Great  applause  from  the  galleries.]  I  am  an  old 
man  of  sixty-five.  I  came  to  Illinois  a  poor  boy;  I  have  made  a  little  some 
thing  for  myself  and  family.  I  pay  $3,000  a  year  in  taxes.  I  am  willing 
to  pay  $6,000;  aye  $12,000!  [striking  his  desk  with  a  tremendous  blow, 
sending  the  ink  whirling  in  the  air.]  Aye,  I  am  willing  to  pay  my  whole 
fortune,  and  then  give  my  life  to  save  my  country  from  these  traitors 
that  are  seeking  to  destroy  it.  [Tremendous  cheering.] 

Mr.  Speaker,  you  must  excuse  me  ;  I  could  not  sit  longer  in  my  seat 
and  calmly  listen  to  these  traitors.  My  heart,  that  feels  for  my  poor 
country,  would  not  let  me.  My  heart,  that  cries  out  for  the  lives  of  our 
brave  volunteers  in  the  field  ;  that  these  traitors  at  home  are  destroying  by 
thousands— would  not  let  me.  My  heart  that  bleeds  for  the  widows  and 
orphans  at  home,  would  not  let  me.  Yes,  these  traitors  an-d  villains  in 
the  senate  [striking  the  desk  with  his  clenched  fist,  that  made  the 
chamber  resound]  are  killing  my  neighbors'  boys,  now  fighting  in  the 
field.  I  dare  to  say  this  to  these  traitors  right  here,  and  I  am  responsi 
ble  for  what  I  say  to  any  one  or  all  of  them.  [Cheers.]  Let  them  come 
on  now  right  here.  I  am  sixty-five  years  old,  and  I  have  made  up  my 
mind  to  risk  my  life  right  here,  on  this  floor,  for  my  country.  [This 
announcement  was  received  with  great  cheering.  Here  the  crowd  gath 
ered  around  him — his  seat  being  near  the  railing— to  protect  him  from 
violence,  while  many  sympathetic  eyes  flashed  defiance.]  These  men 
sneered  at  Col.  Mack,  a  few  days  since.  He  is  a  small  man,  but  I  am  a 
large  man.  I  am  ready  to  meet  any  of  them  in  place  of  Col.  Mack.  I 
am  large  enough  for  any  of  them,  and  I  hold  myself  ready  for  them  now 
and  at  any  time,  [Cheering  from  the  galleries.] 

Mr.  Speaker,  these  traitors  on  this  floor  should  be  provided  with 
hempen  collars.  They  deserve  them.  They  deserve  hanging,  I  say  [raising 
his  voice  and  striking  the  desk  with  great  violence.]  The  country  would 
be  the  better  of  swinging  them  up.  I  go  for  hanging  them,  and  I  dare 
to  tell  them  so,  right  here  to  their  traitorous  faces.  Traitors  should  be 
hung.  It  would  be  the  salvation  of  the  country  to  hang  them.  For 
that  reason  I  must  rejoice  at  it.  [Cheers.] 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  must  beg  the  pardon  of  the  gentlemen  in  this  senate 
who  are  not  traitors,  but  true,  loyal  men,  for  what  I  have  said.  I  only 
intend  it  and  mean  it  for  secessionists  at  heart.  They  are  here  in  this 
senate.  I  see  them  gibe  and  smirk  and  grin  at  a  true  Union  man.  Must 
I  defy  them?  I  stand  here  ready7 for  them  and  dare  them  to  come  on. 
[Cheering.]  What  man,  with  the  heart  of  a  patriot,  could  stand  this 
treason  any  longer?  I  have  stood  it  long  enough.  I  will  stand  it  no 
longer.  [Cheers.]  I  denounce  these  men  and  their  aiders  and  abettors, 
as  rank  traitors  and  secessionists.  Hell  itself  could  not  spew  out  a  more 
traitorous  crew  than  some  of  the  men  that  disgrace  this  legislature,  this 
State  and  this  country .  For  myself  I  protest  against  and  denounce  their 
treasonable  acts.  I  have  voted  against  their  measures;  I  will  do  so  to 
the  end.  I  will  denounce  them  as  long  as  God  gives  me  breath  ;  and  I 
am  ready  to  meet  the  traitors  themselves  here  or  anywhere,  and  fight 
them  to  the  death.  [Prolonged  cheers.]  I  said  I  paid  $3,000  a  year  taxes. 
I  do  not  say  it  to  brag  of  it.  It  is  my  duty,  yes,  Mr.  Speaker,  my  privi 
lege  to  do  it.  But  some  of  these  traitors  here,  who  are  working  night 
and  day  to  put  some  of  their  miserable  little  bills  and  claims  through  the 
legislature,  to  take  money  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  people,  are  talking 
about  high  taxes.  They  are  hypocrites,  as  well  as  traitors.  I  heard 
some  of  them  talking  about  high  taxes  in  this  way,  who  did  not  pay  $5 
to  the  support  of  the  government.  I  denounce  them  as  hypocrites  as 
well  as  traitors.  [Cheers.] 


HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


The  reason  they  pretend  to  be  afraid  of  high  taxes  is  that  they  do  not 
want  to  vote  money  for  the  relief  of  the  soldiers  They  want  to  embar 
rass  the  government  and  stop  the  war.  They  want  to  aid  the  secession 
ists  to  conquer  our  boys  in  the  field.  They  care  about  high  taxes  !  They 
are  picayune  men  anyhow,  and  pay  no  taxes  at  all,  and  never  did,  and 
never  hope  or  expect  to.  This  is  the  excuse  of  traitors.  [Cheers,] 

Mr  Speaker,  excuse  me.  I  feel  for  my  country,  in  this  her  hour  of 
danger,  from  the  tips  of  my  toes  to  the  ends  of  my  hair.  That  is  the 
reason  I  speak  as  I  do.  I  cannot  help  it.  I  am  bound  to  tell  these  men 
to  their  teeth  what  they  are,  and  what  the  people,  the  true,  loyal  people, 
think  of  them.  [Cheering,  which  the  speaker  attempted  to  stop  by 
rapping  on  his  desk  but  really  aided,  not  unwillingly.] 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  have  said  my  say.  I  am  no  speaker.  This  is  the  only 
speech  I  ever  made,  and  I  don't  know  that  it  deserves  to  be  called  a 
speech.  But  I  could  not  sit  still  any  longer  and  see  these  scoundrels  and 
traitors  work  out  their  hellish  schemes  to  destroy  the  Union.  They  have 
my  sentiments ;  let  them  one  and  all  make  the  most  of  them.  I  am 
ready  to  back  up  all  I  say,  and  I  repeat  it,  to  meet  these  traitors  in  any 
manner  they  may  choose,  from  a  pin's  point  to  the  mouth  of  a  cannon." 

With  a  parting  whack  on  his  desk,  the  loyal  old  gentleman  re 
sumed  his  seat,  amidst  the  diii  of  cheering  and  the  clapping  of 
hands. 

LEGISLATIVE  FRAUDS. — The  very  last  hour  of  this  session  was 
disgraced  by  the  perpetration  of  one  of  those  parliamentary 
swindles  which  in  modern  times  are  not  infrequent  in  de 
liberative  bodies.  The  partisan  strife  which  obtained  between 
the  constitutional  convention  and  the  governor,  was,  if  anything, 
intensified  between  this  legislature  and  that  functionary.  At  the 
special  session  of  1861  the  executive  department  had  been  pro 
vided  in  the  most  liberal  spirit  with  a  fund  of  $50,000  for  extra 
ordinary  and  contingent  expenses,  which  was  largely  looked  to  as 
aid  for  the  sick  and  wounded  Illinois  soldiers  in  the  field.  But 
owing  to  the  great  number  of  agents  employed  to  visit  different 
camps  and  accompany  the  regiments,  to  look  after  the  sanitary 
wants  of  the  volunteers;  extra  surgeons  sent  down  the  rivers  in 
anticipation  of  battles  ;  steamboats  chartered,  also  in  expectation 
of  battles,  to  go  and  bring  home  the  wounded  and  disabled  sol 
diers,  all  of  which,  and  much  more,  was  in  constant  operation 
during  the  winter  of  1801-2,  prompted  doubtless,  by  the  most 
charitable  of  motives,  but  exhibiting  in  some  instances  a  prodigal 
disregard  of  economy  and  a  lavish  display  of  means,  amounting 
almost  to  recklessness,  and  resulting  in  the  wounded  and  disa 
bled  soldiers,  for  whom  ostensibly  much  of  this  parade  was  made, 
receiving  only  $1,119  out  of  the  $50.000  appropriated.* 

Much  fault  had  been  found  by  the  Democracy  at  home  with  his 
excellency  in  the  distribution  of  this  fund.  Both  he  and  his  many 
agents  were  charged  with  having  been  more  zealous  during  their 
perigrinations  among  the  Illinois  volunteers  in  distributing  docu 
ments  to  defeat  the  new  constitution  than  in  alleviating  their  suf. 

*  The  State  Treasurer,  June  16,  1863,  gave  the  following:  items  of  expenditures,  as 
paid  out  of  that  appropriation  :  Steam  boat  trips  by  the  governor  and  party:  $8,887;  for 
the  quartermaster's  department,  $9,874:  receipts  of  John  Wood,  $3.264;  for  Adjutant 
General's  office,  $7,748;  Commissary  General's  Office,  $3.043;  trips  to  Washington  by 
Messrs.  Yates,  Trumbull.  Kellogg  and  others,  $4,449;  messenger  and  clerk  hirein  gov 
ernor's  office,  $8,463;  J.  K.  Forest  to  Cairo  and  back,  $120;  sick  and  wounded  Illinois 
soldiers,  who  fought  at  Belmont,  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson,  and  at  Shiloh,  $1,119. 
The  war  demonstrated  sanitary  efforts  to  be  most,  efficient  in  the  hands  of  private  en 
terprise.  Untold  blessings  were  meted  out  by  the  sanitary  bureaus  in  charge  of  noble 
and  devoted  men  and  women,  who,  unlike  politicians  in  the  employ  of  the  State,  did 
not  seek  personal  glorification  among  the  volunteers,  but  truly  to  mitigate  the  suffer 
ings  of  the  sick  and  wounded. 


YATES'  ADMINISTRATION.  887 

feriiigs.  Indeed,  Gov.  Yatos  in  all  the  exuberance  of  his  patriot 
ism,  was  ever  charged  by  the  Democracy  as  being  actuated  by 
partisan  motives,  and  guided  by  considerations  of  personal  ambi 
tion  ;  that  in  all  his  transactions  with  the  raising  of  the  vast  num 
ber  of  Illinois  volunteers  and  in  his  appointments,  he  looked  for 
ward  to  political  aggrandizement ;  and  that  in  his  ardent  desire 
to  earn  the  honorable  soubriquet  of  the  "soldiers'  friend,"  he  dis 
covered  untold  preferment  to  himself.  And  both  the  convention, 
and  now  the  legislature,  doubtless  mainly  from  partisan  motives, 
refused  further  to  solely  entrust  him  with  the  distribution  of  more 
sanitary  funds.  Early  in  the  session  (January  7th)  an  appropria 
tion  of  810,000  in  gold  had  been  made  for  the  Illinois  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers  in  view  of  the  battle  of  Murfreesboro,  and  the 
probable  advance  upon  Vicksburg.  Three  commissioners,  (Lewis 
1).  Erxvin,  W.  W.  Anderson,  and  Ezekial  Boy  den),  were  appointed 
to  distribute  this  fund,  who  sold  the  gold  for  paper,  realizing  a 
large  premium,  and  the  whole,  it  seems,  was  carefully  expended 
with  great  relief  and  benefit  to  the  needy  soldiers,  who  received 
over  80  per  cent,  of  it.  But  the  Governor  was  anxious  for  another 
$50,000.  He  sent  in  a  special  message  upon  the  subject,  couched 
in  terms  of  rare  beauty  and  felicity  of  expression,  evincing  a  noble 
sympathy  for  our  struggling  soldiery  in  upholding  the  flag  of  our 
country.  It  was  a  plea  such  as  few  men  are  capable  of  making, 
and  should  have  gone  to  the  most  caloused  heart. 

The  senate  had  passed  two  appropriation  bills  of  precisely  simi 
lar  titles.  These  bills  were  numbered  respectively  202  and  203; 
they  were  in  the  same  handwriting,  and  when  folded  looked  alike, 
except  as  to  their  numbers.  No.  203  provided  for  the  payment  of 
the  salaries  of  executive  officers,  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  ex 
ecutive  department,  the  adjutant  general's  office,  and  the  various 
other  usual  items  of  appropriation.  This  was  acceptable  to  the 
Democrats.  No.  202  provided  besides  all  these  items,  a  contin 
gent  fund  of  $10,000,  and  $2,500  for  the  hire  of  a  gardener,  both 
to  be  expended  at  the  option  of  the  governor;  and  an  appropria 
tion  of  $50,000  to  the  "aid  of  the  sick  and  wounded  Illinois  sol 
diers;  to  defray  the  contingent  expenses  of  the  executive  depart 
ment  ;  for  the  pay  of  clerks  in  the  governor's  office ;  of  messen 
gers  on  public  service;  of  assistants  in  the  adjutant  general's 
office,  quartermaster  general's  office  and  the  commissary  general's 
office,  lithography,  postage  and  other  incidental  expenses,"  all  to 
be  expended  by  order  of  the  governor. 

From  this  array  of  participants  in  the  $50,000  fund,  the  sick 
and  wounded  soldier,  although  first  mentioned,  it  may  be  \\ell 
imagined,  would  very  likely  be  the  last  to  receive  a  slender  share. 
The  Democrats  opposed  No.  202,  as  providing  his  excellency  with 
a  "corruption  fund,"  but  were  willing  to  pass  No.  2(K>.  When 
the  latter  came  up  for  action  in  the  house,  a  short  time  before  the 
adjournment,  it  was  upon  demand  twice  read  at  large  to  be  cer 
tain  that  the  $50,000  item  was  not  in  it.  The  third  time  the  bill 
was  read  by  its  title  only  and  passed,  59  to  2.  The  chief  clerk  who 
had  been  ottt,  came  in  as  the  roll  was  being  called  upon  the  pas 
sage  of  the  bill,  and  being  informed  that  it  was  necessary  to  use 
haste  in  reporting  the  bill  back  to  the  senate,  as  the  hour  of  ad 
journment  was  at  hand,  he  sat  down  to  write  the  message  to  that 
effect,  but  at  this  juncture,  by  some  adroit  prestidigitatiou?  the 


888  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

obnoxious  bill,  No.  202,  was  substituted  and  received  the  endorse 
ment  of  having  passed,  due  to  No.  203.  It  was  immediately  re 
ported  back  to  the  senate,  as  hastily  sent  to  the  governor, 
approved,  and  returned  to  the  senate  where  it  orgiuated. 

The  house  had  not  proceeded  far  with  other  business,  when  the 
noise  and  apparent  exultation  among  Republican  members  at  the 
north  end  of  the  hall,  and  the  adjacent  lobby,  revealed  the  fact 
that  Democrats,  notwithstanding  their  vigilance,  had  been  tricked 
in  the  passage  of  this  obnoxious  measure.  A  scene  of  the  wildest 
confusion  ensued.  Information  was  menacingly  demanded  of  the 
speaker;  a  resolution  was  introduced,  recalling  the  bill  from  the 
hands  of  the  governor,  but,  as  many  members  had  in  the  meantime 
left  for  home,  it  failed  for  want  of  the  requisite  three-fourths  vote. 
A  protest,  detailing  the  circumstances  of  the  fraud,  was  signed 
by  41  Democratic  members  and  spread  upon  the  journal.  The 
treasurer  was  requested  not  to  honor  any  drafts  upon  the  fund 
thus  fraudulently  appropriated.  Accordingly,  when  the  governor 
shortly  after  drew  upon  the  fund,  he  found  that  guardian  of  the 
people's  strong  box,  (a  Democrat),  recalcitrant.  A  writ  of  man 
damus  was  sued  out  of  the  Supreme  Court,  then  sitting  at  Ottawa, 
a  day  before  its  adjournment,  against  the  treasurer,  requiring  him 
to  show  cause  why  he  did  not  pay  the  warrants  drawn  upon  that 
fund  ;  but  before  answer  could  be  made  the  court  adjourned.  It 
is  probable  that  it  was  designed  in  advance  by  the  suitors  that  the 
case  should  not  go  to  trial,  rendering  public  all  the  facts  connected 
with  the  passage  of  the  bill,  in  which  rumor  at  the  time  involved 
a  certain  noted  Democrat,  a  member  and  high  official  of  the  house. 
And  thus  the  perpetrators  of  this  legislative  swindle  have  escaped 
deserved,  exposure  and  merited  public  disgrace.* 

The  winter  session  of  the  23d  general  assembly  proved  a  most 
unprofitable  one  to  the  people.  The  dominant  party,  engrossed 
with  the  peace  resolutions,  passed  but  one  measure  of  public  ad 
vantage,  that  of  abolishing  the  State  -quartermaster  and  cominis- 

*  Another  most  audacious  legislative  swindle,  well  illustrating  the  careless 
manner  of  enacting  Jaws  under  the  old  constitution,  and  the  tricks  by  which  cor 
rupt  men,  both  as  lobbyists  and  members,  gained  advantages,  was  the  "Chicago  Gvid- 
iron  bilL"  as  it  was  nicknamed,  passed  by  this  general  assembly  at  the  June  session. 
The  'itle  of  the  bill,  "An  act  to  incorporate  the  Wabash  Railway  Company,''  was  calcu 
lated  to  convey  the  deceptive  idea  of  a  railroad  in  the  Wabash  region  of  the  State, 
instead  of  which  it  gave  to  a  few  sharpers  in  Chicago  most  extraordinary  franchises 
over  the  streets  of  that  city.  It  provided  for  the  exclusive  construction  of  horse- 
railways  through  18  of  the  principal  streets  of  Chicago,  across  4  of  its  most  impor 
tant  bridges,  and  on  any  common  highways  in  either  or  all  of  the  towns  of  South 
Chicago,  Hyde  Park,  Lake,  \Vorth,  West  Chicago,  Lyons,  Jefferson,  Cicero, and  Proviso, 
adjacent  to  the  city,  and  from  to  time  to  change,  enlarge  and  extend  the  location 
thereof.  It  allowed  the  corporators  to  impose  and  collect  such  tolls  as  it  should  fix, 
without  restraint  from  the  city  council.  This  was  an  immense  monopoly,  affecting  the 
material  interests  of  the  whole  city.  It  was  a  subject  properly  for  the  city  council 
of  Chicago,  but  neither  that  body  nor  the  people,  which  they  represented,  knew  aught 
of  this  monstrous  movement  which  sought  to  filch  from  them  the  control  of  their  own 
streets  and  highways,  though  the  recess  had  intervened  between  its  passage  in  the 
senate  and  in  the  house. 

It  was  introduced  into  the  senate  by  a  member  from  the  southeastern  part  of  the 
Stare,  which  added  to  the  deception,  and  in  a  loose  way  permitted  to  pass  that  body  in 
January,  without  being  read  other  than  by  its  title,  the  Senate  relying  upon  the  state 
ment  of  the  member  introducing  it,  that  it  was  simply  a  bill  for  an  ordinary  railroad 
charter,  containing  the  usual  privileges.  Its  provisions  were  not  generally  known  to 
senators  who  passed  it.,  or  to  the  public  until  a  few  days  before  it  was  maneuvered 
through  the  house  on  the  8th  of  June,  under  the  pressure  of  interested  members  and 
R  powerful  Iqbby  influence.  And  now. the  swindle  having  transpired,  the  angry  pro 
tests  against  it  from  the  people  of  Chicago  came  loud  and  deep,  the  newspaper  press 
of  the  State  joining  its  voice  to  the  indignant  refrain.  The  governor  vetoed  it,  and  in 
his  message  of  June  19th,  18(53,  exposed  its  horrid  enormity  very  fully.  This  message  was 
addressed  to  the  general  assembly  which  he  had  dissolved  nine  days  before— the  "rump" 
being  still  in  session. 


YATES    ADMINISTRATION.  889 

sary  departments,  which,  since  their  supercedure  by  the  general 
government,  not  without  reluctance  from  Gov.  Yates,  as  we  have 
seen,  had  become  useless  and  expensive  encumbrances.  Every 
other  of  its  party  measures  met  with  disaster.  The  habeas  corpus 
and  illegal  arrest  bills ;  the  prohibition  of  negro  immigration  ;  the 
congressional  apportionment,  and  the  armistice  resolutions — suc 
ceeding  alone  with  the  recess  resolution;  while  the  Republicans, 
by  their  vigilance,  fidelity  and  courage,  succeeded  in  the  defeat  of 
all  these,  they  were  also  balked,  as  we  have  described,  in  the  full 
fruition  of  their  only  affirmative  measure,  the  $50,000  appropria 
tion  for  the  sick  and.  wounded  Illinois  soldiers. 

Reaction  among  the  People  against  the  Peace  Movement  of  the  Leg 
islature. — Both  during  the  session  after  the  armistice  resolutions 
had  been  brought  forward  and  throughout  the  recess,  the  people, 
being  awakened  by  these  schemes  of  the  politicians  who  thus 
sought  to  place  Illinois  on  record  as  an  anti-war  State,  held  public 
meetings  all  over  the  State,  giving  expression  to  their  loyal  senti 
ments,  and  evincing  the  strongest  devotion  to  the  Avar  for  the 
Union.  From  Egypt  the  Douglas  democrats  sent  out  their  re 
solves  "that,  as  citizens  of  Illinois  and  as  democrats,  we  are  in  favor 
of  the  continued  and  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war  until  the  su 
premacy  of  the  constitution  is  acknowledged  in  every  State  of  the 
Union ;  that  the  errors  of  the  administration,  while  they  should 
not  be  adopted  by  the  people,  form  no  excuse  for  any  loyal  citizen 
to  withhold  his  support  from  the  government ;"  that  they  were  in 
flexibly  opposed  to  the  secession  heresy  of  a  Northwestern  Con 
federacy,  &c.,  recommending  to  the  "  true  democracy  to  organ 
ize  and  be  prepared  to  resist  all  schemes  of  disloyal  men  looking 
to  a  further  disruption  of  the  Union." 

It  was  a  gloomy  period  of  the  war.  The  turning  point  in  the 
great  civil  conflict  had  not  been  reached.  Yicksburg — strong  and 
defiant — had  not  only  not  surrendered,  but  repulsed  the  national 
troops  under  Sherman  in  January  preceding.  Nor  had  Gettys 
burg  been  fought.  The  great  captains  of  the  war  had  not  been 
revealed  on  our  side.  In  the  West,  the  battles  of  Shiloh,  Perry- 
ville  and  Murfreesboro  had  proven  little  better  than  defeats  ; 
while  in  the  East,  Fredericksburg,  speedily  followed  by  Chancel- 
lorville,  had  spread  a  general  gloom.  Said  the  New  York  Tribune: 
i;  If  3  mouths  more  of  earnest  fighting  shall  not  serve  to  make  a  se 
rious  impression  on  the  rebels — if  some  malignant  fate  has  de 
creed  that  the  blood  and  treasure  of  the  nation  shall  ever  be 
squandered  in  fruitless  efforts,  let  us  bow  to  our  destiny,  and  make 
the  best  attainable  peace."  It  was  at  the  time  no  doubt  honestly 
believed  by  many  that  the  States  could  not  be  re-united  by  mili 
tary  coercion — that  the  war  was  a  failure. 

Gold,  the  most  sensitive  index  of  the  fortunes  of  the  war.  was 
steadily  on  the  rise.  Rebel  bonds  bore  a  premium  in  the  London 
market.  The  picture  was  a  dark  and  dreary  one  and,  in  the  West, 
relieved  only  by  the  brilliant  military  exploit  of  Gen.  McClernand 
in  the  capture  of  Arkansas  Post. 

But  amidst  all  these  dreary  scenes — the  demand  of  the  democ 
racy  for  peace,  the  low  ebb  of  the  tide  in  the  fortunes  of  the  war. 
and  the  discouragement  of  the  many  staunch  friends  of  the 
Union — the  heart  of  the  soldier  remained  undismayed.  Hardly 


890  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


aii  Illinois  regiment,  learning  the  situation  at  home,  and  the  false 
and  dishonorable  attitude  in  which  the  legislature  sought  to  place 
the  State  before  the  country,  but  what  held  meetings  and  ex 
pressed  their  abhorrence  of  the  "  tire  in  the  rear, "  as  it  was  termed 
— repledged  their  loyalty  to  the  Union  and  devotion  to  the  flag — 
breathing  the  noblest  of  patriotic  sentiments  commingled  with 
purposes  of  the  most  determined  valor.  These  resolutions  poured 
in  in  great  profusion,  the  columns  of  the  republican  press  being 
fairly  laden  with  them.  The  democracy  charged  the  voluminous 
loyal  expressions  to  be  merely  the  dictates  of  those  "  whose 
shoulders  Avere  adorned  with  the  stars,  eagles  and  bars. "  If  such 
was  the  case  it  but  showed  discipline  in  the  right  direction.  Few 
of  the  masses,  even  under  our  form  of  government,  exercise  either 
original  or  independent  political  opinions. 

It  was  the  unworthy  action  of  this  legislature  that  precipitated 
the  defection  of  such  men  as  John  A.  Logan,  Isham  N.  Hainie, 
John  A.  McOlernaud,  and  a  host  of  others  from  the  democratic 
ranks. 

In  his  address  to  the  soldiers  of  the  17th  army  corps,  dated 
Memphis,  Feb.  12th,  1863,  Gen.  Logan,  in  allusion  to  the  "falsify 
ing  of  public  sentiment  at  home,"  said:  "Intriguing  political 
tricksters,  demagogues  and  time-servers,  whose  corrupt  deeds  are 
but  a  faint  reflex  of  their  corrupt  hearts,  seem  determined  to  drive 
our  people  on  to  anarchy  and  destruction.  The  day  is  not  far  dis 
tant  when  traitors  and  cowards,  North  and  South,  will  cower  before 
the  indignation  of  an  outraged  people.  March  bravely  onward!" 
Gen.  Hainie,  in  a  private  letter,  gave  his  unqualified  endorsement 
to  every.para graph,  line  and  word  of  Gen.  Logan's  address.  Gen. 
McClernard,  in  his  letter  to  John  Van  Buren,  dated  Feb.  22d, 
1863,  denounced  these  democratic  factionists  as  "Northern  peace 
mongers,  who  'will  be  carried  away,7  if  not  by  the  torrent  of  pub 
lic  opinion,  eventually  by  force  of  arms."  For  the  expression  of 
such  sentiments,  these  gentlemen  were  now  read  out  of  the  party 
by  the  peace  organs  of  the  democracy. 

There  were  also  a  number  of  anti-war  meetings  held  in  differ 
ent  parts  of  the  State  under  the  management  of  the  democratic 
leaders,  declaring  hostility  to  the  policy  of  the  war  as  then  prose 
cuted  by  the  national  administration,  which  culminated  in  the  large 
mass  meeting  of  the  17th  of  June,  at  Springfield,  of  which  more 
further  along. 

The  party  nomenclature  of  the  period  as  applied  to  democrats 
also  evinced  deep  partisan  feeling  and  was  of  the  most  insulting 
character :  "  Copperheads,  n  "  Snakes, "  "  Butternuts,"  "Secesh, " 
&c.  The  origin  of  these  opprobrious  epithets,  we  will  not  stop  to 
give. 

Military  Arrests. — Of  the  many  arrests  of  our  citizens  by 
military  authority  we  can  only  relate  one  or  two  of  the  most 
notable.  A  Capt.  Linsley,  by  order  of  Col.  Carriugton  of  Indian 
apolis,  was  stationed  at  Terre  Haute  to  arrest  deserters  in  Yigo 
and  surrounding  counties  of  Indiana,  nothing  being  said  about 
Illinois.  In  March,  1863,  he  sent  two  sergeants  into  Clark  county 
of  this  State  who  arrested  four  deserters.  The  mother  of  one  of 
them,  at  the  instance  of  the  Hon.  John  Schofield,  acting  as  her 
attorney,  to  procure  her  son's  release  swore  out  a  warrant  charg- 


YATES7  ADMINISTRATION.  891 

ing  the  officers  with  kidnapping.  The  sergeants  were  arrested  and 
taken  before  the  Hon.  Chas.  H.  Constable,  circuit  judge,  the  court 
beino*then  in  session  at  Marshall.  In  their  examination  the  judge 
doubted  the  sufficiency  of  the  papers  exhibited  as  authority  tor 
the  sergeants  to  make  the  arrests  in  Illinois.  Their  attorney,  R. 
L.  Dulaiiey,  then  attempted  to  prove  that  the  men  alleged  to  be 
kidnapped  were  in  fact  deserters  from  the  federal  army,  whom 
any  one  might  arrest  as  in  the  case  of  any  criminal.  This  was 
not  allowed  to  be  shown  by  the  judge.  He  bound  them  over 
in  a  bond  of  $500  and  discharged  the  deserters.  At  the  request 
of  the  sergeants,  Judge  G.  gave  them  a  written  statement : 

'•That  Messrs.  McFarland  and  Thomas  Long1,  have  been  arrested  and  brought  before 
me  for  examination  on  a  charge  of  kidnapping,  and  that  I  have  deemed  it  my  duty  to 
hold  Them  over  in  a  bond  of  $500  to  appear  next  Thursday  morning,  to  answer  farther 
to  said  charjre,  and  I  have  ordered  the  discharge  from  custody  of  James  Gammen, 
Hujjh  Scott,  M.  Belcher  and  Jno.  Tanner,  four  men  whom  they  had  arrested  upon  the 
ground  that  they  were  deserters  from  Co.  K,  30th  111.  Vol." 

The  sergeants  procured  bail  without  difficulty,  though  they  were 
strangers.  Subsequently,  on  the  day  of  their  trial,  and  while  it 
was  in  progress,  Col.  Carrington,  with  a  force  of  250  infantry,  sur 
rounded  the  court  house  at  Marshall,  and  with  50  dismounted  cav 
alrymen  in  citizens'  dress  entered  the  court  room  without  exciting 
surprise,  and  at  the  very  moment  the  adjournment  of  court  for 
dinner  was  announced,  stepped  forward  and  arrested  Judge  Con 
stable  before  he  had  quitted  the  bench.  The  infantry  were  sta 
tioned  outside  to  quell  any  attempt  at  rescue  by  the  citizens. 
There  was  no  molestation,  however.  Judge  Constable,  who  was 
taken  by  surprise,  was  considerably  unmanned  at  this  summary 
exhibition  of  military  power.* 

The  prisoners  were  released,  and  the  judge  trying  them  was 
torn  from  his  judicial  seat  in  the  midst  of  his  labors,  his  court 
adjourned  by  military  power,  and  he  conveyed  a  prisoner  to  a 
foreign  State.  Could  audacity,  apparently,  in  a  free  govern 
ment,  outside  of  the  theatre  of  actual  war,  go  further?  Yet  of  all 
the  military  arrests  made  in  this  State,  this  was  the  most  justifia 
ble.  The  offense  consisted  in  no  mere  disloyal  gasconade,  but  in 
substantial  acts  which,  by  the  discharge  of  four  deserters  and  the 
imprisonment  of  two  officers,  was  an  actual  interference  with  and 
injury  to  the  military  effort  of  the  government  to  suppress  the 
rebellion. 

About  the  1st  of  April  Judge  Constable  was  brought  from  In 
dian  apolis  to  Springfield  and  delivered  over  to  the  civil  authorities. 
An  affidavit  was  filed  before  the  U.  S.  Commissioner,  charging 
him  with  encouraging  desertion  by  ordering  the  release  of  the  four 
deserters  from  the  custody  of  the  officers.  By  agreement  the  ex 
amination  was  had  before  Judge  Treat,  of  the  U.  S.  district  court, 
the  district  attorney,  Lawrence  Weldon,  appearing  for  the  gov 
ernment,  and  Stuart  &  Edwards  for  the  prisoner.  After  hearing 
all  the  evidence,  the  defendant  was  discharged. 

Later  in  the  spring  of  1863,  W.  H.  Green,  a  State  Senator  from 
Massac,  and  G.  W.  Wall,  of  Perry,  were  arrested  by  order  of  the 
provost  marshal.  The  charges  do  not  appear.  In  the  Senate  Mr. 
Green  had  signalized  himself  as  an  ardent  supporter  of  the  armis 
tice  resolutions,  laboring  earnestly  to  bring  that  body  to  a  vote 
upon  them.  The  republican  press  brought  forward  many  of  his 

*See  Terre  Haute  Express. 


892  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

anti-war  utterances,  such  as  "  we  (he  and  his  constituents)  stand 
upon  the  border  as  peace  makers,  and  we  intend  that  unless  it  be 
over  our  dead  bodies,  there  shall  be  no  fraternal  blood  shed,"  &c. 
Mr.  G.  took  occasion  to  deny  some  of  these  charges,  in  a  published 
letter.  He  was  also  found  fault  with  for  wearing  a  "butternut'7 
suit,  &c.  General  Buford  required  each  of  these  gentlemen  to 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  U.  S.;  to  write  letters  to  the  com 
mander  of  the  post  confessing  the  acts  for  which  they  had  been 
arrested,  with  expressions  of  regret  and  promises  of  future  con 
duct  comporting  with  that  of  loyal  citizens  ;  and  to  declare  they 
had  not  aided  deserters  to  escape  nor  discouraged  enlistments, 
whereupon  they  were  released  from  arrest.* 

Many  others  of  our  citizens  too  numerous  to  mention  were. ar 
rested,  some  taken  to  Washington  bastiles  and  others  incarcera 
ted  in  Fort  Lafayette,  in  New  York  harbor.  It  was  about  this 
time  that  the  noted  arrest  of  Mr.  Vallandighain  of  Ohio  was 
made. 

Suppression  of  the  Chicago  Times. — But  the  general  government 
did  not  stop  with  military  arrests  and  imprisonment  of  the  citi 
zen  for  his  exercise  of  the  right  of  free  speech  ;  it  also  laid  its 
hand  of  power  upon  the  freedom  of  the  public  press.  The 
suppression  of  the  Chicago  Times  —  a  newspaper  which  ex 
ercised  an  unusual  license  in  its  criticism  of  the  policy  of 
the  administration  and  the  conduct  of  the  war — formed  the 
most  notable  event  of  that  sort  in  Illinois.  This  was  done  by  or 
der  of  Major  Gen.  Burnside,  in  command  of  the  department  of 
the  Qhio,  dated  Cincinnati,  June  1st,  18C3.  Brig.  Gen.  Jacob 
Ammen,  in  command  of  the  district  of  Illinois,  stationed  at  Camp 
Butler,  Avas  charged  with  its  execution.  The  cause  assigned  in 
the  order  was  "the  repeated  expression  of  disloyal  and  incendiary 
sentiments"  by  that  newspaper.  The  same  order  (No.  84),  in  par 
agraph  1,  included  the  N.  Y.  World.  Gen.  Ainmen  was  directed 
to  allow  no  more  issues  of  the  paper  to  appear,  and  if  neccessary 
to  "take  military  possession  of  the  Times  office."  The  editor  was 
also  notified  of  the  order  by  telegraph  from  Gen.  Burnside,  June 
2d.  Late  in  the  night  of  that  day  Messrs.  Storey  and  Worden, 
the  proprietors,  made  application  to  Judge  Drummond,  of  the  U. 
S.  court  for  the  Northern  district  of  Illinois,  for  an  injunction  to 
restrain  Gens.  A.  E.  Buruside,  Jacob  Ammen,  and  Capt.  Jas. 
S.  Putnam,  of  Camp  Douglas,  detailed  to  act,  from  carrying 
into  effect  the  order  of  suppression.  About  midnight  the  court 
granted  a  temporary  restraining  order  upon  the  defendants,  until 
the  application  could  be  heard  and  determined  in  open  court.  Learn 
ing  which,  Capt.  Putnam  hastily  departed  to  his  post  at  Camp  Dong- 
las,  gathered  a  sufficient  military  force,  returned,  and  about  4  o'clock 
in  the  morning  of  the  3d,  executed  Gen.  Burnside's  order  by 
taking  possession  of  the  Times  office,  in  defiance  and  contempt  of 
the  order  of  the  civil  tribunal.  In  the  meantime  the  Times  issues 
of  the  3d  of  June,  in  great  part,  had  been  struck  off  and  found 
circulation. 

Here  was  presented  the  grave  question  of  a  collision  between 
the  civil  and  military  authority  of  the  U.  S.  A  stay  of  proceed 
ings  in  court  was  granted  on  the  same  day  to  give  time  for  service 

'See  Illinois  State  Register,  May  6  1863 


YATES    ADMINISTRATION.  893 

on  Gen.  Ammen.  Judge  David  Davis,  presiding  in  the  U.  S. 
Circuit  Court  at  Springfield,  was  telegraphed  to  come  to  Chi 
cago  and  join  in  hearing  the  application  for  the  injunction,  with 
which  he  complied. 

Meantime  the  excitement  created  in  Chicago  was  intense.  Oil 
the  evening  of  the  same  day  a  large  concourse  of  citizens  met  and 
expressed  their  deep  indignation  against  this  military  despotism. 
On  the  following  day  the  intensity  of  the  popular  feeling  having 
steadily  increased,  fears  were  entertained  that  an  outbreak  of 
mob  violence  would  attack  the  Tribune  establishment  (republican). 
A  secret  meeting  of  prominent  republicans,  and  a  few  democrats, 
was  now  held  in  the  circuit  court  room,  to  devise  ways  to  preserve 
the  peace  of  the  city.  It  was  participated  in  by  Senator  Truui- 
bull,  Hon.  I.  JST.  Arnold,  Win.  B.  Ogdeii,  Judge  Van  Higgins,  (a 
heavy  stockholder  in  the  Tribune,)  S.  W.  Fuller,  Jas.  F.  Joy, 
C.  Beckwith,  A.  C.  Coventry,  Judge  Dicke}',  S.  S.  Hayes, 
A.-  W.  Harrington  and  others.  A  petition  to  the  president 
was  prepared  representing  that  the  peace  of  the  city,  if 
not  the  welfare  of  the  country,  would  be  promoted  by  rescinding 
the  order  suppressing  the  Times;  that  this  was  asked  upon  the 
ground  of  expediency  alone,  without  regard  to  party  ;  and  his  fa 
vorable  consideration  was  respectfully  asked.  The  petition  was 
telegraphed  to  the  president.  Messrs.  Truinbull  and  Arnold  sent 
an  additional  dispatch  especially  inviting  his  prompt  'and  serious 
consideration  of  the  very  grave  state  of  affairs.  By  half-past  six 
1>.  m.  of  the  same  day,  he  replied  by  telegraph  unconditionally  re 
voking  the  order  of  suppression.  But  one  number  of  the  Times7 
issues,  that  of  Thursday,  June  4th,  failed  to  appear.  Pecuniarily 
it  may  well.be  guessed  the  paper  was  not  long  iujured,,as  by  this 
it  gained  largely  in  its  sales. 

After  thus  saving  it  from  the  fury  of  the  gathering  mob,  the 
Tribune  said :  "  The  order  of  revocation  was,  and  is  universally 
felt,  to  be  a  most  unfortunate  blunder.  *  As  the  matter  stands  it  is 
is  a  triumph  of  treason.  The  minions  of  Jeff.  Davis  have  won  a  victory 
by  which  they  will  not  fail  to  profit.  *  Oh  !  for  a  Gen.  Jackson 
while  this  war  lasts,  and  it  would  not  last  long."  The  republican 
press  was  generally  chagrined  at  the  wavering  conduct  of  the 
president,  and  in  a  tone  of  irony  exclaimed  :  "  It  is  not  true  that 
any  republican  has  telegraphed  to  Washington  to  seek  the  presi 
dential  revocation  of  Gen.  Grant's  order  to  suppress  Pemberton's 
issues  of  shot  and  shell  at  Vicksburg."  The  Belleville  Zeitung 
(German  republican),  somewhat  profanely  said  :  "  May  the  devil 
take  the  'honesty7  of  Lincoln  and  his  cabinet.  We  are  for  the  en 
ergy  and  power  of  action  of  Fremont.  Let  Fremont  be  our  next 
president." 

In  the  meantime  Judges  Davis  and  Drummond  had  been  hear 
ing  the  able  arguments  of  counsel  on  the  application  for  an  in 
junction,  but  the  president's  revocation  stayed  all  further  proceed 
ings  in.  court,  and,  what  is  to  be  regretted,  no  opinion  was  ren 
dered  upon  this  very  interesting  question.  From  Judge  Drum- 
mond's  remarks  upon  the  motion  to  defer  the  application  till  after 
service,  we  gather  the  following: 

"As  the  officer  of  the  government,  I  will  seek  to  maintain  that  government,  but 
I  believe  that  the  constitution  and  the  laws  furnish  ample  means  to  suppress 
the  rebellion.  *  When  there  are  military  operations  going  on— when  there  are 
armies  in  the  field  in  hostile  array,  in  battle,  in  movement,  then  the  civil  law  ceases 


894  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

and  then  comes  in  the  martial  law.  But  the  armies  of  the  U.  S..  the  major  generals  of 
thell  S.,  act  under  the  authority  cf  law,  and  the  military  law  is  just  as  much  under 
the  constitution  and  under  the  law  as  is  the  civil  law,  precisely.  *  It  is  desirable 
that  we  should  know  whether  we  live  under  a  government  of  law  or  under  a  govern 
ment  ot  force.  *  i  believe  that  we  live  under  a  government  of  law,  and  I  trust  that 
every  citizen  of  the  community  also  rests  under  the  same  belief,  and  that  all,  each  for 
himself,  will  remember  that  we  live  under  a  government  of  law." 

Secret  Politico -AHlitary  Societies. — The  year  1863  was  also  pro 
lific  in  the  organization  of  secret  political  orders  with  semi-mili 
tary  attributes.  They  were  variously  known  as  "Knights  of  the 
Golden  Circle,"  "Union  Leagues,"  the  "S.  B's,"  (whatever  that 
stood  for)  &c.  The  former  of  these  was  of  democratic  and  the  two 
latter  of  republican  origin.  Various  circumstances  contributed  to 
the  wide  extension  of  these  orders.  The  open  clamor  for  peace  on 
the  part  of  many  leading  democrats;  the  opinion  that  the  war 
was  a  failure — indirectly  conceded  by  some  of  thestaunchest  re 
publican  newspapers;  the  unpopularity  of  the  conscript  law  with 
the  $300  exemption  clause  and  its  frequent  denunciation,  these, 
joined  with  the  political  excitement  by  the  peace  resolutions  of 
the  legislature,  and  the  many  expressions  from  public  meetings  in 
opposition  thereto,  produced  a  serious  impression  among  the  peo 
ple  not  unmingled  with  feelings  of  personal  insecurity.  During 
this  year,  too,  many  deserters  were  at  large,  prowling  about  the 
neighborhoods  of  tlieir  homes,  often  leading  their  friends  or  rela 
tives  into  difficulties  with  the  secret  agents  of  the  government  in 
pursuit  of  them,  who,  when  they  became  known,  of  course  swaggered 
and  boasted  not  a  lit  tie  of  their  prowess  and  the  terrible  retribution 
to  be  visited  upon  certain  localities  supposed  to  harbor  them. 
There  were  also  at  home  rather  an  unusual  number  of  soldiers  on 
furlough — roistering  blades,  pompous  in  their  neat,  blue  uniforms 
— into  whose  ears  were  poured  by  partizan  friends  tales  of  horror, 
how  the  venomous  -'Copperhead  democrats"  purposed  resisting 
the  draft,  subvert  the  State  government,  and  form  an  alliance 
with  the  rebel  confederacy.  The  soldiers,  thus  incited  by  narrow 
and  prejudiced  republicans,  often  swaggered  about  insulting  good 
citizens  and  making  threats  of  dire  vengeance,  which  they  felt  it 
their  duty  and  privilege  to  wreak,  and  sometimes  they  went  so 
far  as  to  actually  perpetrate  indignities  and  outrages  upon  really 
unoffending  democratic  civilians.  The  general  government,  too, 
as  we  have  seen,  was  making  numerous  military  arrests  for  the 
mere  utterance— often  but  an  idle  or  thoughtless  boast — of  dis 
loyal  sentiments. 

There  was  consequently  little  open  discussion  of  the  war  in 
dulged  on  either  side  in  many  portions  of  the  State.  A  deep  feel 
ing  of  mistrust  regarding  the  thoughts  and  purposes  of  one's  own 
neighbor  was  all-pervading.  The  air  was  rile  with  whispers  of 
direst  portent  as  to  the  treatment  to  be  visited  upon  this  or  tluit 
citizen,  who  should  have  uttered  this  or  done  that  disloyal  thing. 
The  State  was  under  martial  law  ;  and  it  was  generally  felt  that 
outrages  growing  out  of  the  political  condition  of  the  times,  or 
perpetrated  at  such  a  period,  would  either  meet  with  ready  excuse 
and  escape  of  punishment,  upon  the  one  side,  or  a  summary  visita 
tion  of  revenge  from  the  other.  Each  was  thus  steeled  against  the 
first  overt  act.  Under  these  circumstances  men  of  prior  partizan 
affiniteis,  even  if  not  then  in  full  accord  upon  the  great  question 
of  the  war,  instinctively  sought  to  bind  themselves  together  by 


YATES7  ADMINISTRATION.  895 

ties  of  the  strongest  oaths  for  mutual  protection,  which  doubtless 
did  not  always  stop  with  provisions  against  personal  indignities 
and  local  outrages  alone,  but  nuiy  have  included  purposed  resist 
ance  to  the  lawful  demands  of  the  government  in  the  enforcement 
of  the  conscript  law  to  carry  on  a  war  odious  to  their  political 
sentiments. 

For  greater  efficiency,  here  and  there  these  combinations,  on 
both  sides,  partook  of  the  character  of  military  organizations  ; 
but  it  is  questionable  if  any  were  furnished  with  arms  other 
than  home  affairs,  shot  guns,  &c.  The  drilling  was  often  done  with 
cornstalks.  The  associations  of  one  side  caused  the  other  to  do 
the  same ;  while  the  utmost  quiet  prevailed  as  to  the  usual 
wrangles  and  discussions  incident  to  all  public  questions  of  great 
interest  in  this  country.  Both  sides  feared  and  guarded  against 
precipitating  a  general  collision.  No  one  knew  what  a  personal 
affray  might  instantly  develop  as  to  the  number  of  sworn  assist 
ants  on  either  side,  nor  what  weapons  were  concealed,  ready  to  leap 
forth  upon  the  first  emergency.  To  such  considerations  an  active 
imagination  was  of  course  ready  to  add  its  legions  of  numbers  and 
dire  results.  In  some  respects  this  mutual  forbearance,  born  of 
caution,  may  have  been  well.  But  these  secret  associations  by 
skillful  and  industrious  agencies  were  extending  their  power  and 
influence  all  over  the  country. 

All  secret  political  societies  are  dangerous  to  the  State  and  to 
the  liberty  of  the  people.  The  very  fact  of  their  secrecy  stamps 
them  as  wrongful  and  hazardous.  Secrecy  eviscerates  true  de 
mocracy  or  republicanism  of  its  essential  principles.  To  deny  an 
open  comparison  of  views  and  a  free  discussion  of  questions  af 
fecting  the  public  weal,  or  the  rights  of  the  citizen,  is  to  remove 
the  underlying  safeguards  of  an  intelligent  liberty.  It  is  but  just 
to  say  that  the  democratic  press  counselled  the  people  against 
them. 

The  republican  press,  with  untiring  industry,  circulated  reports 
that  the  democrats  were  preparing  and  intended  to  resist  the 
draft  under  the  conscript  law.  A  regiment  was  organized  and 
armed  by  the  State,  by  order  of  Adjutant  General  Fuller,  "for 
the  purpose  of  guard  "and  protection  of  the  State  of  Illinois" — 
meaning  that  it  was  to  aid  in  enforcing  the  draft.  Col.  E.  H. 
Hough  was  assigned  to  its  command.  This  ill-advised  step,  one 
would  suppose,  was  rather  calculated  to  provoke  the  armed  col 
lision  so  much  dreaded.  Many  indeed  feared,  that,  by  these  va 
rious  means,  a  struggle  might  be  brought  about  in  the  State. 
Judge  O' Mel veny,  a  fierce  anti-war  democrat,  wrote:  "I  still 
think  we  are  Hearing  convulsion  in' the  Xorth.  It  must  be  with 
us  the  last  alternative,  but  free  speech  ought  to  be  made  the  issue 
— no  point  more  available;  to  surrender  it,  is  to  perish;  and  it'  fate 
and  destiny  so  will  it,  let  the  democracy  go  down  with  the  consti 
tution  and  with  liberty  in  one  common  struggle  forlife  and  power." 
So  much  was  said  of  secret  traitorous  political  organizations,  and 
their  threatened  violent  resistance  to  the  draft  underthe  conscript 
law,  that  Judge  Davis,  of  the  U.  S.  circuit  court,  during  the  June 
term  at  Springfield,  charged  the  grand  jury  that  there  were 
secret  organizations  with  "grips,  signs  and  pass-words,  having  for 
their  object,  resistance  to  law,  and  the  overthrow  of  the  govern 
ment.  *  If  anywhere  in  this  State  bad  men  have  combined 


896  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

together  for  such  wicked  purpose,  bring  them  to  light  and  let 
them  receive  the  punishment  due  their  crimes" — charging  them 
further  with  reference  to  any  kind  of  resistance  or  obstruction  to 
the  enforcement  of  the  draft,  and  the  aiding  or  abetting  of  de 
serters  by  advice,  assistance  or  harboring  them. 

While  the  many  rumors  of  lawless  conduct  on  the  part  of  these 
organizations,  with  which  the  press  teemed,  were  exaggerated,  all 
was  not  smoke.  A  number  of  atrocious  murders  were  committed, 
and  armed  resistance  offered  to  the  arrest  of  deserters 
in  many  portions  of  the  State,  which  we  have  neither  the 
space  nor  disposition  to  give  in  detail.  Of  the  counties 
in  which  these  disreputable  proceedings  occurred,  we  may 
mention  (commencing  south  and  proceeding  north)  Union,  Wil 
liamson,  E-ichland,  Clark,  Coles,  Fayette,  Montgomery,  Greene, 
Scott,  Tazewell  and  Fulton.  The  most  pertinacious  resistance 
was  offered  in  Scott  and  Greene,  whither  a  detachment  of  over  100 
mounted  soldiers  was  sent  to  ferret  out  the  camps  of  lawless  men 
hid  among  the  glades  and  swamps  bordering  the  Illinois  river. 
The  most  fatal  collision  occurred  in  Coles,  at  Charleston,  on  the 
22d  of  March,  1864,  between  citizens  in  attendance  upon  circuit 
court,  under  the  lead  of  Sheriff  O'Hara,  and  the  re-enlisted  veter 
ans  of  the  54th  Illinois  regiment.  Four  soldiers  were  killed  and 
8  wounded,  one  mortally;  of  the  citizens,  3  were  killed  at  the  time  5 
one  accidentally.  Some  time  after,  two  of  the  O'Haras  were  way 
laid  and  assassinated  in  the  woods.*  Assaults  upon  various  men 
were  made  in  Edgar  and  some  other  counties.  A  raid,  projected 
from  Cass,  was  made  upon  Jacksonville  to  intimidate  the  federal 
authorities  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties.  In  Hancock,  Adams, 
Pike,  Ctilhoun  and  other  counties  bordering  the  Mississippi,  incur 
sions  were  made  by  rebel  "  bushwhackers"  from  Missouri,  who 
were  said  to  be  but  too  freely  countenanced  and  harbored.  It  is 
also  doubtless  true  that  these  scenes  of  lawlessness  uniformly 
occurred  in  regions  where  unconditional  unionism  was  in  minority 
and  the  loyal  sentiment  of  the  people  overborne.  ><But  aside  from 
these  comparatively  petty  outbreaks  of  a  few  misguided,  perhaps 
lawless  men  in  scattered  localities,  no  serious  purpose  to  any  con 
siderable  extent  really  ever  existed  to  resist  the  draft  in  Illinois, 
or  to  obstruct  the  operations  of  the  laws  of  the  general  govern 
ment.  The  great  mass  of  the  people,  Democrat  as  well  as  Ke- 
publican,  were  ever  willing  and  ready  to  obey  the  law,  both  State 
and  national,  dutifully,  quietly  and  cheerfully. 

Prorogation  of  the  Last  Democratic  Legislature.— The  23d  gen 
eral  assembly,  upon  the  expiration  of  its  recess,  met  again,  June 
2d,  1863.  Besides  a  number  of  bills  of  a  private  or  local  character, 
patriotic  resolutions,  resolutions  of  thanks  to  the  Illinois  volun 
teers  for  their  valor  in  the  field,  and  resolutions  of  a  political  char- 

*  Much  disaffection  obtained  between  citizens  (who  often  gave  vent  to  treasonable 
utterances  by  shouting  for  Jeff.  Davis,  &c  .,)  and  soldiers,  and  many  personal  indigni 
ties  were  inflicted  by  the  latter  upon  the  former.  In  Coles,  it  is  said  that  soldiers,  per 
haps  when  intoxicated,  out  of  mere  wantoness,  would  seize  farmers,  (many  of  them 
doubtless,  belonging  to  the  order  of  the  Golden  Circle),  from  their  wagons  and  compel 
then:  to  take  an  oath  of  allegiance  manufactured  for  the  occasion:  "You  solemnly 
swear  to  support  the  administration,  .Abraham  Lincoln,  all  proclamations  now  issued, 
and  all  that  may  hereafter  be  issued,  so  help  you  God."  At  Vandalia  a  Mr.  Smith  was 
made  to  take  the  oath,  and  afterwards,  in  an  altercation,  killed.  One  of  the  soldiers 
escaped,  and  his  associates, on  examination  were  discharged.  Citizens,  doubtless  Amer 
ican  Knights,  to*he  number  of  50  or  60,  sought  to  revenge  the  murder,  but  failing  in 
this,  burnt  a  railroad  bridge  and  committed  other  depredations. 


YATES'  ADMINISTRATION.  897 

acter,  covering  the  military  order  suppressing  the  Chicago  Times, 
the  military  arrests  of  Illinois  citizens,  particularly  the  case  of 
Judge  Constable,  were  numerously  introduced.  The  con 
sideration  of  the  latter  character  of  resolutions  elicited  warm  de 
bate  and  consumed  much  valuable  time.  At  this  time  the  army 
iu  the  West,  containing  nearly  all  the  Illinois  troops,  had  been 
active  in  its  approaches  upon  Yicksburg,  and  all  the  se 
vere  fighting  in  the  investment  of  that  rebel  fortress  was- 
over.  The  casualties  to  Illinois  volunteers  were  great,  and  the 
demands  for  sanitary  aid  pressing.  On  the  first  day  of  the  ses 
sion,  therefore,  in  the  senate,  Mr.  Green,  who  had  but  recently 
been  the  subject  of  military  arrest,  as  we  have  seen,  introduced  a 
bill,  appropriating  $50,000  for  the  sick  and  wounded  Illinois  sol 
diers.  In  the  house  a  similar  bill  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Fuller, 
appropriating  $100,000  to  be  disbursed  by  a  commission,  consist 
ing  of  Messrs.  John  T.  Stuart,  C.  H.  Lanphier,  and  W.  A.  Turney, 
all  opposed  to  the  administration  policy  of  the  war.  A  bill  for 
taking  the  Illinois  soldiers'  vote  was  also  introduced. 

On  the  3d  day  of  the  session,  in  the  senate,  a  proposition  to 
adjourn  sine  die  was  extensively  discussed  and  made  the  special 
order  for  the  following  day.  On  Monday,  June  8th,  three  Demo 
crats  being  absent,  the  senate,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Vandeveer,  a 
Democrat,  passed  a  resolution  by  a  vote  of  14  to  7,  to  adjourn  sine 
die  on  that  instant,  at  6  p.  M.  This  the  house  amended  by  insert 
ing  the  22d  of  June  at  10  A.  M.  instead.  The  senate  refused  to 
concur  by  yeas  11  to  nays  12.  By  the  constitution,  in  case  of  dis 
agreement  between  the  two  houses  with  respect  to  the  time  of 
adjournment,  the  governor  was  empowered  to  adjourn  the  assem 
bly  to  such  a  day  as  he  deemed  proper.  Such  conjuncture  now 
obtained.  On  the  9th  the  senate  transacted  but  little  business. 
There  was  also  disagreement  upon  the  house  soldiers'  relief  bill, 
the  senate  having  added  the  names  of  the  governor  and  the  treas 
urer  to  the  commission,  to  which  the  house  refused  to  acceed. 
On  the  morning  of  June  10th,  in  the  house,  shortly  after  a  motion 
by  Mr.  Lawrence  to  take  up  the  general  appropriation  bill  had, 
at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Fuller,  been  laid  on  the  table,  and  while 
not  a  Democrat  was  dreaming  of  such  a  move,  the  governor's  pri 
vate  secretary  entered  the  hall,  and  being  announced  by  the  door 
keeper,  but  without  recognition  from  the  chair,  (Mr.  Burr),  read 
hurriedly,  but  in  a  loud  tone,  his  message  adjourning  the  general 
assembly  to  the  Saturday  next  preceding  the  1st  Monday  in  Jan 
uary,  1865. 

This  unexpected  stroke  fell  upon  the  dominant  party  like  a  clap 
of  thunder  from  a  clear  sky.  Their  chagrin  and  anger  knew  no 
bounds.  They  were  beaten  by  the  hated  governor  in  parliamen 
tary  tactics.  Amidst  the  unexampled  din  and  confusion,  all  sorts 
of  motions  were  made.  The  Eepublican  members  at  once  with 
drew,  breaking  the  quorum.  The  speaker  vacated  the  chair,  and 
the  house  took  an  informal  recess.  In  the  senate,  upon  the  read 
ing  of  the  prorogation  message,  a  similar  scene  of  excitement  took 
place.  Lieutenant-Governor  Hoffman  said:  ."  In  obediance  to  this 
order,  I  do  now  adjourn  this  senate  until  the  Saturday  preceding 
the  1st  Monday  in  January,  A.  D.  1865."  He  then  vacated  the 
chair  and  retired  from  the  chamber.  Senator  Underwood  was 
called  to  the  chair.  In  the  afternoon  13  senators  were  present — 
57 


898  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

the  12  Republican  members  having  left.  In  the  house  44  mem 
bers  were  present;  a  majority  in  either  house,  but  not  enough  to 
do  business,  the  constitution  requiring  the  presence  of  two-thirds 
of  the  members  in  each  house  to  constitute  a  quorum.  Regarding 
the  prorogation  as  illegal  both  houses  continued  the  session. 

It  is  probable  the  absconding  members  knew  of  the  governor's 
purpose,  judging  from  the  promptness  with  which  they  and  the 
lieutenant-governor  took  their  departure.  Yet  upon  the  other 
hand,  in  the  senate,  Mr.  Vandeveer,  a  Democrat,  made  the  motion 
to  adjourn,  on  which  the  disagreement  occurred. 

Prior  to  the  prorogation  in  the  house  a  motion  had  been  adop 
ted  for  a  conference  committee  to  reconcile  the  differences  upon 
the  soldiers'  $100,000  relief  bill.  This  was,  in  the  present  strait, 
proffered  to  be  accommodated  by  the  house  agreeing  to  the  senate 
amendment  to  insert  the  names  of  the  governor  and  treasurer 
with  the  other  commissioners.  A  joint  resolution  was  thereupon 
adopted,  inviting  the  co-operation  of  enough  Republican  members 
to  help  pass  this  much  needed  measure.  If  a  quorum  had  been 
obtained  and  the  bill  regularly  passed,  it  would  have  been  void 
because  of  the  legality  of  the  prorogation,  as  subsequently  decided 
by  the  supreme  court.  But  the  Republicans  showed  no  disposi 
tion  to  acceed  to  this  request,  although  the  legality  of  the  adjourn 
ment  was  then  generaly  doubted  by  both  parties.  The  fiat  had 
gone  forth,  political  capital  was  a  stake,  to  retract  was  to  prove 
vacillating  and  contemptible,  and  they  braved  it  through. 

The  sincerity  of  the  Democrats — who  believed  the  bill  might  be 
legally  passed  if  a  quorum  could  be  obtained — in  making  this 
proposition,  has  been  doubted,  as  inferred  from  the  fact  that  there 
had  been  ample  time  to  pass  the  bill.  True,  they  had  showed  no 
haste,  but  after  the  disagreement,  there  was  at  stake  the  pride  of 
consistency  with  either  house,  for  which  some  allowance  should  be 
made.  It  cannot  be  possible  that  such  trifling  wTas  intended;  that 
the  olive  branch  was  held  out  only  as  a  lure  and  deceitful  snare. 
It  may  also  be  safely  asserted,  that  the  bill  would  have  passed  had 
more  time  been  allowed  and  the  prorogation  not  been  interposed. 
But  for  the  sake  of  gratifying  the  vanity  of  partisan  tri 
umph,  the  law-makers  were  dispersed,  and  this  beneficent  measure 
failed.  Besides  this  measure,  which  appealed  directly  to  one's 
sympathy  and  humanity,  there  were  others  pending  of  great  pub 
lic  utility,  which  were  thus  also  defeated ;  the  bill  for  the  sale  of 
coin  and  the  payment  of  interest  in  treasury  notes ;  an  appropria 
tion  to  the  State  Normal  University ;  the  general  appropriation 
bill ;  an  appropriation  for  the  erection  of  a  monument  to  Douglas, 
and  some  needed  local  measures,  all  in  an  advanced  state  of  ma 
turity. 

Immediately  after  the  prorogation  the  Democrats  prepared  a 
protest,  setting  forth  in  detail  the  injurious  consequences  to  the 
public  of  the  governor's  "monstrous  usurpation"  of  power,  signed 
by  56  representatives  and  13  senators.  A  counterblast  to  this, 
addressed  to  the  people  of  Illinois,  was  published  by  3  Republi 
cans  of  the  senate,  and  6  of  the  house,  acting  as  a  committee  for 
this  purpose,  in  defense  of  the  Republican  members  and  the  act 
of  the  governor.  Both  were  extreme  partisan  documents,  full  of 
accusations  of  corruption,  and  devoid  of  neither  errors  of  fact  noi 
intemperate  language. 


YATES7  ADMINISTRATION.  899 


After  the  prorogation,  the  "rump,"  or  moot  legislature,  as  it 
was  variously  called,  still  kept  up  the  session  technically.  The 
roll  call  was  studiously  avoided  so  as  not  to  have  it  appear  from 
the  journals  that  a  quorum  was  not  present,  and  thus  the  legality 
of  their  acts  would  turn  upon  the  validity  of  the  prorogation 
alone,  which  was  to  be  tested  in  the  Supreme  Court.  On  the  23d 
and  24th  of  June  business  was  transacted.  The  governor  was  in 
formed  that  they  were  about  to  close,  asking  if  he  had  any  fur 
ther  communication  to  lay  before  them.  He  replied  that  he  had 
not,  and  did  not  recognize  their  legal  existence.  A  joint  resolu 
tion  was  thereupon  passed,  taking  a  recess  until  Tuesday  after 
the  first  Monday  in  January,  1864. 

Before  the  close  of  the  year  a  decision  was  obtained  from  the 
Supreme  Court,  sustaining  the  validity  of  the  prorogation.  This 
was  the  first  political  question  that  had  been  before  the  Supreme 
Court  since  the  alien  case  in  1840.  A  portion  of  the  Democratic 
press  assailed  the  court  (which  was  Democratic  in  political  senti 
ment)  with  great  virulence,  charging  that  the 

"Decision  was  not  only  wholly  wrong-,  but  had  been  made  from  unworthy  motives 
It  was  time  that  judges  who  made  wrong  decisions,  to  avoid  the  lash  and  propitiate 
the  impending  anger  of  their  political  opponents,  should  be  made  to  feel  the  indigna 
tion  of  their  former  friends  whom  they  had  thus  betrayed.  The  Democratic 
party  had  asked,  and  would  ask  for  nothing  but  impartial  fairness  at  the  hands  of  the 
judges,  and  no  consideration  of  delicacy  would  impel  it  to  silence,  if  it  felt  that  unwor 
thy  personal  motives  had  moved  them  to  deal  unfairly  with  it.  We  had  fondly  hoped 
that  in  Illinois  there  was  a  State  court  in  whom  the  people  could  confidently  repose  as 
a  barrier  to  frightful  invasions  of  executive  power.  This  Irope  is  dispelled,  and  we  are 
overwhelmed  with  sorrow  and  mortification  in  view  of  it."* 

The  deep  chagrin  of  the  Democrats  at  the  dispersion  of  the 
legislature  by  the  governor  is  eloquently  portrayed  by  a  member, 
before  the  Supreme  Court,  in  his  capacity  as  attorney  in  one  of 
the  cases  involving  the  validity  of  the  prorogation.  He  exclaims : 
''Malignant  partizauship  could  go  no  farther.  The  annals  of 
political  warfare  display  no  grosser  infraction  of  the  dignities 
and  amenities  of  private  or  official  life.  *  *  Since  the  members 
of  the  long  parliament  were  driven  from  their  seats  with  oppro 
brious  epithets  by  Cromwell,  there  has  been  no  such  exhibition  of 
virtu perative  lawlessness."* 

We  will  carry  this  parallel  further  by  adding  the  concluding 
part  of  Cromwell's  address  to  the  commons,  and  see  where  it  leads : 
"liut  now  I  say,  your  time  hath  come.  The  Lord  hath  disowned 
you.  The  God  of  Abraham,  and  of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob,  hath 
done  with  you.  He  hath  no  need  of  you  any  more.  So,  he  hath 
judged  you  and  cast  you  forth  and  chosen  fitter  instruments  to 
Him  to  execute  that  work  in  which  you  have  dishonored  Him." 
History  repeats  itself.  The  chronicler  of  the  scene  adds:  "Sullen, 
humiliated  and  unpitied,  for  they  had  lost  the  respect  of  honest 
men  of  all  denominations,  the  members  of  that  parliament  now 
sneaked  away  to  find  a  miserable  refuge  in  the  dispised  obscurity 
of  private  life,  deserted  by  the  people  in  their  turn,  whom  they 
first  deserted  at  the  dictates  of  a  depraved  and  poor  ambition." 

The  Great  Democratic  Mass  Convention  of  June  1.1  ih,  1863. — The 
Democratic  State  committee  had  issued  a  call  on  the  28th  of  May 
for  a  mass  convention  to  assemble  at  Springfield,  June  17th,  1803, 
being  the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  consultation  and  deliberation  upon  the  state  of  the  coun- 

*  From  the  Chicago  Times. 
*See  M.  W.  Fuller's  brief. 


900  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

try,  and  to  give  expression  in  an  authoritative  form  to  the  views 
of  public  policy  entertained  by  the  Illinois  Democracy.  Prom 
inent  democratic  orators  from  foreign  States  were  advertised  to 
be  present  to  speak,  confer  and  counsel  with  the  Illinois  Democracy. 
The  result  was  the  most  extraordinary  gathering,  in  respect  of 
numbers,  fine  personal  appearance,  high  character  of  the  men  in 
attendance  and  the  spirit  which  pervaded  them,  that  ever 
assembled  in  Illinois.  Not  less  than  40,000  men  were  present, 
representing  all  parts  of  the  State.  It  was  not  a  gala  day  assem 
blage  of  men,  women  and  children,  but  of  solid  looking,  well 
attired  men,  whose  countenances  betokened  thought,  earnestness 
and  determination.  They  were  evidently  political  leaders  of  more 
or  less  influence  in  whatever  sections  they  belonged.  Their  out 
ward  appearance  indicated  not  only  this,  but  also  that  the  great 
body  of  them  were  men  of  means.  While  all  classes  were  more  or 
less  represented,  the  solid  element  greatly  predominated,  giving 
tone  and  character  to  the  whole.  No  drunkenness,  brawling  or 
semblance  of  unseemly  conduct  marred  the  occasion.  No  taunt 
ing  acts  of  disloyalty  by  the  display  of  secession  flags,  shouting 
for  Jeff  Davis,  or  like  conduct  calculated  to  provoke  a  breach  of 
the  peace,  was  manifested.  A  disturbance  of  the  peace  while  this 
immense  crowd  was  in  the  capital  city,  leading  to  a  serious  out 
break,  perhaps  a  collision  with  the  soldiers,  was  greatly  feared  by 
some  prominent  officials.  Gen.  Amineii,  commandant  of  Camp 
Butler,  took  the  precaution  to  order  that  no  soldier  be  allowed  to 
leave  camp  during  the  whole  of  that  day.  But  this  crowd,  though 
large,  wras  not  a  niob.  It  was  composed  rather  of  respectable, 
well-to-do  and  reflective  citizens  who — whatever  their  opinion 
regarding  the  Avar,  and  that  was  for  peace — would  not  pre 
cipitate  a  collision  voluntarily.  Yet  it  may  be  well  considered, 
had  it  been  forced  upon  them  they  were  not  the  men  to  quail ; 
doubtless  many  were  well  prepared  for  such  a  contingency.  They 
had  come,  not  for  an  excursion  to  seek  relief  from  and  var^  the 
monotony  of  home  life,  but,  moved  by  a  feeling  of  deep  earnest 
ness,  to  compare  views  and  take  counsel  of  one  another,  and 
repledge  their  devotion  to  that  democratic  faith  that  was  in  them, 
which  stood  steadfast  for  the  "Union  as  it  was  and  the  constitu 
tion  as  it  is  ;"  to  condemn  the  aggressions  of  arbitrary  power  both 
State  and  National,  and  denounce  the  "abolitionizing"  of  the  con 
duct  of  the  war.  Prominent  republicans  had  themselves  asserted 
that  "the  problem  would  be  [when  the  war  was  past]  to  com 
bine  the  forms  of  republican  government  with  the  powers  of  a 
monarchical  government."*  They  met  to  place  their  ban  upon  the  war 
at  a  time  when  many  earnest  hearts  were  trembling  for  the  cause  of 
the  Union,  and  when  discouragement  might  be  doubly  effective. 
In  the  west,  Yicksburg  was  invested,  it  is  true,  but  it  had  not 
fallen.  In  the  east  the  victorious  legions  of  Lee,  fresh  from  the 
blundering  contests  on  the  Eappahannock,  and  inspired  by  a 
contempt  for  the  Union  forces  under  Hooker,  with  the  utmost 
audacity  moved  clear  around  him,  boldly  crossed  into  Maryland 
and  deliberately  pushed  forward  to  Pennsylvania,  while  the  coun 
try  stood  amazed,  and  the  deepest  anxiety  pervaded  every  breast. 
Gettysburg,  though  not  far  in  the  future,  was  not  foreseen. 

*See  Forney's  Press. 


YATES'  ADMINISTRATION.  901 

The  meeting  was  held  at  the  old  Fair  Ground  or  Camp  Yates, 
about  one  mile  due  west  of  the  old  State  House.  The  day  was 
oppressively  warm.  To  give  an  idea  of  some  of  the  leading  par 
ticipants  we  will  append  a  few  names : 

Senator  W.  A.  Richardson,  president ;  vice  presidents  ;  Hons.  Chas.  A.  Constable, 
Win.  McMurtry,  Peter  Sweat,  J.  M.  Young,  Aaron  Shaw,  O.  B.Ficklin,  Wm.  F.  Thorn 
ton,.!.  W.  Merritt,  H.  M.  Vandeveer,  B.  F.  Prettyraau,  Chas.  D.  Hodges,  John  S. 
McDonald,  James  Robb,  W  H.  Oilman.  Virgil  Hickox,  James  E.  Ewing,  E.  D.  Tay- 
lor,  A.  D.  Wright,  i.P  Rogers,  John  V. 'Ayer,  A.  Withers,  David  A.  Gage,  Sargent 
Gobble,  John  Cunningham,  Noah  Johnson,  M.  Y  Johnson,  B.  S.  Edwards,  S.  Staats 
Taylor,  John  Pierson.  C.  L.  Higbee,  H.  L.-Merrick,  S.  S.  Hays,  Cyrus  Epler,  R.  M.  B. 
Wilson,  JohnD.  Wood,  S.  A.  Buckmaster,  Jacob  Bowman,  S.  J.  Cross,  J.  M.  Epler, 
Robert  Halloway,  Henry  Dresser,  J.  L.  D.  Morrison,  J.  K.Stitt,  James  C.Robinson, 
W.  A.  J.  Sparks,  F.  C.  Sherman,  J.  S.  Bogan,  John  C.  Chainplin,  C.  A.  Walker,  and 
Dr.  N.  S.  Davis.  Among  the  speakers  in  attendance  from  abroad  we  notice  the  names  of 
Daniel  Voorhees, of  Indiana, B.  S.  Cox  of  Ohio,  and  Chris.  Kribben  and  Gen.  McKmi- 
stry,  of  St.  Louis,  and  from  our  own  State,  Richardson,  S  S.  Marshall,  J.  R.  Eden, 
Jas.  C.Allen.  Ex  Gov.  John  Reynolds,  J.  C.  Robinson,  Greathous,  Bryan,  Connolly, 
Wescott,  Chas  T.  E.  Merritt,  M.  Y.  Johnson,  J.  L.  D.  Morrison,  W.  M-  Springer, 
and  a  host  of  others,  Speaking  was  constantly  had  from  six  different  stands,  enthusias 
tic  crowds  thronging  about  each.* 

The  position  of  the  Democracy  of  Illinois  was  declared  at 
length  in  24  separate  paragraphs,  which  we  summarize,  except  the 
two  last.  They  declared  the  supremacy  of  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States,  as  well  in  time  of  war  as  peace, 
which  they  were  ready  and  willing  to  obey,  as  also  all  laws  made 
in  pursuance  thereof,  so  long  as  they  remained  upon  the  statute 
books,  claiming  the  right  to  constitutionally  change  them;  they 
quoted  the  bill  of  rights,  and  upon  it  arraigned  the  federal  admin 
istration  for  violating  nearly  every  one  of  its  guarantees  to  the 
citizen ;  they  condemned  the  arrest  and  banishment  of  Vallandig- 
ham,  demanding  his  restoration ;  denounced  the  arrest  of  Judge 
Constable  and  the  imprisonment  of  Hon.  W.  H.  Carlin  and  other 
citizens  of  the  State,  demanding  their  release;  condemned  the 
suppression  of  the  Chicago  Times;  declared  their  determination 
to  exercise  the  right  of  electing  public  officers  in  defiance  of  the 
demands  of  power;  adhered  to  the  doctrine  of  State  sovereignty  ; 
denounced  martial  law  in  this  State ;  condemned  the  recent  act  of 
prorogation  of  the  legislature  by  Gov.  Yates  as  a  high-handed 
usurpation  by  one  department  of  government  of  the  rights  of 
another;  charged  the  governor  with  not  only  not  protecting  the 
citizen  in  his  constitutional  rights,  but  violating  them  himself; 
denounced  secession  as  a  ruinous  heresy,  and  offered  their  cordial 
co-operation  in  securing  to  the  seceded  States  equal  rights  if  they 
would  return  to  their  allegiance. 

"23.  That  the  further  offensive  prosecution  of  this  war  tends  to  subvert  the  consti 
tution  and  the  government,  and  entail  upon  this  nation  all  the  disastrous  consequences 
ot  misrule  and  anarchy.  That  we  are  in  favor  ot  peace  upon  the  basis  of  a  restoration 
of  the  Union,  and  for  the  accomplishment  of  which  we  propose  a  national  convention 
to  settle  upon  terms  of  peace,  which  shall  have  in  view  the  restoration  of  the  Union 
as  it  was  and  the  securing,  by  constitutional  amendments,  such  righs  to  the  several 
States  and  the  people  thereof,  as  honor  and  justice  demand. 

"2-t.  That  we  denounce  as  libellers  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  willful  instigators 
of  mischief,  those  fanatics  who  are  engaged  in  representing  the  democracy  as  wanting 
in  sympathy  for  our  soldiers  in  the  field.  Those  soldiers  are  our  kindred,  our  friends 
and'our  neighbors,  whose  interests  are  identified  with  our  own  ;  whose  prosperity  is 
our  pleasure  ;  whose  suffering  is  our  pain  ;  and  whose  brilliant  achievements  are  our 
pride  and  admiration.  Promptly  rushing  to  arms  as  they  did.  in  answer  to  the  call  of 
their  country,  they  merit  our  warmest  thanks,  our  sympathy  and  our  support ;  and 
we  earnestly  request  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  withdraw  the  "  Proclama 
tion  of  Emancipation,"  and  permit  the  brave  sons  of  Illinois  to  fight  only  for  the 
"Union,  the  constitution  and  the  enforcement  of  the  laws." 

The  assembled  multitude  testified  their  faith  in  the  last  of  these 
declarations  by  their  works  on  the  spot,  in  contributing  the  muni 
ficent  fund  of  $47,400  for  the  sick  and  wounded  Illinois  soldiers. 
This  very  liberal  response  was  one  of  the  noblest  and  most  touch- 

*See  Illinois  Register,  June  18th,  1863. 


902  HISTOKY   OF   ILLINOIS. 


ing  scenes  ever  witnessed.     Wbeu  tlie  call  of  the  committee  for 
this  purpose  Avas  announced,  wallets  flew  out  of  pockets  thick  and 


come  round  to  gather  them  in.  The  hats  were  tilled  and  crammed, 
passed  to  the  committee,  emptied,  passed  back  again  and  as 
quickly  refilled.  Some  individual  subscriptions  were  as  high  as 
$500.  And  thus  the  errand  of  mercy  prospered;  the  glorious  con 
tagion  of  a  philanthropic  enthusiasm  spreading  the  while,  en 
couraged  with  inspiring  cheers,  while  many  a  thoughtful  eye,  set 
perhaps  in  a  stern  countenance,  dropped  a  silent  tear  in  sympa 
thy  with  this  beautiful  manifestation  of  a  grateful  patriotism. 
Thus  were  wrought  up  those  tender  emotions  of  love  of  country, 
which  transported  the  fond  recollections  of  affectionate  hearts 
after  the  absent  ones,  gallantly  defending  the  union  and  our 
homes  against  the  cohorts  of  treason.  The  warm  hearts  of  these 
contributors  pulsated  in  unison  with  a  genuine  patriotism,  albeit 
their  unyielding  heads,  influenced  by  partisan  feelings, 
enunciated  what  we  now  know  to  have  been  a  wrongful  stand 
against  the  further  prosecution  of  the  war  for  the  Union.  Doubt 
less  they  were  thoroughly  honest  in  their  belief  at  the  time,  but 
its  results  upon  this  nation,  if  carried  out,  must  have  been  attended 
with  unnumbered  woes. 

In  this  munificent  offering  "  the  soldier's  friend "  and  his 
goading  backers,  who,  rather  than  forego  the  opportunity  of 
wreaking  a  partisan  triumph  by  the  prorogation  of  the  legisla 
ture  in  defeating  the  appropriation  of  $100,000  for  the  sick 
sick  and  "wounded  Illinois  soldiers,  doubtless  discovered  a  merited 
rebuke.  It  has  been  asserted  that  this  feeling  prompted  the  large 
contribution  rather  than  the  dictates  of  a  generous  philanthropy. 
But  a  good  deed  should  not  be  attributed  to  bad  motives;  to  do 
good  to  those  that  despitefully  use  you,  is  of  the  highest  Christian 
spirit.  Crowds  of  men  are  not  likely  to  seek  revenge  in  such 
noble  and  generous  actions;  neither  was  this  assemblage  the  legis 
lature  which  had  been  affronted.  Col.  W.  E.  Morrison  was  selected 
to  disburse  the  fund  raised  at  this  meeting,  for  the  relief  of  the 
sick  and  wounded  Illinois  soldiers. 

While  this  meeting  was  "called'7  to  give  authoritative  expres 
sion  to  the  views  of  public  poluyy  entertained  by  the  Illinois  demo 
cracy,  the  position  here  assigned  to  them  in  the  23d  declaration, 
was  but  the  position  of  those  who  framed  it,  or  of  that  assemblage, 
not  that  of  the  great  mass  of  the  party.  It  was  not  a  delegate 
but  a  mass  convention,  each  attendant  representing  himself  and 
no  one  else.  By  this  declaration  it  was  proposed  precisely  to  do 
all  the  rebels  had  ever  asked — to  be  let  alone.  It  did  not  express 
the  sentiments  of  the  Democracy  of  Illinois.  The  Democracy  had 
ever  been  the  war  party  of  the  country,  in  all  the  wars  it  ever  had. 
The  great  body  of  the  rank  and  file  were  loyal  to  the  core  and 
unconditionally  for  the  war,  contending,  with  rare  exceptions,  that 
there  was  no  other  honorable  alternative  but  to  prosecute  it  until 
the  authority  of  the  government  Avas  acknoAvledged  and  respected 
over  all  the  broad  domain  of  our  country.  The  leading  spirits  of 
this  meeting  forsook  the  exalted  loyal  stand  of  the  party  as  cor- 
rectly  defined  by  Mr.  Douglas,  and  placed  themselves  in  perfect 


YATES7  ADMINISTRATION.  903 

antagonism  with  bis  patriotic  utterances,  that  while  the  war  lasted 
there  could  be  but  two  parties  in  the  country — "  patriots  and 
traitors."  They  assumed  to  speak  for  the  Democracy  of  Illinois, 
without  delegated  authority  so  to  do,  and  assign  to  them  a  posi 
tion  before  the  country  which  they  abhorred.  Their  unworthy 
efforts  met  with  a  withering  rebuke  from  the  people  and  they  dealt 
the  party  a  last  blow,  from  which  it  has  not  recovered.  If  not  in 
articulo  mortis,  it  has  been  paralized  ever  since  in  the  State. 

The  first  fruit  of  these  legislative  and  convention  proceedings 
was  exhibited  in  the  elections  of  November,  1863,  for  county 
officers,  which  resulted  in  favor  of  the  Eepublicans  by  an  aggre 
gate  majority  of  30,000  votes.  A  full  vote  was  not  polled,  it  is 
true,  yet  there  was  an  actual  Union  gain  of  5,000,  and  a  compar 
ative  gain  of  46,000  votes  over  the  preceding  year.* 

On  September  3d,1863 — the  country  having  been  in  the  mean  time 
encouraged  by  the  victory  of  Gettysburg  and  the  fall  of  Yicksburg — 
the  meeting  of  the  17th  of  June  was  offset  by  an  immense  Union 
gathering  at  Springfield.  Hons.  Henry  S.  Lane,  J.  R.  Doolittle, 
Zacliary  Chandler,  Gov.  Yates,  Gens.  K.  J.  Oglesby,  John  A. 
McClernand,  I.  IS".  Haynie,  B.  M.  Prentiss  and  many  others, 
addressed  the  vast  assemblage.  Mr.  Lincoln  sent  a  long  and 
patriotic  letter,  addressed  to  the  chairman,  J.  C.  Conkling,  which 
was  read.  Many  other  patriotic  letters  from  prominent  gentle 
men  in  various  parts  of  the  country  were  likewise  read.  A  vigor 
ous  prosecution  of  the  war  for  the  Union  was  urged  by  all  the 
speakers,  and  in  all  the  letters — that  that  was  the  only  true  way 
to  an  honorable  peace.* 

The  peace  efforts  of  a  faction  of  the  Illinois  Democracy  may 
be  said  to  have  culminated  in  1863.  With  the  approach  of 
the  election  contest  of  1864  we  discover  a  manifest  weakening  in 
the  wonted  unanimity  of  their  demands  for  peace.  The  desire  for 
party  success  was  stronger  than  any  other  political  sentiment. 
The  leaders,  not  unmindful  of  the  expression  of  the  people  of 
Illinois  at  the  polls  in  November,  1863,  were  inclined  to  greater 
caution  in  taking  advanced  unconditional  peace  ground.  Indeed 
many  were  the  other  way.  McClellen  had  loomed  up  as  the  most 
available  Democratic  candidate  for  the  presidency.  It  could  not  be 
expected  that  the  hero  of  An tietain,  who  it  was  supposed  would 
carry  the  soldiers'  vote  to  a  man,  could  consistantly  be  run  as  an 
unconditional  peace  man.  Accordingly  when  the  first  State  Dem 
ocratic  Convention  of  1864  met  at  Springfield,  June  15th,  they 
contented  themselves  with  appointing  delegates  to  the  national 
convention,and  State  presidential  electors,  without  putting  a  ticket 
in  the  field,  or  adopting  a  platform,  deferring  that  matter  by  an  over 
whelming  majority  to  the  action  of  the  national  convention  shortly 
to  meet  at  Chicago.  A  bumcomb  resolution  was  adopted  to  stand 
by  Yallandigham  (who  had  just  returned  from  exile),  and  the  de 
mocracy  of  Ohio  (then,  also,  assembled  in  convention)  in  the  preser- 

*Outofthe  resolutions  of  the  17th  of  June  sprung  a  curious  quarrel  between  the 
peace  policy  anil  no  policy  factions  of  that  meeting,  led  respectively  by  Col. 
Richardson  and  Gen.  Singleton.  The  "declarations,"  it  seems,  were  prepared  and 
passed  upon  the  day  before  by  a  self  constituted  committee  of  congressmen,  judges, 
office  holders  and  office  seekers,  whose  retreat,  the  latter  as  he  asserted  for  a  long 
time,  could  not  discover.  He  claimed  the  paternity  of  the  23d  "declaration"  with 
only  the  word  '  'offensive"  in  the  first  line  added  by  the  committee .  Doubtless  honors 
are  easy  upon  that  point  by  this  time. 

*See  Illinois  State  Journal,  Sept.  9th,  1863. 


904  HISTORY   OP   ILLINOIS. 

vatioii  of  their  liberty,  but  the  reiteration  of  the  former  bold  stand 
for  peace,  for  which  the  masses  in  Illinois  in  their  expression  at 
the  polls  had  shown  no  relish,  was  shrewdly  avoided.  This  was 
regarded  as  a  McClelleii  triumph,  and  a  rebuke  to  the  peaee-on- 
any- term's  party.  Bufc  the  peace  faction  against  which  the  tide 
was  thus  strongly  setting,  was  not  to  be  squelched  without  making 
an  effort.  With  the  view  to  influence  the  approaching  State  con 
vention,  a  mass  meeting  to  the  number  of  perhaps  20,000  assem 
bled  at  Peoria,  August  the  3d,  under  the  management  of  the  lead 
ing  peace  men  of  the  State.  The  meeting  was  also  said  to  have 
been  called  by  "a  secret  organization  whose  members  acted  with 
the  Democratic  party.  "*Geueral  Singleton,  author  of  the  23d  dec 
laration  of  the  17th  of  June,  1863,  presided;  and  Amos  Green, 
Grand  Commander  of  the  Order  of  American  Knights  in  Illinois, 
who,  subsequently,  in  the  trial  of  the  Camp  Douglas  conspirators 
at  Cincinnati,  turned  state's  evidence,  H.  M.  Vandeveer,  W.  W. 
O'Brien  and  others,  reported  a  series  of  resolutions,  in  the  2d 
of  which  they  "declare  that  the  coercion  and  subjugation  of  sov 
ereign  States  was  never  contemplated  as  possible  or  authorized 
by  the  constitution,  but  wras  pronounced  by  its  makers  an  act  of 
suicidal  folly.  But  whatever  may  be  the  theory  of  constitutional 
powder,  war,  as  a  means  of  restoring  the  Union,  has  proved  a  fail 
ure  and  a  delusion, "  etc. ;  and  in  the  3d,  "that  the  repeal  and 
revocation  of  all  unconstitutional  edicts  and  pretended  laws,  an 
armistice,  and  a  national  convention  for  the  peaceful  adjustment  of 
our  troubles,  are  the  only  means  of  saving  our  nation  from  unlim 
ited  calamity  and  ruin."* 

In  the.  meantime  another  Democratic  mass  convention  had 
been  called  to  assemble  at  the  capital.  The  Peoria  meeting, 
doubtless  fearing  that  the  policy  to  harmonize  all  the  discordant 
elements  manifest  in  the  party  would  there  prevail,  now  resolved 
to  then  re-assemble  at  Springfield,  being  the  18th  of  August  fol 
lowing,  and  stamp  that  meeting,  also,  with  their  character.  Accord 
ingly,  upon  that  occasion,  General  Singleton  claimed  that  the 
Springfield  meeting,  which  was  very  largely  attended,  was  but  a 
continuation  of  the  Peoria  meeting  ;  that  the  officers  were  already 
chosen,  and  nothing  remained  to  be  done  but  for  him  as  president 
to  call  the  multitude  to  order,  listen  to  the  speaking,  and  pass  the 
Peoria  peace  resolutions.  But  his  assumptions  met  with  earnest 
protest;  however,  for  the  sake  of  harmony,  it  was  agreed  in  cau 
cus  that  Singleton  should  preside,  that  the  Peoria  resolutions 
should  be  reported  stripped  of  two  objectionable  clauses,  and  in 
addition  to  pledge  the  party  to  the  Chicago  nominees.  This  was 
strenuously  opposed  by  the  ultra  peace  faction,  who  declared  they 
would  appeal  to  the  people.  The  meeting  was  forthwith  called  to 
order,  General  Singleton  became  chairman  and  addressed  the 
masses  in  a  forcible  and  able  speech.  He  was  followed  by  Henry 
Clay  Dean,  of  Iowa,  in  an  eloquent  effort.  The  Peoria  resolutions 
unchanged  were  then  offered  for  adoption,  as  also  those  of  June 
17th,  1863,  and  by  the  chair  declared  passed.  The  caucus  resolu 
tion  pledging  the  efficient  support  of  the  Illinois  Democracy  to  the 
Chicago  nominee  for  president,  whoever  he  might  be,  was  then 


•See  correspondence  Chicago  Times. 
*See  Illinois  Register,  Aug.  5th,  1864 


YATES*  ADMINISTRATION.  905 

offered.  It  was  sharply  attacked  and  laid  on  the  table.  Next 
the  Peoria  and  17th  of  June  resolutions  were  offered  for  adoption 
at  stand  No.  2,  and  there,  also,  declared  passed.  The  resolution 
pledging  unconditional  support  to  the  Chicago  nominees  was 
now  again  offered.  A  bitter  debate,  not  unmixed  with  gross  per 
sonalities,  was  instantly  aroused,  resulting  this  time  in  the  adop 
tion  of  the  resolution.  And  now  the  cloven  foot  having  been 
revealed  to  the  multitude,  when  the  latter  resolution  was  again 
moved  at  stand  No.  1,  amidst  much  confusion  and  opposition  it 
was  there,  also,  vociferously  adopted.  The  presiding  officer,  who 
had  been  assailed  as  a  disorganize!',  thereupon  retired  from  the 
meeting  in  disgust.* 

Thus  this  meeting,  after  adopting  the  Peoria  and  17th  of  June 
resolutions,  demanding  an  armistice,  pronouncing  the  war  for 
the  Union  a  failure  and  unconstitutional,  and  proposing  an  almost 
unconditional  peace  with  defiant  rebels,  in  the  next  breath  pledged 
themselves  in  advance  to  support  a  war  Democrat  for  the  presi 
dency.  But  this  glaring  inconsistency  only  indicated  after  all  that 
many  of  the  democratic  leaders,  in  their  ardent  and  ultra  opposi 
tion  to  the  war  for  the  Union,  had  been  really  less  disloyal  in  their 
true  feelings  and  sentiments  than  partisan  and  factious.  They  were 
anti-war  men  because  it  was  not,  as  they  thought,  the  war  of  their 
party.  They  did  not  love  the  Union  less,  but  office  more.  The 
partisan  strife  for  place,  power  and  position  is  a  terrible  thing  in 
our  country,  and  not  at  all  on  the  wane. 

Nor  was  this  meeting  more  inconsistent  than  the  Chicago  Dem 
ocratic  national  convention  of  1864,  which  met  a  few  days  later, 
in  the  adoption  of  their  platform  and  the  choice  of  a  candi 
date  to  be  placed  upon  it. 

The  3d  resolution  declared  it  as  the  sense  of  the  American  people  "that  after  four 
years  of  failure  to  restore  the  Union  by  the  experiment  of  war,  during  which,  under 
the  pretense  of  military  necessity  or  power  higher  than  the  constitution,  the  consti 
tution  itself  has  been  disregarded  in  every  part,  and  the  public  liberty  and  private  rights 
alike  trodden  down,  and  the  material  prosperity  of  the  country  essentially  impaired  ; 
justice,  humanity,  liberty  and  the  public  welfare  demand  that  immediate  efforts  be 
made  for  the  cessation  of  hostilities,  with  a  view  to  an  ultimate  convention  of  the  States 
or  other  peaceable  means  to  the  end  that  at  the  earliest  practicable  moment  peace 
may  be  restored  on  the  basis  of  the  Federal  Union  of  the  States. 

To  which  the  distingnised  military  chieftain.  Gen.  McClellen,  a 
strong  war  Democrat,  who  had  dispersed  the  Maryland  Democratic 
legislature  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  replied  in  his  letter  of 
accepauce : 

"But  the  Union  must  be  preserved  at  all  hazards.  I  could  not  look  in  the  face  of  my 
gallant  comrades  of  the  army  and  navy,  who  survived  so  many  bloody  battles,  and  tell 
them  that  their  labors  and  the  sacrifice  of  so  many  of  our  slain  and  wounded  brethren 
have  been  in  vain." 


CHICAGO   CONSPIRACY. 

During  the  autumn  of '64  a  conspiracy  wasdetected  at  Chicago,  which  hadforits  object 
the  liberation  of  the  prisoners  at  Camp  Douglas,  the  burning  of  the  city,  and  the  in 
auguration  of  rebellion  in  the  north.  Gen.  Sweet,  who  had  charge  of  the  camp  at 
the'  time,  first  had  his  suspicions  of  danger  aroused  by  a  number  of  enigmatically 
worded  letters  which  passed  through  the  Camp  postoffice. 

From  subsequent  developments  he  became  convinced  it  was  the  intention  of  the 
conspirators  to  carry  out  their  nefarious  designs  during  the  session  of  the  National 
Democratic  Convention  in  August,  but  before  the  time  arrived  defensive  measures 
were  instituted,  and  the  leaders  deemed  it  best  to  postpone  the  consummation  of  their 
object  till  the  presidential  election.  They  were,  however,  agamdestined  to  be  foiled. 
On  the  2d  of  November,  a  citizen  of  St.  Louis,  an  avowed  secessionist,  but  in  reality 
acrovernment  detective,  followed  a  criminal  from  that  city  to  Springfield,  and  thence  to 
Chicago.  Here,  while  on  the  alert  for  the  fugitive,  he  met  a  former  acquaintance,  a 
member  of  the  order  of  American  Knights,  from  whom  he  learned  that  the  rebel 

*See  Illinois  Register,  Aug.  19th,  1864. 


906  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Marmaduke  was  in  the  city.  After  a  short  interview  he  met  Dr.  Edwards,  a  citizen  of 
Chicago  and  a  rebel  sympathizer,  who  asked  him  if  he  knew  Southern  soldiers  were  in 
town.  The  detective  answering  in  the  negative,  his  interlocutor  further  informed 
him  that  Marmaduke  was  stopping  at  his  house  under  the  assumed  name  of  Burling, 
and  mentioned  as  a  'kgood  joke °  that  he  had  a  British  passport  made  out  under  the  same 
cognomen  by  the  American  Consul.  The  detective,  in  his  report  to  the  Provost  Mar 
shal  General  of  Mo.,  says:  "The  same  evening  I  againmet  with  Dr.  Edwards  on  the 
street  going  to  my  hotel.  He  said  Marmaduke  desired  to  see  me  and  1  accompanied 
him  to  his  house.  There  in  the  course  of  a  long  conversation  Marmaduke  told  me  that 
he  and  several  officers  were  in  Chicago  to  operate  with  other  parties  in  releasing 
the  prisoners  of  Camp  Douglas,  and  in  inaugurating  a  rebellion  in  the  north.  He  said 
the  movement  was  under  the  auspices  of  the  American  Knights,  and  was  to  begin  ope 
rations  on  the  day  of  the  election.  The  detective  immediately  called  on  Col.  Sweet  and 
communicated  to  him  the  startling  intelligence,  and  the  latter  telegraphed  for  troops. 
There  were  in  the  camp  8,000  prisoners,  among  whom  were  Morgan's  freebooters, 
Texas  Hangers  and  others  precocious,  daring  and  ready  for  reckless  adventure.  To 
guard  the  large  force  there  were  only  700  effective  men,  and  the  commandant  felt 
as  though  there  was  a  mine  beneath  him,  and  only  70  hours  remained  in  which  to  pre 
vent  its  being  sprung  with  disastrous  consequences  to  the  garrison  and  adjacent  city. 
Disclosures  soon  reached  him  from  other  sources  whereby  he  learned  the  full  partic 
ulars  of  the  gigantic  scheme .  The  blow  was  to  be  struck  on  the  8th  of  November, 
and  Camp  Douglas  was  the  first  objective  point.  The  8,000  prisoners  when  liberated 
were  to  be  joined  by  the  5,000  knights  of  Chicago,  making  a  nucleus  of  13,000about  which 
wonld  gather  Canadian  refugees,  bushwhackers  from  Mo.,  prisoners  from  other  Camps, 
and  members  of  the  same1  order  in  other  localities.  The  city  of  Chicago  was  first  to  be 
sacked  and  burned,  after  which  a  similar  fate  was  to  be  meted  out  to  the  other  cities 
of  the  north.  A  general  uprising  of  the  treasonable  element  in  the  loyal  States  was  to 
follow,  and  simultaneously  Hood  was  to  move  on  Nashville,  Buckner  on  Louisville,  and 
Price  on  St.  Louis. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  these  seemingly  extravagant  arrangements  were  without 
some  prospect  of  success.  Investigations  before  military  commissions  in  different 
partsof  the  west  indicated  the  existence  of  treasonable  societies  of  almost  fabulous  ex 
tent.  A  report  of  the  Judge  Advocate  General  of  the  U.  S.  disclosed  "the  existence 
of  a  military  organization  having  its  commander-in-chief,  general  and  subordinate 
officers,  and  500,000  enrol  led  members,  all  bound  by  a  blind  obedience  to  their  superiors, 
and  pledged  to  take  up  arms  against  any  power  found  waging  war  against  a  people 
endeavoring  to  establish  a  government  of  their  own  choice." 

Col.  Sweet  duly  apprised  the  police  of  Chicago  of  the  presence  of  the  conspirators, 
and  at  2  o'clock  in  the  morning  preceding  the  election,  made  a  descent  on  their  respec 
tive  places  of  lodging.  Among  the  arrests  were  the  rebel  officers  Grenfell,  Morgan, 
Adjutant  General  Marmaduke,  brother  of  the  general,  Cantrell,of  Morgan's  command, 
Buckner  Morris,  treasurer  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  Charles  Walsh,  a  member  of  the  order 
were  also  arrested.  In  the  house  of  the  latter  were  found  two  cart-loads  of  loaded 
pistols,  andjn  another  part  of  the  city  two  boxes  of  guns.  The  startling  intelligence 
of  the  arrests  spread  with  lightning  rapidity,  and  as  the  sun  rose  up  from  the  bosom 
of  the  lake  and  looked  down  on  the  miles1  of  palatial  residences,  stores  and  well-filled 
houses  marked  out  for  rapine  and  burning, their  inhabitants  were  in  arms,  patrols  were 
marching  and  countermarching  through  the  entire  city  which  presented  the  appearance 
of  an  extended  military  encampment.  Thus  in  one  short  hour  the  scheme  which  was 
t-9  transfer  the  theatre  of  the  war  to  the  free  states,  and  apply  the  torch  to  northern 
cities,  col  lapsed  and  its  reckless  projectors  were  in  the  custody  of  the  officers  in  the 
narrow  cells  of  a  prison. 

Early  in  January,  1865,  Gen.  Hooker,  commandant  of  the  Northwestern  Department, 
convened  a  court  martial  in  Cincinnati  to  try  the  leaders  of  the  conspiracy.  They  were 
charged  with  violating  the  laws  of  war  by  attempting  to  release  the  prisoners  confined 
at  Camp  Douglas,  and  conspiring  to  lay  waste  the  city  of  Chicago.  The  trial  lasted  till 
April,  when  Walsh  was  sentenced  to  three  years'  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary, 
Grenfell  to  be  hung.  Rafael  Semmes,  captured  after  the  first  arrests,  to  two  years  im 
prisonment.  Of  the  other  prisoners  one  committed  suicide  by  shooting  himself,  one 
escaped  from  custody  and  the  remainder  were  acquitted.  After  remaininig  in  prison  9 
months  all  the  convicts  except  Grenfell,  whose  sentence  was  commuted  to  imprison 
ment  for  life,  were  pardoned. 


CHAPTER  LVI. 
1865— 1869— ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOV.  OGLESBY. 


Republican  and  Democratic  State  Conventions  of  1864 — Lives  and 
Character  of  Oglesby  and  Bross — Prosperity  and  Condition  of  the 
State  during  the  Rebellion — Legislation,  Political  and  Special,  in 
1865--7 — Board  of  Equalization  established — Location  of  Agricul 
tural  College — Illinois  Capitals  and  their  removals— History  of 
the  Penitentiary. 


The  Republican,  or  Union  State  Convention  of  1864,  was  held 
at  Springfield,  May  25th.  A.  J.  Kuykendall,  of  Johnson,  was 
chosen  to  preside.  For  Governor  four  names  were  proposed.  On 
the  first  or  informal  ballot,  Allen  C.  Fuller,  of  Boone,  received  220 
votes ;  Richard  J.  Oglesby,  of  Macon,  283 ;  Jesse  K.  Dubois,  of 
Sangainon,  103;  and  John  M.  Palmer,  of  Macoupiu,  75.  On  the 
next  ballot  Oglesby  was  nominated,  receiving  358  out  of  681 
votes  cast.  William  Bross,  of  Cook,  was  nominated  for  lieuten 
ant  governor  j  Sharon  Tyudale,  of  St.  Glair,  for  Secretary  of  State; 
O.  H.  Miner,  of  Sangainon,  for  Auditor ;  James  H.  Beveridge,  of 
DeKulb,  for  Treasurer ;  Newton  Batem an,  of  Morgan,  for  Super 
intendent  of  Public  Instruction  ;  S.  W.  Moulton,  of  Shelby,  for 
Congressman  for  the  State-at-large.  Thus  far  all  was  harmony, 
but  now  came  trouble.  The  committee  on  platform  gave  the  na 
tional  administration  but  a  quasi  endorsement,  saying  that  the 
president's  "war  measures  were  planned  with  an  honest  purpose; 
that  it  was  not  necessary  to  approve  of  every  act  of  the  adminis 
tration  to  enable  them  to  say  Mr.  Lincoln  was  an  honest  man  and 
prudent  statesman  ;  and  that  in  the  main  the  acts  of  the  admin 
istration  had  been  highly  conducive  in  suppressing  the  existing 
rebellion,  and  should  Mr.  Lincoln  receive  the  nomination  of  the 
Baltimore  convention  they  would  give  him  their  earnest  sup 
port."* 

This  resolution  excited  intense  opposition  and  was  laid  on  the 
table.  A  new  committee  was  appointed  and  in  the  evening  a  new 
set  of  resolutions  were  reported  and  adopted  after  a  protracted 
sitting.  The  administration  was  strongly  indorsed,  and  the  dele 
gates  to  the  Baltimore  convention  instructed  to  use  all  honorable 

'See  Illinois  State  Register,  May  28th.  1864. 

907 


908  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

means  to  secure  tlie  re-nomination  of  Mr.  Lincoln  for  the  presi 
dency;  a  determination  was  expressed  to  prosecute  the  war  until 
the  cause  of  the  Union  triumphed;  slavery  was  charged  as  the  cause 
of  the  rebellion ;  they  breathed  the  sentiments  of  a  genuine  patriot 
ism  and  noble  sympathy  for  the  soldiers ;  extended  thanks  to  the 
governor  and  all  the  State  officials ;  indorsed  the  13th  amend 
ment  abolishing  slavery;  and  asserted  the  Monroe  doctrine — that 
it  was  the  duty  of  the  U.  S.  to  reinstate  republican  institutions 
on  the  continent  of  America,  which  looked  to  the  French  opera 
tions  in  Mexico. 

The  Democratic  State  Convention  of  1864  also  met  at  Spring 
field,  but  not  till  September  Cth.  The  Hon.  S.  S.  Hayes,  of  Cook, 
presided.  The  Chicago  national  democratic  platform  was  adopted. 
James  C.  Robinson,  of  Clark,  was  nominated  for  Governor;  S. 
Corning  Judd,  of  Fulton,  for  Lieutenant  Governor;  John  Hise,  of 
LaSalle,  for  Auditor ;  Alexander  Starne,  of  Pike,  for  Treasurer ; 
William  A.  Turney,  of  Morgan,  for  Secretary  of  State ;  John  P. 
Brooks,  for  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  and  James  C. 
Allen,  of  Crawford,  for  Congressman  for  the  State-at-large. 

The  election  in  November,  1864,  resulted  in  favor  of  the  repub 
licans  on  the  State  ticket  by  an  average  majority  exceeding  31,- 
000  votes.  The  estimated  gain  of  the  republican  vote  on  1862 
was  over  69,000.  The  Legislature  was  republican,  as  follows : 
Senate  14  republicans  to  11  democrats;  House  51  republicans  to 
34  democrats;  Union  majority  on  joint  ballot  20.  Eleven  out  of 
the  14  congressmen  elected  were  also  republicans. 

Richard  J.  Oglesby  was  born  July  25th,  1824,  in  Oldham  county, 
Kentucky.  Bereft  of  parents  at  the  tender  age  of  eight,  his 
early  education  was  neglected.  When  12  years  old  he  removed 
with  an  uncle  to  Decatur.  He  was  subsequently  apprenticed  to 
the  carpenter's  trade,  worked  occasionally  at  farming,  studied  law, 
essayed  to  practice  it  at  Sullivan,  this  State,  returned  to  Decatur, 
volunteered  in  the  Mexican  war,  was  elected  1st  Lieut.  Co.  "C," 
4th  Illinois  regiment,  and  participated  in  the  battle  of  Cerro 
Gordo.  On  his  return  he  sought  to  perfect  his  law  studies  by  at 
tending  the  lectures  at  Louisville,  took  the  gold  fever  then  raging 
and  crossed  the  plains  to  California,  returned,  and,  in  1852,  first 
appeared  in  politics  as  a  Scott  elector.  Later  he  visited  Europe 
and  the  Holy  Land,  returned,  and,  in  1858,  offered  for  congress, 
but  was  beaten  by  the  same  competitor  he  had  for  governor  in 
1864.  In  1860  he  was  elected  a  State  Senator,  but  the  following 
spring  when  the  rebellion  broke  out.  his  ardent  nature  quickly  re 
sponded  to  the  demands  of  patriotism,  and,  as  colonel  of  the  8th 
regiment,  he  tendered  it  as  the  second  raised  by  the  State  for  that 
conflict.  He  was  shortly  entrusted  with  important  commands,  and 
fora  time  stationed  at  Bird's  Point  and  Cairo.  At  Fort  Donelson  his 
brigade  was  in  the  van,  and,  on  the  morning  of  the  last  day,  the 
first  to  be  attacked  by  the  enemy,  resulting  in  the  loss  of  500 
men  before  reinforcements  came  to  his  support.  At  Corinth  his 
and  Haekleman's  brigades  held  the  rebels  at  bay  during  a  large 
part  of  the  afternoon ;  but  in  a  daring  charge  the  latter  was 
killed,  and  Oglesby  dangerously  wounded  in  the  left  lung  was  borne 
from  the  field  in  expectation  of  immediate  dissolution.  On  his  re 
covery  he  was  promoted  for  gallantry  to  a  major  generalship, 


OGLESBY'S  ADMINISTRATION.  909 

ami  in  the  spring  of  1863  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  IGth 
army  corps,  but  owing  to  the  trouble  of  his  wound,  (he  carried 
the  rebel  lead  in  his  person)  he  relinquished  active  service  within 
three  mouths  after. 

Governor  Oglesby  is  a  fine  appearing  affable  man,  with  regu 
lar,  well  defined  features  and  rotund  face.  In  stature  he  is  a  little 
above  medium  height,  large  frame  and  somewhat  fleshy.  His 
physical  appearance  is  striking  and  prepossessing,  while  his 
straight-out,  not  to  say  bluff,  manner  and  speech  are  well  calcula* 
ted  to  favorably  impress  the  average  masses.  Ardent  in  feeling 
and  strong  in  party  bias,  he  inspires  deep  partisan  prejudices 
in  others.  He  is  quite  an  effective  stump  orator.  With  a  vehem 
ent,  passionate  and  scornful  tone  and  gestures,  tremendous  phys 
ical  power,  which,  in  speaking,  he  exercises  to  the  utmost ;  with 
frequent  descents  to  the  grotesque,  and  with  abundant  homely 
comparisons  or  frontier  figures,  expressed  in  the  broadest  vernacu 
lar  and  enforced  with  stentorian  emphasis,  he  delights  a  promis 
cuous  audience  beyond  measure ;  while  his  bitter  invective,  be 
stowed  without  stint  upon  the  opposition  must  gratify  the 
extremest  feeling  of  partisan  hatred  and  animosity. 

Lieut.  Gov.  Bross  was  born  in  Sussex  county,  New  Jersey. 
His  youth  was  mostly  spent  in  the  wilds  of  Pennsylvania,  aiding 
his  father  in  the  hard  toil  of  a  lumberman  and  rafting  on  the  Del- 
eware.  He  acquired,  however,  a  classical  education,  and  after 
wards,  for  many  years,  taught  school.  In  1848  he  removed  to 
Chicago  and  became  a  partner  in  the  publishing  house  of  Griggs, 
Bross  &  Co.  But  in  Illinois  he  is  chiefly  known  by  his  career  as 
an  editor.  In  1852  he  united  with  John  L.  Scripps  and  started  the 
Democratic  Press,  a  political  and  commercial  newspaper.  He  was 
originally  a  democrat,  but  with  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  com 
promise  this  paper  forsook  the  democracy  and  aided  in  forming 
the  republican  party.  In  1858  it  was  "consolidated"  with  the 
Tribune,  and  in  1860  the  name  of  "Press"  was  dropped.  Xo 
paper  has  perhaps  exercised  a  larger  influence  upon  the  politics 
of  Illinois,  while  at  an  early  day  it  was  the  leading  commercial 
medium  of  the  northwest.  Mr.  Bross  is  a  man  of  sound  prac 
tical  sense,  varied  and  extensive  information,  exact,  thorough, 
and  untiring  in  effort.  He  had  shown  himself  an.  able  statistical, 
commercial  and  political  writer.  Energy  and  resoluteness  are  of 
the  essence  of  his  nature,  and  with  wonderful  rapidity  of  utter 
ance,  as  presiding  officer  of  the  senate,  he  was  capable  of  dis 
patching  a  large  amount  of  business  in  those  days  of  omnibus  legis 
lation.  He  is  of  medium  height  and  robust  frame,  with  angular 
features,  high  forehead,  and  ruddy  complexion.  Honest  himself, 
he  despises  the  tricks  and  arts  of  the  politician  ;  and  his  own 
achievements  being  the  result  of  industry,  he  entertains  little  rev- 
erance  for  genius.* 

Governor  Oglesby  was  duly  inaugurated  January  the  17th, 
1865,*  but  before  proceeding  with  his  administration  it  is  proper  that 
we  take  a  short  retrospect  at  our  material  prosperity  during  the 
rebellion. 

*See  Ward's  speech  in  senate  Jan.  11,  'G9,  and  Western  Monthly,  June,  '69. 

The  day  before  the  time  first  set  for  GOT.  Oglesby  to  assume  the  duties  of  his  office, 
death  visited  his  home  at  Decatur,  and  took  therefrom  his  only  son,  an  intelligent  and 
sprightly  lad  ot  6  years,  a  great  favorite  with  the  bereaved  parents.  This  caused  the 
inauguration  to  be  postponed  for  one  week. 


910  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 


Notwithstanding  the  demands  of  the  war  hud  drawn  upon  Illi 
nois  to  the  extent  of  near  200,000  men — hale,  vigorous  and  with 
out  physical  blemish,  taken  from  the  most  active  producing 
classes — the  great  industries  of  the  State  had  not  only  speedily 
recovered  from  this  enormous  draft,  but  her  material  prosperity, 
retarded  the  first  one  or  two  years,  was  unparalleled  by  any  other 
State.  The  census  of  1865  revealed  a  population  of  2,141,510,  be 
ing  an  increase  of  429,559,  or  near  25  per  cent,  since  1860  ;  and 
nearly  every  department  of  production  and  industry  exhibited  a 
like  ratio  in  advancement,  as  evidenced  by  the  area  of  land  under 
cultivation,  and  its  yield  of  agricultural  wealth,  the  triumph  of 
invention  and  substitution  of  machinery  for  manual  labor,  the  aug 
mentation  of  skilled  laborers  and  mechanical  production,  the  rapid 
growth  of  our  cities,  villages  arid  increase  of  fixed  capital,  the 
excellent  remuneration  for  all  employment,  the  high  prices  for  all 
products,  and  above  all  the  abundance  of  money  which  stimulated 
all  manner  of  business  to  unusual  activity. 

While  this  material  prosperity  prevailed  with  the  close  of  the 
war,  and  for  some  time  before,  the  times  were  hard  with  us  during 
the  first  two  years  of  the  civil  conflict.  The  writer  saw  corn,  our 
great  staple,  sell  in  1862,  in  Central  Illinois,  as  low  as  9  cents  a 
bushel.  The  failure  of  our  local  banks,  which  in  a  manner  left  us 
without  a  currency,  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  condition  of  the 
times.  Prosperity  during  the  war  was  first  experienced  in  the 
Eastern  States,where  the  lavish  expenditures  of  the  government  for 
clothing  and  munitions  of  war  caused  money  to  be  profusely  scat 
tered  from  the  outset.  With  us,  beef  and  pork,  and  the  products 
of  the  soil,  were  the  first  to  experience  an  advance  in  prices. 

Corn,- our  most  unfailing  crop,  made  its  first  great  bound  up 
ward  immediately  after  the  severe  frost  of  August  29th,  1863. 
Lands  remained  for  a  long  time  a  drug.  This  class  of  property 
the  experience  of  centuries  has  shown  to  ever  be  the  last  to  rise 
in  price,  but  once  starting  it  excels  all  other,  as  it  affords  the 
safest  and  surest  investment,  and  not  nil  frequently  the  largest 
speculative  return.  Finally  the  tide  of  abundant  money  set  into 
Illinois  and  began  to  influence  realty.  Kow,  to  many  of  our  peo 
ple,  was  heard  abroad  in  the  laud  the  pleasant  voice  of  the  stran 
ger  inquiring  the  price  of  lands,  and  seeking  to  invest  his  abund 
ant  and  daily  cheapening  money  in  lots,  lands  and  farms.  Popu 
lation,  with  a  renewed  current,  was  pouring  over  our  borders  j 
houses  in  cities  and  towns  became  scarce  ;  rents  rose  beyond  pre 
cedent,  and  the  prices  of  lauds  passed  the  most  sanguine  expecta 
tion.  An  enhancement  of  100  per  cent  was  not  unusual ;  many 
of  our  people  never  dreamed  of  such  prices,  and  that  all  in  cash 
too.  Many  transfers  were  made,  the  proceeds  re-invested  to  bet 
ter  advantage,  and  comparative  independence  acquired  by  owners. 
The  abundance  and  cheapness  of  money,  and  high  prices  of  prop 
erty  enabled  others  of  our  people  to  extinguish  mortgages,  which 
had  hung  like  a  pall  over  their  homes  ;  and  thus  thousands  ot 
families  were  placed  in  comfortable  circumstances  and  rendered 
happy.  While  an  intestine  war  piled  a  debt  on  the  nation  by  the 
billion,  upon  the  individual  were  conferred  benefits  and  unexpect 
ed  independence.  But,  while  some,  for  years  dissatisfied,  now  that 
they  could  get  perhaps  double  their  prices,  were  content  to  hold 
their  property  and  neither  loose  nor  profit  by  the  times,  others, 


OGLESBY'S  ADMINISTRATION.  911 

it  is  sad  to  relate,  who  had  never  hoped  to  realize  old  values,  eager 
ly  sold  with  the  first  advance  of  prices,  failed  or  neglected  to  rein 
vest,  easily  spent  or  squandered  the  proceeds,  and  are  to-day 
renters.  It  was  generally  better  to  buy  than  sell — to  be  in  debt 
for  lands  purchased  than  hold  credits  for  property  sold.  Debts 
did  not  increase  except  by  accruing  interest,  while  the  money 
wherewith  to  pay  them,  cheapened  sometimes  in  a  few  days  25  to 
50  per  cent,  taking  gold  for  a  standard. 

The  permanent  debt  of  the  State,  funded  and  unfunded  in 
1865,  was  $11,178,564,  being  an  increase  since  1860  of  only  about 
$1,000,000,  notwithstanding  our  heavy  war  appropriations  and 
expenditures.  But  the  general  government,  it  may  be  remarked 
parenthetically,  largely  refunded  to  the  States  their  advances  on 
account  of  the  war.  From  December,  1864,  to  December,  1868, 
our  bonded  debt  was  reduced  $7,651,796,  leaving  a  balance  of 
$5,989,158.  The  total  taxable  property  of  the  State  in  1864  was 
$356,878,837 ;  in  1868,  $475,379,194.  The  total  number  of  acres  in 
cultivation  for  1868,  was  8,603,599,  of  which  5,193,747  were  in  corn. 

Legislative. — After  1864  our  field  is  barren  of  interesting  or  im 
portant  political  or  party  events.  Peace  came  to  the  Union  in  the 
following  spring ;  and  the  results  of  elections  in  the  State  have 
since  been  uniformly  the  same,  and  generally  so  overwhelmingly 
republican  as  to  not  only  afford  little  show  for  equal  party  con 
tests  over  any  question,  but  to  well  nigh  crush  all  hope  in  the 
democratic  bosom.  That  party  has  made  in  consequence  several 
ineffectual  flank  movements  and  taken  new  departures,  until,  in  a 
manner,  its  time-honored  tenets  are  abandoned,  and  it  seems  to  be 
in  the  throes  of  dissolution.  Gov.  Oglesby,  in  his  inaugural  mes 
sage,  commenting  upon  the  majority  of  the  preceding  election,  said: 
"  So  marked,  indeed,  has  been  the  expression  of  the  popular  will, 

1  do  not  fail  to  recognize  in  it  the  absence  of  mere  party  triumph.'7 
The  political  events  of  the  legislative  session  of  1865  were  the 

election  of  Ex-Gov.  Yates  to  the  U.  S.  Senate,  and  the  ratification 
of  the  13th  amendment  to  the  constitution  of  the  United  States 
abolishing  slavery.  Early  in  the  session  a  joint  resolution  was 
passed,  instructing  our  delegation  in  congress  to  vote  for  tliis 
amendment.  On  the  1st  of  February,  a  telegram  was  received  by 
the  legislature  from  Senator  Trumbull,  announcing  its  passage  in 
congress.  The  utmost  precipitation  now  obtained  in  both  houses 
to  ratify  the  measure  so  immediately  as  to  place  Illinois  in  the 
van  of  prompt  loyal  States,  and  it  was  passed  the  same  day. 

This  legislature  also  signalized  itself  by  repealing  the  notorious 
"  black  laws,"  part  of  which,  although  a  dead  letter,  had  held 
their  place  upon  the  statute  books  since  1819,  to  the  disgrace  of 
this  free  State,  in  the  opinion  of  many  of  our  citizens.  In  oppo 
sition  it  was  earnestly  argued  by  the  democrats  that  these  laws 
were  a  positive  requirement  under  the  amendment  to  the  State 
constitution  adopted  by  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the  people 
in  1862.  The  governor  had  urged  the  repeal  in  his  message, 
petitions  numerously  signed  by  colored  men  of  the  State  and  sent 
in,  prayed  for  the  same.  Another  partisan  measure  was  the  cut 
ting  doVn  of  the  4th  judicial  circuit,  Judge  Constable's,  from  6  to 

2  counties,  to  punish    that  functionary  for  his  decision  in  the 
Clark  county  deserter-kidnapping  case,  some  2  years  previously. 
This  was  done  in  the  face  of  the  remonstrance  of  the  people  of  the 


912  HISTOKY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

circuit.  Aiid  in  the  very  opening  the  house,  it  seems,  passed  a 
resolution,  inviting  only  u  the  loyal  clergy  of  Springfield  to  open 
each  day's  session  with  prayer."  The  law  requiring  the  regis 
tration  of  electors  was  also  enacted  at  this  session.  The  imposi 
tion  of  this  restriction  upon  the  elective  franchise  has  ever  been 
most  distasteful  to  democrats ;  and  they  opposed  its  passage  by 
all  the  arts  known  to  parliamentary  rules.  By  recent  modifi 
cation  it  now  applies  only  to  cities  of  5,000  inhabitants  and  over. 

But  it  was  this  legislature  which,  owing  to  the  increasing  demands 
of  activity  throughout  the  State,  first  gave  itself  up  almost 
wholly  to  the  enactment  of  special,  local  and  private  laws.  The 
pressure  of  an  insatiate  lobby  was  extraordinary  all  winter  long. 
Now  was  entered  upon  in  full  plenitude,  that  pernicious  legisla 
tion,  continued  afterwards  with  a  most  prodigal  hand,  of  granting 
special  privileges  and  protection,  by  charter,  for  every  conceivable 
object  of  association  or  business,  without  reserving  a  check  or 
right  of  subsequent  control  in  case  of  oppression.  And  to-day,  in 
answer  to  the  loud  demands  of  the  people  to  curb  and  repress  one 
class  of  these  corporations  in  their  exorbitant  and  ruinous  charges 
for  freight  and  passage,  they  defiantly  set  up  their  vested  rights 
and  chartered  franchises,  and  it  is  the  great  question  whether  or 
not  the  legislature  is  powerless  in  the  premises. 

Among  the  measures  of  general  interest,  not  political  or  parti 
san,  were  the  increased  fees  allowed  to  county  officers.  To  com 
pass  this,  a  systematic  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
legislature.  Conventions  of  sheriffs,  circuit  clerks,  county  clerks, 
and  prosecuting  attorneys  were  held  at  the  capital.  These  re 
spectfully  deliberated  upon  their  schedules  of  fees  and  prepared 
their  bills  to  be  enacted  into  laws,  and  as  to  the  demands  of  these 
county  officials,  who  are  a  power  in  elections,  what  could  the 
august  legislature  of  the  State  of  Illinois  do  but  to  yield  to  them. 
The  raising  of  the  fees,  which  were  already  ample,  has  cost  the 
people  many  millions.  To  wind  up  for  instance  a  small  estate  by 
passing  through  all  the  various  stages  of  the  courts  and  the  hands 
of  these  officers,  it  would  be  found  at  the  end  to  be  wound  up  in 
deed  !  And  the  most  difficult  feat  of  legislation  is  the  reduction 
of  fees  or  the  abolishment  of  an  office,  however  oppressive  the  one 
or  useless  the  other. 

Gov.  Oglesby  interposed  his  veto  to  but  one  bill  during  the  ses 
sion,  which  was  an  amendment  to  a  charter  for  a  Chicago  horse  rail 
way,  granted  in  1859  for  25  years  and  now  sought  to  be  extended 
99  years.  This  long  period  of  time  was  an  insuperable  objection 
with  his  excellency,  which  he  elaborated  at  length,  but  as  the 
measure  was  promptly  passed  over  his  veto  by  both  houses,  he 
doubtless  deemed  it  useless  to  further  attempt  to  check  their  head 
long  career. 

The  various  appropriations  made  at  this  session  amounted  to 
$1,120,000.  The  constitution  limited  the  expenditures  of  the  legis 
lature  to  1£  mills  on  the  dollar  of  assessed  value  of  the  real  and 
personal  property  of  the  State,  then  aggregating  about  $333,000,000 
and  yielding,  at  this  rate,  $759,000,  which  made  an  excess  in  the 
appropriations  of  $361,000,  and  which  was  regarded  as  invalid  and 
denounced  by  the  Democrats  as  prodigal. 

The  members,  finding  there  was  gold  in  the  State  treasury,  that 
commodity  being  then  at  a  high  premium  in  market,  coveted  it  in 
payment  of  their  mileage  and  per  diem.  But  in  this  enterprise 


OGLESBY-S  ADMINISTRATION.  913 

they  were  baulked.  The  auditor  possessed  uo  authority  to  issue  to 
them  warrants  different  in  character  from  those  for  any  other  pur 
pose  and  without  a  specification  to  that  effect  the  treasurer  could  not 
pay  out  the  gold;  thus  this  precious  little  scheme  was  nipped  in 
the  bud,  which  gave  very  general  satisfaction  to  the  people.  No 
law  of  a  general  useful  character  or  public  interest  was  perfected 
at  the  session  of  1865,  if  we  except  the  turning  over  of  the  canal 
to  Chicago  to  be  deepened. 

1807. — The  session  of  1867  was  still  more  productive  of  private 
and  special  acts  than  [the  preceding.  Indeed  this  class  of  legisla 
tion  now  reached  perhaps  its  culminating  point  in  successful 
audacity.  The  omnibus*  was  very  active  throughout  the  session, 
and  that  vehicle,  by  which  laws  were  passed  by  the  wholesale,  was 
time  and  again  freighted  with  bills,  exceeding  200  in  number.  The 
occasion  was  most  propitious  for  every  axe  presented  to  receive  ready 
grinding.  The  contests  over  the  location  of  the  Industrial  College, 
the  Capital,  the  Southern  Penitentiary,  and  the  canal  enlargement 
and  Illinois  river  improvement,  dominated  everything  else.  For 
these  engrossing  measures  members  yielded  a  ready  assent  to  all 
others.  It  was  a  long  and  arduous  session  of  53  days,  during 
which  an  unprecedented  amount  of  work  was  accomplished.  The 
monopolists  and  corporation  kings,  in  faultless  attire  and  with 
amiable  manner,  were  out  in  full  force.  The  lobbyists,  which  fairly 
swarmed  the  halls  and  toyed  with  the  "rings,"  gloated  in  the 
magnitude  and  number  of  their  successes.  The  senate,  as  a  par 
tial  protection  against  the  wiles  of  this  ubiquitous  and  cheeky 
race,  adopted  a  resolution,  forbidding  any  one  but  senators  and 
clerks  of  committees  demanding  the  perusal  of  bills  in  the  custody 
of  the  secretary-. 

There  were  also  a  number  of  very  important  public  laws  passed. 
Among  these  may  be  mentioned  the  act  establishing  the  State 
Board  of  Equalization.  This  measure  was  advocated  by  the  gov 
ernor  in  his  message.  The  great  need  of  it  may  be  inferred  from 
the  varying  assessments  of  the  same  kinds  of  property  in  differ 
ent  portions  of  the  State.  Horses,  in  Kane  county,  were  valued 
at  $15  52  per  head — in  Franklin,  at  $60  08  ;  cattle,  in  Piatt,  $24  04 
— in  Jo  Daviess  and  Putnam,  $4  36 ;  mules,  in  Madison,  $129  86 
— in  Hamilton,  $10  69  ;  swine,  in  Douglas,  $3  50 — in  Jefferson,  50 
cents.  The  burdens  of  taxation  ought  ever  to  be  distributed 
with  the  utmost  uniformity. 

There  was  also  passed  the  important  law  enabling  parties  to 
suits  or  civil  actions  to  testify  as  witnesses,  which  worked  a  rad 
ical  change  in  the  time-honored  rule  of  the  common  law.  And 
there  was  the  law,  adopted  at  the  instance  of  the  philanthropic 
Mr.  Bovee,  which,  in  a  manner,  abolished  capital  punishment — 
or  rather  which  allows  the  jury  in  case  of  murder  to  fix  the  punish 
ment  either  by  hanging,  or  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary  not 
less  than  14  years. 

But  the  question  of  most  absorbing  sectional  interest,  not  ex 
cepting  that  of  the  capital  removal,  the  canal  enlargement,  or  the 
Southern  penitentiary,  was  the  location  of  the  Agricultural  or  In 
dustrial  College.  This  had  been  a  disturbing  element  two  years 
before.  Under  the  terms  of  the  land  grant  the  question  had  now 

•  This  was  the  term  applied  to  the  passage  of  bills  by  the  bundle,  practiced  under 
the  constitution  of  1848. 

58 


914  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

to  be  met.  Congress,  by  act  of  July  2,  1802,  donated  to  the  sev 
eral  States  and  territories,  which  should,  within  five  years  from  the 
date  thereof,  provide  colleges  for  the  benefit  of  agriculture  and 
the  mechanic  arts,  land,  or  its  equivalent  in  scrip,  at  the  rate  of* 
30,000  acres  for  each  senator  and  representative  in  Congress.  The 
amount  apportioned  to  Illinois  was  480,000  acres.  The  legislature 
in  1863  had  signified  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  the  accep 
tance  of  the  grant,  and  the  government  land  scrip  was  now  in  the 
hands  of  the  governor.  If  one  such  college  at  least  was  not  pro 
vided  by  July  2d,  the  State  should  return  the  scrip  or  pay  for  it. 

To  this  munificent  grant  from  Congress  many  places  in  the 
State  were  eager  to  add  further  donations,  in  some  instances  ex 
ceeding  that  of  Congress,  to  secure  the  location  of  the  college. 
In  the  bidding  for  that  object,  invited  by  the  legislature,  there  was 
a  generous  competition.  Jacksonville,  Lincoln,  Pekin,  Blooming- 
ton  and  Champaign,  participated  in  it.  The  best  offer  was  that 
of  the  last  named  place,  and  consisted  of  970  acres  of  farm  land, 
a  large  college  building  (completed  with  special  reference  to  this 
object)  and  its  site  of  10  acres  of  ground  in  the  city,  and  $100,- 
000  ten  per  cent,  interest-bearing  Champaign  county  bonds,  the 
whole  estimated  at  $555,400.  The  Blooniington  bid,  estimated  at 
$470,000,  was  the  next  best.  A  legislative  committee  was  charged 
with  the  duty  of  visiting  the  various  points  contending,  and  of 
inspecting  the  property  proffered  to  be  donated.  It  was  also  a 
season  of  numerous  legislative  visits,  and  the  enterprise  of  the 
friends  of  Champaign  caused  one  to  be  made  to  that  place. 

Champaign  being  the  highest  bidder,  it  was  next  sought  to 
stave  off  the  location  and  refer  it  to  a  commission.  But  this  fin 
esse  did  not  succeed.  Having  invited  competition  the  legislature 
could  not  consistently  do  otherwise  than  accept  the  best  bid  and 
make  the  location  accordingly ;  and  it  was  but  proper  and  emi 
nently  just  that  Champaign  was  selected  as  the  Industrial  Uni 
versity  seat. 

Little  time  of  this  long  and  laborious  session  wTasA\rasted  in  par 
tisan  debates,  a  circumstance  as  unusual  as  it  was  praiseworthy. 
The  political  events  wrere  the  re-election  of  Lynian  Trumbull  to  the 
U.  S.  Senate,  and  the  adoption  of  the  14th  amendment  to  the 
constitution  of  the  U.  S.  conferring  citizenship  upon  the  blacks, 
which  was  resisted,  on  the  part  of  the  democrats,  by  all  the  known 
rules  of  parliamentary  warfare.  A  set  of  resolutions  was  adopted 
by  the  House.  43  to  15,  against  rebels  settling  in  Illinois,  and  ex 
ercising  the  elective  franchise  which  none  but  the  truly  loyal 
should  exercise,  and  that  a  bill  should  be  framed  forever  exclud 
ing  from  office  all  traitors  voluntarily  taking  the  oath  of  allegi 
ance  to  the  rebel  confederacy,  and  those  who  left  home  to  escape 
the  draft,  encouraged  or  concealed  deserters,  or  by  force  of  arms 
opposed  the  draft.  The  feelings  here  manifested  are  by  this  time 
greatly  mitigated. 

Illinois'  Capitals — Our  Several  Seats  of  Government.— Tl\e>  loca 
tion  of  the  Capital  of  any  country  has  ever  been  a  subject  of 
prime  importance ;  and  it  is  no  less  so  with  the  States  of  this 
Union  than  it  has  been  with  the  empires  of  the  old  world.  It  is 
a  subject  Avhich,  for  obvious  reasons,  has  ever  been  attended  with 
bitter  disputatious,  jealousies  and  rivalries  between  contending 
points  for  the  honors  or  fancied  benefits  to  be  derived  from  it. 


OGLESBY'S  ADMINISTRATION.  915 

Comity  seat  questions  are  notoriously  acrimonious,  and  often  for 
a  considerable  time  work  a  blight  upon  the  prosperity  of  the  sec- 
.tions  contending.  In  some  States  the  seat  of  government  ques 
tion  has  only  found  a  quietus  by  the  establishment  of  two  capitals, 
while  in  others,  particularly  in  the  growing  West,  the  flow  of  pop 
ulation,  or  possibly  the  desire  of  legislators  to  serve  the  interests 
or  caprices  of  their  constituents,  has  prevailed  to  keep  the  sub 
ject  in  a  ferment,  causing  frequent  changes.  Illinois,  in  her  short 
career  as  a  State,  has  had  three  locations  for  her  capital,  and 
more  agitations  for  its  removal.  The  first  seat  of  government  in 
Illinois  was  at  Kaskaskia,  where  it  remained  during  the  9  years 
of  our  territorial  existence  and  for  two  years  afterward.  It  was 
then  removed  to  Vandalia,  where  it  remained  for  20  years,  since 
when  it  has  been  at  Springfield. 

When  Congress,  in  1809,  erected  Illinois  into  a  separate  terri 
tory,  it  was  provided  that  Kaskaskia  should  be  and  remain  the 
seat  of  government  until  the  legislature  should  otherwise  direct. 

"The  sessions  of  this  august  body  were  held  in  a  large,  rough  building,  in  the  centre 
of  a  square,  in  the  village  of  Kaskuskia,  the  body  of  it  being  of  uncut  limestone,  the 
gables atH  roofs,  which  was  ot  the  gambrel  slyle,  of  unpainted  boards  and  shingles, 
with  dormer  windows.  The  lower  floor,  a  large  and  cheerless  room,  was  fitted  up  for 
the  House,  whilst  the  council  sat  in  a  small  chamber  above,  around  a  circular  table, 
and,  it  is  said,  when  the  labors  of  the  day  were  over,  the  interesting  game  of  "Loo'* 
at  once  succeeded.  This  venerable  structure  was,  during  the  time  of  the  French  oc 
cupancy  of  the  country,  prior  to  1763,  the  headquarters  of  the  military  commandant, 
and  doubtless  within  it,  many  an  arbitrary  edict  was  framed,  to  be  executed  with  all 
the  severity  attendant  upon  the  administration  of  military  law  by  military  men.1'* 

The  Convention  which  framed  the  first  State  Constitution  also 
met  in  this  "old  stone  house." 

'•It  was  provided  by  this  instrument  that  the  seat  of  government  should  remain  at 
Kaskaskia  until  the  general  assembly  should  otherwise  direct;  and  that  body  was  re 
quired,  at  its  first  session,  to  petition  Congress  to  grant  to  the  State  a  quantity  of  land 
of  not  more  than  four  and  not  less  than  one  section,  or  to  give  to  the  State  the  right 
of  pre-emption  in  the  purchase  of  that  quantity,  the  land  to  be  situated  on  the  Kaskas- 
kin  river,  and  as  near  as  might  be,  east  of  the  third  principal  meridian,  on  that  river. 
Should  the  petition  be  granted,  the  general  assembly,  at  their  next  session,  were  re 
quired  to  appoint  five  commissioners  to  make  the  selection  of  the  land,  and  provide 
lor  laying  out  a  town  upon  it;  which  town,  it  was  declared,  should  be  the  seat  of  gov 
ernment  for  the  term  of  20  years.  *  When  the  question  was  before  the  conven 
tion  two  points  were  in  contemplation  by  the  members  and  outsiders;  one  was  Car- 
]yl"..just  then  located  on  the  Kaskoskia  river  by  two  Virginia  gentlemen,  and  an  ele 
vated  site,  higher  up  the  river,  known  as  'Pope's  Bluff,1  the  property  of  Nathaniel 
Pore.  He  and  his  fi'iends  were  of  course  very  desirous  the  seat  of  government  should 
be  located  there,  while  the  proprietors  of  Carlyle  had  no  less  desire  that  the  latter 
place  should  be  the  favored  spot.  While  the  subject  was  under  discussion  in  doors 
and  out,  there  come  to  look  in  upon  that  body  a  noted  hunter  and  trapper,  one 
Keevos  by  name,  who  had  his  cabin  still  higher  up  the  river,  and  near  where  the  third 
principal  meridan  crossed  the  stream.  He  spoke  in  glowing  terms  of  the  beauties  of 
Reeves'  Bluff  ;  'that  Pope's  Bluff  nor  Carlyle,  wasn'ta  primin1  to  his  bluff,' &c.  Such 
was  the  force  of  his  representation,  that  the  language  :on  the  Kaskaskia  river,  as 
near  as  might  be  east  of  the  third  principal  meridian,'  was  adopted  by  the  convention; 
and  when  the  legislature,  at  the  session  of  1819,  appointed  the  commissioners  to  select 
the  land  granted  by  congress,  they  fixed  upon  the  old  hunter's  home,  'Reeves'  Bluff.' 
It  proved  to  be  a  most  beautiful  spot,  a  heavily  wooded  tract,  covered  by  gigantic 
trees  under  whose  shades  the  former  lords  of  the  soil  might  have  held  grave  council. 
A  town  was  laid  out  with  a  handsome  public  square  and  broad  streets,  and  christened 
•Vandalia,'  but  these  vandals  did  not  suffer  one  of  these  forest  kings  to  remain  on  the 
squtiro,  but  cut  them  down  to  the  ground,  leaving  not  one  to  sigh  in  the  summer  wind 
or  bend  to  the  blast.'' 

Gov.  Ford,  page  35  says : 

"After  the  place  had  been  selected,  it  became  a  matter  of  great  interest  to 
give  it  a  good  sounding  name,  one  which  would  please  the  ear,  and  at  the  same 
time  have  the  classic  merit  of  perpetuating  the  memory  of  the  ancient  race  of 
Indians  by  whom  the  country  had  first  been  inhabited.  Tradition  says  that  a  wag 
who  was  present,  suggested  to  the  commissioners  that  the  'Vandals'  were  a  powerful  na 
tion  of  Indians  who  once  inhabited  the  banks  of  the  Kaskaskia  river,  and  that  -V;m- 
dalin.'  formed  from  their  name,  would  perpetuate  the  memory  of  that  extinc-t  hut 
renowned  people.  The  suggestion  pleased  the  commissioners,  the  name  was  adopted, 
•and  they  thus  proved  that  the  name  oft  heir  new  city  (if  they  were  fit  representatives  of 
their  constituents)  would  better  illustrate  the  character  of  the  modern  than  the  an 
cient  inhabitants  of  the  country." 

*.Tnd£re  Caton's  address  at  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  the  new  State  House, 
Oct.  5,  1868,  using  Judge  Breese's  language.  The  headquarters  of  the  French  military 
commandants  were  at  Fort  Chartres.  "the  centre  of  life  and  fashion  in  the  West." 
Mouette's  Val.  of  the  Miss.  Vol.  1,  164-2  Ibid. 


916  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 


The  location  was  iii  the  inidst  of  the  wilderness,  northeast  of 
the  settlements. 

"Lots  were  sold  at  public  auction  on  credit,  at  fabulous  prices,  few  of  which  were 
paid  for  in  full.  The  enterprising- and  scheming  cnme  to  it,  some  from  the  old  world,  and 
soon  the  nucleus  of  a  town  was  formed.  Measures  were  inaugurated  for  the  erection 
of  a  State  House  which  culminated  in  a  plain  two-story  frame  building,  of  rude  archi 
tecture,  set  upon  a  rough  stone  foundation  and  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  square,  the 
lower  floor  of  which  was  devoted  to  a  passage  and  stair-way  to  the  upper  story,  and  a 
large,  plain  room,  devoid  of  ornament,  (for  the  accommodation  of  the  House;)  the  up 
per  floor  was  divided  into  two  rooms,  the  largest  for  the  accommodation  of  the  Senate 
and  the  smaller  one  for  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State,  the  Auditor  and  Treasurer  oc 
cupying  detached  buildings,  hired  for  that  purpose.  No  ceremonies  were  observed  in 
laying  the  corner-stone  of  this  unsightly  structure:  no  music  disturbed  the  solitude 
of  the  forest,  then  in  its  primeval  beauty;  no  crowd  in  pageantry  lent  excitement  to 
the  scene ;  no  sound  was  heard  save  the  rap  of  the  mason's  hammer  and  the  sharp 
click  of  the  trowel."* 

The  archives  of  State  were  removed  from  Kaskaskia  to  Vanda- 
lia  early  in  December,  1820,  at  one  load  in  a  small  wagon.  They 
were  in  the  care  of  Sidney  Breese,  then  clerk  to  the  Secretary  of 
State,  Mr.  Kane,  and  the  route  being  quite  difficult,  the  driver 
and  he  had  to  cut  a  road  through  the  woods  at  several  points. 
The  Auditor,  Elijah  0.  Berry,  with  his  family,  occupied  the  new 
State  House  at  the  time,  but  soon  moved  out  into  a  cabin.  The 
day  on  which  the  session  of  the  legislature  opened  in  Vandalia, 
was  most  beautiful.  "The  sun  shone  in  cloudless  splendor  and  the 
temperature  of  the  air  was  autumnal ;  all  wras  excitement  and  all 
seemed  pleased."  This  structure  was  destroyed  by  fire  about  2 
o'clock  in  the  night  December  9,  1823.  So  rapidly  did  the  flames 
spread  that  not  a  single  article  of  furniture  wras  saved.  The  U. 
S.  Land  Beceiver's  office  was  kept  in  one  of  its  rooms,  and  the 
books,  papers  and  every  article  pertaining  to  the  office  was  con 
sumed.  The  cause  of  the  fire  was  not  ascertained.  The  house 
had  been  "occupied  the  day  preceding  for  the  sale  of  non-resident 
lands  for  State  taxes.  A  subscription  paper  was  immediately 
started  by  the  citizens  of  Vandalia  to  rebuild  it.  In  three  days 
$3,000  was  raised.  "  It  was  succeeded  by  a  commodious  brick 
building,  of  sufficient  dimensions,  built  in  part  at  the  expense  of 
the  citizens  of  Vandalia.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  without  any 
public  display ;  it  still  stands,  renovated  and  embellished  by  the 
people  of  Fayette  county,  and  is  IIOAV  devoted  to  the  administra 
tion  of  justice  and  the  various  public  offices  of  the  county.'7* 

Eight  years  before  the  expiration  of  the  20  years'  term 
for  which  the  capital  was  to  remain  at  Vandalia,  the  question 
of  removal  was  already  agitated  in  the  legislature.  The  initiative 
came  from  Greene  county,  strongly  seconded  by  the  delegation  from 
Sangamon.  The  house  passed  a  bill  providing  for  the  appoint 
ment  of  commissioners  to  permanently  locate  the  seat  of  govern 
ment;  but  the  senate  amended  it  by  striking  out  all  after  the 
enacting  clause  and  submitting  the  following  places  to  be  voted 
for  by  the  people  at  the  next  election  for  the  legislature:  The 
geographical  centre  of  the  State,  Jacksonville,  Springfield,  Alton, 
Vandalia,  and  Peoria,  the  point  or  place  receiving  the  highest 
number  of  votes  to  be  the  permanent  seat  of  government.  The 
house,  at  the  instance  of  Cyrus  Edwards,  sought  to  further  amend 
this  by  having  the  two  places  receiving  the  highest  number  of 
rotes  voted  for  again  at  the  succeeding  general  election.  The 

'Caton's  address-  Breese's  words. 
*Catons  address— Breese's  words. 


OGLESBY'S  ADMINISTRATION.  917 

senate  amendment,  after  some  reluctance  by  the  Louse,  was  finally 
agreed  to.  As  the  time  for  taking  the  vote  approached,  the  places 
ambitious  for  this  high  and  honorable  distinction  iii  the  State  be 
stirred  themselves  to  obtain  concert  of  action.  Spirited  addresses 
were  issued  to  the  people,  ably  setting  forth  the  many  excellen 
cies  and  great  advantages  of  the  respective  places  contending. 
The  election  took  place  in  August,  1834.  Alton  received  7,511 
votes;  Vandalia,  7,148;  Springfield,  7,044;  the  geographical  cen 
tre  (llliopolis),  744;  Peoria,  486;  and  Jacksonville,  272. 

Alton  was  thus  designated  as  the  seat  of  government  after  the 
20  years  at  Vaiidalia  should  expire.  But  it  requires  something 
besides  votes  to  erect  capitol  buildings.  No  appropriation  was 
made  or  further  steps  taken  by  the  legislature  to  second  this  choice 
and  nothing  came  of  it.  Still  the  removal  question  would  not 
down ;  it  continued  to  be  canvassed  by  the  press  at  the  various 
points  whose  expectations  had  been  raised  \>y  the  election  and  in 
fluenced  the  local  elections  in  many  parts  to  no  inconsiderable  de 
gree.  .Springfield,  particularly,  felt  greatly  encouraged  by  the 
vote  of  1834.  By  the  apportionment  of  1835  Sangamon  county 
was  accorded  2  senators  and  7  representatives  in  the  legislature. 
That  county,  in  the  incredibly  short  space  of  15  years,  had  become 
the  most  populous  in  the  State.  The  tide  of  emigration  had  begun 
to  set  into  the  north  part  of  the  State  with  a  steadily  augmenting 
current,  and  it  became  apparent  that  the  seat  of  government  could 
not  be  long  retained  at  Vandalia,  so  far  from  the  centre  of  popu 
lation.  It  was  a  period  before  we  had  railroads,  and  travel  to  and 
from  the  capital,  conducted  in  the  same  primitive  manner  it  had 
been  all  over  the  world  since  its  earliest  dawn,  made  distance  no 
inconsiderable  object. 

In  the  summer  of  1836,  the  great  fever  of  land  and  town  lot 
speculation  of  that  period  spread  from  Chicago,  like  an  epidemic, 
all  over  the  State,  and  the  legislature  at  the  session  of  1836-7 
fully  embarked  in  the  disastrous  policy  of  the  State  internal  im 
provement  system.  And  now  the  opportunity  for  the  actual  re 
moval  of  the  capital  had  come.  In  the  general  rage  for  develop 
ing  the  infant  resources  of  the  State,  the  delegations  from  almost 
every  county  had  improvement  axes  to  grind,  and  to  attain  their 
objects  hesitated  not  to  lend  their  aid  in  grinding  those  of  all  the 
rest.  What  we  call  in  modern  parlance  "  rings,"  were  thus 
readily  formed,  and  every  bill  of  importance  was  passed  without 
inquiry,  until  everybody  was  satisfied,  including  that  for  the  re 
moval  of  the  seat  of  government.  The  Sangamon  delegation  of  9, 
known  as  "the  long  nine,"  because  they  averaged  6  feet  in  higlit, 
some  more  and  some  less — there  being  precisely  54  feet  in  the 
stature  of  them — were  able,  persistent  and  dextrous  manipulators, 
acting  upon  all  questions  as  a  unit,  and  exercising  thus  a  most 
potent  influence.  They  gave  it  doubtless,  a  long  pull,  a  strong 
pull,  and  a  pull  altogether.  They  were:  Senators — A.  G.  Hern- 
don  and  Job  Fletcher;  Representatives — Abraham  Lincoln, 
Mnian  W.  Edwards,  Dan  Stone,  John  Dawson,  W.  F.  Elkin,  An 
drew  McCormick  and  Robert  L.  Wilson. 

The  act  required  that  the  two  houses  meet  in  Representatives 
Hall  on  the  28th  of  February,  1837,  at  10  o'clock,  A.  M.,  and  pro 
ceed  to  select  a  suitable  point  or  place  for  the  permanent  location 
of  the  seat  of  government,  after  the  expiration  of  the  constitu- 


918  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

tioual  term  at  Vaudalia.  The  election  was  to  be  conducted  much 
after  the  manner  of  choosing  a  U.  S.  Senator.  During  the  ballot- 
ings,  29  places  were  voted  for,  of  which  we  will  only  give  the  (> 
highest.  Springfield  started  with  35,  and  on  the  4th  received  73, 
a  majority;  Yaiidalia  started  with,  and  continued  to  receive 
throughout  the  4  ballotings,  1G  votes  ;  Alton  started  with  15  and 
ran  down  to  6;  the  highest  Jacksonville  received  was  15,  and  the 
lowest  10;  Peoria  came  in  on  the  2d  ballot  with  8,  increased  to  11, 
but  on  the  4th  was  down  to  8;  Illiopolis  started  with  3,  increased 
to  10  and  fell  back  to  3.  No  other  place  received  a  higher  num 
ber  than  4  votes.  $50,000  was  appropriated  for  the  purpose  of 
erecting  a  state  house,  but  the  act  was  to  be  mill  and  void  unless 
$50,000 more  was  donated  by  individuals  secured  by  their  boud,  pay 
able  to  the  treasurer  by  the  1st  of  May  following,  to  be  approved 
by  the  governor,  and  to  become  due  as  he  should  direct;  and  also, 
unless  not  less  than  2  acres  of  ground,  upon  which  to  erect  the 
State  House,  be  donated  and  conveyed  without  expense  to  the 
State.  The  donation  of  $50,000  was  to  be  exclusively  applied 
toward  the  erection  of  the  building.  The  act  of  February  5, 1833, 
was  repealed.  By  a  supplemental  act  of  March  3d.  1837  the 
county  commissioners  of  San  gain  on  county  were  authorize^  to 
convey  to  the  State,  for  the  use  of  the  people,  the  public  square  at 
Springfield.  Archibald  Job  of  Morgan,  and  A.  G.  Henry  and 
Thomas  Houghton,  of  Saugamon,  were  appointed  commissioners 
to  superintend  the  erection  of  the  State  House  at  Springfield. 
They  gave  bonds  in  $10,000,  and  received  a  per  diem  compensa 
tion  of  $3  each.  The  legislature  first  met  at  Springfield  (in  ex 
traordinary  session),  December  9,  1839;  but  as  the  new  capitol 
was  not  then  completed,  the  house  was  accommodated  in  the  1M 
Presbyterian  church,  the  senate  in  the  1st  Methodist  (an  old  frame 
structure)  and  the  supreme  court  in  the  Episcopal.* 

As  early  as  during  the  war  of  1812,  the  troops  and  rangers,  in 
their  various  expeditions  against  the  hostile  Indians  on  the  Peoria 
Lake,  noted  the  country  of  the  Saugamon  as  one  of  surpassing 
attraction.  The  Indians  well  appreciated  this  fertile  region,  for 
hi  the  Potawataiuie  tongue  the  word  Saugamo  meant  "the coun 
try  where  there  is  plenty  to  eat,'7  in  our  phrase  "  the  land  flowing 
with  milk  and  honey."  It  was  not,  however,  until  some  years 
after  the  close  of  that  war  that  the  hardy  pioneer  pressed  into  it. 
Then,  with  little  delay,  along  the  borders  of  the  timber,  the  log- 
cabin  of  the  adventurous  settler  began  to  rear  its  humble  walls, 
and  the  smoke  from  its  ample  chimney  went  curling  heavenward. 
The  "  St.  Garno  Kedentry,"  as  it  was  pronounced  in  the  vernacu 
lar,  soon  became  famous,  and  emigration  set  freely  in  that  direc 
tion.  In  the  autumn  of  1819,  a  weary  emigrant  family,  originally 
from  North  Carolina,  with  its  teams,  encamped  on  the  right  bank 
of  Spring  Creek,  in  the  west  part  of  the  present  city  of  Spring 
field.  This  was  the  end  of  their  journey.  Soon  the  camp  fires 
were  lighted,  and  parents  and  children  gathered  about  the  homely 

*  Springfield  afterwards  paid  off  one-third  of  her  $50,000  bonus  with  the  evidences  of 
State  indebtedness,  which  after  the  failure  of  the  internal  improvement,  system,  at  ore 
time,  as  we  have  seen,  touched  14  cents  on  the  dollar  in  market  But  this  transaction, 
which  has  been  occasionally  animadverted,  was  perfectly  legitimate.  The  last  install 
ment  of  $16,666  67  was  obtained  from  the  State  Bank  on  one  year's  time,  at  6  per  cent  , 
101  of  the  best  citizens  executing-  their  promissory  note  to  the  bank  ;  and  it  was  this 
note  that  was  afterwards  paid  off  with  internal  improvement  scrip,  Avhich  the  State 
has  ultimately  redeemed  dollar  for  dollar. 


OGLESBYS*  ADIN1STRATION.  919 

supper-board  for  the  first  time  on  the  spot  of  their  home  in  the 
wilderness.  In  the  morning  the  echoing  ring  of  the  ax  resounded 
in  the  adjacent  forest,  and  in  a  few  days  a  rough  cabin  home  shel 
tered  John  Kelly  and  family,  the  first  white  settlers  of  the  site 
since  become  the  capital  of  this  great  State.  The  county  of  San- 
gainon  was  organized  in  1821.  On  the  10th  of  April,  the  same 
year,  the  temporary  county  seat  was  fixed  at  Kelly's,  the  stake  for 
a  court  house  being  set  at  the  northwest  corner  of  the  present  2d 
and  Jefferson  streets,  and  in  honor  Spring  Creek  and  Kelly's  field, 
was  christened  Springfield.  On  May  1st,  a  term  of  court  was 
held  at  Kelly's  cabin.  In  1823  the  public  lands  having  been  pre 
viously  surveyed,  were  offered  for  sale  by  government.  A  town 
had  been  laid  off  and  plotted  under  the  name  of  Calhoun,  but  as 
settlers  came  in,  the  name  of  Calhoun  was  gradually  dropped  and 
that  of  Springfield  revived.  In  the  name  of  Springfield  for  the 
capital  of  this  State,  there  is  nothing  suggestive  of  meaning  or  of 
origin— nothing  to  perpetuate  any  aboriginal  race,  deed,  or  histori 
cal  name.  Besides  it  is  so  common  that  in  using  it  the  name  of 
the  State  has  ever  to  be  added  to  give  it  definiteness.  When  you 
speak  of  Kaskaskia,Vandalia,  Peoria,  LaSalle,  Chicago,  or  Illiopo- 
lis — the  last  best  of  all — your  reference  is  clear,  without  adding 
Illinois.  Not  so  when  you  mention  Springfield,  for  there  are 
places  of  that  name  in  many  States.* 

Springfield,  at  the  time  of  the  location  of  the  seat  of  govern 
ment,  contained  some  1,100  inhabitants.  The  corner  stone  of  the 
Capitol  was  laid  July  4th,  1837.  The  brilliant  orator,  E.  D.  Baker, 
then  a  resident  of  the  place,  pronounced  a  beautiful  and  thrilling 
address  on  the  occasion.  The  estimated  cost  of  the  structure  was 
$130,000,  but  this,  as  usual,  in  such  cases,  proved  too  low  by 
nearly  100  per  cent. 

When  the  Capitol  was  first  reared  it  was  the  wonder  of  the 
country  round.  It  was  admired  by  the  people  as  a  model  of  arch 
itectural  beauty,  and  supposed  to  be  ample  enough  to  answer 
the  purposes  of  the  State  for  all  time.  But  such  has  been  the 
march  of  Illinois  to  empire  that  in  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  cen 
tury  the  public  demand  became  rife  for  a  new  structure  commen 
surate  with  our  growth,  our  pride  and  pretensions.  Our  popula 
tion  in  that  time  has  been  more  than  quadrupled,  being,  in  1840, 
470,183,  and  in  1865,  2,141,510.  If,  under  the  restrictions  of  the 
constitutions  of  1848  in  the  number  of  our  legislators,  we  did  not 
actually  lack  for  room  to  accommodate  the  two  houses,  our  pride 
as  a  State  was  touched  whenever  we  cast  a  glance  at  the  squat 

*  The  present  capital  gave  early  promise  of  rare  capacity  for  legislative  finesse. 
The  county  seat  of  Sangamon  was  permanently  located  at  Springfield  in  1825.  Prior 
to  that  an  election  for  the  legislature  turned  upon  the  question  of  location.  One  of 
the  candidates,  W.  S.  Hamilton,  favored  Sangamo  Town,  a  beautiful  elevated  bluff  on 
the  river,  7  miles  northwest  from  the  city,  a  most  charming  town  site.  Jonathan  H. 
Pugh  was  the  Springfield  candidate.  Hamilton,  son  of  the  great  Alexander  Hamilton 
of  Revolutionary  fame,  was  elected,  and  the  aspirations  of  Springfield  seemed  crushed. 
But  unwilling  to  yield,  she  raised  a  fund  and  sent  her  defeated  candidate,  a  man  of 
considerable  ability,  to  Vandalia  as  a  lobby  member.  His  tact  and  skill  in  the  manage- 
mpnt  of  honorable  members  made  him  more  than  a  match  for  his  competitor  on  the 
floor.  Hamilton  failed  of  having  an  act  passed,  fixing  the  county  seat  at  Sangamo 
Town  ;  Pugh  did  succeed  in  having  special  commissioners  appointed  to  make  the  loca 
tion.  These  came  to  Springfield  to  examine  the  sites.  Conveyance  was  prepared  to 
take  them  over  to  Sangamo  Town.  On  the  way  they  passed  over  so  much  low  and  wet 
ground,  and  through  so  many  sloughs  and  mud  holes,  particularly  as  they  approached 
the  proposed  site,  that  their  minds  were  made  up.  They  decided  in  disgust  that  it 
would  never  do  to  fix  a  county  seat  ata  point  so  surrounded  by  swamps.  Whether  the 
route  was  chosen  by  accident  or  design  does  not  appear,  but  it  has  been  sh  rewdly  sus 
pected  thatso  much  goodluckfor  Springfield  was  not  wholly  accidental. -Taken  from. 
a  volume  of  the  Springfield  City  Ordinances. 


920  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

and  unshapely  pile  representing  the  Capitol  of  the  fourth  State 
of  the  Union.  Public  edifices  in  all  ages  and  countries  have  been 
types,  or  marked  the  greatness  and  dignity  of  the  rulers  or  peo 
ple  who  have  reared  them.  This  seems  to  be  a  law  of  man's  civi 
lization. 

In  1865  Senator  Lindsey  introduced  a  bill  into  the  legislature  to 
remove  the  seat  of  government  to  Peoria.  This  was  the  first  renewal 
of  the  agitation.  Chicago,  Jacksonville  and  Decatur,  (the  latter 
probably  dreaming  of  benefits  because  one  of  her  burghers 
occupied  the  gubernatorial  chair),  were  also  clamorous  for  the 
capitol.  The  Chicago  Tribune,  in  an  elaborate  leader,  favored 
removal,  and  so  did  many  other  papers.  Springfield  was  much 
faulted  for  its  inferior  hotel  accommodations  and  their  exorbi 
tant  charges.  The  senate  special  committee,  to  which  the  ques 
tion  had  been  referred,  reported  in  favor  of  removal  to  Peoria, 
and  no  little  alarm  was  experienced  in  Springfield.  Later  the 
Chicago  bill  was  laid  upon  the  table  in  the  house  by  61  to  16,  and 
the  star  of  capital  removal,  erst  so  refulgent,  waxed  dim,  and 
gradually  dipped  its  bright  disk  below  the  horizon.  But  it  was 
apparent  that  the  question  must  be  again  confronted  with  the 
dawn  of  another  legislature.  The  building  of  a  new  State  House 
could  not  be  much  longer  delayed. 

Intimations  from  various  parts  of  the  State  began  to  be  early 
thrown  out  that  powerful  influences  would  be  brought  to  bear  in 
favor  of  removal  at  the  next  session  of  the  legislature.  To  the 
various  objections  brought  against  Springfield  as  the  capital, 
that  city,  keenly  appreciating  the  consequences  which  might  en 
sue  to  her  prosperity,  did  aAvay  with  the  chief  one,  the  want  of 
hotel  accommodations,  by  building  the  Leland,  than  which,  except 
perhaps  in  size,  there  is  not  a  more  elegant  and  commodious  hotel 
in  all  its  appointments,  in  all  the  State.  She  further  resolved  to 
take  the  threatening  question  by  the  forelock,  and  in  November, 
1866  one  of  her  most  capable  public-spirited  citizens,  the  Hon. 
J.  C.  Conkling,  was  elected  to  the  lower  house  of  the  legislature. 
All  the  tact  and  address  of  her  prominent  citizens  were  besides 
brought  into  requisition.  The  county  board  agreed  to  take  the 
old  State  House  and  square  for  a  court  house  at  $200,000;  the 
city  council  offered  to  furnish  the  Mather  lot,  some  six  or  eight 
acres,  which  cost  $62,000,  and  cause  it  to  be  conveyed  free  to  the 
State  as  a  site  for  the  new  capitol — which  was  to  be  so  elegant 
and  ornate  in  architecture,  so  grand  and  ample  in  its  proportions, 
as  to  control  by  its  cost  and  magnificence  the  seat  of  government 
question  for  a  long  time.  Upon  the  assembling  of  the  legislature, 
the  honorable  members  became  the  objects  of  much  polite  atten 
tion.  The  ladies,  with  all  the  agreeable  arts  of  the  sex,  lent  the 
charm  of  their  presence  in  attendance  upon  the  sittings  of  the 
two  houses.  Invitations  to  pleasant  social  gatherings,  to  parties 
and  receptions  at  elegant  private  mansions,  were  frequent.  The 
Leland,  just  finished  with  the  commencement  of  the  session,  was 
opened  with  a  grand  ball  and  supper,  to  which  the  members  and 
high  dignitaries  from  various  parts  of  the  State  present  in  the 
city,  with  their  ladies,  received  free  tickets  of  invitation.  And 
now,  with  the  assembly  in  a  proper  frame  of  mind,  the  bill  pro 
viding  for  the  erection  of  a  new  State  House  at  Springfield,  was 


OGLESBY'S  ADMINISTRATION.  921 

introduced.  It  appropriated  $450,000,  as  a  commencement,  $200,- 
000  of  which  were  to  be  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the  old  State 
House  to  the  county  of  Saugamon,  its  use  being  reserved  until 
the  new  one  should  be  completed.* 

The  bill  was  not  free  from  opposition  in  the  legislature ; 
but  from  many  other  local  measures  pending,  such  was  the  high 
expectation  of  benefits  in  various  parts  of  the  State,  that,  while 
each  section  looked  to  its  own  interest,  little  was  done  toward 
forming  combinations  for  the  defeat  of  this.  One  of  the  very  ear 
liest  to  be  introduced  was  the  location  of  the  Industrial  Univer 
sity.  It  was  the  general  understanding  of  the  people  that  the 
legislature  at  that  session  would  take  steps  to  secure  the  congres 
sional  grant  for  that  school.  A  number  of  places  were  bidding 
high  for  its  location.  Jacksonville,  Pekiu,  Lincoln,  Bloomington  j 
and  Chicago  wanted  to  divide  the  fund  5  but  in  the  eastern  por 
tion  of  the  State  the  Champaign  interest  was  all-absorbing  and 
dominated  everything  else.  The  south  was  moving  for  the  South 
ern  penitentiary,  while  Chicago  was  engrossed  with  her  park  bills 
and  the  canal  extension  and  enlargement,  in  which  Peoria  and 
the  liock  River  country  were  also  deeply  interested.  The  imme 
diate  opposition  to  the  State  House  bill  was  therefore  in  the  main 
narrowed  down  to  the  efforts  of  Decatur,  which  presented  the 
very  munificent  offer  for  its  location  of  a  fine  10-acre  lot  of 
ground,  and  $1,000,000  in  money  from  Macon  county,  whose  entire 
taxable  wealth  on  realty  amounted  to  only  $2,422,000.  The  proposi 
tion  was  said  to  be  backed  by  the  Illinois  Central  R.K.  Much  indig 
nation  was  vented  upon  this  effort  to  huckster  or  hawk  the  loca 
tion  of  the  seat  of  government.  The  names  of  seven  commissioners  to 
superintend  the  erection  of  the  building  and  disburse  the  funds 
appropriated,  were  also  so  judiciously  chosen  and  distributed  as 
to  impart  to  the  measure  much  strength.f  Besides,  it  was  urged 
that  the  present  capital  had  become  historic  ground  $  that  it  was 
illustrated  by  the  life  and  residence  of  the  best,  the  purest,  and 
the  noblest  of  American  statesmen,  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  sacti- 
fied  by  his  grave.J 

The  bill  became  a  law  February  25,  1867.  This  was  the  senate 
bill  of  Mr.  Cohr's ;  it  limited  the  total  cost  of  the  new  capitol 
to  $3.000,000. 

The  commissioners,  in  March,  advertised  for  plans  and  specifi 
cations  to  be  submitted  by  July  15,  offering  $3,000  for  the  success 
ful  design.  But,  while  the  act  for  the  new  State  House  met  gen 
erally  with  approval,  some  leading  Chicago  newspapers,*  chagrined 
probably  over  the  canal  legislation,  continued  their  assaults  upon 
the  measure,  bitterly  charging  it  to  be  a  fraud  and  swindle  upon 
the  people.  The  aspiring  city  of  Decatur,  too,  illy  brooked  her 
disappointment  in  not  becoming  the  Capital.  And  now,  May  13, 
1807,  at  her  instigation  and  cost,  a  writ  of  quo  ivarranto — an  in 
quiry  into  the  right  or  power  to  act — was  granted  against  Philip 
Wads  worth  and  the  other  commissioners,  impleaded  by  Judge  Wil 
son  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Chicago,  and  judgment  of  ouster  en 
tered.  The  legal  objection  urged,  was  that  the  commissioners 

*Fov  a  copy  of  Voris'  humorous  bill  to  dislocate  the  Capitol,  see  the  111.  State 
Register,  Feb.  22, 1867.  Jt  provided  lor  aperi<rrinatinfr  legislature  by  railroad,  to  stop  at 
every  place  where  a  notice  appeared  that  legislation  was  wanted. 

•f-See  Bailey's  speech. 

$Hurlbut's  speech. 

UTimes  and  Tribune. 


022  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

were  officers,  whose  appointment  under  the  constitution  should 
have  been  made  by  the  governor  and  confirmed  by  the  senate, 
and  who  could  not  be  designated  in  the  bill  as  had  been  done. 
On  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court,  that  body,  at  the  September 
term  following,  reversed  the  decision  of  Judge  Wilson,  holding 
tbat  the  Commissioners  were  not  officers,  and  therefore  rightfully 
entitled  to  carry  out  the  law. 

From  the  great  number  of  designs  submitted  by  architects  from 
various  parts  of  the  Union,  that  of  J.  C.  Cochrane,  of  Chicago, 
was  chosen  and  adopted.  Its  style  does  not  exclusively  follow  any 
one  .of  the  ancient  or  classic  orders  of  architecture,  but  harmo 
niously  blends  these  with  modern  art,  imparting  massiveness, 
strength  and  durability,  while  preserving  external  grace  and  airy- 
ness.  The  ground  plan  is  in  the  form  of  a  great  cross  or  4  wings, 
whose  grand  outlines  are  359  feet  north  and  south  by  266  east  and 
west,  exclusive  of  the  porticos.  The  basement  story,  excavated 
to  the  depth  of  10  feet,  will  contain  the  boilers  for  the  heating 
apparatus  and  the  elevators,  storage  room  for  fuel,  and  other 
weighty  articles.  Next  above  is  the  first  story,  19  feet  high,  on 
wbich  are  located  the  adjutant- gen eraPs  oflice  and  museum,  the 
geological  museum  of  specimens,  and  artists'  rooms,  &c.  The  floor 
is  to  be  laid  in  mosaic  marble,  imbedded  in  cement,  the  whole  sup 
ported  by  brick  arches.  That  part  of  the  ceiling  constituting  the 
floor  of  the  rotunda,  is  to  be  of  glass.  Next  above  is  the  princi 
pal  story,  22  feet  in  hight.  The  grand  corridors,  running  the 
whole  length  and  breadth  of  the  building,  crossing  each  other  at 
right  angles  on  the  glass  floor  of  the  rotunda,  will  be  beautifully 
finished  Avith  variegated  marble  pilasters  projecting  from  the  walls, 
forming  panels,  and  opening  from  them  on  this  floor  are  located 
all  the  rooms  of  the  different  State  departments,  including  the  Su 
preme  Court-room  and  Clerk's  office,  and  the  state  geologist's 
oflice.  With  the  Treasurer's  oflice  are  connected  4  massive  stone 
fire  proof  vaults.  The  floors  are  supported  by  wrought  iron  beams 
imported  from  Belgium.  The  next,  or  2d  principal  story,  is  45 
feet  in  altitude.  Here  is  the  great  hall  of  the  house  of  repre 
sentatives,  in  the  southern  arm  of  the  cross,  66  by  100  feet,  and 
the  senate  chamber,  62  by  75,  in  the  northern  wing.  Here  too,  on 
the  main  floor,  are  rooms  for  the  speaker,  clerks,  sergeants-at- 
arms,  post-office,  State  library,  &c.,  &c.  On  three  sides  of  each 
of  the  grand  legislative  halls,  half  way  up,  are  to  be  magnificent 
galleries,  from  which  will  extend  back  floors,  divided  up  into  com 
mittee  rooms.  The  means  of  communication  between  the  differ 
ent  stories  are  by  grand  marble  stairways  and  two  steam  eleva 
tors.  The  roofs  over  each  wing  are  to  be  of  the  mansard  style, 
slated  011  the  sides  and  covered  with  copper.  Through  the  centre 
of  these  will  rise  the  stately  dome  320  feet  from  the  ground,  sur 
mounted  by  a  lantern  16  by  25  feet,  crowned  with  ball  and  pinna 
cle.  An  iron  stairway  will  ascend  inside  the  dome  to  the  floor  of 
the  lantern.  The  rotunda  is  to  be  76  feet  in  diameter,  and  from 
its  glass  floor  to  the  fresco  painting  on  its  ceiling,  will  present  a 
clear,  dizzy  view  of  217  feet.  The  north,  south,  and  east  wings 
are  to  have  porticos  of  ten  stone  columns,  each  45  feet  in  eleva 
tion.  The  east  wing  is  to  be  the  principal  front,  and  here,  from 
each  corner  of  the  portico,  90  feet  wide,  will  rise  a  turret  132  feet 
in  altitude.  The  north  portico  will  be  surmounted  by  a  statute  of 


OGLESBY'S  ADMINISTRATION.  923 

Lincoln,  and  that  011  the  south  by  one  of  Douglas.  The  outside 
avails  of  the  structure  are  of  cut  stone,  taking  750,000  cubic  feet, 
ami  their  linings,  together  with  the  partitions,  will  take  20  millions 
of  brick  5  1,200  tons  of  wrought  iron  and  1,800  tons  of  cast  iron 
will  be  consumed  in  its  building.  Such  is  but  an  imperfect  out 
line  of  the  new  capitol,  which,  in  its  massiveness,  durability,  sym 
metry,  beauty  and  grandeur,  will  symbolize  the  extent,  the  re 
sources,  the  power  and  pride  of  our  young  giant  State. 

Owing  to  the  litigation,  the  year  1867  was  little  fruitful  of  re 
sults  in  building.  The  next  year  the  foundation,  8  feet  thick,  was 
Avell  brought  under  way,  and  the  corner  stone  laid,  October  ^tb. 
In  1861)  the  legislature  appropriated  $650,000,  to  be  expended  onlv 
after  ascertaining  that  the  work  could  be  brought  with  in  the  origi 
nal  maximum  limitation  of  $3,000,000,  and  reduced  the  number  of 
commissioners  from  7  to  3.  The  stone  work  was  to  be  procured 
from  the  penitentiary  at  Joliet.  The  constitutional  convention, 
influenced  by  the  constant  cry  of  a  portion  of  our  State  press, 
forbade  the  legislature  expending  more  than  $3,500,000  on  the 
grounds,  construction  and  furnishing  of  the  new  State  house,  with 
out  first  submitting  the  question  to  the  voters  of  the  State. 

In  1871  a  further  appropriation  of  $600,000  was  asked.  Bills 
for  this  purpose  were  early  introduced,  and  that  in  the  senate 
readily  passed.  But  in  the  house  opposition  was  developed.  The 
canal  and  Illinois  river  improvement  project  was  again  on  foot. 
The  Chicago  press,  perhaps  with  a  view  to  making  it  a  lever  for 
the  river  improvement  measure,  attacked  the  State  house  appro 
priation  bill  with  exceeding  virulence.  Startling  .developments 
in  regard  to  the  building  contracts,  the  character  of  the  work,  &c., 
were  threatened.  The  removal  of  the  capital  was  advocated. 
Peoria  came  forward  with  a  proposition  to  reimburse  the  State  to 
the  lull  amount  ($805,303  08)  already  expended  on  the  new  struc 
ture,  donate  a  beautiful  ten  acre  lot  as  a  site,  and  furnish  free  of 
rent,  tor  5  years,  accommodations  for  the  meetings  of  the  general 
assembly,  in  consideration  of  the  location  of  the  capital  there. 
An  offer  so  munificent  was  well  calculated  to  arrest  attention. 
This,  with  her  other  indebtedness,  would  have  placed  Peoria 
under  obligations  to  about  half  of  all  her  taxable  wealth.  To 
avoid  the  constitutional  objection  which  forbids  the  creation  of  a 
debt  exceeding  5  per  cent,  on  assessed  values,  her  private  citizens 
of  undoubted  character  and  ample  means  tendered  their  bond  for 
the  amount.  The  capital  removal  question  now  ran  up  to  fever 
heat  all  over  the  State.  A  large  committee  from  Peoria,  duly  em 
powered,  visited  Springfield,  and  for  a  time  creature  comforts 
lacked  in  neither  style  nor  abundance.  The  two  houses  accepted 
an  invitation  of  a  free  excursion  to  Peoria.  The  occasion  proved 
one  of  unusual  enjoyment  to  the  members,  who  were  treated  with 
distinguished  consideration.  Upon  arrival  there  carriages  were 
provided  and  the  visitors  taken  to  view  the  site  for  the  capitol  on 
the  bluff,  than  which  there  is  not  a  more  charming  and  command 
ing  spot  in  all  the  State.  A  steamboat  trip  past  the  city  and  a 
few  miles  up  the  lovely  lake  was  next  in  order,  followed  by  a  ban 
quet  at  the  hotel,  and  a  grand  ball  at  night.  On  their  return  the 
members  were  accompanied  by  a  large  lobby  force. 

These  movements  were  of  a  character  and  magnitude  to  fairly 
alarm  the  capital  city.  Its  council  hastened  to  pass  an  ordinance, 
tendering  a  guaranty  of  additional  ground  for  the  capitol.  The 


924  HISTORY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

gallery  of  the  house  and  the  lobby  were  daily  thronged  by  her 
anxious  citizens,  deeply  intent  on  its  proceedings.  To  remove  the 
capital  it  was  necessary  first  to  defeat  the  appropriation  bill.  This 
was  the  test.  The  house  was  a  large,  unwieldy  body  of  177  mem 
bers,  and  its  rules  were  such  that  by  dilatory  motions — parliamen 
tary  "  fillibustering" — time  could  easily  be  consumed  so  as  on  no 
da}'  to  reach  the  order  of  business  in  which  the  bill  stood  on  the 
calendar.  All  manner  of  parliamentary  tactics  were  practiced  to 
kill  time  and  tire  out  the  house.  Quantities  of  weary  memorials 
on  the  capital  question  found  their  way  in  and  were  diligently  in 
sisted  upon  to  be  read  at  length,  and  when  this  was  refused 
speeches  were  made  on  the  right  of  petition.  Thus  the  time  of 
adjournment  for  the  recess,  April  17th,  was  reached  without  action 
on  the  bill,  notwithstanding  a  majority  of  the  house  wTere  for  it. 

The  feeling  of  depression  at  Springfield  was  very  great.  Gov. 
Palmer  next  convened  the  legislature  on  the  24th  of  Slay,  and  re 
quired,  among  many  other  important  measures  omitted,  action  on 
the  State  house  appropriation.  Bills  for  this  purpose  were  again 
introduced  and  pressed  duly  forward  under  the  rules.  The  pre 
vious  scenes  were  re-enacted  by  the  opposition  ;  but  the  calendar 
was  not  so  full.  And  now  the  move  was  to  tack  on  a  submission 
clause.  The  Peoria  lobby,  reinforced  from  other  parts  of  the  State, 
was  again  on  hand.  Day  by  day  the  beauty  and  fashion  of 
Springfield  thronged  the  galleries  of  the  house  like  a  bright  gal 
axy,  as  they  wyere,  and  patiently  set  out  the  weary  hours  with  the 
punctuality  of  members,  eagerly  and  anxiously  watching  the  dili- 
tory  movements  below.  Gradually  but  slowly  the  measure  was 
pressed  along  in  its  order  Finally,  when  every  parliamentary  re 
sistance  was  under  the  rules  exhausted,  a  vote  was  reached  at  10 
o'clock  at  night,  June  7th,  and  the  bill  passed  by  100  yeas  to  74 
nays.  Peoria's  apple  of  hope  wras  turned  to  ashes.  The  senate 
the  next  day  substituted  the  house  bill  and  passed  it.  It  provided 
for  a  bond  of  the  citizens  in  the  penal  sum  of  $500,000,  condi 
tioned  that  the  obligors  procure  such  additional  ground  as  the 
State  might  require,  not  exceeding  4  acres,  to  be  demanded  within 
two  years  after  the  building  is  ready  for  use.  Thus  ended  the 
last  effort  to  remove  the  capital.  The  agitation  of  the  question 
had  a  most  depressing  effect  upon  the  building  business  and  the 
price  of  real  estate  at  Springfield  for  a  full  year  'or  more. 

The  Penitentiary — A  Resume  of  its  History. — In  June  1867,  Gov 
ernor  Oglesby  convened  the  Legislature  in  extraordinary  session, 
inviting  action  upon  ten  subjects,  chief  of  which  was  to  provide 
for  the  taxation  of  the  shares  of  banks,  State  and  National.  The 
assembly,  however,  acted  upon  but  five.  But  before  the  session 
was  two  days  gone  another  occasion  arose  to  again  convene  that 
body,  which  was  done  for  the  14th  rust.  This  was  the  abandon 
ment  of  the  penitentiary  by  the  lessees,  which  threw  upon  the 
hands  of  the  State  1,058  convicts  to  be  immediately  provided  for, 
fed,  clothed  and  put  to  work. 

To  go  back  40  years,  the  first  step  taken  toward  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  penitentiary  in  this  State  was  at  the  legislative 
session  in  1820-27.  The  need  of  a  State's  prison  had  been  greatly 
felt  for  some  time.  The  jails  of  the  country  were  very  inferior, 
and  the  breaking  of  them  by  the  more  energetic  and  desperate 


OGLESBY'S  ADMINISTRATION.  925 

offenders  was  of  frequent  occurrence.  The  State  was  poor  and 
oppressed  by  the  broken  currency  of  the  First  State  Bank.  There 
was,  however,  at  the  time  a  project  on  hand  for  the  legislature  to 
memorialize  congress  to  allow  the  State  to  sell  30,000  acres  of  the 
Ohio  and  10,000  acres  of  the  Verinillion  Saline  lands.  The  Saline 
reserves,  whicli  had  been  granted  to  the  State  in  1818  on  condi 
tion  that  they  be  never  sold,  had  become  useless  for  the  manufac 
ture  of  salt,"  but  they  retarded  the  settlement  of  the  country. 
Congress  readily  made  the  concession,  the  lands  were  sold,  and 
the  proceeds,  according  to  previous  arrangements,  were  divided 
between  the  eastern  and  western  sections  of  the  State — the  former 
applying  its  share  toward  the  improvement  of  the  Great  Wabash, 
the  draining  of  Purgatory  Swamp  opposite  Vincennes,  and  of  the 
Cache  river  flats  j  the  latter  devoting  its  share  toward  the  building 
of  a  penitentiary.  Governor  Edwards  opposed  the  measure,  and 
great  efforts  were  made  to  further  divide  the  fund  for  the  benefit 
of  local  river  improvements,  but  all  failed. 

Ex-Gov.  Bond,  Dr.  Gersham  Jane  and  W.  P.  M'Kee  were  ap 
pointed  the  first  penitentiary  commissioners.  They  selected  the 
site  at  Alton,  for  which  ten  acres  of  ground  were  donated.  Be 
sides  the  proceeds  of  the  Saline  land  sales,  the  legislature,  in  1831, 
appropriated  $10,000  toward  the  completion  of  the  penitentiary. 
The  first  building,  which  was  a  neat  stone  structure,  contained  24 
cells,  and  was  ready  for  occupation  in  1833.  The  system  of  State 
prison  confinement  in  Illinois  has  ever  been  (except  in  the  case 
of  some  special  sentences)  what  is  known  as  the  congregated  in 
contradistinction  of  the  dreadful  solitary  plan,  in  vogue  in  Penn 
sylvania  and  elsewhere. 

The  criminal  code  had  been  adapted  the  preceding  legislative 
session  to  the  penitentiary  system  by  abolishing  the  barbarous  pun 
ishment  of  whipping,  the  stocks  and  pillory,  and  substituting  con- 
fin  enient  and  hard  labor.  A  close  observer  of  the  effects  of  this 
change  (Gov.  Ford)  states  that  the  increase  of  crime  for  15  years 
folio  wing  greatly  exceeded  the  relative  increase  of  the  population 
in  Illinois. 

For  the  first  5  years  the  State  conducted  the  prison  herself.  A 
warden  was  biennially  elected  by  the  legislature,  who  received  a 
salary  of  $600,  and  3  inspectors  were  also  elected,  whose  powers 
and  duties  were  much  the  same  as  those  of  our  present  peniten 
tiary  commissioners.  They  received  $2  a  day  each  for  the  time 
actually  employed,  not  to  exceed  $100  each  annually,  however. 
Whether  candidates  for  this  position  were  numerous  or  not  we  are 
unable  to  say. 

Under  the  law  of  1837  the  inspectors  were  authorized,  in  their 
discretion,  to  farm  out  the  convicts  and  give  a  bonus  of  $800 
annually  besides.  Accordingly,  on  the  10th  of  June,  1838,  the 
penitentiary,  then  containing  38  convicts,  passed  from  the  control 
of  the  State  into  the  hands  of  a  lessee,  Mr.  S.  A.  Buckiuaster. 
Thence  forward  the  lease  system  was  continued  for  29  years — from 
1838  to  1867.  In  1842  it  was  leased  to  Isaac  Greathouse  and  ^". 
Buckmaster,  but  without  a  bonus  from  or  expense  to  the  State. 
In  1845  it  was  re-leased  to  S.  A.  Buckmaster  for  a  term  of  8  years, 
the  bonus — $5,000  annually—now  coming  to  the  State;  besides 
which  he  agreed  to  feed,  bed  and  guard  the  prisoners,  pay  physi- 


926  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

clans'  bills,  fees  of  the  inspectors,  and  save  the  State  harmless  from 
all  expense.  The  lease  was  subsequently  extended  5  years  on  the 
same  terms.  Under  the  lease  system  the  lessee  was  vested  with 
the  powers  of  a  warden. 

As  the  number  of  convicts  increased  additional  cells  were  built 
from  time  to  time,  and  other  buildings,  such  as  the  warden's  resi 
dence,  etc.,  for  all  of  which  the  State  paid.  In  1847  there  were  96 
cells  authorized  to  be  constructed.  By  1857  the  cells  numbered 
256,  and  the  convicts,  averaging  two  to  a  cell,  far  exceeded  the 
capacity  of  the  institution.  At  this  time  the  penitentiary  was 
leased  to  S.  K.  Casey  for  5  years,  on  the  same  terms  as  the  Buck- 
master  lease  of  1845.  The  legislature  at  the  same  session  pro 
vided  for  the  building  of  a  new  prison  with  1,000  cells,  which,  it 
was  thought,  would  be  ample  for  generations  to  come;  but  the 
limits  of  its  capacity  were  reached  in  less  than  7  years.  The  old 
prison  was  to  be  sold.  The  inspectors  were  discontinued,  a 
superintendent  provided,  and  3  commissioners  charged  with  the 
supervision  of  the  new  structure.  They  were  instructed  to  con 
tract  with  the  lessee  and  employ  the  convict  labor  in  the  build 
ing  of  it.  The  new  prison  was  located  at  Joliet  on  a  tract  of 
72  19-100  acres  of  land.  '  Its  construction  was  commenced  the  same 
year,  temporary  structures  for  the  workmen  being  provided.  In 
May,  1859,  prisoners  were  forwarded  in  batches  of  40  or  50,  and 
in  June,  1860,  the  Alton  penitentiary  was  finally  abandoned.  An 
area  of  16  acres  is  at  present  inclosed  within  the  main  walls  of  the 
Joliet  prison,  which  are  6  feet  thick  and  25  high.  The  prison 
proper  contains  900  congregate  cells,  100  separate,  and  100  for 
females. 

In  1863  a  6  year  lease  was  given  by  the  State  to  J.  M.  Pitman, 
who  was  to  keep,  provide  and  work  the  convicts,  and  save  the 
State  harmless  and  free  of  all  expense.  !N"o  bonus  was  to  be  paid 
either  way.  Three  others,  Boyer,  Buck  and  Buckmaster,  each  a 
one-fourth  interest,  bought  in  under  Pitman.  Owing  to  disagree 
ment  between  them,  Buckmaster,  in  April,  1864,  bought  out  all 
his  partners  and  received  an  assignment  of  the  lease  to  himself, 
Pitman  surrendering  his  charge  as  warden  to  Gov.  Yates.  Buck- 
master  took  in  a  number  of  partners,  the  two  Mitchells,  Acres.  Job 
and  Judd,  he  retaining  a  one-third  interest. 

At  this  time,  400  cells  were  completed,  but  500  in  the  west  wing- 
still  remained  unfinished.  The  commissioners,  under  the  pressure 
for  room  (the  number  of  prisoners  being  very  great  and  steadily  on 
the  increase),  authorized  the  new  firm  to  finish  these  cells,  which, 
together  with  repairs  and  other  changes,  made  a  claim  against 
the  State  by  January,  1867,  considerably  exceeding  $100,000. 

It  now  became  apparent  that  State  appropriations  beyond  a  lim 
ited  amount  of  a  few  thousand  dollars  could  no  longer  be  looked 
forward  to,  and  the  firm  having  found  purchasers,  on  the  28th  of 
January,  1867,  in  consideration  of  $200,000,  transferred  the  slock, 
fixtures  and  lease  to  Messrs.  Burns  and  Hatch.  The  latter  ad 
mitted  to  the  partnership  three  others—Bane,  Osburn  and  Dus- 
tin— -and  sanguine  in  their  new  vocation,  the  firm  obtained  from 
the  legislature  an  extension,  or  rather  a  new  lease  for  8  years  from 
and  after  the  expiration  of  their  assigned  lease  in  1869,  upon  the 
same  terms.  They  were  thus  the  lessees  till  1877. 


OGLESBY'S  ADMINISTRATION.  927 

Up  to  this  time,  owing*  to  the  State's  expenditures  for  work  done, 
which  was  well  paid  for,  as  public  corporations  always  pay,  the 
leasing  of  the  convict  labor  had  proved  more  or  less  profitable  to 
the  lessees,  notwithstanding  the  high  prices  of  provisions  and 
clothing,  and  the  constantly  augmenting  number  of  convicts  dur 
ing  the  war  and  immediately  after,  many  of  whom  were  physically 
disabled.  But  now,  with  the  speedy  completion  of  the  building, 
State  appropriations  must  cease,  and  the  lessees  were  thrown  upon 
their  own  business  enterprise  for  manufacturing  contracts  and 
outside  jobs.  These  things  had  been  for  a  long  time  of  secondary 
consideration.  The  penitentiary  work  had  consequently  suffered 
in  character  and  it  could  illy  compete  in  price  with  other  like  man 
ufactured  articles. 

The  new  lessees  in  a  short  time  apprehended  the  situation,  but 
instead  of  attempting  to  improve  the  management  of  the  concern, 
the  discipline  of  its  inmates  and  character  of  the  work  like  busi 
ness  men  of  energy  and  pluck,  they  Avere  appalled  by  the  prospect. 
They  saw  nothing  but  utter  ruin  before  them,  as  they  alleged, 
and  threw  upon  the  State  their  threatening  losses.  They  notified 
the  governor  they  should  abandon  the  institution  on  the  30th  day 
of  June,  1867.  It  is  ever  thus  in  contracts  between  States  and 
individuals  ;  the  former  are  bound,  but  the  latter  will  find  methods 
to  either  secure  profits  to  themselves,  or  if  loss  threatens,  to  cast 
it  upon  the  State. 

In  this  emergency  the  governor,  as  we  stated  in  the  outset,  con 
vened  the  legislature  to  take  action  in  the  premises,  either  by  again 
leasing  the  penitentiary,  or  to  provide  for  the  State  taking  control 
of  it.  The  policy  of  State  control  had  been  mooted  before  upon 
humanitarian  grounds.  It  was  ugred  as  the  duty  of  the  State  to 
retain  custody  and  control  of  its  convicts,  provide  them  employ 
ment,  look  after  their  welfare,  and  seek  to  reform  them  ;  and  that 
the  hiring  of  them  out  for  private  gain  was  unchristian  and  in 
conflict  with  public  morals.  The  governor  advocated  an 
abandonment  of  the  lease  system,  believing  that  the  pen 
itentiary  could  be  made  self-sustaining.  A  committee  was 
appointed  to  make  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  conduct  and 
workings  of  the  prison  during  the  recess,  which  the  leigislature 
took  until  the  25th  of  June,  ensuing.  At  this  time  it  was  deter 
mined  that  the  State  retain  control  of  the  penitentiary.  Three 
commissioners  were  provided  for  (to  be  then  appointed  but  made 
elective  at  the  next  regular  election),  a  warden,  chaplain,  physi 
cian,  matron,  &c.,  and  thus,  on  the  1st  day  July,  1867,  the  peni 
tentiary  passed  again  into  the  control  of  the  State,  the  first  time 
for  29  years.  At  this  time  900  cells  and  the  warden's  residence 
were  completed;  $175,000  had  been  expended  thereon,  the  orig 
inal  estimate  of  the  entire  cost  being  but  $550,000.  It  is  how 
ever,  a  superb  structure,  complete  in  all  its  appointments  and 
fully  equal  to  any  in  the  United  States.  The  convicts  numbered 
1,000.  It  proved  a  grievous  burden  to  the  State  at  first.  Large 
sums  of  mon-ey  were  demanded  and  obtained.  Everything  was  to 
buy  almost — machinery,  stock  and  tools.  The  sum  of  $300,000  was 
appropriated.  In  1869,  $350,000  more  were  appropriated  to  de 
fray  its  expenses,  $50,000  going  to  pay  the  late  lessees  for  stock, 
machinery  &c.  In  1871  $175,000  more  were  required  to  pay  de 
ficits. 


928  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

The  choice  of  commissioners  by  the  people,  rendering  them  in 
dependent  of  executive  super  vision,  did  not  tend  to  promote  that 
harmony  and  unity  of  action  among  them  requisite  to  the  attain 
ment  of  success.  In  the  spring  of  1869,  they  were  found  to  dif 
fer  widely  upon  important  points  in  the  management  of  the  es 
tablishment,  and  in  1871  the  legislature  thoroughly  revised  the 
law  for  the  government  of  the  penitentiary.  The  appointment 
of  commissioners  was  vested  in  the  governor  after  the  expiration 
of  the  terms  of  the  then  incumbents,  and  they  were  to  be  subject  to 
removal  by  him  at  his  discretion.  It  was  also  made  the  executive's 
duty  to  send-annually  visit  the  penitentiary  and  examine  its  af 
fairs  thoroughly.  The  commissioners  were  empowered  to  hire  out 
the  labor  of  the  convicts  on  sealed  bids,  a  special  or  semi  lease 
system  which  seems  to  be  the  secret  of  its  present  success.  Since 
then  its  management  has  steadily  improved,  the  discipline  is  of 
the  highest  order,  and  under  the  last  year  of  Gov.  Palmer's  ad 
ministration  the  penitentiary  has  become  self-sustaining  and  in 
future  will  probably  yield  a  surplus. 


CHAPTER  LXVII. 
1869-1873— ADMINISTRATION   OF  GOVERNOR    PALMER. 

Republican  and  Democratic  State  Conventions — Life  and  Character 
of  Governor  Palmer — Legislation,  the  Tax  Grabbing  Law,  Lake 
Front  Bill,  Land  Companies,  &c.—TJie  Constitution  of  1870— 
The  Great  Chicago  Fire. 


When,  in  1867,  Gen.  Palmer  failed  to  obtain  the  Republican 
caucus  nomination  for  U.  S.  senator,  the  feeling*  in  his  party  be 
came  very  general  to  reward  him  for  his  eminent  services  with  the 
governorship,  and  he  was  thence  tacitly  looked  forward  to  as  the 
Republican  candidate  for  that  office  in  1868.  But  the  object  of 
this  high  distinction  was  far  from  seeking  it.  In  March,  1865,  he 
wrote  that  the  invalid  condition  of  one  of  his  children  would  com 
pel  his  absence  from  the  State  during  the  ensuing  campaign,  and  as 
he  would  consequently  be  unable  to  do  his  full  share  of  labor  in 
the  canvass  it  was  not  proper  that  he  should  become  the  head  of 
the  ticket.  Aspirants  enough  now  sprang  up  for  the  exalted  posi 
tion,  but  they  had  no  desire  to  embarrass  Gen.  Palmer.  The  Hon. 
R.  G.  Ingersoll,  under  date  of  Chicago,  April  3d,  asked  him  to 
state  explicitly  whether  he  was  a  candidate  or  would  accept  the 
nomination.  He  answered  by  telegraph,  "I  am  not,  and  do  not  in 
tend  to  be  a  candidate  for  governor."  But  his  objections,  it  was 
thought  by  some  of  the  Republican  press,  might  be  overcome,  and 
the  Carlinville  Free  Democrat,  his  former  home  organ,  thought 
that  "for  some  time  past  it  had  observed  strenuous  efforts  made  ia 
certain  quarters  to  compel  Gen.  Palmer  to  announce  a  priori  that 
he  would  not  serve  the  Republican  party  if  nominated  for  gover 
nor  ;"  that  the  party  had  not  asked  him  to  take  the  position  ;  that 
while  he  was  not  thrusting  himself  forward,  it  spoke  with  assur 
ance,  he  would  not  decline  the  nomination  if  tendered  him  by  the 
Peoria  convention.  To  this  the  Illinois  State  Journal  replied : 
"  We  are  requested  to  state  that  this  is  not  the  position  which 
Gen.  Palmer  occupies."  Still  it  was  thought  he  was  in  the  hands 
of  his  friends ;  that  if  the  nomination  was  pressed  upon  him  he 
would  regard  the  voice  of  the  convention  as  a  summons  to  duty 
which  must  be  obeyed.* 

The  Republican  State  convention  of  1868  met  at  Peoria,  May 
6th.  Franklin  Corwin  presided.  An  informal  ballot  to  select  a 
candidate  for  governor  resulted :  For  John  M.  Palmer,  263  votes  ; 
Robert  G.  Ingersoll,  117;  S.  W.  Moulton,  82;  J.  K.  Dubois,  42. 

"  Chicago  Post. 

59 


930  HISTORY  OF   ILLINOIS. 

The  friends  of  Anson  S.  Miller  refused  to  submit  bis  name  against 
Gen.  Palmer.  After  a  spirited  debate  with  reference  to  Palmer's 
candidature,  Gen.  Rowett  from  Macoupin  telegraphed  to  him :  "It 
is  asserted  that  you  will  be  nominated  for  governor.  Will  you 
accept  f  He  replied  promptly,  "Do  not  permit  me  to  be  nomi 
nated.  I  cannot  accept."  Whereupon  he  was  immediately  nomi 
nated  ;  the  first  formal  ballot  being,  for  Palmer,  317 ;  Ingersoll, 
118;  Moulton,  52;  Dubois,  17.  Previous  to  this,  however,  a  let 
ter  from  him  to  Horace  White  had  been  read,  stating  that  if  nomi 
nated  he  would  be  governed  by  the  duty  of  the  hour.  But  for 
Gen.  Palmer's  repeated  objections,  he  would  undoubtedly  have 
been  selected  by  acclamation.  He  more  than  came  within  the 
Jeifersonian  rule,  neither  to  seek  nor  refuse  office. 

The  remainder  of  the  ticket  was  made  up,  either  on  the  first  bal 
lot,  or  by  acclamation,  of  John  Dougherty  of  Union,  for  lieuten 
ant-governor ;  Edward  Eummel  of  Peoria,  secretary  of  state; 
Charles  E.  Lippincott  of  Cass,  auditor ;  E.  K.  Bates  of  Marion, 
treasurer;  Washington  Bushnell  of  LaSalle,  attorney-general; 
and  for  penitentiary  commissioners,  after  some  delay  and  discus 
sion,  the  old  board,  Andrew  Shuman  of  Cook,  Robert  E.  Logan, 
of  Whiteside,  and  John  Reid  of  Will,  were  re-nominated.  Gen. 
John  A.  Logan  was  nominated  for  congress  from  the  State  at 
large. 

The  platform  reannounced  the  Republican  doctrine;  condemned 
the  policy  of  President  Johnson  ;  denounced  all  forms  of  repudia 
tion,  and  affirmed  that  the  indebtedness  of  the  United  States 
should  be  paid  according  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  laAV  under 
which  it -was  contracted;  that  the  principal  of  the  debt  should  be 
a  heritage  of  the  future;  instructed  in  favor  of  U.  S.  Grant  as 
the  Republican  nominee  for  president  and  the  natural  successor 
of  Abraham  Lincoln ;  and  oddly  enough  declared  in  favor  of  "  the 
most  efficient  means  to  raise  the  moral  standard  of  the  people." 

The  Democratic  State  Convention  met  at  Springfield,  April  15, 
1868.  Hon.  A.  L.  Thornton,  of  Shelby,  presided.  The  proceed 
ings  were  not  harmonious.  The  disturbing  question  was  that  of 
paying  the  national  debt  in  "  greenbacks,"  as  proposed  by  Mr. 
Pendleton  of  Ohio.  The  committee  on  resolutions  brought  in 
majority  and  minority  reports,  the  former,  (which  was  adopted), 
made  by  eight,  favoring  payment  of  the  5-20  bonds,  the  vast  bulk 
of  the  national  debt,  in  legal  tender  notes,  but  where  the  faith  of 
the  government  was  pledged  to  pay  gold,  to  so  fulfill  the  obliga 
tion  ;  favored  the  abolition  of  the  national  bank  system ;  and  in 
structed  the  delegates  to  the  national  convention  to  vote  as  a  unit 
for  the  nomination  of  George  H.  Pendleton  as  a  candidate  for 
president.  The  minority  report,  made  by  five  members,  insisted 
upon  paying  the  5-20  bonds  in  "the  lawful  money  of  the  country," 
gold ;  and  opposed  trammeling  our  delegates  to  the  national  con 
vention  by  instruction  in  favor  of  Pendletou.  For  a  candidate  for 
governor,  the  names  of  S.  A.  Buckinaster  and  John  R.  Eden  were 
presented.  On  the  first  ballot,  when  it  was  found  that  Eden  was 
largely  in  the  lead,  the  name  of  Buckinaster  was  withdrawn  and 
Eden  was  nominated  by  acclamation.  The  remainder  of 
the  ticket  was  made  up  of  William  Van  Epps  of  Lee  for  lieuten 
ant-governor;  Gustavus  Van  Hoorbecke  of  Clinton,  secretary 


PALMER'S  ADMINISTRATION.  931 

of  state;  Jesse  J.  Phillips  of  Montgomery,  treasurer;  John  B. 
Shannon  of  Bandolph,  auditor;  W.  W.  O'Brien,  of  Peoria,  con 
gressman  at  large;  and  for  penitentiary  commissioners,  John 
W.  Connett  of  Cook,  W.  W.  Garrord  of  Edgar,  Calney  Zarley 
of  Will. 

The  canvass  of  1868  was  unattended  by  interesting  events,  and 
the  election  in  November  resulted  in  favor  of  the  Republicans  by 
large  majorities,  that  for  governor  being  44,707. 

John  McAuley  Palmer  was  born  on  Eagle  Creek,  Scott  county, 
Kentucky,  September  13th,  1817.  During  his  infancy  his  father, 
who  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812,  removed  to  Christian 
county  in  Western  Kentucky,  where  lands  were  cheap.  Here  the 
future  governor  of  Illinois  spent  his  childhood  and  received  such 
meagre  schooling  as  the  new  and  sparsely  settled  country  afforded, 
to  which  he  added  materially  by  diligent  reading,  for  which  he 
evinced  an  early  aptitude.  The  father,  an  ardent  Jackson  man, 
was  also  noted  for  his  anti-slavery  sentiments,  which  he  thoroughly 
impressed  upon  his  children.  In  1831  he  emigrated  to  Illinois  and 
settled  in  Madison  county.  Here  the  labor  of  improving  a  farm 
was  pursued  for  about  two  years,  when  the  death  of  the  mother 
broke  up  the  family.  -About  this  time  Alton  College  was  opened 
on  the  "  manual  labor  system,"  and  in  the  spring  of  1834  young 
Palmer  with  his  elder  brother,  Elihu,  afterward  a  minister  of  the 
gospel  and  noted  for  his  learning  and  eccentricities,  entered  this 
school  and  remained  18  months.  Next,  for  over  three  years,  he 
tried  variously  coopering,  peddling  and  school  teaching. 

During  the  summer  of  1838  he  formed  the  acquaintance  of 
Douglas,  then  making  his  first  canvass  for  congress,  who,  young, 
eloquent  and  in  political  accord,  won  his  confidence,  fired  his  am 
bition,  and  fixed  his  purpose.  The  following  winter,  while  teach 
ing  near  Canton,  he  began  to  devote  his  spare  time  to  a  desultory 
reading  of  law,  and  in  spring  entered  a  law  office  at  Carlinville, 
making  his  home  at  his  brother  Elihu's,  stationed  at  that  place  in 
the  ministry.  On  the  next  meeting  of  the  Supreme  Court  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar,  Douglas,  who  took  a  lively  interest  in 
him,  being  one  of  his  examiners.  He  was  not  immediately 
successful  in  his  profession,  and  would  have  located  elsewhere 
than  Carlinville,  but  for  the  want  of  means.  Thus  his  early 
poverty  was  a  blessing  in  disguise,  for  to  it  he  now  attributes  the 
success  of  his  life.  From  1839  on,  while  he  diligently  pursued  the 
practice  of  his  profession,  he  was  more  or  less  involved  in  local 
politics.  In  1843  he  became  probate  judge;  in  1847  he  was 
elected  to  the  constitutional  convention,  where  he  took  a  leading 
part.  In  1852  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate,  and  at  the 
special  session  of  February,  1854,  true  to  the  anti-slavery  senti 
ments  bred  in  him,  took  a  firm  stand  in  opposition  to  the  repeal 
of  the  Missouri  compromise  on  two  sets  of  resolutions  then 
before  the  legislature;  and  when  the  Nebraska  question  was  made 
a  party  issue  he  refused  to  receive  a  renomination  for  senator  at 
the  hands  of  the  Democracy,  issuing  a  circular  to  this  effect.  Still, 
us  it'  hesitating  to  break  with  his  party,  a  few  weeks  later  he  paf- 
ticipated  in  the  congressional  convention  which  nominated  T.  L. 
Harris  against  Bicharcl  Yates,  and  which  api>roved  unqualifiedly 
the  principles  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  act.  But  later  in  the  cam- 


932  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

paign  he  made  the  plunge,  and  running  for  the  senate  as  an  anti- 
Nebraska  democrat,  was  elected.  The  following  winter  he  put  in 
nomination  for  the  United  -  States  Senate  Mr.  Trurnbull,  and  was 
one  of  the  five  steadfast  men  who  voted  for  him  until  all  the  whigs 
came  to  their  support.  In  1856  he  was  made  chairman  of  the 
Republican  State  Convention  at  Bloomington.  In  1859  he  was 
defeated  for  congress.  In  1860  he  was  a  republican  elector  for  the 
State  at  large.  In  1861  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  five  delegates 
(all  republicans)  sent  by  Illinois  to  the  peace  congress  at  Wash 
ington.  In  that  body  he  advocated  the  call  of  a  national  conven 
tion  for  an  Adjustment  of  the  country's  difficulties,  and  that 
proposition  failing,  he  favored  the  measures  of  compromise  finally 
recommended.* 

When  the  civil  conflict  broke  out,  he  offered  his  services  to  his 
country  and  was  elected  colonel  of  the  14th  regiment.  Of  the 
engagements  in  which  lie  participated  may  be  mentioned  the  cap 
ture  of  Island  No.  10;  Farmington,  where  he  skillfully  extricated 
his  command  from  a  dangerous  position  ;  Stone  River,  where  his 
division  for  several  hours,  on  the  31st  of  December,  held  the 
advance  and  stood  like  a  rock,  and  for  his  gallantry  here  he  was 
made  Major  General  of  volunteers  $  Chicamauga,  where  his  and 
Van  Cleve's  divisions,  for  two  hours,  maintained  their  position, 
•when,  by  overpowering  numbers,  they  were  cut  off.  Under  Sher 
man  Major  General  Palmer  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the 
14th  army  corps,  and  participated  in  the  Atlanta  campaign.  At 
Peach  Tree  Creek  his  prudence  did  much  to  avert  disaster.  When 
Gen.  McPherson  fell,  and  Gen.  Howard,  a  junior  olficer,  was  pro 
moted  to  the  command  of  the  army  of  the  Tennessee,  both  Generals 
Hooker  and  Palmer  asked  to  be  relieved. 

In  February,  1865,  Gen.  Palmer  was  assigned  to  the  military 
administration  of  Kentucky.  This  was  a  delicate  post.  Ken 
tucky  was  about  half  rebel  and  half  union,  the  latter  daily 
fretted  by  the  loss  of  their  slaves.  He,  who  had  been  bred 
to  the  rules  of  the  common  law,  he  has  said,  trembled  at  the  con 
templation  of  his  extraordinary  power  over  the  persons  and  pro 
perty  of  his  fellowmen,  with  which  he  was  vested  in  the  capacity 
of  military  Governor.  But  it  is  not  our  province  to  detail  his 
administration  in  Kentucky.  Suffice  it,  notwithstanding  the  many 
objections  urged  against  him,  it  is  now  conceded  that  he  blended 
a  conspicuous  respect  for  municipal  law  consistent  with  his  func 
tions  as  a  military  commander. 

The  business  of  Gov.  Palmer's  life  has  been  the  pursuit  of  the 
law.  Few  excel  him  in  an  accurate  appreciation  of  the  depth  and 
scope  of  its  principles.  The  great  number  of  his  able  veto  mes 
sages  abundantly  testify  not  only  this  but  also  a  rare  capacity  to 
point  them  out.  He  is  a  logical  and  cogent  reason er,  and  an  inter 
esting,  forcible  and  convincing,  though  not  fluent  nor  ornate, 
speaker.  Without  brilliancy,  his  dealings  are  rather  with  facts 
and  ideas,  which  he  marshals  in  solid  phalanx  and  leads  to  invin 
cible  conclusions.  And  while  he  ever  betrays  the  hedgings  of  legal 
rules,  he  is  a  statesman  of  a  very  high  order.  Physically,  he  is 
above  the  medium  higlit,  of  robust  frame,  ruddy  complexion  and 
sanguine-nervous  temperament.  Nature  has  endowed  him  with  a 

*  Taken  from  "Annals  of  the  Array  of  the  Cumberland,"  a  volume  of  biographical 
sketches. 


PALMERS  ADMINISTRATION.  933 

large  cranial  development.  He  is  social  in  disposition,  easy  of 
approach,  unostentatious  in  his  habits  of  life,  correct  in  deport 
ment,  democratic  in  his  manners,  and  as  a  man  of  the  people,  he 
has  a  large  sympathy  for  his  class.  He  has  been  indifferent  to  the 
acquisition  of  wealth. 

On  the  meeting  of  the  legislature,  in  January,  1869,  the  first 
thing  to  arrest  public  attention  was  that  portion  of  Gov.  Palmer's 
inaugural  message  which  took  broad  State's  rights  ground.  In 
discussing  the  rights  of  railroads,  their  oppressive  charges,  and 
the  remedies,  he  called  attention  to  the  proposition  in  some  quar 
ters  to  enlist  the  national  government  in  the  creation  of  rail 
road  corporations  to  construct  railways  in  this  and  other 
States  and  operate  them,  which  he  deprecated :  "Already  the  au 
thority  of  the  State  is  in  a  measure  paralyzed  by  a  growing  con 
viction  that  all  their  powers  are  in  some  sense  derivative  and  sub 
ordinate,  and  not  original  and  independent ;"  he  asserted  that "  one 
of  the  best  established  and  most  distinctly  recognized  [principles 
which  underlie  our  system  of  government,  was]  that  the  federal 
government  is  one  of  enumerated  powers  ;"  that  it  was  "  the  clear 
duty  of  the  national  government  to  decline  the  exercise  of  all 
doubtful  powers  when  the  neglect  to  do  so  would  bring  it  into 
fields  of  legislation  already  occupied  by  the  States  f  and  that  "  a 
frequent  recurrence  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  government 
[was]  essential  to  civil  liberty." 

Such  old  democratic  doctrine  was  distasteful  to  many  republi 
cans,  who,  with  a  portion  of  their  press,  took  ground  in  opposi 
tion  to  it.  The  democrats,  on  the  other  hand,  were  heartily 
pleased  with  it,  and  it  was  moved  by  them  in  the  house  that  35,- 
000  copies  of  the  message  be  printed,  which  passed  with  consid 
erable  reluctance.  In  the  senate  the  republicans  moved  to  cut 
down  this  number  to  2,000,  aud  here  also  the  democrats  became 
the  champions  of  the  republican  governor  in  a  debate  which  fol 
lowed,  characterized  by  no  little  acrimony.  Indeed,  the  cordiality 
in  the  dominant  party,  between  the  legislative  and  executive  de 
partments,  was  for  a  time  threatened  with  interruption.  Finally 
the  senate  concurred  with  the  house,  only  to  reconsider  its  vote  5 
after  the  lapse  of  near  two  w^eeks,  and  the  infliction  of  many 
speeches,  the  resolution  was  agreed  to. 

The  session  of  1869,  the  last  under  the  flexible  constitution  of 
1818,  a  revision  of  which  had  then  been  authorized  by  the  people, 
was  moved  upon  by  the  monopolists,  the  lobbyists  and  the  "rings" 
with  a  thirst  for  advantages  and  spoils,  unprecedented  in  the  his 
tory  of  legislation  in  this  State.  Their  action  was  characterized 
by  an  audacity,  a  prodigality,  and  an  abandon  never  before  ex 
hibited.  Their  remarkable  success  in  1867  had  but  whetted  the 
appetites  of  the  cormorants.  Notwithstanding  Gov.  Palmer, in  his 
message,  characterized  special  legislation  as  anti-republican  and 
dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people,  saying:  "Many  of  the 
most  important  functions  of  government  are  now  claimed^and  ex 
ercised  by  incorporations  by  special  laws  ;  they  take  private  prop 
erty  aud  impose  and  collect  taxes;  they  construct  railroads  and 
canals,  and,  in  many  instances,  by  the  exercise  of  their  vast  pow 
ers,  control  the  course  of  trade,  and  distract  the  business  of  the 
whole  country" — notwithstanding  this  warning,  bills  to  thenumber 
of  2,478  were  introduced,  covering  every  conceivable  object  for 


934  HISTOUY   OF  ILLINOIS. 

corporate  purposes,  nearly  all  of  which  sought  some  advantage 
over  the  general  laws  of  the  State  or  the  people.  The  then  lead 
ing  organ  of  the  dominant  party  was  constrained  to  say  that  u  no 
previous  legislative  body  has  exhibited  such  unblushing  disregard 
of  all  the  requirements  of  common  decency  as  the  legislature  now 
in  session," — that  it  was  "  reckless  beyond  precedent."* 

But  it  was  early  found  there  was  an  incumbent  of  the  executive 
office  with  both  the  will  and  industry  to  look  mto  their  little  schemes 
before  they  became  laws,  and  with  the  courage  and  capacity  to 
expose  their  many  machinations.  Perhaps  this  exercised  some 
restraining  influence.  In  obedience  to  his  determination  to  care 
fully  overhaul  every  bill  before  signing  it,  and  to  give  him  time  to 
do  so,  the  legislature  took  a  recess  from  March  8th  to  Aprill  7th. 
Of  the  2,478  bills  introduced  nearly  1,700  were  passed,  an  im 
mense  mass  of  dry  legal  verbiage,  but  none  escaped  his  patient 
scrutiny— a  labor  and  investigation  never  before  bestowed  upon 
the  acts  of  a  legislature.  He  sifted  from  the  mass  a  large  number 
which  he  deemed  inimical  to  the  constitution,  or  to  public  policy, 
and  at  great  pains  reduced  his  objections  to  writing,  in  terms  re 
spectful  and  indicating  the  ripe  jurist  and  forcible  reasoner.  But 
his  vetoes  in  nearly  every  important  instance  were  overridden  by 
a  determined  body,  unwilling  to  brook  what  they  were  pleased  to 
characterze  an  arrogance  of  both  legislative  and  judicial  functions 
by  the  executive.  The  veto  under  the  constitution  of  1848 was  of 
little  value  further  than  as  a  short  stay  of  proceedings  to  induce 
the  legislature  to  pause  and  reflect  upon  their  action.  Its  free 
use  by  the  executive  was  not  without  an  interpretation  as  being 
only  a  greater  exhibition  of  insubordination  to  partisan  require 
ments,  after  his  first  avowal  of  State's  rights  doctrines.  With  a  short 
session  of  three  days,  the  veto  messages  were  disposed  of;  and 
after  voting  each  member  $40  in  addition  to  the  $300  previously 
voted  to  each  for  room  rent,  fuel  and  contingencies,  over  and  above 
his  per  diem,  in  utter  violation  of  the  constitution,  the  general  as 
sembly  of  1869,  on  the  20th  of  April,  adjourned  sine  die. 

Among  the  acts  of  general  interest  passed  at  this  session,  was 
one  limiting  railroad  charges  for  passenger  travel  to  a  maximum 
rate  of  Scents  per  mile.  The  governor  fulminated  his  veto  against 
it,  holding  that  when  a  charter  is  once  accepted  by  those  to  whom 
it  is  made,  it  "  in  all  essential  circumstances,  takes  upon  itself  the 
qualities  of  a  contract,  and  at  that  instant  passes  from  legislative 
and  becomes  subject  to  judicial  control.  Such  a  contract  upon 
well  settled  principles  of  constitutional  law,  cannot  be  impaired." 
It  was  passed  over  the  veto,  but  has  been  a  dead  letter  ever  since. 
If  law  grows  out  of  the  necessities  of  a  people,  then  it  is  high  time 
that  our  courts  overruled  the  Dartmouth  College  case,  or  revolu 
tion  will  do  it  for  them. 

What  is  known  as  the  "  tax  grabbing  law"  to  pay  railroad  sub 
scriptions,  passed  at  this  session,  is  such  a  reprehensible  specimen 
of  legislation  as  to  well  merit  consideration.  It  provided  that  all 
counties,  townships,  cities  or  towns  having  contracted  bonded 
debts  in  aid  of  the  construction  of  railroads  through  any  of  them, 
were  entitled  to  register  such  bonds  with  the  State  Auditor,  where 
upon  it  became  the  duty  of  the  treasurer  to  set  apart  to  their 

•Chicago  Tribune. 


PALMER'S  ADMINISTRATION.  935 

credits,  to  be  applied  toward  the  payment  of  their  railroad  in 
debtedness,  annually,  for  10  years.  (1)  all  the  taxes  for  any  purpose 
whatsoever,  arising  from  the  property  of  a  railroad  so  aided  and 
situate  within  such  municipality ;  (2)  so  much  of  the  State  tax  as 
might  be  collected  upon  an  increased  assessment  on  all  the  prop 
erty  of  any  such  municipality  over  and  above  the  year  1868,  ex 
cepting  in  both  cases  the  2  mill  and  State  school  taxes.  It  was  a 
question  whether  this  was  an  appropriation  of  public  money,  which 
the  Supreme  Court  had  decided  to  be  within  the  province  of  the 
legislature  under  the  power  to  appropriate  money,  or  whether  it 
was  violative  of  the  principle  of  equality  of  taxation  recognized 
by  the  constitution.  The  governor  took  the  latter  view,  and  in  a 
very  able  message  vetoed  the  bill ;  but  it  was  passed  over  his  veto. 
The  act  is  very  ingeniously  drawn  with  reference  to  these  two 
views  and  by  its  terms,  really  only  diverts  the  taxes  paid  upon 
the  property  concerned,  the  same  as  other  propert}',  however  the 
proceeds  may  return  to  the  corporation  or  municipality.  The  late 
S.  K.  Casey,  senator  from  Jefferson,  championed  it,  but  it  is  said 
to  have  been  framed  by  a  Mr.  Cassells.  It  wras  designed  for  the 
benefit  of  Southern  Illinois,  which  had  fallen  behind  in  the  race 
of  railroad  developement,  and  met  with  violent  opposition  from  the 
north,  being  denounced  as  wrong  and  unjust  by  every  prin 
ciple  of  law  and  honesty.  It  played  an  important  part  in  the 
combinations,  rings,  and  maneuvering  generally,  during  that  re 
markable  session,  and  became  a  law.  The  bonds  registered  under 
the  act  amount  to  about  $13,000,000,  and  the  tax  annually  di 
verted  by  it  amounts  to  over  $60,000,  which  will  probably  be 
largely  increased  under  the  revenue  act  of  1873.  This  was  not  the 
first  and  only  time  that  a  portion  of  the  State  tax  has  been  di 
verted  for  the  benefit  of  the  localities  which  yield  it.  In  1867  a 
law  of  that  kind  was  passed  for  the  benefit  of  Mound  Cit3T,  and  at 
this  session  another  to  relieve  Alexander  county  for  her  support 
of  negro  paupers. 

Lake  Front  BUI. — Chicago,  like  a  modern  Briareus,  besides  many 
private  measures,  now  grasped  for  four  parks;  parks  the  north, 
south,  west  and  east  of  her;  the  three  first  named  to  be  connected 
by  a  grand  boulevard  or  avenue,  400  feet  wide.  These  3  parks 
were  to  embrace  hundreds  of  acres  of  land,  much  of  wThich  would 
have  to  be  acquired  by  process  of  condemnation,  and  which,  un 
less  duly  guarded  by  just  and  proper  legislation,  was  liable  to  be 
converted  into  a  business  whereby  to  dispose  of  unsaleable  lands 
at  high  prices,  and  to  acquire  the  poor  man's  lot  without  due  com 
pensation,  by  setting  off  benefits  against  damages. 

But  of  these  park  measures  what  was  known  as  the  Lake  Front 
bill  was  by  far  the  most  important.  To  raise  a  park  fund  it  wras 
proposed  to  confer  upon  the  city  council  of  Chicago  power  to 
sell  all  the  right,  title,  and  interest  of  the  State  to  a  strip  of  canal 
land,  310  feet  wide,  lying  east  of  Michigan  avenue,  and  extending 
from  Park  How  north  to  Monroe  street,  containing  32  acres,  land 
and  water;  to  confirm  the  Illinois  Central  railroad  in  its  riparian 
ownership  to,  and  further  for  the  State  to  make  a  grant  to  it  of 
the  submerged  lands  constituting  the  bed  of  Lake  Michigan,  east 
of  its  railroad  track,  extending  north  and  south  nearly  two  miles 
in  front  of  the  city,  and  covering  an  area  of  1,050  acres,  over 


936  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

which  the  navigable  waters  of  the  lake  rolled  to  a  depth  of  from 
10  to  25  feet.  This,  of  itself  was  regarded  as  an  imperial  grant; 
but  it  was  further  proposed  that  the  State  transfer  to  the  three 
railroad  companies  centering  there,  her  3  blocks  of  ground  north 
of  Monroe  street  and  east  of  Michigan  avenue,  in  consideration 
of  $800,000,  payable  to  the  city  of  Chicago,  for  park  purposes,  in 
four  equal  installments — a  price  so  ridiculously  low  as  to  fall  short 
of  its  actual  market  value  by  $1,800,000.  And,  as  if  anticipating 
objections  from  Chicago,  which  claimed  title  by  dedication,  it  was 
provided  that  if  the  city  council  did  not  quit  claim  to  tbe  railroad 
companies  within  4  months,  being  prior  to  the  maturing  of  the 
second  installment,  they  should  be  released  from  further  payment 
and  yet  hold  the  property  by  fee  simple  title  from  the  State  for 
one-fourth  the  sum  offered.  These  lands,  except  the  bed  of  the 
lake,  had  been  dedicated  for  public  use,  but  while  the  State  had 
parted  with  her  beneficial  proprietory  title,  they  were  still  regarded 
as  subject  to  her  paramount  authority  and  might  control  or  dis 
pose  of  them  as  would  best  promote  the  purposes  of  dedication,* 

The  bill  was  passed  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  a  large  majority 
of  the  people  of  Chicago  and  her  representatives.  The  governor 
vetoed  it  on  account  of  the  inadequacy  of  price  to  be  paid  for  the 
3  blocks  of  ground  ;  of  there  being  no  limitation  fixed  for  the  coin- 
menceinet  of  the  outside  harbor  improvements;  of  the  State  having 
reserved  no  right  to  limit  charges  for  the  relief  of  commerce,  and 
because  the  property  was  not  to  be  subject  to  taxation,  lint  it 
was  promptly  repassed  over  the  veto.  It  was  one  of  the  measures 
in  the  charmed  circle  of  legislation,  ordained  to  become  a  law.t 
Steps  under  the  law,  however,  have  been  arrested  by  injunction, 
issuing  from  the  U.  S.  Circuit  Court  at  Chicago. 

Of  the  flood  of  local  and  private  acts  pernicious  in  principle  and 
contrary  to  public  policy,  we  can  only  cite  a  few  from  the  many 
that  incurred  the  governor's  veto.  A  number  of  localities-— 
Blooinington,  Joliet,  Canton,  Bond  county,  &c. — sought  franchises 
to  enable  them  to  employ  the  taxing  power  of  the  State  to  raise 
money  to  be  expended  for  mere  private  speculative  or  fanciful 
objects,  such  as  to  induce  railroad  companies  to  locate  their  ma 
chine  shops  and  erect  depots;  to  start  private  manufacturing 
establishments;  build  hotels,  &c.,  all  supposed  to  be  of  general 
value  to  the  place  securing  them,  and  toward  which  those  most 
deeply  interested  sought  to  conipell  all  the  helpless,  voiceless  and 
reluctant,  to  contribute  alike  of  their  property. 

Then  there  were  acts  for  the  incorporation  of  land  companies 
(alreadj7  numerous),  whose  sole  aim  was  to  create  huge  land  monop 
olies,  escape  the  embarrassments  attaching  to  personal  ownership; 
the  casualties  incident  to  trade  and  business  ;  distribution  after 
death  ;  and  keep  out  of  market  for  a  long  term  of  years,  with  the 
speculative  intent  of  enhancing  its  value,  property  needed  for 
homes  for  the  people,  which  in  the  hands  of  private  parties  would 
be  improved  and  rendered  more  valuable  to  the  State.!  A  nota 
ble  instance  was  the  " Illinois  Land  Company,"  which  owned  some 
1,200  acres  in  East  St.  Louis,  sought  to  be  controlled  as  above,  for 

*  Gov.  Palmer's  Message. 

t  There  is  a  not  a  very  secret  scandalous  history  connected  with  the  passage  of  this 
measure  which  we  do  not  care  to  revive  here. 
$  Gov.  Palmer's  Messuge. 


PALMER'S  ADMINISTRATION.  937 

a  period  of  25  years.  But  the  most  presumptuous  of  these  cor 
porations,  under  a  title  at  the  same  time  the  most  seductive,  not 
excepting  that  of  the  u  Illinois  Benevolent  Loan  Company"  for 
a  pawn-broker's  establishment,  was  that  of  the  "  Southern  Emi 
grant  Aid  Society,"  a  title,  as  the  governor  said,  which  u  suggests 
ideas  of  weary  strangers,  feeble  and  poor,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of 
benevolent  men  on  the  other,  ministering  to  their  wants,  feeding 
the  hungry  and  clothing  the  naked;"  but  which  really  established 
offices  in  about  30  counties  of  this  State,  (the  principle  one  at 
Cairo),  to  speculate  in  lands  that  emigrants  would  be  likely  to 
need,  and  receive  their  money  and  other  valuables  on  depost,  buy 
and  sell  exchange,  and  by  means  of  a  captivating  title,  win  their 
confidence.  *  Not  one  provision  of  this  act  contemplated  the  aid 
or  relief  which  its  title  imported. 

An  important  event  of  this  session  was  the  ratification  of  the 
15th  amendment  to  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  giving 
suffrage  to  the  blacks. 

Our  Neic  Constitution. — The  year  of  grace,  1870,  will  be  distin 
guished  in  the  annals  of  Illinois  for  the  peaceful  revolution  of  her 
organic  la*w.  It  is  a  grand  feature  in  the  governments  composing 
this  -Great  Eepublic  that  they  frequently  undergo  most  radical 
and  important  transformations  without  tumult  or  outbreak  from 
the  populace,  showing  that  their  will  is  the  source  of  power.  The 
constitution  of  1848  had  ior  years  been  systematically  violated  in 
its  plain  and  positive  provisions  by  nearly  every  department  of 
State.  The  last  executive  under  it,  himself  records  that  "  The 
history  of  American  States  presented  no  example  of  a  government 
more  defective  than  that  of  Illinois."  Officers  received  or  took 
compensation  for  their  services  under  authority  of  laws  known  to 
be  inconsistent  with  the  constitution  ;  and  what  was  designed  by 
its  trainers  to  be  a  most  economical  government,  became,  in  fact, 
extravagantly  expensive.  The  clear  limitation  upon  the  powers 
of  the  general  assembly  was  overborne,  and  legislation  was 
often  hasty,  imprudent  and  depraved  until  the  people  felt 
that  their  public  and  private  rights  were  unsafe ;  that  the  officers 
charged  by  the  constitution  with  the  enactment,  the  interpreta 
tion,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  laws  were  alike  unworthy  of  their 
full  confidence,  t  The  notorious  evasions  of  the  plain  requirements 
of  the  constitution,  and  the  pernicious  practices  thus  indulged, 
tended  to  sap  the  integrity  of  the  public  service  generally,  while  it 
must  have  also  contributed  to  lessen  the  respect  if  it  did  not  beget 
the  contempt  of  the  people  for  all  law.  A  popular  reverence  for 
law  is  the  most  essential  guaranty  for  the  stability  of  the  State,  the 
peace  and  good  order  of  society,  and  the  protection  to  life,  liberty 
and  property  of  of  the  citizen. 

It  was  therefore  high  time  to  erect  new  limitations  upon  the 
powers  of  the  several  departments,  instead  of  those  persistently 
disregarded,  and  viewed  as  obsolete.  Upon  the  question  being 
submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people,  at  the  election  of  November, 
1868,  the  revision  of  the  old  constitution  was  by  them  ordered. 
The  succeeding  legislature  authorized  the  election  of  delegates, 

*  Gov.  Palmer's  Veto  Message, 
t  Palmer's  Message,  1871, 


938  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

(apportioned  to  the  districts  and  corresponding  in  number  to  the 
representatives  in.  the  lower  house  of  the  general  assembly,)  who 
were  to  meet  at  Springfield,  December  13,  1869,  to  alter,  revise, 
or  amend  the  constitution.  Of  the  85  members  returned,  44  were 
set  down  as  republican  in  politics,  and  41  as  democratic.  But  15 
were  elected  on  independent  tickets,  all  in  republican  districts,  of 
whom  8  were  democrats  and  ri  republicans.  Thus  neitner  party 
had  a  majority  in  the  convention,  and  the  "  independents "  held 
the  balance  of  power,  of  which  they  made  the  most.  Its  members 
were  composed  of  learned  jurists,  experienced  statesmen,  and  pro 
found  thinkers.,  whose  work,  prepared  with  much  care,  has  been 
very  generally  pronounced  the  best  and  wisest  in  its  limitations 
and  restrictions  that  the  union  affords.  Whether  time  will  approve 
this  high  encomium  remains  to  be  seen.  We  can  allude  to  only  a 
few  of  the  prominent  features  wherein  it  differs  from  the  old,  and 
which  are  regarded  as  salutory  reforms. 

The  change  from  the  fee  system  to  that  of  fixed  salaries,  fair 
and  ample  in  their  amounts,  will  tend  more  perhaps  to  eradicate 
the  vice  of  evading  the  law  and  elevating  the  standard  of 
the  public  service  than  anything  else.  The  salary  system, 
in  the  option  of  county  boards,  may  also  be  extended  'to  county 
officers,  and  if  settlements  W7ith  these  are  properly  enforced, 
will  both  save  and  increase  materially  the  revenue. — Special 
legislation  has  been  very  greatly  circumscribed,  and  irrevocable, 
private  franchises  and  immunities  are  prohibited.  This  does 
away  with  a  most  fruitful  source  of  corruption  in  that  department 
of  government.  It  breaks,  in  a  measure,  legislative  rings  and 
destroys  the  business  of  the  professional  lobbyist,  and  the  result  is 
the  halls  and  corridors  of  the  capitol  and  hotels  are  thronged  no 
more  by  this  shrewd,  genial  and  elegantly  attired  class,  ever  on 
the  alert  and  ready  with  a  hint  to  this  member  and  a  whisper  to 
that,  and  an  adroit  suggestion  to  another. — While  the  number  of 
members  of  the  general  assembly  has  been  about  double,  the  steps 
to  be  pursued  in  the  enactment  of  laws  are  retarded  and  hedged 
by  wise  provisions ;  the  former  practices  of  reading  bills  by  their 
titles  only,  and  their  passage  by  the  bundle,  known  as  the  omnibus 
system,  are  prevented  ;  and  while  the  per  diem  compensation  of 
members  is  allowed  to  be  raised,  being  now  $5,  the  reprehensible 
practices  of  entering  into  speculative  contracts  or  "commutations" 
with  State  officials  or  others,  for  stationary,  fuel,  etc.,  voted  to 
themselves,  which  at  the  last  session  under  the  old  constitution 
averaged  $500  for  each  member,  and  aggregated  $54,000,  besides 
their  pay  of  $2  a  day,  and  charges  for  committee  rooms,  often 
neither  occupied  nor  perhaps  rented,  are  all  effectually  squelched, 
and  instead  members  are  allowed  but  $50  each. — To  the  governor, 
who  heretofore  as  part  of  the  law-making  power,  was  a  mere  ad 
visory  agent  and  for  want  of  power  destitute  of  influence,  has 
been  given  a  qualified  veto  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the 
State,  with  good  results  so  far  as  exercised.  Prior  to  this  a  bare 
majority  of  the  legislative  department  of  government  was  practi 
cally  the  supreme  power  in  the  State. — One  of  the  grossest  wrongs 
to  individuals  heretofore  was  the  taking  of  private  property 
by  municipal  and  other  corporations  for  public  use,  as  it  was 
called,  without  compensation,  by  setting  off  fancied  benefits,  no 
matter  how  general  to  the  vicinity,  against  the  damages  of  the 


PALMER'S  ADMINISTRATION.  939 

owner.  This  cannot  now  be  done.  Neither  can  a  majority  (often 
representing;  little  or  no  property)  of  any  municipality,  now  vote 
to  lend  its  credit  or  impose  a  debt  upon  the  property  of  the  min 
ority  for  the  benefit  of  some  corporation  or  improvement. — The 
general  assenibl}*  is  prohibited  from  discharging  any  county,  city 
or  town  from  its  proportionate  share  of  taxes,  the  commutation  of 
such  taxes,  or  the  diverting  of  them  from  the  treasury,  as  under  the 
railroad  tax-grabbing  law  of  1869. — The  revenue  article  of  the  old 
constitution  has  been  rendered  more  efficient,  and  with  late  legis 
lation  will  bear  more  evenly  upon  the  property  of  the  State. — The 
two-mile  tax  was  abolished. — Minority  representation  in  the  legis 
lature,  by  means  of  cumulative  voting,  is  a  new  but  promising 
feature  in  the  organic  act,  adopted  for  the  first  time  by  any  State 
in  the  tin  ion. — Our  judiciary  system,  has  been  rendered  uniform, 
and  greatly  modified,  whether  for  good  requires  to  be  ascertained. 
To  county  courts,  as  supplemented  by  a  late  law,  have  been  given 
extended  civil  jurisdiction,  and  they  are  authorized  to  try  minor 
criminal  cases  with  a  view  of  saving  to  counties  large  expenditures 
for  boarding  prisoners  while  awaiting  the  terms  of  the  circuit 
courts. — But  the  provision  which  seeks  to  control  the  railroads  of 
the  State,  prohibiting  parallel  or  competing  lines  from  consolida 
tion,  and  which  declares  all  railroads  public  highways,  requiring 
the  general  assembly  to  establish  reasonable  maximum  rates  of 
charges,  and  to  prevent  unjust  dircriminations  and  extortions,  is 
one  which,  if  sustained  by  the  courts,  promises  to  be  one  of  the 
most  important  in  its  beneficial  results  to  the  people,  as  it  is  one 
now  eliciting  the  greatest  public  interest.  The  question  whether 
a  power  has  grown  up  in  the  State  greater  than  the  State  itself  is 
now  in  process  of  solution. 

The  Great  Chicago  Fire. — Chicago  was  "first  laid  off  in  1830,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  river  of  that  name.  Prior  to  that  the  point  was 
known  as  Fort  Dearborn,  built  by  the  government  in  1804.  By 
an  unprecedented  growth  and  prosperity,  Chicago  had  by  1871 
attained  to  a  city  of  300.000  souls.  As  the  radiating  centre  of 
more  than  a  dozen  trunk  lines  of  railroads,  reaching  far  into  the 
interior,  with  their  innumerable  branches  and  connections,  she  is 
enabled  to  grasp  with  Briarian  hands,  as  it  were,  the  products  of 
a  vast  and  fertile  region ;  possessed  of  an  extended  lake,  canal, 
and  river  commerce,  and  a  large  manufacturing  interest,  and  ani 
mated  by  enterprising  and  sagacious  capitalists,  energetic  mer 
chants  and  pushing  business  men  generally,  she  was  truly,  not 
only  the  chief  city  of  Illinois,  but  the  emporium  of  the  great 
northwest — the  pride  of  her  State  and  the  wonder  of  the  civilized 
world.  While  she  had  miles  upon  miles  of  structures  of  the  most 
combustible  nature,  being  'wood,  her  large  business  centre  was 
built  up  of  brick,  stone  and  iron  blocks,  massive  in  size  and  of 
rare  architectural  beauty  ;  her  palatial  residences,  profusely  scat 
tered  through  many  parts  of  the  city,  but  particularly  toward  the 
lake  front,  were  the  admiration  of  every  visitor,  besides  her  many 
well  built,  superb,  and  costly  church  edifices  and  various  elegant 
public  institutions,  all  these  were  solid,  non-combustible  struc 
tures,  regarded  as  fire  proof.  But  in  the  great  conflagration, 
which,  like  death,  knew  110  distinction,  the  stately  block  and  most 
ornate  column,  as  well  as  the  lowliest  wooden  shanty  of  the  poor, 
found  a  common  leveler. 


940  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

It  was  on  the  night  of  October  8th  and  9th,  1871,  that  the  ocean 
of  flame  burst  upon  the  doomed  city.  For  eighteen  consecutive 
hours,  borne  by  a  parched  and  strong  southwesterly  gale,  the  Fire 
Fiend,  gathering  •strength  and  volume  as  he  inarched,  strode 
through  the  fated  city.  The  fire  broke  out  in  a  poor  quarter  1J 
miles  southwest  from  the  business  centre,  which  was  closely  built 
up  of  inferior  structures  that  kindled  like  tinder  and  blazed  like 
a  bon  fire.  The  flame,  fanned  by  the  gale,  was  so  intense  that  the 
fire  department  was  powerless  before  it.  At  midnight,  having 
devoured  500  buildings,  and  burnt  over  an  area  of  175  acres, 
reaching  the  southern  limits  of  the  burnt  district  of  the  fire  of  the 
night  proceeding,  which  was  of  no  inconsiderable  magnitude  ordi 
narily,  and  which  it  was  expected  would  arrest  it,  the  licking 
column,  casting  a  shower  of  kindling  brands  far  in  advance,  easily 
leaped  the  south  branch  of  the  river,  lighting  where  several  blocks 
of  wooden  rookeries,  the  abodes  of  squalor  and  vice,  afforded,  it 
vivifying  food.  Sending  off  flanking  columns  to  the  right  and 
left,  it  pursued  a  due  northeast  course  before  the  driving  wind  to 
ward  the  court  house,  the  large  stone,  brick  and  iron  structures  in 
its  way,  commonly  called  fire-proof,  many  of  them  among  Chica 
go's  handsomest  blocks,  crumbling  and  melting  down  by  its  su 
per-heated  breath  as  completely,  if  not  so  speedily,  as  those  of 
wood.  All  hope  of  staying  its  progress  was  now  abandoned,  and 
the  efforts  suspended.  The  court  house,  from  whose  basement, 
(the  common  jail)  150  prisoners  were  released  to  save  their  lives, 
was  built  of  large  blocks  of  stone,  and  though  standing  isolated 
in  the  middle  of  a  square,  succumbed,  its  great  bell  falling  from 
the  dome  with  a  last  dying  peal.  At  this  time,  as  if  instinct  with 
a  deadly  strategy,  the  tire  disabled  the  pumping  engines  a  mile 
in  advance  at  the  waterworks,  which  cut  off  the  supply  of  water. 
Buildings  now  would  suddenly  ignite  all  over,  and  the  danger  to 
human  life  became  exceedingly  great. 

The  left  flanking  column  of  flame,  gathering  volume  as  it  pro 
ceeded,  swept  all  that  part  of  the  city  in  the  angle  made  by  the 
south  branch  and  the  main  river.  The  right  also  gathering  head 
way  as  it  went,  took  a  detour  almost  due  east  from  the  south 
branch  toward  the  lake  and  northward,  making  a  wide  swath  and 
rioting  in  the  destruction  of  the  most  superb  hotels,  splendid  bus 
iness  blocks,  and  elegant  dwellings  in  the  city.  Here,  in  the  south 
division,  the  fairest  and  most  ornate  portion  of  Chicago,  and  the 
great  centre  of  her  wealth  and  commerce,  460  acres  were  swept  over 
by  the  terrible  flames  and  3,G50  buildings  laid  in  ashes.  But  aside 
from  the  great  value  and  beauty  of  this  portion  of  the  city,  less 
than  one-third  in  territory,  or  the  number  of  houses,  was  as  yet 
swept  over,  or  cunsumed.  The  three  colums  of  flame,  toward  noon 
on  the  9th,  (Monday)  intensified  by  their  union,  now  vaulted  across 
the  river,  and,  marching  in  solid  phalanx  at  double-quick,  licked 
up  everything  in  the  way ;  the  ocean  of  flame  with  a  terrible 
crackling  roar  as  it  advanced,  in  a  few  hours  burnt  orer  an  area 
of  1,470  acres  of  the  2,533  in  the  north  division,  leaving  only  500 
buildings  standing  out  of  the  13,800  which  it  contained,  and  ren 
dering  homeless  75,000  people. 

As  a  spectacle  the  conflagration  was  at  the  same  time  the  sub- 
limest  and  most  appalling — terrifying  to  the  weak  and  unnerv 
ing  the  strong.  The  roaring  flame  and  crackling  wood,  the  crash 


PALMEK'S  ADMINISTRATION.  941 

of  falling  buildings,  the  detonations  of  explosive  material  in 
them,  and  the  maddened  Babel  of  human  voices,  all  intermingled, 
were  awful  and  terrific  in  the  last  degree. 

The  scenes  in  the  streets  of  the  burning  city  beggar  description. 
All  the  baser  attributes  of  the  human  heart  found  manifestation. 
Fear,  precipitancy,  profanity,  insults,  obscenity,  rapacity,  theft, 
robbery,  arson  and  assassination,  all  wrought  to  the  highest  pitch, 
with  intoxication,  and  amid  the  noise,  confusion  and  turmoil,  found 
vent  and  ran  riot.  Great  crowds,  fascinated  by  a  mingled  feeling 
of  horror  and  admiration  at  the  grandeur  of  the  terrible  spectacle, 
moved  with  the  dazzling  columns  of  fire  as  it  proceeded.  Now  and 
then  the  crash  of  a  wall  near  at  hand,  the  report  of  explosive  oils, 
or  the  rumor  that  they  were  surrounded  by  the  fire,  or  that  a 
bridge  was  burnt  to  cut  off  their  retreat  would  scatter  them  ill 
precipitate  flight,  panic  stricken.  In  many  cases,  people  were 
driven  into  the  lake  for  refuge  against  the  scorching  flames.  Capi 
talists,  rushing  to  their  vaults  to  save  their  valuables,  were  over 
powered  by  the  suffocating  heat,  and  never  seen  again;  others, 
loaded  with  treasure,  were  stricken  down  by  assassins  and  robbed. 
The  speed  of  the  conflagration  and  its  great  heat  were  such  that 
it  was  impossible  to  save  much  property.  Besides,  owners  of  ve 
hicles,  taking  advantage  of  the  occasion,  charged  enormous  prices 
for  taking  loads  ;  $10  to  $50  was  common  and  $1,000  is  recorded. 
Stores  were  opened  and  the  crowds  invited  to  help  themselves  to 
goods,  as  they  must  all  go  at  any  rate,  while  others  were  entered 
by  hordes  of  plunderers  unasked ;  and  goods  piled  up  in  the  streets 
to  be  carted  away,  were  seized  and  freely  borne  off.  The  torch  of 
the  incendiary,  for  purposes  of  plundering,  was  added  to  the  gen 
eral  conflagration.  Saloons  were  thrown  open,  and  under  a  free 
invitation,  their  contents  ffowed  unchecked,  maddening  the  vicious 
and  stimulating  to  ruffianism.  Amidst  the  turmoil  of  the  crack 
ling  and  roaring  fire,  falling  walls,  dazed  animals  dashing  about, 
streets  gorged  by  passing  vehicles  and  crowds  of  people,  and  the 
shouting  and  uproar  of  men,  families  became  separated,  children 
cried  for  parents,  wives  and  mothers  wailed  and  became  distracted 
and  husbands  and  fathers,  skurrying  hither  and  thither  in  vain 
searchings  for  the  lost  ones,  were  frantic  with  agony  and  despair. 
It  was  a  night  of  unspeakable  horrors.  Many  incidents  of  tenants 
occupying  rooms  in  the  upper  stories  of  high  business  blocks  wrapt 
in  flames,  suddenly  appearing  at  their  windows  begging  for  assis 
tance  from  the  frantic  crowd  below  and  some  of  whom  found  succor 
and  others  that  perished,  are  related  with  thrilling  effect  in  the 
papers  of  the  time. 

The  loss  of  human  life,  which  can  never  be  accurately  ascertained, 
has  been  estimated  at  250.  During  the  first  two  weeks  following,  the 
remains  of  107  persons,  consisting  often  of  but  fragments,  or  so 
charred  that  few  could  be  identified,  were  collected  by  the  coroner 
and  interred.  It  is  supposed  that  the  intensity  of  the  heat  in 
many  cases  wholly  consumed  the  bodies,  leaving  no  vestige  be 
hind.  The  whole  area  burnt  over,  including  streets,  was  2,124 
acres;  number  of  buildings  destroyed,  17,500;  sidewalks  burnt, 
121  miles;  total  value  of  property  swallowed  up  by  the  devouring 
element,  $195,000,000,  on  which  there  was  an  insurance  of  some 
$45,000,000,  leaving  a  net  loss  $150.000,000— these  figures  being 
approximate.* 

*  See  History  of  Chicago  and  the  Great  Conflagration.  ~" 


942  HISTORY   OF   ILLINOIS. 

About  98.500  people  were  bereft,  not  only  of  homes,  business, 
and  property,  but  even  shelter.  These  collected  at  points  on  the 
beach  of  the  lake,  in  the  old  cemetery  south  of  Lincoln  Park,  but 
mostly  on  the  bleak  prairie  back  of  the  city.  Many  were  blinded 
from  smoke  and  blistered  with  heat.  Not  less  than  one  hundred 
women  were  thrown  into  premature  parturion  from  fright  and  the 
excitement  caused  by  the  terrible  scene.  All,  the  sick  and  help 
less,  the  young  and  old,  the  vile  and  vicious,  the  beggar  and  mil 
lionaire,  were  here  promiscuously  huddled  together.  Without  suf 
ficient  clothing  in  the  chill  October  rain,  which  set  in  (luring  the 
night  of  Monday;  destitute  of  food  since  Sunday,  and  all  more  or 
less,  exhausted  from  hunger,  the  sufferings  of  the  smitten  ones 
was  exceedingly  great. 

And  now  was  manifested  on  the  part  of  the  people  of  this  broad 
land  and  the  civilized  portions  of  Europe,  whither  the  shock  had 
thrilled,  a  noble  sympathy  and  practical  benevolence,  attesting 
the  brotherhood  of  man.  First  the  people  for  hundreds  of  miles 
in  every  direction,  in  prompt  response  to  the  click  of  the  telegraph 
(and  but  for  this  modern  handmaid  to  the  business  of  the  world, 
many  must  have  perished),  sent  in  hundreds  of  car  loads  of  cooked 
food  and  provisions  of  all  kinds  air  I  raiment  of  every  description, 
in  quantities  more  than  sufficient  to  relieve  the  wants  of  the  suf 
ferers.  Bureaus,  to  systematically  distribute  the  donations,  were 
organized.  Next,  and  almost  simultaneously,  followed  most  liberal 
contributions  of  money  in  large  sums  by  nearly  all  our  great  and 
many  small  cities  and  some  from  Europe,  aggregating  some 
$7.000,000.  Governor  Palmer,  deeming  it  a  proper  occasion,  con 
vened  the  general  assembly  in  extraordinary  session  on  the  4th 
day  after  the  fire,  and  that  body  donated  virtually  to  the  stricken 
city,  $2,955,340  from  the  treasury  of  the  State — finding  in  the 
great  emergency  a  way  to  evade  the  strict  provisions  of  the  new 
constitution  for  this  purpose  by  redeeming  the  canal  from  the  lien 
of  its  deepening  by  Chicago,  which,  though  a  valuable  improve 
ment  to  that  city,  is  dead  and  unyielding  capital  to  the  State ;  but 
no  one  will  blame  the  legislature  for  this  benevolent  act  so  neces 
sary  under  the  circumstances.  Six  per  centum  bonds,  payable  in 
10  years,  were  to  be  issued  for  that  amount.  Not  less  than  one-' 
fifth  nor  more  than  one-third  of  the  proceeds  were  to  be  used  in. 
restoring  the  bridges  and  public  buildings  on  the  old  sites,  and 
the  residue  in  payment  of  the  bonded  debt  of  the  city,  and  to 
maintain  its  fire  and  police  departments. 

Immediately  succeding  the  tire,  stories  of  incendiarism  for  pur 
poses  of  plunder  became  rife;  that  theft,  robberies,  and  arson 
were  the  order  in  the  uuburut  portions  of  the  city,  and  that  hordes 
of  ^roughs"  from  other  large  cities  were  on  the  point  of  invasion. 
The  ignorant,  desperate  from  their  losses,  were  represented  as 
possessed  by  a  mania  for  further  destruction  ;  others  in  great 
masses,  together  Avith  the  police,  as  taking  the  law  into  their  own 
hands,  shooting  down,  beating  to  death,  or  hanging  to  lamp-posts, 
numerous  alleged  offenders,  without  close  scrutiny  as  to  their 
guilt  or  innocence.  These  stories  which  were  utterly  untrue, 
gained  credence  iirthe  city  at  the  time  and  a  considerable  panic 
prevailed.  Telegrams  disseminating  them  were  sent  broad  cast 
over  the  land,  and  the  flying  fugitives  from  the  city,  whose  exodus 
by  the  16th,  amounted  to  60,000,  impressed  with  these  stories, 


PALMER'S  ADMINISTRATION.  943 

spread  reports  of  seeing  blackened  corpses  of  robbers  and  incen 
diaries  banging  to  gibbets.  Gen.  An  son  Stager,  a  prominent  cit 
izen,  telegraphed  Gov.  Palmer  on  the  10th  that  great  consterna 
tion  and  anxiety  existed  on  account  of  the  presence  of  "roughs" 
and  thieves,  plundering  in  all  directions,  and  that  two  incendia 
ries  were  shot  the  night  preceding  while  in  the  act  of  firing-build 
ings. 

Under  the  apprehensions  prevailing,  the  police  force  was  largely 
increased,  1,500  being  sworn  in  on  the  west  side,  and  500  on  the 
south.  Indeed,  on  Monday  morning,  Major  Alstruf  had  tendered 
the  services  of  a  battalion  of  three  militia  companies  to  the  su 
perintendent  and  were  accepted.  Gov.  Palmer,  in  answer  to  Gen. 
Stager's  dispatch,  proffered  a  military  force  to  the  city,  to  preserve 
property  and  enforce  order,  which,  in  the  reply  by  telegraph,  was 
immediately  requested  by  the  mayor,  to  be  sent  by  special  train, 
and  later  on  the  same  day,  1,000  muskets  and  amunition  was  also 
asked.  Adjutant  Gen.  H.  Dil^er,  at  once,  by  telegraph,  ordered  to. 
Chicago,  the  "Bloomingtou  National  Guards,"  "Champaign 
Cadets,"  "Sterling  City  Guards,"  Eock  Fall  Zouaves,"  "Bock 
Island  Light  Artillery"  with  foiir  pieces;  and  under  his  immediate 
charge,  the  "Springfield  Zouaves,"  "O'Mara  Guards,"  and  Capt. 
Douigan's  colored  company,  200  men,  the  latter  arriving  there 
early  the  next  day,  the  llth,  and  before  evening  the  other  militia 
companies  also  arrived,  making  a  military  force  of  516  men,  well 
armed  and  equiped  to  .protect  the  property,  maintain  order,  and 
enforce  the  laws  in  the  city.  But  Gen.  Dilger  now  found  the  wild 
rumors  of  lawlessness  to  have  been  greatly  exaggerated,  and  the 
mayor,  professing  no  knowledge  of  the  dispatches  calling  for 
State  troops  and,  at  the  time,  confiding  in  the  strong  arm  of  the 
military  power  of  the  U.  S.,  was  ready  to  issue  his  proclamation 
entrusting  the  peace  of  the  city  to  Lieut.  Gen.  Phil.  H.  Sheridan,' 
of  the  U.  S.  army,  who  was  stationed  there.  The  State  authority 
being  thus  superceded  by  that  of  the  U.  S.,  Gen.  Dilger,  with  a 
portion  of  his  force,  after  some  three  clays  time,  returned.  Some 
of  the  police  authorities,  jealous  of  the  military  occupation  thus 
assumed,  protested  against  it  for  the  reason  that  policemen  were 
acqainted  with  the  people  and  possessed  large  discretionary  pow 
ers  in  the  arrest  of  parties,  the  prevention  of  breaches  of  the 
peace,  and  the  commission  of  crimes ;  while  a  soldier  was  the  rig 
id  instrument  of  orders,  regardless  of  consequences.  The  city, 
however,  was  surrendered  to  the  military,  U.  S.  regulars  being 
ordered  thither  from  Omaha,  Forts  Leaven  worth  and  Scott,  and 
from  Louisville.  The  police  were  ordered  to  act  in  conjunction 
with  the  military,  good  order  was  maintained  throughout,  and, 
what  was  perhaps  of  more  importance  than  all  else,  confidence 
was  restored. 

At  the  time  that  the  city  was  thus  turned  over  to  military 
rule,  Gen.  Sheridan  directed  a  citizen  of  Chicago,  Gen.  Frank  T. 
Sherman,  to  enlist  and  organize  a  regiment  of  .infantry  for  20 
days,  to  serve  as  guards  in  protecting  the  property  of  the  city. 
They  swore  allegiance  to  the  U.  S.  and  obedience  to  the  officers  ap 
pointed  over  them;  they  were  to  arrest  all  citizens  who,  in  their 
judgment,  might  be  suspicious  persons,  and  fire  upon,  wound  or 
kill  any  one  refusing  to  obey  their  commands  to  halt,  after  a  cer 
tain  hour  in  the  night.  In  the  regiment  was  a  company  of  cadets 


944  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

— students  from  the  University  of  Chicago,  mostly  young  and 
non-residents.  To  this  regiment,  asserted  by  high  authority  to 
have  been  illegally  called  into  being,  Gen.  Thomas  W.  Gros- 
venor,  a  citizen  of  Chicago,  who  had  earned  his  title  by  mere  to- 
rious  conduct  in  the  late  war  and  was  maimed  for  life,  became  a 
martyr.  About  12  o'clock  in  the  night  of  the  20th  of  October, 
while  quietly  proceeding  to  his  home,  he  was  ordered  by  a  young 
cadet  to  halt  and  give  the  countersign  or  pass-word,  and,  disre 
garding  the  order,  was  deliberately  shot  down,  expiring  in  a  few 
hours  after. 

The  Governor,  who  it  seems  was  not  advised  until  about  the 
17th  of  the  full  extent  of  the  military  occupation  of  Chicago,  which 
he  deemed  a  violation  of  law,  both  State  and  national,  had  in  the 
meantime,  written  a  letter  to  the  mayor,  coached  in  no  ambiguous 
terms,  vigorously  protesting  against  that  functionary's  virtual  ab 
dication  of  his  office  and  turning  J:he  city  over  to  the  military 
control  of  the  U.  S.  soldiery,  assertuig  the  adequacy  of  the  State 
to  furnish  all  needed  protection  to  the  smitten  city.  The  mayor, 
stung  by  the  lecturing  epistle,  replied  that  when  the  lives  and 
property  of  the  people,  the  peace  and  good  order  of  a  large  city, 
were  in  danger,  it  was  not  the  time  to  stop  and  consider  ques 
tions  of  policy.  But  the  killing  of  Grosvenor  was  a  circumstance 
to  awaken  reflection  upon  the  anmalous  posture  of  affairs,  and  2 
days  after,  at  the  request  of  the  mayor,  the  occupation  was  discon 
tinued. 

His  excellency,  however,  did  not  allow  the  matter  to  drop  here. 
He  wrote  and  urged  the  State's  Attorney  of  Cook  county  to  bring 
the  murderer  of  Grosveuor  before  the  grand  jury,  and  to  advise 
that  body  to  include  in  the  indictments,  besides  the  party  doing 
the  act,  B.  B.  Mason,  the  mayor,  Lieutenant  General  Sheridan, 
'and  Frank  T.  Sherman,  colonel  of  the  20  day  regiment,  as  being 
equally  guilty.  A  sharp  and  not  very  elegant  correspondence 
followed,  and  the  matter  getting  into  the  public  press,  much  criti 
cism  was  evoked.  Later  General  Sheridan  was  again  appealed  to 
by  prominent  citizens,  to  cause  4  companies  of  U.  S.  soldiers  to  be 
stationed  at  Chicago  for  the  protection  of  the  immense  amount 
of  stores  in  charge  of  the  Belief  fund  and  Aid  Society,  and  upon 
his  request  at  Washington  they  were  granted.  This  still  further 
intensified  the  matter,  and  the  governor,  in  a  letter  to  President 
Grant,  protested  against  this  step,  asserting  the  abundant  ability 
of  the  State  to  protect  every  interest  of  the  people  dependant 
upon  its  internal  peace  and  good  order.  The  letter  was  referred 
to  Gen.  Sheridan  with  instructions  to  rescind  all  orders  in  conflict 
with  the  laws  or  constitution  of  this  State.  Protesting  now  against 
an  officer  of  the  army  passing  upon  a  matter  so  grave  and  impor 
tant,  Gov.  Palmer  brought  the  whole  subject  before  the  legisla 
ture  and  that  body,  after  a  thorough  investigation  by  a  commit 
tee,  who  brought  in  majority  and  minority  reports,  on  the  25th  of 
January,  1872,  sustained  the  former,  declaring  "as  unlawful,  and 
an  infraction  of  the  constitution,  both  of  this  State  and  the  IJ.  S., 
the  so-called  military  occupation  of  Chicago  f  but  the  federal  au 
thorities  were  exonerated  from  intent  to  wilfully  trespass  upon 
the  constitutional  rights  of  this  State,  or  to  interfere  with  its 
properly  constituted  authorities  during  the  emergency  of  the 
great  fire. 


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